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Coaching & Training

Recruiting with Gen Z: The Next Class of Sales Professionals

The great Resignation. Realignment. Reshuffling. Whatever you call it there is a lot of movement in sales organizations ...

11 Feb 22

6 min read

By Ray Makela Read More

Coaching & Training

How to Maximize Your Sales ROI

Do you wonder why the most successful sales leaders in your organization reach their goals every quarter? They focus on ...

31 Jan 22

4 min read

By Ray Makela Read More

Coaching & Training

Setting And Achieving Annual Sales Goals for Your Team

Achieving sales goals is an essential part of sales management. While an annual sales goal may be “imposed” on a sales m...

26 Jan 22

5 min read

By Norman Behar Read More

Coaching & Training

Virtual Selling is Here to Stay

It may seem like a lifetime ago, but early in the pandemic people thought “Work from Home” was just a temporary disrupti...

20 Jan 22

4 min read

By David Jacoby Read More

Coaching & Training

The Sales Manager's Playbook for a Winning Team

In the sports world, coaches and managers are evaluated on one metric: winning. In the corporate world, victories are ju...

13 Jan 22

7 min read

By Ray Makela Read More

Coaching & Training

How to Develop Your Sales Team To Be More Customer Driven

Given the number of challenges sales organizations have encountered during the Covid pandemic, it is easy to lose sight ...

6 Jan 22

4 min read

By Norman Behar Read More

Coaching & Training

Our Top 10 Sales Management and Leadership Posts of 2021

It's been quite a year for sales leaders across the country. Before we gaze ahead to 2022, we want to take a quick look ...

22 Dec 21

3 min read

By David Jacoby Read More

Coaching & Training

How to Train Difficult Employees & Salespeople to Break Through

How often do your well-intentioned sales training efforts result in direct pushback or a bit of passive resistance? You ...

14 Dec 21

5 min read

By Ray Makela Read More

Coaching & Training

How to Fix Stalled Opportunities in Your Sales Pipeline

Pipeline management is an ongoing challenge for sales managers. While it may seem that a pipeline with more opportunitie...

10 Dec 21

3 min read

By Norman Behar Read More

Coaching & Training

Managing Enterprise Sales: Quality vs. Quantity

Previously, we discussed why “linearity” doesn’t work when managing enterprise sales opportunities. Selling to the enter...

19 Nov 21

5 min read

By David Jacoby Read More

Coaching & Training

3 Key Skills You Already Have as a Non-Sales Professional

For some people, the word “sales” comes along with its own set of baggage and negative connotations. Your point of refer...

15 Nov 21

6 min read

By Norman Behar Read More

Coaching & Training

The Problem with Linearity in Enterprise Sales Opportunities

Many senior sales leaders are enamored with “linearity”- the concept that the sales process can be broken into monthly, ...

10 Nov 21

4 min read

By David Jacoby Read More

Coaching & Training

Q4 Sales Closing Techniques and Strategies

Willie Sutton, an infamous bank robber, was asked why he robbed banks, and he responded, "Because that's where the money...

29 Oct 21

6 min read

By Ray Makela Read More

Coaching & Training

Selling to the Chief Technology Officer

If you sell technology solutions, you know that meeting with Technology Officers early in the sales process can dramatic...

22 Oct 21

6 min read

By David Jacoby Read More

Coaching & Training

Leveraging Conversation Intelligence to Improve Sales Coaching

In our research report 5 Hallmarks of High-Impact Sales Organizations, we identified sales coaching as the top sales man...

1 Oct 21

5 min read

By Norman Behar Read More

Coaching & Training

Selling to Complex Accounts: Your Customer Coach Relationship Strength

When navigating a large, complex sales opportunity, one of the most important relationships a sales rep can cultivate is...

30 Sep 21

4 min read

By David Jacoby Read More

Coaching & Training

Position Yourself as a Trusted Advisor, Not a Salesperson

“Do you mind if I ask you a few questions to understand your needs better?” This is the go-to line most salespeople use ...

22 Sep 21

5 min read

By David Jacoby Read More

Coaching & Training

Motivating Salespeople in a Hybrid Environment

Many companies are wrestling with the question about what their future work environment looks like as they emerge from C...

17 Sep 21

7 min read

By Ray Makela Read More

Coaching & Training

The Challenge of Overreliance on Sales Stars, and What To Do About It

Many sales organizations have become overly reliant on their top sales performers to achieve their goals. While it is co...

31 Aug 21

5 min read

By Norman Behar Read More

Coaching & Training

How to Establish Credibility with Customers

Inevitably at some point during a sales call, the customer will ask, “Who else have you done this for?” What they’re rea...

