Colleen’s Blog

I was interviewed by one of Canada’s national magazines on the University education for sales people, as well as why there weren’t many sales programs offered and what courses should be offered for people who want to pursue sales as a career.

Are you prepared to combat a destructive virus on your team as soon as it shows up? Unlike the cold virus, the negativity virus has no "season" - it can show up in any given month, on any given day and without warning.  Similar to the common cold, however, it can be highly contagious and just one team member infected with this bug can quickly spread the virus to the entire sales team.

,So I work with a lot of companies who aren’t big enough to have both a sales team and a marketing team. And you know what? That’s okay because especially in today’s selling environment, the very best sales people are also really strong marketers.

,I know there are a lot of small businesses and startup businesses that pay attention to my site. Often, they come to me and they say, “Colleen, should I build out my sales team? It seems kind of expensive and cumbersome."

I’ve noticed something about sales managers, companies and even salespeople. They tend to overcomplicate the selling process. Could members of your sales team be falling victim to this trap? There are only four things that you need to do in every single sales process, so keep it simple.

After the 2012 Olympics, Ryan Lochte stated he wanted to be a celebrity. He went on to "star" in a terrible and ill-fated reality show titled "What would Ryan Lochte Do." I think we all know now what he would do. Blame others, and lie about the facts. It goes without saying that you should be honest for honesty's sake. But if you can't muster those morals, at least be honest because you know that you will be caught. There are just too many cameras, too many eye-witnesses, and too much information for you not to be honest these days. You will be found out.

The best salespeople are constantly looking for ways to improve. They are not staying static for extended periods of time because, let’s face it, if you’re not moving forward - you’re moving backwards! There’s almost nothing better than reaching (or exceeding) all of your sales goals for the year. A certain feeling of accomplishment is natural, and should be embraced! However, will you be satisfied if your numbers stay the same next year? Are you doing anything to improve upon your past accomplishments? The answer for many salespeople is no. They often work hard to create temporary success and soon after end up in a worse situation than they were before because they allow temporary accomplishments to hinder their work ethic. Here are two things you can do to improve upon your current success:

We're now well into Q2. Are you ready to help your team accelerate their success? I’ve been working with organizations and helping transform their sales teams for the last year. In all cases, these are companies looking to grow faster than the market and at an accelerated pace than their current growth path. Here are their keys to success: