The Importance of Key Performance Indicators in Measuring Sales Success
Too often when looking at a sales team’s success, managers only look at the actual sales (the closing of the business). Of course, this is important—but the sale is a …
Rethinking the Sales Process (or how a guy named Fred helped me rethink the way I do business)
I am always happy when I read feedback from clients who share with me their stories of how they’ve turned their own sales records around after participating at one of …
Your Sales Pipeline is NOT Your Sales Forecast
Understanding that no two sales pipelines are exactly the same, there’s a general flow that most follow. Typically, pipeline models start with discovery, prequalification and qualification, before they move on …
Top Sales Trend for this Year: Are You Building Strong Buyer Communities?
If you’ve been working with me actively in the last year, you’ll know that I spent a lot of time focusing on how (and why) the long-standing sales process paradigm …
What Can the Sales World Learn from Last Year
We’re three months into the New Year, so most businesses have turned their attention to the challenges (and opportunities!) that this year will inevitably present. And why not? Whether you …
Growth Strategies: How to Decide Which Customers are Up-sell and Cross-Sell Worthy
In one of my recent articles, I wrote about why up-selling and cross-selling to your existing customer base — rather than focusing most (or all) of your attention on new …
Growth Strategies: Why Up-Selling and Cross-Selling Provides the Path of Least Resistance
As my most loyal readers and customers know, I’m a huge fan of and believer in retaining and growing a business’s current customers. Then again, who isn’t? Yes, new customer …
Trust is Not Enough
For many years, developing trust and rapport was considered the hallmark of a great sales process. Driving sales required exposing your sales team to a maximum number of prospects and …
Understanding the New Sales Process
Welcome to a new year! One that I think demands a new understanding of how we sell, and how buyers are buying. In recent years, buyers in the sales process …
A Pragmatic Way of Asking for Referrals
Getting your sales team to ask for referrals can be a challenging process in and of itself. As we have discussed in a previous article, sales reps often avoid asking …
The Power of Referrals
At a recent conference, I was presenting at a session with sales managers and business owners, and the topic of referrals came up. The sales leaders in the room expressed …
Stepping into the Sales Trap: Sales Mistakes that Cause Serious Pipeline Havoc
An interview of Colleen Francis by Josh Zywien Sales expert and entrepreneur Colleen Francis hates to be a Debbie Downer, but she has a warning for expansion-stage companies whose sales …
