Category: Uncategorized

  • 7/29/2025-Pipeline mgmt, or burnt toast?

    Daily Quote

    “The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.” Arthur Conan Doyle

    SKILL

    Admit it, hearing the term “pipeline management” triggers thoughts of hot fudge sundaes, sunset walks on the beach, and puppies.

    No?

    Whadya mean you’d rather visit your dentist than spend time inside your CRM??

    Pipeline management is as dry as it gets for a seller. Admit it, slinking around inside the guts of your database makes you feel like a plumber (with all due respect…).

    But maybe, just maybe, if you looked at your CRM through the eyes of a detective (and not a plumber), it’d be more interesting.

    There’s money in your pipeline. Be like Sherlock Holmes and find it!

    DO

    Think of your CRM as one big alarm clock…an alarm clock with a 90-day timer. In that light, your CRM is all about the WHEN.

    WHEN is your opportunity in the pipeline going to close?

    Today, craft questions you will ask your customers that qualify the WHEN.

    Try this… “Hey Joe, we’ve been working toward a deal for a few <weeks/months>…by your estimation, when will this deal happen?”

    And this… “When will you know about the when, Joe?” (Don’t let buyers give you ambiguous answers about the timeline of their decision.)

    OOMPH

    If you could only have Sherlock Holmes sit beside you when staring inside your CRM, you’d be done with this pipeline management stuff in no time.

    Who’s your favorite Sherlock? …Robert Downey Jr. …Benedict Cumberbatch?

    It’s Benedict’s turn today to impress you with his deductive reasoning powers in this hilarious Short. (You may wanna use more grace in your buyer qualifying efforts.)

  • 7/28/2025-Who’s NOT my champion buyer?

    Daily Quote

    “Be honest, brutally honest. That is what’s going to maintain relationships.” Lauryn Hill

    SKILL

    How did you get so close with your BFFBs (BFF Buyers)?

    Is it because your kids attend the same school or because you both like the Foo Fighters? …or maybe you’re both fans of Katilin Clark?

    As you continue trying to convert every one of your buyers to “Champion,” understand that shared interests will only get you so far.

    It’s the above-and-beyond value you bring to the buyer and their agenda that gets you into the Champions Suite. Start your Champion development strategy by picking a sticky problem you can help your promising buyer with.

    DO

    This Champion development exercise is easy:

    1. List your running client and A prospect account names.

    2. Review all KDM names on those accounts and nominate those you feel are potential Champions.

    3. ID those individuals by these filters:
    a) Shared interests (table stakes, but a good start),
    b) How can you be of value to them? What specific action can you DO to help these prospective Champs?
    c) What’s their biggest headache that you can help with?

    This will require you to dig deep to understand their personal and professional motivations…and that’s the point.

    OOMPH

    To grow a relationship, sometimes you gotta “give one for free,” as you’ll see Don Draper do for Conrad Hilton in this 2-minute Mad Men clip.

    Initially, Don isn’t happy about bowing to “Connie,” but he understands he has to first give to get.

  • 7/26/2025-Mindfulness/Self Care

    Daily Quote

    “There is something wonderfully bold and liberating about saying yes to our entire imperfect and messy life.” Tara Brach

    SKILL

    If life is messy, as Tara Brach claims, The Sales Life is REALLY messy.

    Whether working on quarterly strategic account plans or plotting an upcoming pitch, your brain is constantly calculating. Every sales scenario and issue is constantly bouncing around in your brain.

    As you attempt to control and configure behaviors and outcomes, you are bombarded with yet more information that joins the cramped and active space between your ears.

    It is an exhausting way to run a week…but today is Saturday, and it’s time to push all that information aside.

    DO

    Sometimes you wake up on Saturday and the info, data, and work stimuli are still coursing through your veins. It’s hard to just shut it off.

    Well, use this downtime to get the week out of your head by journaling. And while you might keep a WINS Journal – regularly espoused by MySalesDay – that’s for all the good stuff that happens to you in The Sales Life, Mondays through Fridays.

    What about the non-work stuff in your life?

    Journaling always offers a valuable perspective on life’s complexities.

    And, journaling is also a reminder that you – and everyone else – are just a dot on our big spinning marble.

    A sobering thought? Yes. But a freeing one, too.

    OOMPH

    You can find many guided meditations by Tara Brach online, but this one is apt for reconciling the weight of the seller’s life.

    Don’t let the title of this meditation fool you. “RAIN” means “Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture.” It is a way to bring mindfulness and compassion to difficult emotions.

    Lots goes on in your head, which means many emotions get generated, too.

  • 7/25/2025-Good luck eliminating objections

    Daily Quote

    “I thrive on obstacles. If I’m told that it can’t be done, then I push harder.” Issa Rae

    SKILL

    Given #1: Every prospect and client who meets with you has a laundry list of obstacles and objections about your offering.

    Given #2: Buyers spend zero time thinking about how to articulate those objections.

    No worries…the good news is you can easily learn to address objections, and minimize them proactively. Your job is not to eliminate buyer objections, it’s merely to shrink them.

    No offering is perfect; no product is without flaws. Your buyers will still buy from you even if your product is not perfect!

    DO

    Today, in your pitch meetings, proactively address objections and obstacles.

    If you’re in a 1:1 meeting, try the surfacing approach: “What part of our offering presents a problem that we have to work through?”

    If you’re in a group meeting, try the seeding method and suggest the objection you know they’re thinking about: “Often, buyers like you have challenges around the blah blah part of our offering…what are your thoughts on that?”

    Whatever you do, don’t let a meeting go by without proactively addressing objections and problems. The longer the buyer sits with their negative perceptions, the lower your chances are of scoring.

    OOMPH

    Solving – or handling – objections takes patience, dexterity, and time.

    None of those skills and traits are displayed in this silly, but classic 2-minute clip from the movie Tommy Boy.

  • 7/24/2025-Your Mgr is rooting for you

    Daily Quote

    “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” Robert Schuller

    SKILL

    Do you twitch when a “call me” text comes in from your Sales Manager?

    Try not to jump to conclusions…it’s probably something easy and simple. Yet, you’re right, they should have written “call me to discuss the ACME account.”

    Remember, you share the responsibility to have good communication with your manager. If you don’t want “call me” texts, explain to your manager why.

    The more you communicate with your manager, the more value you’ll create.

    DO

    Schedule a lunch date with your manager to discuss any tricky strategic issues you’re facing. Tablecloth meals are best for those convos; no Chipotle….too fast, too chaotic.

    Bring your most challenging issues to the meeting, and, of course, pre-notify your manager of your agenda.

    Never drop a pile of dung on your manager’s lap…they’re not good at turning piles into gold. Thus, you need to bring strategic thinking and solution ideas with you to lunch.

    Knock down a few of those meetings each quarter, and you’ll earn the right to hit Chipotle together for informal discussions.
    You’ll benefit when your manager is a strategic partner.

    OOMPH

    You want harmony with your manager….you want a mutually respectful and valuable relationship. Right?

    To get there, you must limit drama and emotion from your relationship…and the work day.

    For perspective on workplace trust, watch Harvard Business School professor Frances Frei in this fantastic TED Talk.

  • 7/23/2025-Stop saying “Thanks for your time.”

    Daily Quote

    “The longer the meeting, the less is accomplished.” Tim Cook

    SKILL

    Be honest: how often do you say “Thanks for your time” to your customers in a typical pitch meeting?

    Your time is as essential as theirs. Gushing with appreciation for their time does not position you as a professional.

    It’s fine to open a meeting with “TFYT,” and maybe use it at meeting close, but that’s it. You’re done. Quota of TWO is reached! Besides, you have much more essential things to do at the end of each pitch meeting.

    Act deserving when you’re in front of your customers.

    DO

    The best way to break a bad habit is to replace it with a good habit.

    Today, practice your meeting close technique.

    Here’s your formula going forward:

    “We’ve achieved a lot today, but obviously we need another meeting.” And then…

    1. Qualify their interest. “What is the most appealing part of what we discussed today?” (After asking, don’t move a muscle – especially the ones in your mouth).

    2. Summarize your value prop and qualify them again, “What about our value prop interests you the most?”

    3. Determine next steps. This includes actions assigned to the customer, e.g. asking for intros inside the org.

    OOMPH

    If you run a tight agenda and manage your time smartly, you’ll minimize what you see in this 2-minute clip showing what attendees really want to say in meetings.

    But yeah, minds wander. And your job is to minimize wandering as much as possible…yours included.

  • 7/22/2025-“Me no afraid of sales angst!”

    Daily Quote

    “Thinking will not overcome fear but action will.” W. Clement Stone

    SKILL

    As a proud seller, you may never say aloud, “I’m afraid of my quota,” or “I’m afraid of dealing with that bully of a buyer.” But that doesn’t mean seller’s angst isn’t a real thing for you at times.

    Numerous issues in The Sales Life can trigger angst: a new manager, hearing whispers about a big quota hike, or even rumblings about a re-org.

    The agita that can be produced is very real.

    Sellers constantly straddle the emotional line between stability and chaos. Glee and frustration. But fighting through big and small fears defines you. And you must learn to fight if you’re gonna work through that angst crap.

    DO

    Instead of playing NYT’s Connections on your break today, try this exercise to help you manage any selling angst that may be residing inside your brain.

    Write down everything and anything that causes your stomach to gurgle.

    Second, write a sentence about their root cause – and weight – to help you define the context of these issues.

    Last: jot down a sentence on how you can control and combat these distractions. And then, focus your energies there.

