I work with some organizations that do a pretty good job at providing leadership training for their managers. Unfortunately, it is rare to see organizations do the same with their sales leadership team. While many leadership skills and ideas are transferable to sales, from my experience, there are special concerns and challenges that are different […]
Fleeting…in the big scheme of things, that is an apt description of our lives. That point has been made abundantly clear to me in the past week. I got news that a friend from college died unexpectedly. Then two days later, another friend’s wife passed away. With the burden of loss, I’ve been giving extra […]
In Part 1 of this article, I asked you to do some serious self-reflection. The goal was to concentrate on the “who” and the “how” first. Who are you? And how do you currently employ your coaching duties? In other words, what do you bring to the table as a sales coach? If you were […]
I work with a lot of sales leaders. Having been one in a previous life, I realize the challenges and the rewards that come with the job. I’ve commented many times in the past that managing salespeople is a bit like herding cats. On any given day, it can be exasperating and a bit challenging. […]
Sometimes we are our own worst enemies. Perhaps you can relate: You plan to exercise before work, but it’s cold outside and you hit the snooze button instead. You hope to lose a few of your winter pounds, but in the grocery store, you grab that bag of chips (or cookies). You get into the […]
In the past month, I’ve been talking to my clients about the latest trends I see in the area of sales and marketing. One of these trends is the “integration” of content marketing and sales as a way to strategically get new customers and retain existing ones. Are you keeping up with the times? While […]
We are bombarded with the hype over New Year’s Resolutions this time of year. And most of us will go through the motions with the understanding that once again, we will lose focus, feel like a loser and repeat the process all over again next year. It’s the perfect definition of “insanity,” right? (i.e. to […]
Pushiness is not sexy. Are you scaring your prospects away with unwanted sales pressure? In my many years as a Director of Sales, and then later as a sales trainer and coach; one principle has always been front and center with my approach – you need to eliminate sales pressure. In the old days (yes, […]
I was looking over an old workbook that I created for a client today. The specific section I was reviewing was on how to improve communication across generational lines. As I read the material, I was struck by how my own advice flies in direct contrast to what I’ve observed lately on social media as […]
It’s a huge opportunity. You’ve spent hours and hours preparing to deliver a presentation at your industry conference. Will this set you up as an expert and lead to lots of business opportunities? Or will this just be a big time-suck that distracts you from other important work tasks? The answer to these questions lies […]
