Avoid Job Posting Clichés
Intelligent Conversations is not a salesperson recruiting company. We teach companies a different...
CEO Sales Guide
Helpful resource for Presidents, CEOs, and Business Owners to understand the people, systems and strategies that impact sales and business growth
The Importance of Questions
Just as salespeople can easily get wrapped around the gears of talking about features and benefits,...
Coaching to Reach Decision Makers
It is obvious that more sales will happen if your team starts the conversation with people who have...
Psyched to Sell
How excited is your sales team? How passionate are they about your product or service? There's...
Cost Per Opportunity
As the old saying goes, management gets what management measures. What would happen if you put some...
Sales Process Vs. Sales Methodology
How consistent is your sales process? Does every sales person understand what they need to do to...
Re-framing Pricing Conversations
Salespeople run into many common challenges and a difficult one to artfully overcome is the pricing...
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...
Creating a Client Scorecard
We have been working with a lot of our middle market clients lately on implementing or refining...
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...
Living in the Land of Ahs
One of the things that absolutely destroys sales is when the buyer perceives a lack of confidence...
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...
How Many All-Stars Do You Have on Your Sales Team?
The NBA All-Star game is upon us and it should be a great display of athleticism. Some argue that...
5 Old School Sales Habits of High Performers
I have the privilege every week of coaching and working with high performing sales people. I also...
Everything you want to know about sales compensation, but were afraid to ask
For companies who operate on a calendar year, now is the time when sales leaders are asked to...
It’s Sales, There Are No Participation Medals
New data from Objective Management Group (OMG) suggests that while the top 10% of millennials are...
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...
Where Should CEOs Invest Their Sales Training Dollars?
A question that I often hear when speaking with CEOs is where should they invest in training? When...
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...
Why Hiring Only for Skill Leads to High Turnover
When we talk with hiring managers, the number one thing they tell us they are looking for is...
Dog Days of Summer
Are you accepting excuses from your sales team during the dog days of summer? When the weather...
Is Your Hiring Process Stuck in 2014?
Two years ago there were more candidates available than positions available. It was fun! Hiring...
Questions Your Sales Leaders Should Ask Halfway Through the Year
Yesterday marked the end of June, which means if your company runs on a calendar year you've hit...
Are Your Sales Managers Acting Like Tony Soprano?
Paulie: “Here you go Tony. I know my envelope has been a little light these
past few weeks, so...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...
Keeping Your Sales Team Focused through Goals-Based Coaching
As a follow up to our recent post “Is Your Sales Forecast Giving You a False Sense of Security” I...
Wisconsin CEOs: Lessons Your Sales Team Should Learn from the Packer’s Stunning Defeat
I’m still shocked. The collapse I witnessed during the NFC Championship Game on Sunday is going...
Is Your Sales Forecast Giving You A False Sense of Security?
How many people in your sales department would enthusiastically endorse your Customer Relationship...
What Can CEOs and Sales Leaders Learn from Barry Alvarez?
Many of you may not be following the recent developments on the University of Wisconsin football...
Looking Back to Look Forward – Six Exercises to Help Develop Your 2015 Sales Plan
This is usually the time of year when I write a “Year End Sales Strategies” blog post outlining...
Coaching Rhythm and Texting While Driving
My last post talked about the challenges of teaching my middle daughter, who recently got her...
What Do Driving Instruction and Sales Coaching Have in Common?
My middle daughter just got her learners permit, so I’ve been spending a lot of terrifying time in...
Is Your Sales Organization Ready For Topgrading?
If your leadership team understands that the Company’s most valuable asset is its people then the...
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...
Driving Sustainable Sales Growth through Employee Engagement
Take a moment to think about your top employees. Not just your leadership team – although you may...
5 Steps to Hiring Your Best Salesperson
Making the decision to hire a new sales person can be the hardest part of the process. Once you...
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...
How to Get Sustained Sales Growth Over Time
Ask anyone in your sales departments if they’d rather have 10 appointments they booked themselves...
How To Get Sales And Operations To Get Along
How many “customer facing” team members do you have in your company?
A-Player Only Strategy: When Improving Sales Impacts Other Areas Of Your Business
What happens when you hire and develop A-player sales people and sales leaders? 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...
Prospecting for Sales Appointments Is Not Dead
Inbound marketing is a wonderful tool. We have added material regarding how to handle inbound...
Ask Questions to Ensure Your Sales Team is Slowing Down
Last week we took a look at how you and your sales teams can improve on their effective listening...
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...
A Practical Story About Effective Sales Listening
I’d like to share a personal sales story to illustrate an issue we often see in our coaching...
Why Your Sales People Fail to Listen Effectively
I love this cartoon because it is so true. The more you listen the more you sell. How effective...
Are Your Sales People Selling Beyond Their Comfort Zone?
In our consulting practice, we’ve been running a lot of “must win” deal workshops with our...
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 – Client Onboarding
In our previous article in this series on Building a Profitable Sales Process, we discussed the...
Building a Profitable Sales Process - Asking for the Business
Continuing our series on Building a Profitable Sales Process, this post will address step 9 -...
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 - The Right List
If you have been reading our series of articles on "Building a Profitable Sales Process" and have...
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...
10 Steps to Building a Profitable Sales Process
Nearly every CEO we meet with struggles when we ask "Tell us about your sales process." If you...
Four Ideas to Shorten Your Sales Cycles and Keep Things on Track
One of the more common frustrations I hear when talking with Presidents, CEOs and Business Owners...
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 ...
Creating a Culture of Accountability for Your Sales Team
Are your sales managers doing everything they can to create a culture of accountability for your...
What is the Most Important Step in the Sales Hiring Process?
The most important step in the sales hiring process is not writing the perfect ad so you attract...
You Will Definitely Miss Your Sales Target This Year!
Did you hit your sales forecast right on the nose last year?Are your powers of predictive...
Does Your Sales Team Have Consultative Selling Skills?
Our last article discussed how sales has changed over the past few years, why selling is so much...
Is Selling More Difficult Today?
If you’re like many of the CEOs, Business Owners and Presidents we work with, one of your key...
Do You Have the Right Sales People?
Getting the right sales people on your team and getting them to focus on the right activities can...
Free Sales Seminar - The Ultimate Sales Call
There are only a few seats remaining for our upcoming free seminar, "The Ultimate Sales Call, Five...
Harvard Study Explains Why Sales People Talk Too Much
An article in today's Wall Street Journal caught my eye, "Science Reveals Why We Brag So Much." ...
Top 5 Mistakes Your VP of Sales Makes at Trade Shows
If you are the person who signs the checks (the President, CEO or business owner) for all of the...
Sales Leap Every Year!
What would your revenue look like if your sales team had one extra day to sell every year? This...
Sales Vision - Gap Between What Is/What Could Be
Here's another excellent Ted Talk with an important lesson for your sales team. In this 18-minute...
Sales Focus - The $2,000 Cup of Coffee
My friend and client Bob Scherer took an exercise I had given to his sales team one step further...
Focus on Sales Process, Not Outcomes
I recently finished reading Moneyball by Michael Lewis (I still look forward to watching the...
Fast Start - Getting Your Sales Team Set for Strong 2012
Most of our clients have longer sales cycles, ranging from 2 to 3 months up to 6 months or...