This article is not about whether it’s important to have a playbook…it’s important. If you don’t have one, do your company a big favor and take the time to get it done. Rather, this article is about what is sometimes missing from playbooks which is crucial for getting...
Let's be blunt: most sales voicemails sound like someone reading the back of a cereal box… at gunpoint. You've probably received those robotic, jargon-filled messages yourself. You don't return them. You roll your eyes as you delete them. You pity the CEO who actually...
For many, fourth quarter can be a time to reflect on decisions made over the last year. What worked, what didn’t? What to continue doing to meet your goals and what to stop doing? As you may be embarking on this kind of reflection as well, I thought it would be...
Action Plan for Business Leaders This Year This year's Enterprising Women Conference was buzzing with talk about massive policy shifts affecting businesses across the board. Business leaders are feeling the pressure- revenue targets are harder to hit, margins are...
April marks the anniversary of my dad’s passing. I think often about the ways he influenced me over the years. He owned his own business and was in sales for most of his entire career. One of my favorite stories about him takes place early in his career when he was...
FOMO is an acronym for Fear Of Missing Out. This term, popular amongst college students, applies to adults too. It is the feeling that even though the calendar is full of important events and responsibilities, there’s something else more enticing, more urgent, that...
It was 4pm on a Thursday and I was sitting in my car outside Starbucks. It had been one of those days. You’ve probably had one like this too. Phone call followed by phone call followed by meetings and then more phone calls. I had one more call to go. One call standing...
It sounds like a no-brainer, doesn’t it? We personalize our conversations all day long with the people we know. It comes to us as naturally as reaching for our first cup of coffee in the morning. Yet, in all my years of selling and coaching others to sell,...
During a prospect meeting, it’s not just about asking the right questions. It’s also about asking the right questions at the right time. One of our Door Openers accompanied a client’s salesperson on a meeting to evaluate how well the salesperson did eliciting...
When business leaders or salespeople hear prospects say, “I already have a contract for that, thanks anyway” they too often think there is no opportunity. They hang up, cross the prospect off the list, and never contact the prospect again. Big mistake! They are...
A seminar attendee once said, “If a prospect cancels a meeting, it obviously means the prospect is not interested. Further, if the meeting is rescheduled and the prospect cancels again, the prospect is not only uninterested, but also rude and unworthy of my...
It's not easy to get a meeting with a decision maker. So when you have one, it had better go well! Have you ever finished a meeting and wished you achieved a better outcome, gotten further into the discussion or secured better next steps? We call this "the valuable...