CEO Sales Guide | Intelligent Conversations (2)

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 this...

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 to...

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 it...

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 grows...

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...