Colleen’s Blog

The biggest challenge sales leaders are reporting to me right now is how to get their salespeople in front of buyers. 

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.

Are you underestimating the power of testimonials for your sales?

Are you or members of your sales team having trouble getting past gatekeepers? It's an obvious struggle.

Lately, I have been receiving a number of questions about how sales leaders and organizations can effectively execute virtual sales kickoffs. With government regulations, quarantine restrictions, and city ordinances in place due to the pandemic, sales kickoffs during these difficult times can certainly be a challenge.

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.

Recently, Gartner shared intriguing research to a group of us sales experts. Their research, in particular, reveals that when it comes to highly complex solutions and products in the B2B buying world—we're talking six-figure purchases or more—33 percent of buyers say they prefer to engage in a seller-less transaction.

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.

You no longer have an ideal buyer. You have to throw out the notion that there's a singular contact inside an organization who makes the buying decision.

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.