Last year I snapped a photo of a curious bumper sticker, and posted it on Facebook. It read, If you’re prepared for flying irradiated zombies that can swim, then you’re prepared for anything. I figured the car’s owner to be either a risk manager or an insurance agent. Who else would be moved to share ... Read Post

Pipeliner CRM conducts several regular Twitter chats on sales issues. These tightly-focused, weekly chats connect you to a community of people who share a desire to know more about sales. Our #SalesEU show (Wednesdays, 10am ET) is hosted by Pipeliner’s social media advocate, Martha Neumeister and Richard Young (Managing Director of Sales for UK & ... Read Post

For kids, the Land of Make Believe in Mister Rogers Neighborhood was a wonderful place to go, totally safe from harsh realities of life and filled with magical, whimsical characters like King Friday XIII, Sara Saturday and Prince Tuesday. But now that we’re all grown up, we know that the Land of Make Believe is ... Read Post

Health and Fat. Two words you rarely, if ever hear  used in the same sentence for a positive result. However, when it comes to developing and building an effective sales organization, giving your team the skills they need requires you as a leader to focus on makin’ ‘em FAT. Building a sales organization is never ... Read Post

The balance of risk versus reward is a fundamental of sales and, actually, business itself. Each opportunity is weighed, taking into account the risk of the company against its eventual outcome. The goal is to take risks that endanger the company as little as possible, and that in the majority of cases are rewarding. Successful ... Read Post

It was almost in the bag…a 2-year effort. She thought she had done it all right — building key relationships,  nurturing her prospect by the book. She knew their business; she knew their special needs. A strong  proposal was in their hands. Her primary contact recommended a green light. No doubt, she was in the ... Read Post

Typing Too Much Is the New Talking Too Much Stop Typing, Start Listening One of the hardest lessons you, as the manager of a social sales team, will have to teach your salespeople (and perhaps even reteach yourself) is the seemingly dying art of listening. Why? Well because we have allowed ourselves to evolve into ... Read Post

How important is hiring for B2B sales? According to the just-released CSO Insights 2015 Sales Performance Optimization Report—a survey of some 4,000 sales organizations—sales hiring is a critical, even mandatory activity. But of equal interest the report shows that, for a majority of organizations, it is also a total crapshoot. The Slippery Slope Let’s look ... Read Post