    If need be, talk to your manager or BFF seller about these gnats flying around your head…communication always helps.

    OOMPH

    Obviously, anxiety is a serious thing.

    There’s the heavy-duty stuff that requires professional consultation, and there’s the seller angst stuff that can inhibit your performance …both can strangle your enjoyment of job and life.

    This TED Talk by Glenn Rolfsen was chosen because it elevates beyond the typical bull you get on the web, a la “11 Tricks to Find Happiness in Your Stressed Out Job.” (“Oh, ok, just be happy…why didn’t I think of that?”)

    Glenn’s main pitch is simple: stop the back-biting at work.

    There’s nothing good that comes from talking negatively behind the backs of your peers, managers, enablement teammates…whomever.

  • 7/21/2025-ASK further…qualify!

    Daily Quote

    “Replace judgment with curiosity.” Lynn Nottage

    SKILL

    The buyer looks up from reviewing your proposal and says, “Yeah, it looks good.” You think to yourself, “…awesome….but wait…WHAT looks good about it?”

    Sooooo…why are you saving that convo between yourself? Ask the buyer.

    Qualify them. Right then and there.

    The buyer continues, “We might move this through the org and see what others think.” Again, you think, “WHO exactly are you gonna send it to?”

    ASK aloud!

    Don’t squander the opportunity to learn what you need to know.

    Speak up! Probe. Push. Quantify.

    If your buyers make statements that need qualification, then qualify them!

    DO

    Today, listen closely to what your buyer says, and immediately decide how generic and ambiguous their answers are.

    Start with this basic move: “Tell me more.”

    If you’ve got that one down, then focus your qualifying questions on clarifying context and weight.

    Context: “I’m glad you like our proposal…what specifically is appealing to you?”

    Weight: “It’s good to hear feedback about that feature you like, how important is it to you?”

    OOMPH

    This entertaining “Questions Only” game from the Whose Line Is It Anyway show brilliantly illustrates the mental dexterity needed to ask questions when you’re in the moment.

    This clip is fun – and funny – and shows how hard it is to stay curious and probe with questions.

    Indeed, your job isn’t to interrogate your customers, but how often do you give up or worse, NOT ask a question you should?

  • 7/19/2025-Mindfulness/Self-care

    Daily Quote

    “Our life is shaped by our mind, for we become what we think.” Siddhartha Gautama

    SKILL

    Some sellers find release at a bar on Friday nights, for others, it’s the gym.

    And some merely want to curl up with their favorite pet and binge-watch Ted Lasso for the second or third time. (Parmesan Goldfish snacks, anyone?)

    The Sales Life is hard, whether you’re pacing way ahead of your quota or not.

    Weekends are essential for wound-licking, breathing, and forgetting the drama…call it “self-care”. (HEY….WHOA….!)

    However you define self-care (sleeping is good, so too are yoga, biking, and hiking), be selfish this weekend and make yourself number one.

    DO

    If you want to run far away from your work and mentally escape, you must do the things that bring you joy and release.

    If watching Apple+ for hours does that for you, great! Do it, and feel no shame.

    If you love listening to an audiobook while walking your dog in the woods, fantastic.

    Decide what brings you the release you need this weekend, and then do it.

    OOMPH

    For some, meditation is the only mindfulness activity that provides the ultimate release and recharge of the soul.

    But have ya ever tried underwater meditation?

    Spend one minute with Chris Hemsworth, and he’ll hilariously walk you through (?) the proper technique.

  • 7/18/2025-On this day, Nadia got a 10

    Daily Quote

    “I don’t run away from a challenge because I am afraid. Instead, I run toward it because the only way to escape fear is to trample it beneath your feet.” Nadia Comăneci

    SKILL

    In 1976, at the age of 14, Nadia Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10.0 at the Olympic Games in Montreal. (Uneven bars, if you’re curious.)

    At the same Games, she received SIX MORE perfect 10s for events en route to winning three gold medals.

    (Standing O, anyone??)

    So why is this important to you, Olympic Athlete Seller?

    Nadia’s accomplishments are a reminder to shoot for 10s.

    Nadia wasn’t competing for average. Neither are you.

    DO

    Nadia was the first gymnast to successfully perform an aerial cartwheel-back handspring series on the balance beam.

    What is your aerial cartwheel-back handspring?

    While you should always focus on “development areas”, don’t forget about your strengths. Today, think about one of your superpowers and plot a way to push it even further. Toward a 10.

    Aspire to be the person your manager turns to when needing a model for that one special skill that everyone else STINKS AT! Not you.

    OOMPH

    By now, you’re curious about what “perfect” looked like in 1976 to the gymnastic judges at the Montreal Games.

    Sit back and enjoy Nadia’s grace, athleticism, strength…and perfection in this highlight clip from her timeless Olympics performance.