How Great Sales Managers Develop Future Leaders
As a sales manager, your legacy isn't defined by your personal numbers, the deals you helped close,...
Posts about Leadership & Management
Sales Hiring as a Growth Strategy
Hiring great salespeople has never been more critical—or more challenging. The stakes are high. A...
How to Build a High-Performing Sales Team
Every CEO dreams of a sales team that delivers results seamlessly—hitting targets, closing deals,...
No-Excuse Culture: How to Foster Accountability on Your Sales Team
In sales, the difference between good and great often comes down to one crucial factor: ...
The 90-Day Sales Manager Playbook: How to Start Strong and Succeed
As a new sales manager, your first 90 days will either set you up for success—or create challenges...
Coaching to Reach Decision Makers
It is obvious that more sales will happen if your team starts the conversation with people who have...
Remote Selling In Era of 'Social Distancing'
Here are two videos I posted on LinkedIn as the coronavirus forced salespeople to work remotely.
...
Is the MVP of Your Sales Team like Giannis Antetokounmpo?
Who is the MVP of your sales team? Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where our office is headquartered, happens...
Self Limiting Beliefs in Sales and How to Coach Through Them
One of the common stumbling blocks we see holding salespeople back is self-limiting beliefs that...
Coaching Ruts and How to Get Out of Them
Every sales manager we talk to says, "I coach my team all the time." But their idea of coaching...
Goals-Based Coaching
Do your sales leaders keep it simple when it comes to setting goals for their team? One of the...
What Makes Your Sales Team Likable, Knowledgeable, and Memorable
Salespeople and sales leaders often ask us: "What can I do to stand out?" This is particularly...
Creating a Healthy Coaching Environment in Sales
One of the barriers sales leaders encounter when trying to establish a consistent coaching rhythm...
Wanted – Humble Sales People
One of the challenges when you're hiring salespeople (or coaching them) is the dichotomy between...
Two Great Sales Lessons From the Film Free Solo
A few weeks ago I was flying across the country, and was able to watch the Oscar-winning film Free...
Leveraging Sales Enablement Practices that Drive Performance
How much focus do your sales managers put on conversation speed and tonality when they coach their...
How to Retain High Performing Sales People
Over the years you may have noticed a difficulty in keeping your highest performing sales people on...
Building Your Virtual Bench
As we head into the fourth quarter you should have a pretty clear line of sight on how things are...
Building a Culture of Sales Accountability
When we talk with CEOs about sales accountability at their companies, we usually hear stories about...
Getting Ready for the Final Sales Push of 2016
In early August I wrote an article titled the Dog Days of Summer where I focused on how difficult...
10 Activities Sales Managers Should Focus On
When I talk with CEOs, I often hear them complaining about how their sales managers are always...
What Should CEOs Worry About When Hiring a New Sales Manager?
In last week’s post we talked about growing your company to the point where it makes sense to hire...
Top 5 Mistakes New Sales Managers Make
Is it time to provide some “adult supervision” for your sales people? Has your revenue grown to the...
Why Sales Managers Suck at Hiring Sales People
Are your sales managers using sales recruiting as a growth strategy for your company? Are they...
Are Your Sales Managers Having the Right Coaching Conversations?
Most sales managers believe they’re already having coaching conversations, but when we dig a little...
Is Your Hiring Process Stuck in 2014?
Two years ago there were more candidates available than positions available. It was fun! Hiring...
Driving Growth through Goals-Based Coaching
How much do your managers know about the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of every member on their...
Is This Sales Blind Spot Impacting Your High Performers?
Busy, highly-productive sales people move at a different pace. They generate more activity. They...
What UNC Coach Dean Smith Taught Us About Sales Metrics
Legendary University of North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith died on Saturday. Sales...
Coaching Rhythm and Texting While Driving
My last post talked about the challenges of teaching my middle daughter, who recently got her...
How Much To Budget For Sales Training
If you’re on a calendar year, your VP of Sales is probably preparing their budget for next year....
Qualities Of An Over-Achieving Sales Team
With so many business issues and challenges beyond your control, Presidents, CEOs, and business...
Using Sales Role Play To Spot Trends
One of the areas we focus on during our sales development programs is skills improvement through...
Right Revenue vs. Wrong Revenue - Do Your Sales People Know The Difference?
Not all revenue is created equal. Believe it or not, there is such a thing as “bad revenue” and it...
How To Get Sales And Operations To Get Along
How many “customer facing” team members do you have in your company?
Why Managers Struggle When Holding People Accountable
Creating a “Culture of Accountability” is the cornerstone of building an over-achieving sales...
Improve Results By Investing A Day To Plan
This week the Intelligent Conversations team is taking a full day out of the office to evaluate...
When Sales People Give Up Too Early or Celebrate Too Soon
The beauty of having an effective sales process is that it creates a level of consistency and...
High Performing Sales People - How to Identify And Keep Them
High performing sales people are customer centric and have the ability to execute and produce...
Slowing Down May Help Increase Revenue and Deal Velocity
In this fast paced world, a lot of sales teams have a high-speed mentality. But it turns out that...
Planning For 2014: 5 Things CEOs Must Focus On To Improve Sales
It’s the time of year when we take stock of where we are, and make plans for where we want to go....
6 Questions Your Sales Managers Hope You Won't Ask...
...About Their Sales Forecasts and Pipeline Reports
Many CEOs we work with either don't pay close...
Coaching Drives Greater "Sales-Awareness" and Stronger Results
"What would happen to your revenue and profit margin if your sales organization became a...
Building a Profitable Sales Process - Qualify the Opportunity
Here's a radical idea - let's have your sales team qualify opportunities before you prepare a...
Building a Profitable Sales Process - Make Every Appointment Count
All of the work your sales people are doing at the front of the sales process (identifying the...
Building a Profitable Sales Process - Making Initial Contact
Continuing our series on 10 Steps to Building a Profitable Sales Process, this post will address...
Building a Profitable Sales Process - Know Your Target
The first step in building a profitable sales process is to decide where to focus the prospecting...
5 Difficult Questions You Need to Ask About Your Sales Team
If you had the opportunity to really study your sales organization - to take a very diagnostic...
Are Your Boring Sales Meetings Driving Growth and Change?
How effective are your sales managers at running a good sales meeting? How engaged are your top ...