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This week, elevate your nonprofit leadership with insights from Mike Kenny. Discover the essential behaviors and strategies necessary for running a nonprofit like a successful business.

Join Mike Montague and Dr. Eli Jones in highlighting how commonalities can lead to a more collaborative and engaged workforce on this How to Succeed episode.

Join us on the latest How to Succeed podcast as we dive into the ever-evolving world of AI and sales with Jordan Ledwein.

In early summer 2023, the Sandler Research Center fielded a survey to measure current responses to a number of questions of interest to sales leaders.

Since the landscape of learning and development is transforming due to AI and language models, Sandler believes that those who understand and embrace these technologies will get ahead and stay ahead in the ongoing race for innovation, growth, and market share.

To help salespeople wrap up 2023 to best serve their clients/customers, Tim Roberts shares these three key takeaways for selling in an AI world.

We at Sandler are excited to announce that our commitment to this essential strategy has been recognized: we have been named one of the Top Virtual Sales Training Companies in 2023 by Selling Power.

So, you're thinking of building your own sales training program? Let's talk about the numbers and logistics of putting it all together.

In this episode hosted by Mike Montague, VP of Community Engagement at Sandler, discover the game-changing impact of Personality AI in sales. We dive deep into conversations with Amarpreet Kalkat, the CEO of Humantic AI, Sandler's AI partner.

Emily Reggia, Sandler's enterprise marketing manager, joins us at Inbound to share her expertise and insights on keeping the customer at the heart of our business.

The rise of collaborative learning has brought the next evolution of the Sandler Selling System, and we are excited to introduce it through a more dynamic and interactive learning environment we call the Sales Development Series.

Sandler has been driving the conversation around sales intelligence this year to provide insights into how AI can revolutionize sales techniques, boost efficiency, and reshape the future.

Are you ready to revolutionize your approach to sales training? Lisa Ellis, the Head of Product at Sandler, joins the podcast to explore the transformative power of collaborative learning in modern education and sales training.

Listen to this episode to learn how to succeed at repeatedly uncovering your buyers' pain points by adopting the "doctor" mindset and mastering the pain funnel process.

Tune in to this episode to discover the benefits of AI coaching in unlocking your full potential with Meg Price, co-founder and director of Noa Coach. Find out how AI can provide guidance and support in your personal and professional growth.

Jay Schwedelson discusses the world of effective email marketing and importance of an impactful subject line for the power it holds on your emails.

Prepare to revolutionize your understanding of customer education as we sit down with Courtney Sembler, Director of the HubSpot Academy.

Astonishing advances in information technology have made big headlines recently- are good salespeople now, or will they ever be, irrelevant?

In this episode, Collin Mitchell, VP of Sales at Lithium and host of the Sales Transformation Podcast, joins the show to talk about the power of selling to the person and not the persona.

Did you know you can tell ChatGPT, the reigning large-language-model AI resource, to radically simplify any written content… by issuing the command “ELI5”?

By aligning sales and marketing efforts, organizations can benefit from increased efficiency, improved lead quality, higher conversion rates, better customer targeting, fewer wasted efforts, and ultimately, increased revenue.

AI will not replace salespeople... but AI-empowered salespeople will replace those salespeople who choose not to embrace the future of selling.

In this episode, Jordan Ledwein will join us to share the most effective way in revolutionizing the sales industry by harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence and cutting-edge sales technology.

Some people refer to this trend as the AI revolution, but I prefer to call it Accelerated Digital Transformation. That’s a label that covers a lot of territory, I know, but there’s a lot going on right now, and a big label seems to fit what we’re dealing with.

Looking for a way to create an engaging and effective product demo? Look no further than a story-led demo! In this episode of the How to Succeed Podcast, Nick Capozzi will join us to discuss the power of story-led demos and how they can help you succeed.

This year, we're hosting the 2023 Sandler Summit at the beautiful Rosen Centre in Orlando, Florida. We hope you and your colleagues will join us for two days of intensive world-class training and high-energy networking with like-minded business professionals from around the world.

In the latest Sales Mastery study published by Sandler, researchers Barry Trailer and Jim Dickie uncover insights into sales performance across hundreds of organizations.

In the 2022 Sales Mastery study, researchers Barry Trailer and Jim Dickie examine the latest in sales challenges. Their findings uncover actionable solutions any organization can implement to improve processes and up success rates.

