Colleen’s Blog

The very best habit I ever developed as a sales rep was this single habit:

This month I spent a day working with a group of world-class data visualization architects. Who even knew there was such a profession! Nor that the best in the world were based in Toronto. Ironically, being Canadian, I have very little business in our nation’s business capital so it was doubly nice to be working with such a smart group so close to home. The learning environment you choose for your events can either be attractive and inspiring, or depressing and repellant. An attractive environment puts everyone at ease, sparks conversation, and creativity. It’s simply more difficult to be closed minded and cranky in a gorgeous environment. Today’s meeting space at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club on Toronto Island was one of the top spaces I have worked in. Lots of natural light, a view of the lake, high-class furnishings, a building steeped in tradition, well-dressed attendees, and of course, away from their offices. The environment definitely made a difference in the culture of the workshop. While we can’t always have meetings at locations such as the RCYC, we can create the best environments for our attendees to learn and communicate. I notice that the best workshop environments (gauged from participant engagement and implementation) include:

I have been spending a lot of time in workshops so far this year and the number one thing sales reps ask me is how you move beyond the pricing objection and here is what I’m discovering.

I'm not ready to stop sharing the Wells Fargo fiasco and what it means for us as professional sellers. Today, we are hearing about sales targets. The average American has 3 accounts at their bank. Wells Fargo decided to set 8 accounts per person as their target. Why 8?

Smaller businesses sometimes don’t have the resources to dramatically increase the size of their sales teams in order to drive more revenue at an accelerated pace. So here is my tip for you.

Let's call a spade a spade. What Wells Fargo did was illegal. They used private customer information to create bogus accounts, forged signatures and authorized charges that customers were not made aware of.  I, for one, am sick of the media and the banks pussy-footing around with their language describing what happened. "Even U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew weighed in on the Wells Fargo scandal, calling it a "wake-up call." "This is unacceptable behavior -- and it's the kind of behavior we need to be able to catch and stop," Lew said on Tuesday at the Delivering Alpha conference in New York." No Lew, it's not unacceptable.  It's illegal. The fines and firings are a good first step, but shouldn't someone be charged with forgery? You stop it by showing the bank that you are not afraid to press charges. Allowing the VP who oversaw the division that committed fraud to 2,000,000 customers to retire quietly with $125 million is not the right message to send.

The scarcest resource for sales professionals at every level is time. So when you hear we've got 10+ hours of actionable tips from the best sales execs in the industry at Inbound Sales Day, you might think that time is better spent on the phone and selling. The thing is, every session we’ve got lined up with world-class sales professionals is laser-focused on saving you time and making you more money. A couple hours spent learning how you can improve your sales process now will pay off in the long run when you see the $$$ rolling in. Here are 7 key takeaways you'll miss if you don't tune in: