Posts by Adam Boyd
How PE Platform Companies Miss Obvious Sales Synergies
NOTES FROM NORTHWOOD There’s a scene in Narcos: Mexico where Félix Gallardo gathers all the independent drug lords in a room. His pitch is compelling: “We’re stronger together than apart. One federation. Shared resources. Coordinated territories. Everyone makes more money.” The logic was sound. Each group had their own strengths, their own connections, their own…
Read MoreHow to Build a Sales Development System That Lasts
NOTES FROM NORTHWOOD Living in Texas, it’s painful when everyone talks about UT and it’s not Knoxville. But as a long suffering Vols fan, I’ve watched the same cycle for 15 years: Butch Jones, Derek Dooley, Lane Kiffin, Jeremy Pruitt… hire a coach, expect immediate results, get frustrated when it doesn’t happen, fire the coach,…
Read MoreThe Sales Leadership Gap That Kills Team Training
NOTES FROM NORTHWOOD Last fall, Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss Rebels handed Georgia their first regular season loss in 42 games. The morning after the win, Kiffin did something that caught my attention. He praised his coaching staff. Not himself. Not his game plan. Not even his star quarterback. His coaches. The same man who once…
Read MoreNorthwood Group Acquires Trinity Training & Development, Expanding Professional Development Offerings
Austin, TX- May 14, 2025 – Trinity Training & Development, a nationally recognized leader in professional development and training services, announced today that it has been acquired by Northwood Group, led by Adam P. Boyd, expanding its capacity to deliver comprehensive leadership and sales training solutions. The acquisition, finalized in March 2025, brings together Trinity’s…
Read MoreYour Presentation Is Killing Your Conversion Rate
A year ago, I was working with a professional services firm in a competitive industry in a competitive market. The people who were talking (ahem, “selling”) to potential clients were well-educated practitioners, not traditional salespeople. They did a fabulous job telling potential clients about their expertise, how they’d handle the problem, and what they could…
Read More3 Lessons On Talent from College Football, Week 2
It’s officially football season, which means you may be getting a dose of analogies and metaphors involving the 85 scholarship limit, cover 2, the veer and shoot, and the SEC in Birmingham, not Washington D.C. To get this fall going, let’s extract some lessons from Saturday’s games to help you develop your sales organization and…
Read MoreIs your sales pipeline lying to you?
Tell me if this sounds familiar. In management meetings, sales say something like, “We have a great pipeline, with over X number of qualified opportunities, totaling 5x what we need to hit our number.” It sounds like some good math, right? But when you inspect it, it turns out that there are only about 8…
Read MoreHow To Forecast Sales Part 2
In the last article, I wrote about forecasting and the importance of a proper sales process to get it right. Without the right sales stages and milestones, you get the wrong signals. You hear a lot of, “Deal looks good.” “They loved our demo.” “They like us a lot.” And you have 0 idea what’s…
Read MoreHow To Forecast Sales Part 1
You’ve got a goal this year. A number. A target. Will you hit it? Will your team? It’s what you want to know. It’s what your CFO wants to know. It’s what your partners or investors want to know. Forecasting is not as sexy as closing a big deal, but it’s nice if you like…
Read MoreWhat Price Says About You
Several years ago, a CEO whose company I had helped took me to lunch. We had barely spoken because I’d worked with his head of sales. He said to me, “I owe you thanks. Because of you, I sold my company for life-changing money.” I asked him how. He said, “Before you came in, we…
Read More