I ask you, is your sales cycle outdated? I was chatting with the CEO of a midsize organization about the evolution of the sales cycle. Much of her career had been centered on sales. She had helped build the business by bringing in new clients while retaining valued customers. Back then, it was a different game. [...]

What makes a good salesperson? For that matter what is good? Webster’s Dictionary has an entire page of definitions for the word, “good” (That’s good, right?). I’m certain I could ask twenty successful salespeople to define a good salesperson, and come up with another page full of definitions, as well. What is a good salesperson? [...]

This post isn’t about formal business case study writing. There are plenty of articles on how to write an academic case study, here’s one Harvard Business School Case Method in Practice. What this post is about is keeping it simple and to the point. Simple to outline, simple to understand, and simple to write. Writing [...]

Creating a sales presentation isn't going to be perfect. Here's the bottom line: Even the best sales presentation isn't going to land every sale, but a poorly designed presentation can and will lose sales. Everyone who has given a sales presentation has, at one time, walked out of a meeting or ended a call in [...]

Yes, there are things salespeople do that customers hate. However, hate is a strong word. Personally, I can't say I hate salespeople who do these ten things, but when they do them, I'm done. Not only am I done, but I tell others about my unfortunate experience, for example, an HVAC company that came to [...]

I leaned how to overcome sales objections from a customer. Once, on a sales call, when the prospect stated what I took as an objection, I paused. While I attempted to piece together my rebuttal to his objection, the prospect interjected. He told me he'd been in sales most of his life, and he had [...]

How to define your brand begins with the understanding that brand definition should be the product of a well-thought-out unified marketing campaign. A strategy for sharing what an organization stands for. It should include all advertising and marketing media, from collateral material to signs on the building. It shouldn't be left to the consumer to [...]

The other day, I was chatting about creating a marketing plan with a friend. My friend has worked in advertising and marketing for more than 20 years. I asked him how he approached clients who came to him for a marketing plan. He shared several ideas, which I’ll share with you, but something he said [...]

The title should have been "The biggest challenge facing sales in 2025—and what to do about it." But I don't have that much space. Sales is Changing, but Some Challenges Haven't Changed I've been in and around sales for more than 50 years. It's changed. A lot. Unfortunately, it hasn't changed fast enough in some [...]

Here's a story about how to add value to your product. I recall my wife shopping for a new camera. Although she hadn't been shooting lately, she minored in photojournalism and worked in a camera store for several years. I surprised her by sharing research my friend, Josh Humble, had done on new cameras. She [...]