As part of the SPS study, we integrated many of the questions asked in the previous AI-for-Sales studies. This year we found that 16% of the firms surveyed reported they have implemented/are implementing some AI capabilities into their sales tech stack.

With deals won reaching 51%, the highest recorded rate as reported by the 2022 Sales Performance Scorecard by Sales Mastery, it is clear many organizations are tapping into a secret weapon in performance improvement. So, wherein lies the secret? Sales Mastery researchers Barry Trailer and Jim Dickie determine several strategies to improve your probability of winning by meeting challenges head-on with a formal approach.

Many sales leaders have a skill gap when it comes to coaching members of the sales team. Bridging that gap requires addressing a critical question.

The Sandler Summit is a powerful two-day hybrid event where successful business professionals across all industries learn, collaborate, and network.

Mike Montague interviews Jody Williamson, Sandler trainer and author from Chicago, on How to Succeed at Finding Unrecognized Pain.

Mike Montague interviews Kevin Hallenbeck on How to Succeed at Sales Certification.

Sales coaching is the process of developing and mentoring a salesperson through one-on-one relationships with a manager or peer.

In Sandler, we have identified three elements that are required for success in selling we call it B.A.T.

Mike Montague interviews Sophia Stone on How to Succeed at Experiential Learning.

Mike Montague interviews Emily Yepes on How to Succeed Through Supply Chain Challenges.

Many mentors (and mentees) resist asking an all-important question about the sales leader’s role: “Where are things most likely to go wrong?” And the answer is: “Wherever people are assuming that they already have all the answers.”

The Sandler Research Center surveyed sales leaders and sales managers in Q4 2020 to gauge the impact of the global pandemic on sales processes and operations across a variety of industries.

One of the big questions we are hearing from clients these days is this one: We’ve finally begun to turn the corner … so how do we sustain our organization’s sales momentum in a time of uncertainty?

George Carlin did a bit once about words that included the phrase, “it’s the context that makes them good or bad.” The bit *hasn’t* aged well, but his words are prescient when it comes to techniques learned in training.

Since 2017, Wilcox & Associates has awarded scholarships to Northern Indiana Non-Profit Organizations, providing them with training and skills in sales, management leadership and organizational excellence.  In this post, we introduce Amanda Ceravalo with YMCA of North Central Indiana. 

Mike Montague interviews Brian Jackson, Sandler trainer from San Diego, on How to Succeed at Leading a Diverse Team.

Mike Montague interviews the Email Marketing Heroes, Rob, and Kennedy, on How to Succeed at Email Marketing. They are the founders of ResponseSuite for survey-based email marketing, hosts of the Email Marketing Show podcast, and course creators who help DIY marketers learn how to concur email marketing.

This year, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the book, Dave will revisit each of the original 49 Sandler Rules and give updated takes on their relevance to salespeople and sales leaders.

For as long as there have been salespeople, there has been data to analyze about the process they use to bring in business.

This year, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the book, Dave will revisit each of the original 49 Sandler Rules and give updated takes on their relevance to salespeople and sales leaders.

Training Industry, one of the most trusted and respected sources of information on the business of learning, recently selected Sandler Training as one of the top 20 sales training companies. This selection marks the eleventh consecutive year that Sandler Training has been so honored.

David Mattson, President and CEO of Sandler Training and 6-time Author, talks about his Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek best-selling book, The Sandler Rules: 49 Timeless Selling Principles and How to Apply Them.

We learned a lot from each other at this year’s event. Here are my three big takeaways from the 2020 Sandler Annual Sales & Leadership Summit.

Mike Montague interviews Ron Emma on How to Succeed at Taking Sandler Training. In this episode:

Mike Montague interviews Tim Priebe, Founder of T&S Online Marketing, on How to Succeed at Using Books as a Sales Tool.

David Mattson, President and CEO of Sandler Training and 6-time Author, talks about his Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek best-selling book, The Sandler Rules: 49 Timeless Selling Principles and How to Apply Them.

Mike Montague interviews Jurgen Strauss, marketing innovator and host of the Innovabuzz podcast, on How to Succeed at Marketing to Your Ideal Client In this episode:

This year, on Fridays, Dave talks about the attitude, behavior, and techniques of successful sales managers as he shares his thoughts on the 49 Sandler Rules for Sales Leaders.

The 2020 Summit will be held March 4-6 at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Florida. Here are three reasons you should book your slot today.

Mike Montague interviews Carlos Garrido on How to Succeed at Asking for Referrals In this episode:

• Why do we struggle to ask for referrals?
• Attitudes to help you get business from referrals
• Give referrals to get referrals

Mike Montague interviews James Abraham on How to Succeed at Dealing with Uncertainty.

Listen Time: 20 Minutes

This year, on Fridays, Dave talks about the attitude, behavior, and techniques of successful sales managers as he shares his thoughts on the 49 Sandler Rules for Sales Leaders.

Listen Time: 7 Minutes

This year, on Fridays, Dave talks about the attitude, behavior, and techniques of successful sales managers as he shares his thoughts on the 49 Sandler Rules for Sales Leaders.

Listen Time: 8 Minutes

This year, on Fridays, Dave talks about the attitude, behavior, and techniques of successful sales managers as he shares his thoughts on the 49 Sandler Rules for Sales Leaders.

Listen Time: 11 Minutes

Retail champions, the subject of my book RETAIL SUCCESS IN AN ONLINE WORLD, outlines not only how to connect with customers face-to-face but also a long-term engagement strategy for after the customer leaves the store. 

Read Time: 6 Minutes

One of the things I talk about often with sales leaders who are eager to maximize their team’s performance is the principle of reinforcement. All too often, we think of training for salespeople as a one-and-done initiative, as something we can check off a list once the "training" event is over and consider finished. Actually, the training we have invested in is next to worthless if it is not reinforced over time, incorporated as a personal priority, and made an ongoing topic for discussion within a personalized sales coaching plan. Reinforcement is thus one of the neglected secrets of effective sales leadership.

Summer Solomonsen is Head of Cornerstone Studios at Cornerstone OnDemand, Sandler's Microlearning partner. Cornerstone and Sandler have partnered to deliver the world-famous Sandler Selling System in a proven Microlearning format. 

This year, on Fridays, Dave talks about the attitude, behavior, and techniques of successful sales managers as he shares his thoughts on the 49 Sandler Rules for Sales Leaders.

Listen Time: 12 Minutes

Wendy Gates Corbet, President of Refresher Training, speaker, and former global board member of ATD (Association for Talent Development), shows you how to succeed with the attitudes, behaviors, and techniques needed to be more successful at creating and delivering training programs in your organization. Get the best practices for training collected from around the world.

Listen Time: 23 Minutes

Greg Nanigian, Sandler trainer, shows you how to succeed with the attitudes, behaviors, and techniques needed to be more successful at find your prospect's pain, a compelling, emotional reason to change. Get the best practices collected from around the world.

Listen Time: 31 Minutes

This year, on Fridays, Dave talks about the attitude, behavior, and techniques of successful sales managers as he shares his thoughts on the 49 Sandler Rules for Sales Leaders.

Listen Time: 10 Minutes

Linc Miller, Sandler trainer, shows you how to succeed at the connection with prospects through the attitudes, behaviors, and techniques needed to be more successful in sales. Get the best practices collected from around the world for bonding and rapport in sales.

Learn how the Sandler Enterprise Selling Program can help you win, grow, and retain enterprise accounts from Vice President of Sandler Enterprise Selling, Brian Sullivan. 

Watch Time: 3 Minutes

Coaching Individual Salespeople with Suzie Andrews: Suzie Andrews, Sandler Trainer, and Mike Montague, VP of Online Learning, take your questions about coaching salespeople live on Facebook.

Watch Time: 56 Minutes

Justin Stephens, Sandler trainer, shows you how to succeed at following up with prospects with the attitudes, behaviors, and techniques needed to be more successful in sales. Get the best practices collected from around the world for following up.

Listen Time: 20 Minutes

When it comes to sales, failure can be pretty painful to the bank account.  So, how can you turn sales failures into success?  In this Sales Tip, Christie Bowen, Director of Training for Wilcox & Associates, describes what she learned from one of her earliest sales failures and what she did about it. 

Get weekly sales tips you can actually use.  Learn More

Do you understand all the the sales accountability platform has to offer? Learn all you need to know all you need to know about the competitions tab in the system.

Watch Time: 3 Minutes

If you are a Sandler client, and you’ve never attended a Summit, let me share four powerful reasons to consider joining us in Florida March 20-22.

