The Right of Refusal: Six Ways to Politely Say No to More Work

“It’s only by saying “no” that you can concentrate on the things that are really important.”—Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Longtime readers of this blog know that one of my least-favorite phrases is, “That’s not my job.” I believe most workers should willingly try to handle all aspects of their positions. Taking on new tasks […]
To Prospect or Not to Prospect? That is the question!

Salespeople are in a quandary. During this crisis, should they be proactively prospecting? Answer: It depends! Is your product or service considered to be a First Responder? When the house is on fire, the first responder runs to help. Some products/services are entirely appropriate to proactively promote, for example, medical supplies and testing, technical solutions, […]
Five Things CEOs Want Their Sales Leaders To Know

When it comes to the sales leader’s performance, the best CEOs are holding them accountable for more than just the number; they expect them to grow their people, too. As the revenue producers, it’s not surprising that the sales function is always on the mind of the CEO. But it’s not just because the sales […]
What Bewitched Can Teach Us About Changed Management

Planning and Communication Deliver Magical Results In my new book, Quotas! Design Thinking to Solve Your Biggest Sales Challenge, I describe a situation that will sound familiar to anyone who has ever initiated a change and then struggled to sustain it. A couple of years ago, I met with a sales leadership team from a […]
Level Up Your Sales Training with Mobile Gamification
Mobile gamification apps can help participants master new concepts, integrate what they’ve learned, and improve sales training outcomes Authored by Lance Tyson, President and CEO, Tyson Group and Sam Caucci, Founder and CEO, 1Huddle In the hypercompetitive field of sales, escalating goals have become the de facto standard. We’ve never encountered an organization that says, […]
Solve Your Sales Problem: First Redefine the Challenge

Or How Design Thinking, and a Little History, Fixed My Engine No doubt you are familiar with philosopher George Santayana’s admonition: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” While that’s hard to dispute, most of us will admit to occasionally falling short. And when we do remember not to forget, we don’t […]
The Right Way to Hire Your Customers

Suppose I told you that you have access to a resource that is more empathetic, more interesting, and more persuasive to potential buyers of your products and services than even your best sales or marketing people. A resource that can do a significant amount of the marketing work that you’re spending lots of dollars on, […]
One Reason Salespeople DON’T Disqualify Prospects

You’re having a one-on-one coaching session with a member of your sales team, reviewing the sales pipeline. You quickly notice three prospects that are still hanging around, like a bad cold. Now, you and the salesperson have had more than one conversation about these opportunities. You’ve agreed on these points: They don’t fit your ideal […]
Sales is an Outdated Model

Can you think of any business paradigms that have stayed the same over the past 100 years? These days we run our businesses differently, with new models of hiring, training, leading, and executing; we have the use of unimaginable amounts of information and search capability to connect with new people and ideas. We now care […]
12 Dirty Little Secrets: why buyers don’t buy

Do you sit and wait for your buyer’s to close? They need your solution. They like you. They are OK with the price. What’s going on? Here are the ‘Dirty Little Secrets’ of why buyers don’t buy, taken from my book of the same name: Sales focuses on solution placement and needs assessment, and has no skill […]