Articles & Resources
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The Manager’s Concern Is it in the right place? A solid manager I coach recently shared a challenge he has right now. Him: “I was just given our number for the year.” Me: “And?” Him: “It’s big. It’s really big.” Me: “Ok. How do you feel about that?” Him: “I’ve got concerns, man.” Me: “Do…
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When to use email? At least in sales. At least once a week, a sales coaching client will send me a note that reads, “Adam, can you look at this email from (fill in the blank)? I want to win this account, but am not sure how to respond.” Sometimes, the seller will include an…
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How to do compensation? At least for sales. In the last 8 weeks, four companies have asked me about compensation design for salespeople. The reasons for the conversations varied from company to company. In one case, the role the CEO had imagined for sales had changed, and he needed to invest more in post-sales service….
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Three (New?) Ways To Pursue Your Customers. That Your Competitors Probably Are Not. Someone asked me to address a group of CEOs and owners on sales and growth in early January. Not a big deal, usually, as I’ve done this so many times before. Show up with a canned talk, adjust the slides a little,…
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Sales Kickoffs are Usually a Waste How to fix that? Twice in the last 3 weeks, I’ve been asked about running sales kickoffs. How to organize them, structure them, what to cover, the whole 9 yards. Here’s the blunt truth for most companies, from startups with 5-person teams to middle-market companies with teams of 20+….
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Hire the Best Salesperson with One Simple Change. NOTE: Jason Lippman of nFusion Capital contributed heavily to this piece. “We’d love to put in a new fence for you, but we can’t even look at getting to you for 4 months. We are booked up, and just can’t get new people to fill out additional…
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Founders, Don’t Hand Off Sales. At least not too soon. No matter how badly you want to. I am asked the following approximately 2-3 times per month. It’s a common question from founder-owners of all sorts of companies. And it comes when they’re just starting, maybe finding product-market fit, growing, or really wanting to ramp…
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Look, in the sales advisory/training/coaching business, I’m asked to help people improve their sales teams. I’m pretty good at it, too. But you know what? It’s hard work to make your sales org your competitive advantage. It’s a lot of management, accountability, coaching, motivating, and more. And there may be a better way for you…
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7 Keys to Hiring for Growth The Fallacy of, “We Won’t Overpay.” “We’re not going to overpay. For anyone or anything.” A president of a company recently said this about a key hire he planned to make. The delta between the candidate’s ask and the offer they were willing to make was somewhere between 30…
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People Management in Sales: The Basics “Business is easy. It’s people that are difficult.” – Warren Buffett For 10 years, I would talk to owners of small businesses (up to 75mm in sales, if you’re wondering how I define a small business), and inevitably hear the following: “I just want to hire someone who doesn’t…
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