Recessions are inevitable. They are an immutable truth that we all must accept, particularly those of us in the sales profession. Our economy has been incredibly robust for a lengthy stretch of years. You can tell by the sheer number of luxury automobiles that you see every day driving to and from work. Another clear…
The best of the best companies who do sales enablement exceptionally well don’t like to talk about it. They actually consider their sales enablement mastery to be a competitive advantage. They use their sales enablement expertise as part of their recruiting process to attract and hire the most talented sales people out there. Top performing…
“I understand.” This is just one of the many classic lines of dialog in the 1979 movie called: “Being There”. There was an amazing cast in the movie starring Peter Sellers giving his most sublime performance ever. The supporting cast included Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas and Jack Warden. The movie won numerous prestigious awards including:…
BANT is the qualification framework acronym created by IBM in the 1950’s. Virtually every sales person from a brand new sales development rep (SDR) to the grizzled old enterprise sales rep who has been selling for 20+ years is familiar with it and has used it. If for some reason you’ve been under a rock…
Are you losing deals due to a competitor’s feature? I talk to VPs of Sales and sales leaders every day. I’ve been in technology sales for over 25 years and it’s my passion in life. There is nothing that drives me crazier than when I hear a Sales Leader tell me one of their sales…
Why Do We Keep Accepting Failure in B2B Technology Sales? The statistics are sobering and can actually be downright depressing. Well regarded industry analysts keep sharing their research findings on the current state of B2B technology sales…and we’re failing. Badly. According to CSO Insights 2017 World Class Sales Practices Report, only 53% of sales people…
I’m often asked how do you build an effective sales playbook. All too often, my company is brought in after the client has spent considerable time and dollars on a failed sales playbook project. Sometimes the client tries to do it themselves. Other times they engage an outside consulting firm to build a sales playbook…
I had a breakfast meeting with a prominent Venture Capitalist this morning. Our topic of conversation was the state of technology sales. More specifically, how grossly inefficient the technology sales paradigm really is. And unfortunately, it’s only getting worse. Rather than regaling you with the sobering statistics and trends on technology sales performance, I thought…
Words matter. And if you are a sales professional, then they matter a lot. In fact, one word can make the difference between winning a new customer and losing a new customer. Great sales reps spend a lot of time thinking about the words that they will use with their customers. Mediocre sales reps don’t…
My Worst Day in Sales I remember it vividly, as if it were just yesterday. It was my worst day in sales. I had been selling software for 5-6 years at that point in my career. Still had a ton to learn and lots of room to grow as a sales professional. But I was…