B2B Sales
More Sales Effort Isn’t Always The Answer
At least four times in my career, I’ve watched a company miss something major in the market. What’s interesting isn’t that they missed it. Markets shift. Buyers change. That happens to everyone at some point. What’s interesting is what they did next. Sales effort didn’t drop. If anything, it went up. More calls. More reps.…
Read MoreStop Practicing on Real Prospects
There’s a story I tell whenever someone tells me they hate roleplay. I was in business school. A professor was in the middle of selling his company. Offers ranging from $40 to $75 million on the table. Before he went into any negotiation, his investment bankers ran him through every scenario they could think of.…
Read MoreHow To Get Their Full Attention
I use a baseball metaphor when I train sales teams. I call it SOB. Speed on Bases. It’s not one thing you do. It’s how you do everything. The Real Hero of the 1986 World Series There’s a famous clip from Game 1 of the 1986 World Series. Kirk Gibson comes up to bat in…
Read MoreDiscovery Is the Most Important (and Most Neglected) Stage in B2B Sales
Before we get started. Quick announcement: We launched our sales recruiting and search services for companies that can’t afford another bad hire. We’ve hired over 200 salespeople in the last 20 years. We know what actually predicts success. We screen for skills, not resumes. And we only present candidates we believe can do the job.…
Read MoreYou’re Hiring Sales Reps Wrong
You just hired a sales rep. 15 years of industry experience. Knows all the players. Has a book of business. Great references. Six months later, they’re not hitting quota. They can’t qualify. They can’t handle objections. They fold on price. And you’re stuck. You hired for the wrong thing. Companies Over-Index on Industry Experience Companies…
Read MoreThe 5 Red Flags Sales Managers Miss
You just hired someone. They looked great on paper. Ten years of experience. Solid references. Good energy in the interview. Six months later, they’re not hitting quota. They’re blaming pricing. They’re blaming marketing. They’re blaming the leads. And you’re stuck. Here’s the truth. You missed the red flags. They were there in the interview. They…
Read MoreNotes From Scaling Sales With Confidence
There Are Four Areas You Need to Look at Your Sales Organization: Talent: Do we have the right people in the right roles to get where we want to go? Skill: Do they have the skills we need to sell to our buyer against our competition at our price point? Leadership: Do our leaders know…
Read MoreYour Sales Managers Are Scoreboard Watchers
Your sales manager just sent you the weekly forecast update. Pipeline looks good. Activity metrics are up. Everyone hit their call numbers. But your close rate hasn’t moved in six months. Here’s why. Your sales manager is a scoreboard watcher. They’re tracking results. Not fixing the behaviors that create them. What Scoreboard Watching Looks Like…
Read MoreThe Conversion Math CEOs Get Wrong
You spent $5,000 on marketing last month. Generated 50 leads. Not bad. Your sales team talked to 30 of them. Ran 20 demos. Sent 12 proposals. Closed 4 deals. Total revenue: $34,000. You look at this and think, “We need more leads.” Actually. You need to fix your conversion rate. Let me show you why.…
Read MoreThe 4 Discovery Questions That Make Closing Easy
Your rep is on a discovery call. The prospect is talking about their challenges. They seem engaged. They’re asking good questions about your solution. Your rep thinks: “This is a great opportunity.” Then the deal sits in the pipeline for four months and dies. Here’s why. Your rep never asked the one question that separates…
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