24 Aug 21

3 min read

By David Jacoby Read More

Coaching & Training

Accelerate Sales Ramp-Up Time in a Hybrid World For Employees

Blended learning approaches are certainly not new, but given the challenges over the past 18 months, we are seeing many ...

19 Aug 21

7 min read

By Ray Makela Read More

Coaching & Training

The X Factor: 5 Key Qualities to Look for in Sales Trainers

The success of a sales training initiative is based on multiple considerations as noted in my prior blog posts: How to C...

31 Jul 21

5 min read

By Norman Behar Read More

Coaching & Training

How to Get Access to Key Executives

In previous blogs, we discussed how to prepare for a meeting with a key executive (see here and here). But the 800-pound...

26 Jul 21

6 min read

By David Jacoby Read More

Coaching & Training

Empathy in Sales & Why Your Sales Team Should Develop This Skill

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella often speaks of how his career – and his company – have been shaped by empathy. He views it ...

19 Jul 21

7 min read

By Ray Makela Read More

Coaching & Training

Selling to Key Executives: Start with Research

How do you prepare for a meeting with a CXO or other important executive? A friend of mine who is a senior investment ba...

14 Jul 21

7 min read

By David Jacoby Read More

Coaching & Training

How to Choose a Sales Training Partner

Most companies don’t go through the process of hiring a sales training partner very often. When they do, they’re often l...

30 Jun 21

9 min read

By Ray Makela Read More

Coaching & Training

4 Key Factors for Developing a Sales Training Program

When companies experience sales challenges, they often view sales training as the solution. While training can impact sa...

28 Jun 21

5 min read

By Norman Behar Read More

Coaching & Training

How COVID-19 Created a Collaborative Learning Experience Virtually

With in-person, instructor-led training off the table for over a year, companies had to innovate and leverage technology...

14 Jun 21

4 min read

By Norman Behar Read More

Coaching & Training

Psychology of a Successful Salesperson

Here’s a post one of my colleagues recently made on LinkedIn after a long day of prospecting: “Today, I made 114 calls. ...

14 May 21

4 min read

By David Jacoby Read More

Coaching & Training

Student Perspectives on Online, Collaborative Sales Training

The expansion of online, collaborative learning is one of the most exciting evolutions to come out of the challenges of ...

30 Apr 21

5 min read

By Ray Makela Read More

Coaching & Training

Sales Training That Sticks: Five Key Success Factors

Sales organizations continue to invest in sales training but are often challenged when it comes to demonstrating that th...

26 Apr 21

6 min read

By Norman Behar Read More

Coaching & Training

Selling to the Enterprise Customer vs. the SMB Market

One of the biggest challenges for a sales organization is moving upmarket. For example, if you target the small- and med...

21 Apr 21

4 min read

By David Jacoby Read More

Coaching & Training

4 Key Leadership Mindsets for Your Sales Team's Success

Sales leaders often achieved their position based on their individual success and personal attributes. But when their ro...

8 Apr 21

6 min read

By Ray Makela Read More

Coaching & Training

What I Learned Talking to 53 Sales Managers

Last week, I surveyed 53 sales managers, asking them, among other things, what essential skills their top-performing sal...

31 Mar 21

4 min read

By David Jacoby Read More

Coaching & Training

What Ted Lasso Can Teach Us About Leading a Sales Team

“I think that’s what it’s all about: embracing change and being brave.” While this line is very applicable to the events...

27 Mar 21

8 min read

By Ray Makela Read More

Coaching & Training

Improve Pipeline Management & Increase Win Rates

Managing your team’s sales pipeline is both an art and a science – and that’s why it’s one of the most challenging aspec...

18 Mar 21

5 min read

By Norman Behar Read More

Coaching & Training

6 Ways to Encourage Your Customer to Keep Talking

Early in the sales process, typically during discovery, it’s critical to learn as much about your customer’s issues, con...

5 Mar 21

3 min read

By David Jacoby Read More

Coaching & Training

The Sales Manager's Role in Building a High-Performance Team

Hiring isn’t an exact science. Sometimes you think you have identified the perfect sales candidate, and it doesn’t pan o...

26 Feb 21

7 min read

By Ray Makela Read More

Coaching & Training

Selling: It’s Not as Simple as ABC

Sales leaders often express that their sales teams need to close more business. While these leaders may be frustrated wi...

19 Feb 21

5 min read

By Norman Behar Read More

Coaching & Training

You Had a Great Sales Kickoff Meeting – What Now?

The typical in-person Sales Kickoff (SKO) looked very different this year – and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In f...

5 Feb 21

5 min read

By Ray Makela Read More