Read Time: 5 Minutes

David Mattson, President and CEO of Sandler Training and 6-Time Best-Selling Author, talks about his fifth book, Sandler Rules for Sales Leaders. The book is on sale here, as well as, the companion video course. 

Listen Time: 11 Minutes 

Learn how to overcome self-limiting beliefs with Antonio Garrido.

Watch Time: 56 Minutes

Jim Ayraud, Sandler trainer and co-creator of www.SalesAccountability.com, shows you how to succeed with the attitudes, behaviors, and techniques needed to be more successful at maximizing your time invested. Get the best practices collected from around the world.

Listen Time: 29 Minutes

David Mattson, President and CEO of Sandler Training and 6-Time Best-Selling Author, talks about his fifth book, Sandler Rules for Sales Leaders. The book is on sale here, as well as, the companion video course.

Listen Time: 10 Minutes

One important principle that resonates with all the other elements of the Sandler system is “Follow Through.”

Kevin Leung, Sandler client and Salesperson of the Years, shows you how to succeed with the attitudes, behaviors, and techniques needed to be more successful in sales. Get the best practices collected from around the world.

Listen Time: 20 Minutes

Antonio Garrido, Sandler trainer and author of Asking Questions the Sandler Way, joins us to talk about the attitude, behaviors, and techniques of building better habits. Learn how to find and replace negative habits with better ones that lead to more success and better productivity. Get the best practices collected from around the world.

David Mattson, President and CEO of Sandler Training, talks about how to introduce a manager or another team member to your prospect. Learn the best practices collected from over a thousand Sandler employees around the world.

Al Simon, Sandler trainer, joins us to talk about the attitude, behaviors, and techniques of sales interactions. Learn the advantages and best practices of having a system for salespeople to follow and knowing your own sales gates. Learn how to lead and control the sales interaction and teach your buyer how to make the right decision.

Dan Huddock, a long-time Sandler trainer, joins us to talk about the attitude, behaviors, and techniques for breaking a slump. Learn how to stop negative spirals and start positive ratches that get you going in the right direction!

Ken Seawell, Sandler trainer from Detroit, joins us to talk about the attitude, behaviors, and techniques and what binds them together. Learn the best practices of successful salespeople and entrepreneurs from around the world.

Summer Solomonsen is CLO at Grovo, Sandler's new Microlearning partner. Grovo and Sandler have partnered to deliver the world-famous Sandler Selling System in Grovo's proven Microlearning format. Sandler will also be offering Grovo's massive Microlearning collections for leadership, management, modern compliance, and professional skills as part of our online offerings.

Eric Warner talks about the attitude, behaviors, and techniques that drive client success. Learn how to improve your client retention, drive more cross-sells and upsells, and grow your business by helping your clients succeed.

Brian Sullivan, VP of Enterprise Selling, and Mike Montague, VP of Online Learning discuss the challenges of selling into large organizations and how to overcome them in this Facebook Live session.

Chris Lewis is the CEO and Founder of LEWIS, one of the world's largest private communication companies. He joins us to talk about his new book and the attitude, behaviors, and techniques of top performing leaders in the new century. Learn how to succeed at leadership in the 21st century.

Learn the best practices for effective management and leadership from Caroline Robinson and Mike Montague.

Jon Denn, Vistage Chair from Boston and author of Drumbeat Business Productivity, joins us to talk about the attitude, behaviors, and techniques of being more productive. Learn how to avoid distractions, be disciplined, and get more done. Learn how to great a steady drumbeat of productivity.

David Mattson, President and CEO of Sandler, shares his thoughts about how to improve your interviewing and hiring capabilities. He shares 5 tips to take your interviewing to the next level. Learn the attitudes, behaviors, and techniques of top leaders and how they interview.

Learn how to create a sales culture with Matthew Pletzer, Sandler trainer, and Mike Montague, VP of Online Learning at Sandler to talk about creating a sales culture and how that differs from company culture.

David Mattson, Sandler's President and CEO, shares his thoughts about gauging the prospect's motivation and interest. Learn the attitudes, behaviors, and techniques of top performers, who can uncover and qualify the prospect's reasons for doing business.

Learn the best practices for prospecting with Mike Montague and Sean Coyle.

