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...
Posts about Professional Development
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...
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...
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...
10 Activities Sales Managers Should Focus On
When I talk with CEOs, I often hear them complaining about how their sales managers are always...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Qualities Of An Over-Achieving Sales Team
With so many business issues and challenges beyond your control, Presidents, CEOs, and business...
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...
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...
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...