Recently my yoga teacher, Erika, purchased a new car from Toyota. It was an excruciating purchasing experience. At the first Toyota dealership, she had the pleasure of “Frank” the salesman with 25 years experience. Sadly Frank utilized “old school” selling tactics toward women, including fear, manipulation and patronization, which he hadn’t adapted to the modern ... Read Post

Continuing our series on the comparison between the American War of Independence and today’s world of sales and commerce, in this post we’re going to have a look at what was probably at the heart of the American Revolution: freedom and liberty. “Freedom” in the Colonies First, let’s have a quick examination of what America ... Read Post

People always ask me how salespeople can stand out from the crowd. Here are the ten critical steps you need to take: 1. Ask yourself the question “How can I do this differently?” Just having the subject top of mind will lead you in the right direction. Ask yourself this question every day! 2. Purge ... Read Post

One of my earlier sales jobs was at a Porsche-Audi dealer in El Paso, Texas. I have a number of entertaining stories from that time period. Here is one–the moral of which is that sometimes you just have to hold your price to get it. Since we were the only Porsche dealership for hundreds of ... Read Post

“I know I need to be unique and different when talking to customers; but I don’t know how?” I had just finished running a sales training session for a group of key account reps, when a participant came up to me and very quietly uttered the above. He was clearly embarrassed and it got me ... Read Post

Have you ever sat through a presentation and thought, “Why am I here?” Presentations that do not answer the question “Why?” are confusing, try your patience, and usually lead nowhere. In his popular TED Talk, Start with Why, Simon Sinek proposed that people won’t fully buy into a product, service or concept until they understand ... Read Post

1. Your company’s Go-To-Market strategy is understood by your sales team. 2. Instead of staying at the back end of the pipeline frantically trying to get deals closed, most of your time is spent at the front end helping qualify early-stage opportunities. 3. Your company has evolved and clearly defined an ideal target customer profile, ... Read Post

Flaws and Costs in the Traditional Sales Hiring Process Weak salespeople cost companies millions of dollars every year. When you have weak salespeople, they struggle, you get frustrated, and your company loses millions in revenue and profit. In contrast, when you have strong salespeople, they make your company millions every year. With strong salespeople, you ... Read Post