Colleen’s Blog

This year has been all about adapting quickly to unexpected events. And yet, the lessons I’ve learned from that experience have me thinking a lot about how we all need to get better at iterating—steadily and wisely—the one place where we can definitely anticipate change: selling.

Salespeople, business leaders, and shareholders thrive on having reliable and realistic sales targets. Without them, you can’t possibly gauge performance. Setting those sales targets, more importantly, hinges on being able to consistently anticipate the future.

We all know that sellers must close more deals in less time to achieve professional success. However, these days, too many skilled salespeople are struggling with deals that are stuck in what seems like perpetual limbo.

Previously, we looked at how important it is to beware of talk traps. Now let's examine the first big step you must take to avoid those costly pitfalls that kill your time and sink deals: learn how to connect with all the right people in your buyer’s decision-making process.

It’s not a coincidence that the word crisis—borrowed from the Ancient Greeks—meant “the turning point in a disease.” You are at a turning point this year against the literal backdrop of a global pandemic, as well as an ensuing lockdown, crashed markets, and racial divides.

Recently, a Canadian colleague of mine needed to travel out-of-country and wanted to purchase medical coverage for COVID-19. I happily referred her to my business insurance broker. But what happened next sure did not go the way either of us had expected.

Selling has changed. Markets have changed. Buyers have changed. Therefore, advice to sellers must change. Sadly, too many training programs have been slow to adapt, and are still teaching skills from "days of yore." Here are the top 5 unprofitable skills that are still floating around:

Recently, I explained that video is the new default in how we connect and do business with others now. It’s been a huge, rapid shift. A recent LinkedIn State of Sales report tells us that more than three-quarters of businesses today are holding video meetings far more than before.

After months of global pandemic responses, including economic shutdowns, everyone has been thrown off balance. The hurt will be here for a while, and as I’ve pointed out in a recent article, resiliency is what you must summon now—not later—to position yourself for the coming recovery.

I want you to think like your competitor. Why? Thinking like your competitor will help you figure out where you're weak and strong in the accounts you’re managing, which can lead to retention and growth activities.