Mike Crandall joins us to talk about the attitude, behaviors and techniques of transitioning the ownership of your business to the next generation of leaders. This is always a tough subject, but the future is coming and how you plan now will determine how bright that future will be. Learn how to succeed at transitioning your business to the next generation.

David Mattson, President and CEO of Sandler, shares his thoughts about delegating and how to pass the baton in a way that gets results. Learn the attitudes, behaviors, and techniques of top leaders and how the delegate tasks. 

As we enter Q4, sales professionals in all industries are likely pondering the same question: Am I on track? If the answer, based on the best available hard numbers and the most objective real-world assessment, is “no,” then it’s likely that another question is looming in the shadows behind the first one: How do I get back on track?

Learn how to effectively deal with difficult people and situations in this live session with Amy Woodall.

Most managers we talk to would quickly agree with Drucker’s observation, and with the related proposition that their team’s capacity to learn, grow, and adapt is one of the organization’s most important assets. Yet very few of these managers have taken the time to discuss and develop a personalized learning and development plan for the team members who report to them.

Learn how to apply the DISC personality framework to uncovering prospect's buying motivations or PAIN, in Sandler terms. Hamish Knox, Sandler trainer and author, returns to the podcast to talk with Dave Mattson about combining these two classic Sandler frameworks and selling strategies.

Let’s be honest. Training and development initiatives meant to help sales teams succeed often go wrong.

The ears have to hear what the mouth is going to say. I believe roleplay is one of the most important things that you could do as a sales leader. Why? It makes you strong, but it also creates muscle memory for your team. Here's what happens when we don't role play. We tell people what to change in their sales process. 

The How to Succeed Podcast is a public and free podcast from Sandler Training, the worldwide leader in sales, management, and customer service training for individuals all the way up to Fortune 500 companies with over 250 locations around the globe.

Rule 14: Risk failure to achieve growth. I-10's learn from failure. Wow, I'll tell you what. This rule is action packed with Sandler philosophies and tactics. First of all, we have to embrace failure. Everyone's going to fail. You failed when you were a kid learning how to ride a bike. We fail in all the different roles that we have throughout the day.

In our constant pursuit to arm you with tools to become a sales master, we recently released a new book titled, Winning From Failing, by Sandler Trainer, Josh Seibert. While there are entirely too many teachings in the book to list here, below we have highlighted a few that encompass the essence of the book and are important takeaways for managers.

Josh Seibert is a long-time Sandler Trainer and our latest author. He joins us to talk about the lessons from his new book, Winning Through Failing. He shares why failure is a critical part of success, not the opposite of success. Learn how to set the stage for failure and use it to grow faster and expand your comfort zone.

Email marketing is an inexpensive and effective way to get in touch with prospects if you take the proper steps in crafting them. The information you relay in your email and the way you share it has a direct impact on how well your email will perform with recipients. You don’t have to be a professional writer to get attention or to create a successful email campaign, but you should be concise and include compelling information. Most prospective buyers are bombarded with emails from a variety of businesses, on a daily basis. Incorporating the right details allow you to break through the clutter and helps ensure that you make a connection. 

Last week, Sandler Training hosted the world’s top leadership, management, and sales professionals at a summit in Orlando Florida. More than 1,200 people joined Sandler in the sun to learn about sales and leadership, share best practices, and further our knowledge of how to succeed.  The conference was incredible. From the opening video eliciting goosebumps to the #SandlerSummit trending nationally on Twitter with over 3.5 Million views, the room was electric. I have come away with so many notes and action items, but I have highlighted the top 3 lessons learned from last week.

According to Entrepreneur, we receive 193.3 billion emails every day. On average, that means each person's inbox is hit by about 120 emails a day – with some people receiving less and some receiving many more. Breaking through to your target audience when you're up against such odds can be tough. Even with all the inbox competition, email marketing can be quite lucrative when handled correctly. 

Does your company need sales training? Maybe, maybe not. But how will you determine if you need it and who are you going to hire? If you meet with a sales trainer he’s going to steer you towards what he can deliver. If he is a great sales trainer, he ought to be a great salesman. Instead, take it from a company that delivered sales training for over a million salespeople worldwide. Here is what you should consider.

