Articles & Resources
Browse articles, guides, and downloads.
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+….
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
How to run the meetings you actually need for sales? If you lead a team and you’re not familiar with the concept of maker time vs. manager time, it’s worth digging into. It’ll help you think through how to divvy up days for your people based on their work. Recently, I worked with a company…
Read More
A several-time CRO talks to 7 heads of sales…. Here’s what he shared. In our Leaders’ Forum, sales leaders come together to learn together, to grow in their careers, and to push their companies forward. It’s not just the founders/CEOs who are full of fire; the sales folks want to make hay, too. And they…
Read More
Your First Sales Hire (Especially if you’re bringing something new to the market.) When you do something long enough, you notice patterns. Having spent 13+ years working with B2B companies to grow sales, there are several patterns that have become predictable. The early-stage company struggling to nail their first 1-2 sales hires might as well…
Read More
Here’s how the CFO and the VP Sales can get on the same page. This is what most conversations with CFOs and VPs of finance sound like when I talk with them. Me: “So last year you did $X top line, throwing off $Y in EBITDA…” CFO: “Yes.” Me: “Congrats. What does this year look…
Read MoreLEARN MORE ABOUT NORTHWOOD GROUP
Next Steps
Book a free consult to discuss your situation. Or, if you prefer, you can call us at: 512-293-6497.