In this blog series, I’ve covered numerous important aspects of building a sales team: start with salespreneurs, become customer-centric, tailor to your industry, have and use specific personality profiles, and insist reps be self-sufficient. But throughout all that, there is one function you’re going to have to have or the whole thing falls apart: sales ... Read Post

The world of sales is complicated and noisy. Customers demand competitors attack, leaders preach and pundits natter. Too many people “splash and spray” too many messages and demands us through too many channels; this relentless and constant bombardment is distracting and often gets in the way of us performing the way the organization expects. Critical ... Read Post

A few months back my marketing team had asked me to do some research on the impact that bad data has on sales prospecting campaigns. Since they hear me yammer on and on about this stuff, it was probably their attempt to provide me their version of a psychiatrist couch for me to let it ... Read Post

5 Strategies to Proactively Build Trust With Customers I woke up this morning, just in from three weeks on the road, anxious to get back into my normal morning routine; which for me is pot of coffee, television news blaring in the background, and sorting through the pile of work on my desk. This morning ... Read Post

It used to be that salespeople, by necessity, had to engage in their own lead generation. They visited potential prospects, made cold calls, attended events, even parties, dinners and golf games, in an effort to obtain leads. All of this was quite in addition to working those leads and closing deals. Today it’s not the same. ... Read Post

Greg was a sales person that I will never forget. He would often barrage prospects with a seemingly endless supply of sarcastic remarks. Though his first quip would usually inspire a grin, as the attempts at humor continued, prospects would become annoyed and then attempt to disengage from the sale. In the end, Greg’s ineffective ... Read Post

Metrics are essential for management to understand if reps are on track to deliver results and to identify areas for improvement. You cannot make continuous improvements and refinements without them. They need to be actionable and predictable. While there are many standard metrics, many will be unique to your sales environment and go-to-market strategy. It ... Read Post

What’s a good lead rate? How much should a lead cost? These are questions stirring in the minds of executives everywhere. (Just google them.) The problem is they’re not so easy to answer; few have found success; and for that matter, are they even the right questions? I have been in this business since 1991 ... Read Post