Category: Sales

Every organization, team and professional interacts with customers or clients, whether they are current, future or potential. At the heart of every successful business is a mission focused on meeting the evolving needs of these key relationships. For many leaders their career achievements are tied to helping their long-term customers…

Closing a sale is often the most challenging—and rewarding—part of work. Whether you’re sealing the deal on a product to a customer, pitching a service to a potential client or persuading leaders and peers to adopt your ideas, the ability to close effectively is a critical skill.  But closing a…

In a previous post (Sales Management Software Considerations), I discussed the basics of sales management software.  As noted, there are many “must-have” benefits to such a system, not the least of which is something called pipeline management, or sales forecasting. Pre-CRM, sales forecasting was somewhat of an impossible exercise. At…

When I moved into sales management 20 years ago, the #1 rule preached in management class was: “Inspect what you expect.”  Which, back then, was easier said than done.  It required detailed review of every salesperson’s paper call reports, quotes and sales reports.  From there I would “back into” the…

In my two other posts (Sales Management Software and Sales Pipeline management), I referenced processes — reinforcing the fact that sales is a process and not a magic art only imparted to the gifted few.  This post details that process further. If you’ve witnessed the construction of a house or…

Simply said: sales are tough business. One mistake can cost you a commission, a customer and tarnish the company image. Errors cannot be completely avoided, but a self-aware sales team can minimize the impact by preventing as many as possible and dealing with the rest. Follow these tips to avoid…