November, 2012

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Closing DNA - The 3rd Must Have for High Performance Sales Teams

Anthony Cole Training

I started this series of blog post on the 3 Must Haves For High Performance Sales Teams with #1 Prospecting DNA. Do me this is an obvious skill set and is the priority of any other UNLESS you outsource this to a 3rd party OR you have a sales environment where your sales team essentially plays "Catch" - people either calling in or walking in. #2 is Qualifying DNA - if you don't have to worry about prospecting then this by far is the most important skill set to possess. possessing the DNA of quali

Closing 203
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First Impressions Matter: The Importance of Great Visual Design

ConversionXL

People make snap judgements. It takes only 1/10th of a second to form a first impression about a person, and websites are no different. It takes about 50 milliseconds (that’s 0.05 seconds) for users to form an opinion about your website that determines whether they like your site or not, whether they’ll stay or leave. This number comes from specific studies.

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Speed Matters – A Lesson in Lead Follow-Up

A Sales Guy

I’m moving in a few weeks. I hate moving. Because I hate it, investing in movers is well worth it to me. I’ve been putting it off for too long, so yesterday I Googled moving and found a site that allowed me to get quotes from 6 different movers at once. This was awesome. I put in a few bits of information, the application auto populated 6 moving companies that serve my area and all I had to do was click a button.

Follow-up 119
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People Don’t Dislike Sales People, They Dislike Bad Selling!

Partners in Excellence

People don’t dislike sales people, they dislike bad selling! I wish I had said that, but it originally came from Andy Rudin —thanks for the great quote. There’s a lot of data going around about customers not wanting to engage sales people until very late in their buying process. The numbers vary, but they seem clustered around 70% of the buying process is completed before sales people are engaged.

Sell 110
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Smart Tools & Strong Teams: A People-First Approach to AI in Sales

Speaker: Matt Sunshine, CEO at The Center for Sales Strategy

AI isn’t replacing salespeople—it’s empowering them. The most forward-thinking sales organizations are using AI to enhance human performance rather than eliminate it. From coaching and messaging to prospecting and pipeline accountability, artificial intelligence is giving managers and SDRs the new tools they need to work smarter, sell better, and close more.

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5 Lessons I Learned from Zig Ziglar

Score More Sales

You don’t meet too many people who make an impact on your career and your life. It was sad to hear that sales legend and motivator to millions, Zig Ziglar, has passed on. At the same time, thinking of Mr. Ziglar evokes all sorts of memories and lessons early in my sales career. When I started out as a technology sales professional, I had little idea what I was doing – just the words of my grandmother, who was my mentor in business.

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Do Prospects Lie to Your Salespeople Like the Airlines Do?

Understanding the Sales Force

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan We've all been on planes when they tell us to put our electronic devices into airplane mode so that the devices - your laptops, ipads, ipods, kindles and phones - do not send a radio signal looking for a connection. They tell us that these signals can interfere with the plane's instrumentation. Scary stuff!

More Trending

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People Comparison Shop, Stupid

ConversionXL

If you think people might buy your products or services without checking out the competition first, think again. Research says that on average consumers visit three websites before making a purchase. Another insight by the same study was that the more sites a consumer visits, the more money they are likely to spend. In other words, the more expensive the product, the more time people take to comparison shop.

Retail 109
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How to Thin Your Pipeline and get to the Real Opportunities

A Sales Guy

Pipelines are an interesting thing. They are supposed to provide valuable insight for BOTH management and sales people. Their purpose is to provide visibility into the health of the selling process, letting the sales organization know how close or far they are from making quota. Pipelines however, are more than a key indicator. They dictate behavior.

Pipeline 116
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Moving From Value Creation To Value Co-Creation

Partners in Excellence

As sales people we have been drilled and drilled in “Value Propositions.” Over time, our concepts of value propositions have changed–as they should. Value propositions used to be generic claims (usually generated by marketing) about value, perhaps statements about our products–things like “best quality,” “richest functionality,” “highest performance.” and so forth.

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Salespeople Who Give Discounts are Not Salespeople

The Sales Hunter

It’s time for me to rant about salespeople and discounts. When a salesperson offers a customer a discount, what they’re saying is they have not been able to do a good enough of a job demonstrating value to the customer. To offset their inability to do what they’re supposed to be able to do, they feel the way to close the sale is by offering a discount.

Price 105
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How to Coach Reps on Overcoming Sales Objections with Confidence

Speaker: Brendan Sweeney, VP of Global Sales and David Phelan, Account Executive

In a world where buyers are more informed and objections are more nuanced, confidence isn't optional—it’s a competitive advantage. In high-stakes conversations, knowing how to handle pushback can make or break the deal. Join industry experts Brendan Sweeney and David Phelan for a behind-the-scenes look at how teams are transforming sales coaching with real-time feedback, objection-handling role plays, and pre-call preparation that actually sticks.

