Colleen’s Blog

Millennials in the professional world have been a hot topic for the past few years. It seems every second or third article online discusses how to communicate with them, what they seek in an employer and what gets them operating at their peak potential. It makes sense, with more and more of them piling into the workforce, managers and leaders are trying to get a grasp on how to best handle this generation.

Turnover, specifically sales rep turnover hurts your business. How do I know this? I've worked with clients who have suffered some devastating losses because of sales rep turnover.

Recently, I have been coaching a number of sales leaders in professional services firms. They've all been complaining to me that their teams are complaining about a lack of results with traditional outbound calling techniques.

It's been a long time since I was perturbed about a sales practice. That changed last week at Saks Fifth Avenue with Georgio Armani cosmetics. Congratulations to the brand for forever tarnishing themselves in my mind.

You no longer have an ideal buyer. You have to throw out the notion that there's a single person inside your organization that makes the buying decisions.

I'm rarely lost for words, but this provocative question at last night's Enterprise Sales Forum in NYC caused me to pause for a few minutes: "What does the fact that most sellers don't call themselves "salesperson" say about our clients' perception of us, and what does this mean overall for the future of our profession?"

Are you or members of your sales team having trouble getting past gatekeepers? I've noticed a trend. In my latest workshops and training working with top sales performers, one issue that keeps coming to the surface is how to get past gatekeepers. It's an obvious struggle. If you can't get to the individual who has the power to buy and sign purchase orders and checks, it's going to be a long and tough road to making sales (and that road can very well lead to a dead-end). So, how can salespeople get past gatekeepers? There are three important points that you need to consider:

There comes a point in every sales cycle where you have to present solutions to the client and I often get asked how to do this. Here is my presentation process for you to use.

Last year, I was at an extended leadership team meeting for one of my best clients.  We introduced a quick concept to his sales managers around account management and proper account planning.