Colleen’s Blog

Far too many sales teams underperform because they have underperforming sales reps in the team. These sales reps need to be replaced. Additionally, another reason for a sales team's poor performance is that one of the top sales performers left, resulting in a drastic loss. Both of those are issues that sales leaders have to address on a proactive basis.

Most of my clients are in traditional businesses: commodities, manufacturing, aerospace, and finance. Businesses and business reps that have a long history in the market have been successful because of relationships. When you spend 30 years in your territory selling to the same customers and buyers, you have a good relationship with those customers. You see those businesses grow, thrive, and flourish as a result of your work. However, recently, we've been helping some of those clients of mine reposition the way they are thinking about relationships.

Summer is not an excuse to stop selling. You don't have to give in to the idea that there are no sales to be made in July and August.

You may have noticed this interesting trend... Lost deals tend to be the same ones that stagnate during the proposal phase.

If you want to make more sales, you have to think about this. First, understand that we live in an "on demand generation."

Some sales reps give up too easily. That is, they'll reach out twice, perhaps three times to a prospect before throwing in the towel and moving on. 

Sales is one of those professions that often require a heavy travel schedule, so I thought sharing my top 4 travel tips could save you time and help you avoid headaches! After all, showing up tired or even worse, late, can end a meeting before it even starts. And, our energy levels as well as how punctual we are can often depend on our travels. So, without further ado, here are my top 4 travel tips:

I often get asked: what is considered a normal close rate and how do I improve it?

Want to know the very best way to keep the majority of your customer base? Develop a healthy sense of paranoia. That's right, paranoia.

Take the time to analyze how you respond to things, both online and offline. Recently, I posted a new video on cold calling on LinkedIn.