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3 Tips to Keep Your Sales Focus

Score More Sales

Working hard in sales but not accomplishing enough? Last week I was interviewed on the OpenView Lab blog about ways to keep focus through the end of the year. If you’re bogged down by lack of closed business, upcoming holidays, relatives, and distractions like Cyber Monday, you might want to listen to the interview since it is audio and easy to listen to.

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DNA for High Performing Sales Teams - 3 Must Haves

Anthony Cole Training

I am reading the blog of Insideview. One of their recent posts is about. This is part II of a III part blog post discussing the DNA of High Performance Sales Teams. The first post discussed the DNA of a Hunter Sales person as a result of reading a blog about building a "Rock Star Team of Sales Hunters". The author highlights a research paper by one of their partners, Vorsight, that has identified a hunting sales model - (DEPT)^T.

Finance 198
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What the Huge Patriots Win Teaches us About Sales Momentum

Understanding the Sales Force

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan Perhaps you watched the Thursday night Thanksgiving Day football masacre between the New York Jets and the New England Patriots. The Patriots scored 35 unaswered points in the second period and in one 52 second timeframe, scored 3 touchdowns. Unbelievable! Incredible! Unheard of! The more common reaction though is, "How quickly it all unraveled for the Jets".

Pipeline 101
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Do What’s Right

A Sales Guy

The secret sauce of sales is simple, do what is right. If your product isn’t a fit, don’t sell it. If your product meets 6 of the 7 needs of the client, tell them about number 7. If there is a better option, let your customer know. Don’t hide anything, lying through omission is still lying. If what you sell doesn’t work, take it back.

Clients 115
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Welcome to the Future of Hospitality: Smart Rooms Start Here

Speaker: Jady West, VP of Hospitality & Chris Bennett, Head of Sales & Engineering

The modern hotel room is no longer just a place to stay—it’s an experience to remember. Today’s guests expect seamless 5G connectivity, personalized comfort, and high-tech convenience. From AI-powered smart room controls to in-room entertainment and app-based services, technology is redefining hospitality from the inside out. In this new session featuring industry pros Jady West and Chris Bennett, we’ll explore how high-speed, high-bandwidth connectivity powers the innovations that are enabling

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“Content Free” Content

Partners in Excellence

I haven’t whined in a while, so pardon me for this indulgence. We all know that content is critical in engaging prospect and customers. Let me rephrase this, “good content is critical… ” Clearly, organizations are getting the message about content, the problem is they are forgetting to provide the content. A couple of examples, in cleaning out my email this morning, I’ve actually encountered several offers that I’ve found interesting.

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Moneyball Design: Why the Research and Data Analysis is Critical to Getting Your Prospects to Convert

ConversionXL

136 CMOs were recently asked “What do you see as your biggest opportunity for revenue generation in early 2013?” 46% of them said “improving conversions” Excellent. Now that we know where the opportunity lies, how do we go about doing it? We had two prospective clients this past week where their overall site design was good enough that they didn’t need a full redesign.

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New Leads Study Supports Quickness and Follow Up

Score More Sales

A sales leader asked me yesterday, “What do we do with the sales reps that are not following up on the 50% of leads coming in that don’t get called more than once?”. He was commenting in response to the fact that 50% of all leads coming into a company are never called a second time. This fact is from research previously done by Leads360 , a cloud based leads management and sales automation company.

Follow-up 100
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3 MUST HAVES DNA for High Performing Sales Teams - Pt.1 The Hunter

Anthony Cole Training

I am reading the blog of Insideview. One of their recent posts is about building a "Rock Star Team of Sales Hunters". They highlight a research paper by one of their partners, Vorsight, that has identified a hunting sales model - (DEPT)^T. The "D" in the formula stands for DNA. In this instance, the author of the research paper is suggestion that "DNA" is defined as the genetic code for sales hunters.

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Breaking The Commerce Bottleneck: Your SAP Exit Plan Starts Now

Speaker: Jason Cottrell and Gireesh Sahukar

Retailers know the clock is ticking–legacy SAP Commerce support ends in 2026. Legacy platforms are becoming a liability burdened by complexity, rigidity, and mounting operational costs. But modernization isn’t just about swapping out systems, it’s about preparing for a future shaped by real-time interactions, AI powered buying assistants, and flexible commerce architecture.

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My Top 14 Articles on How to Make More Effective Cold Calls

Understanding the Sales Force

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan Yesterday I posted this article about why cold calls are so bad. One of my readers asked what I would recommend to make the calls more effective. I've written a lot of articles about making cold calls more effectively so I have linked to 14 of those articles below. A new book on sales, How to Close Deals Like Warren Buffett , was launched today.

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Customer Don’t Buy from Sales People they Like

A Sales Guy

Yes, the old addage that a customer buys “you” and not your product is true. But, it’s not why you think. Customers don’t buy because of your witty sense of humor or because your fun to go to lunch with. They don’t buy because they like you and your popular with the team. Yes, your customer buys “you” and not your product, but for different reasons.

Customers 114
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Your Ideas Are Worthless!