As a manager of people, you know and understand the challenge of the "new" workplace. The reality of four generations working side by side is fraught with obstacles that threaten to derail productivity and hinder progress. Before you pop another antacid and check again to see if it's time to cut a trail home, take heart in knowing there are ways to be an effective manager in a workplace made up of the Silent generation, Boomers, X'ers, and Millennials. The first step is acknowledging each generation has its own preferences, expectations, and strengths.

Every salesperson needs to learn how to adapt to these changes and continue to grow in their field of knowledge. Here are a few reasons why continuous training and development are the only way to survive the changing landscape of the sales industry.  

Think you have got the perfect sales team? No matter how successful your group, every team has room for improvement. Whether your team falls flat in a specific area or they lack motivation, putting the time into improving faults helps create a more cohesive, successful sales force. Work together and follow these 5 simple rules to build a strong, effective, and eventually more profitable sales team.

Although teamwork is frequently the most efficient way to complete a big project, many managers struggle to lead a cohesive team. Managing individual employees along with the broader group dynamic brings confusion to team projects, causing the work and your team management capabilities to suffer. Tackle teamwork problems before they come up with these 25 tips for becoming a more effective team manager.

When you hire new managers, you are giving these individuals the opportunity to lead, supervise, mentor, and motivate others and their ability to do so makes a huge impact on your company's overall success.

There's something to be said about children who continue to ask "why" about everything. When they ask and you respond, and they ask "Why?" again, it means they don't have the complete answer to their question. They will continue to ask until they understand the entire concept or until the adult gets frustrated. In business, asking "Why?" five times can produce the same quality understanding to prepare for better results. Common complaints we hear often in business:

My Mom was a funny lady and during my youth, she was constantly throwing riddles at me. Some of herriddles came in pairs and the pairs typically had a point. One such pair of riddles has been a huge lesson forme as I have gone through life. Here they are. Riddle 1: What did Tarzan say when he saw the elephantscoming down the road? "Here come the elephants." Riddle 2: What did the elephants say when theysaw Tarzan coming down the road? Nothing, elephants don't talk

Aberdeen Group developed an online assessment tool, enabling users to find out exactly what their strengths and weaknesses are in their sales training efforts.

Last time we discussed the tension of wanting to rescue a prospect sales process. Now let's look at the situation between the buyer and seller as objectively as possible:

Sales isn't for the faint of heart. You don't just encounter negativity on a fairly frequent basis. In many cases, it is your job to sniff it out and address it immediately. Sandler Rule #3: "No Mutual Mystification," deals with an issue that often plagues sales professionals –  "happy ears."

Why should we buy from you? What makes you different than my current _______? Why should I invite you in to see me? We are already doing business with you so why should we look at this new product /service? Sound familiar? A bit tired of hearing this? Get used to it. This is simply what customers and prospects say to sales people. And we can't fault the prospect/ customer for asking the question. They don't have time to waste, and they need a good reason to spend time with salespeople who know how to sell value-whether through a meeting or to view a new product or service

Why? Why do we get up every day and go to work? Because we have bills to pay: Really? Listen to the news-not paying your bills is now as much a status symbol as a Gold Card in the 1980's. Because that's what is expected: Really? In most companies, the last time you saw your job description was the day you interviewed-and you don't know what is really expected, do you? Because employees depend on us: Really? Management texts say a great manager implements systems that will operate well when management is not there. Really it's because Mom or Dad said so

What really goes on with a doctor's visit? Ideally, you realize that you have some symptoms that are preventing you from functioning at 100%. You then get an appointment with the doctor, they ask you a fair amount of questions about your symptoms and lifestyle, and then they make some recommendations-usually involving a prescription of some sort. So how would you feel if you just went into the doctor and they gave you some pills without investigating the problems

Wednesday mornings are tough enough without our most annoying client calling in with the usual simple problem that he is over-reacting to. We sigh and answer the phone - all while making the facial gestures of a person eating oysters for the first time in their life. WHY does that client seem to be determined to drive you insane? It's your fault ... Every morning the manager from the operations department stops in to tell you how your team messed up his operations this weekend. She is soooo abrasive. You answer in abrupt sentences and quite rudely push her out the door

What do all of the world's greatest athletes, politicians and business leaders have in common? They didn't get to be the best on their own. They all had guidance from coaches and mentors, and that guidance is what brought out their endless potential in their field.