Partners in Excellence

For that matter, so are your plans and strategies! We spend a lot of time focusing on these activities. We’re proud of our creativity, we’re proud of the work we have done to generate the ideas, plans, and strategies. We’re even protective of them (particularly pundits, consultants, and gurus who go to extremes in “protecting” ideas.).

Consult 100
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On Being Productive….

Engage Selling

'It’s amazing what 5 hours of uninterrupted time with no Internet or phone can do to your productivity: 42 emails sent. 300 emails filed / deleted moved. 2 Sales Quizzes written. 2 video scripts written. 1 proposal sent. Client project finished. Platinum and Gold November Sales letter written. Vanity Fair James Bond issue read cover to cover – BTW the article on Obama’s decision to get Bin Laden is excellent but there are not enough pictures of Daniel Craig in the issue.

Product 96
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Automation, Evolved: Your New Playbook for Smarter Knowledge Work

Speaker: Frank Taliano

Documents are the backbone of enterprise operations, but they are also a common source of inefficiency. From buried insights to manual handoffs, document-based workflows can quietly stall decision-making and drain resources. For large, complex organizations, legacy systems and siloed processes create friction that AI is uniquely positioned to resolve.

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Don’t Lose Customers With Bad E-Mail Habits

Score More Sales

What is the best way to worsen a relationship with a prospective client, a customer, or an invaluable referral partner? Answer: Only communicate through email. Never pick up the phone, and be guilty of two other bad email habits that happen every day, all over the business world. Situation: A friendly, optimistic relationship is struck by two business services providers who do different services.

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3 Absolutely MUST HAVES for High Performing Sales Teams

Anthony Cole Training

I am reading the blog of Insideview's recent post is about building a "Rock Star Team of Sales Hunters". They highlight a research paper by one of their partners Vorsight that has identified a hunting sales model - (DEPT)^T. The "D" in the formula stands for DNA. In this instance the author of the research paper is suggestion that "DNA" is defined as the genetic code for sales hunters.

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Why Bad Salespeople Attract Bad Customers

The Sales Hunter

Have you ever wondered what types of customers are attracted by certain types of salespeople? Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to visit hundreds of companies and dig deep into their business. Without a doubt, I can say the reason some companies wind up with more bad customers than others is because they have more bad salespeople than others.

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Don’t Set Goals, Master Your Skills

A Sales Guy

David is on his third book this month. He’s noticed a change in how his buyers are buying. He can’t put his finger on it, but he senses there is a change and he’s determined to identify it. Traditionally in the top 5% of performers, David is a student of sales. He continually evaluates and assesses his approach to sales and each sale in general.

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Get Higher-Quality B2B Leads That Convert!

B2B marketers face a number of challenges, including: continuously generating great leads converting leads to active sales prospects finding vendors that deliver real results Aggregage has proven content syndication, webinar, online advertising and intent signal marketing programs that deliver higher-quality leads. More than 700 companies have already benefited from our programs.

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Applying Lean Practices To Sales And Marketing

Partners in Excellence

Not long ago, the folks at Openview Labs in Boston interviewed me on Lean Sales and Marketing. I thought I’d share this short video with you. (Don’t let the frightening face on the “opener” scare you away. I think it was some of their Halloween humor). Lean is really about value–how do we create and deliver the value our customers want and needs.

Sales 100
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My Top 14 Articles on More Effective Sales Cold Calling

Understanding the Sales Force

Understanding the Sales Force by Dave Kurlan Yesterday, I posted this article about why sales cold calling is so bad. One of my readers asked what I would recommend to make the calls more effective. I've written a lot of articles about cold calling more effectively, so I have linked to fourteen of those articles below. A new book on sales, How to Close Deals Like Warren Buffett , was launched today.

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Watch Sales Videos and Improve Your B2B Sales Skills

Score More Sales

At a recent sales training session, I polled the large group to see who reads professional development books and books about improving your sales skills. There were very few hands that went up. Rather than being totally bummed out by this since I’m a voracious business book reader and recommender, I want to propose an option for those who don’t read a lot but DO want to learn, grow, and improve – the option is to watch the right videos which can show you specific, targeted skil

B2B 90
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Do prospects lie? How does the answer impact sales success?

Anthony Cole Training

I first heard this when I attended a workshop I attended years ago in Cleveland, Ohio. The speaker was the one and only David Sandler. Many years have passed since that day and I've had the opportunity to talk to hundreds of prospects and sales people about their prospects. The answer to that question is: YES! Here is a guest blog from Sales Development Expert, Author and Highly Recognized Leader in Sales Force Evaluations - David Kurlan.

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New Research-Backed Strategies to Empower Managers as Culture & Engagement Leaders

Speaker: Beth Sunshine, SVP, Up Your Culture

When culture isn’t consistently lived out across the organization, engagement suffers—and it often starts with a disconnect at the top. In this session, Beth Sunshine, SVP of Up Your Culture at The Center for Sales Strategy, will reveal how HR and executive leaders can close the gap between vision and execution by equipping frontline and mid-level managers to become culture carriers.