That's a headline straight out of sales training boot camp, but it's true. There is a question most people want answered when they go to a sales training program or read one of the many sales how-to books; that question sounds like this, "Is there really one secret weapon or magic formula to make me better and increase my sales?" Wouldn't it be wonderful to find one ... so would winning the lottery, but not many do it

Wouldn't it be wonderful for a prospect to accurately and honestly lay out all of their issues for you in your first meeting? This means no more seemingly-perfect deals to disappear, no more "perfect matches" to end with unreciprocated phone calls, and best of all, no more "What went wrong?"

Over the last eight years I have done hundreds of one-on-one performance coaching sessions with salespeople, and the single most frequent question I hear is, "How do I get better?" It's a meaningful question and almost always asked with a genuineness that signifies the person speaking really wants help. I usually respond to that question with a question of my own that goes like this, "Do you really want to know?" You see, at these moments I'm always reminded of a statement by Dr. Lee Thayer, "Most people prefer the problem they have to a solution they don't like."e

If your sales objective is to make the sale regardless, get the biggest order possible and structure the best deal for your company, then your entire focus is really on you.

Why do people buy milk or bread or cereal or soda at the gas station convenience store when those items are far less expensive at a grocery store? Obviously, they have a need for the items. More importantly, buying at the convenience store is quick, and you guessed it, convenient. And "quick" and "convenient" represent value. They fill up with gas, run in and pick up the items they need, and they're on their way. No hunting for a parking space. No grocery carts to dodge. No long checkout lines.

Today's business is focusing on something that champion athletes have always known: the right combination of training and coaching will help achieve greatness. It's not enough to have a superior product or service. You must have the skills to get that message across to your prospects. Training imparts the knowledge critical for success in today's competitive economy.

How would you answer this question: Why does someone or a firm engage you or decide to buy from you? Take a moment and write down the reasons you think people buy. From what I have seen in most professional schools, people compete to have the best grades, the most outstanding ideas and the most highly thought of papers. I have noticed that students who do well often get the most attention from teachers

If a tree falls in the woods and no one hears it, does it make a sound? If a company has a great product or service but no one buys it, is it really great?

Twenty years ago, when I was a young salesperson just starting out, I was fortunate enough to get sent to quite a bit of sales training. All of the training programs seemed to center around the "Three Big Steps to Selling." The "Three Big Steps to Selling" are: 1) Prospecting 2) Presenting 3) Closin

Imagine walking into a prospect's office and having him or her say, "I have a problem. There is a monkey on my back and I want to make it yours." Any normal person would know better than to say, "Great, toss that over here and let me add that to the monkeys I am already working with." As a sales coach, I spend time with quite a few people who have big monkey collections. They have accepted that their prospects and clients' problems are actually theirs. Unfortunately, these monkey collections have some predictable consequences

I don't know about you, but I have never liked being told what to do. I don't think I've ever met anybody who did respond well to that kind of instruction, even when the person in charge-a coach at sports, for example-clearly knew what he was doing if the message is delivered wrong. It doesn't matter if what you are saying is true, if it's not delivered properly. You can be the authority, but no one cares if you can't deliver your message in a way that others can accept. The fact that you have good prudent knowledge, the fact that you're correct, doesn't matter if not delivered properly.

If you're like most sales professionals, you work hard to learn as much as you can about your product or service. You take pride in how much you know about your business. When you can answer any technical question that might come up in a call with a prospect, you feel confident. That's only natural. But as important as it is to be knowledgeable, your eagerness to display that knowledge can damage a relationship and cost you sales. To avoid this problem, you need to remember that expertise can be intimidating. It can turn people off

We don't ordinarily think of sales as one of the "helping professions," but maybe we should. People tell their problems to psychologists and clergymen. They pour out their hearts to their neighborhood bartender. But they tell their troubles to sales professionals, too, so we should develop our "helping profession" skills. I have often noticed, when a sales pitch is going well, how the conversation resembles what I understand a therapeutic session to be like. That is the way it should be, if the salesperson knows what he or she is doing

I'm going to let you in on a secret. There are hundreds of consultants out there that will tell you they fully understand Twitter and other trendy "social media" tools. They will also tell you exactly how they can help you use these tools-at a steep price, of course. Well, most of them are blowing smoke. The fact is, we live in a time of rapid technological change and a great deal of confusion. Nobody knows what tomorrow may bring, in terms of technological change, but also in terms of the economy and foreign affairs