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best practices

What An MBA Didn’t Teach You About Sales

The sales profession is challenging. You need to work hard at it to succeed. You need to learn from the best. You need to improve your skills continuously. If you think you can sell since you are a hit at parties and have a lot of friends, you may soon find that you are a failure as a salesperson. Blunt truth:

because the sales profession is so hard, you have to focus on doing everything in sales very well, or you will be considered a failure.

I call this blog, Skinned Knees because I try to relate all of the learning that I have done over the past 4+ decades (while skinning my knees in the learning process).

I hope that you learn from my mistakes so that your business will grow!

How Small Businesses Can Compete with Larger Competitors Using the Fragment Sales Strategy

Small businesses often find themselves at a disadvantage when competing with larger, well-established companies. However, they can still succeed. It requires them to think creatively and strategically and to develop unique approaches to win customers over. One approach small businesses can take is implementing the Fragment Sales Strategy. This approach is advantageous when small companies find themselves in David vs. Goliath-type sales campaigns, going up against larger competitors with more resources, references, and success stories.… How Small Businesses Can Compete with Larger Competitors Using the Fragment Sales Strategy

Leading Your Sales Team to Success: 5 Best Practices You Need to Know

In today’s highly competitive business environment, sales leaders play a crucial role in the success of their organizations. They are responsible for setting sales targets, creating effective sales strategies, and motivating their teams to achieve their goals. However, being an effective sales leader requires more than just setting targets and motivating your team. This article will explore the five best practices of effective sales leaders. 1. Set clear and achievable goals. One of the primary… Leading Your Sales Team to Success: 5 Best Practices You Need to Know

Two Tall Guys Podcast – Be Respectful – Start Team Meetings on Time, End on Time- Episode 21

Efficient and effective meetings are essential for the success of any business, and the EOS L10 meetings have become increasingly popular in recent times. It is important for all meetings to start and end on time, avoiding rewarding tardiness and respecting everyone’s schedule. It is crucial to address individuals who regularly arrive late in private. In addition, time management is key to ensuring that each topic is discussed within the allotted time frame, and sales… Two Tall Guys Podcast – Be Respectful – Start Team Meetings on Time, End on Time- Episode 21

20 Activities That a Virtual Assistant Can Perform To Help a Sales Leader Be More Effective

A Vice President of Sales plays a critical role in the success of a business by overseeing and leading the sales team to achieve revenue targets. To be effective in their position, the VP of Sales must be able to focus on strategic decision-making and high-level planning while delegating operational tasks to a capable team. One way to facilitate this delegation is through a virtual assistant, who can perform various functions that support the VP of Sales and the sales team. Here are some ways a virtual assistant can add value to the role of VP of Sales.

95% of Small Business Say They are Below Average or Worse in Their Sales Performance

We are almost done tabulating the results for the grading of small businesses. Every year, Sales Xceleration asks the CEOs and owners of small businesses to grade themselves on how well their company is running its sales operations. Like last year, 95% of all companies couldn’t get to the “average” level of execution. But 2022 was worse than last year since more companies graded themselves as “Poor” rather than just “Below Average.”  It is okay… 95% of Small Business Say They are Below Average or Worse in Their Sales Performance

Tip #12 of 12 – How To Start The New Year STRONG! – Try something new

As sales professionals, staying ahead of the curve is essential. You need to consistently leverage emerging trends and acquire new skills. The modern marketplace is ever-evolving, with dynamic demands and vast opportunities. By taking ownership of your personal growth in the industry, you can ensure that you have the necessary tools to continue succeeding as a salesperson. Adaptability is key—though it would be great if there was an easy formula for success that never changed,… Tip #12 of 12 – How To Start The New Year STRONG! – Try something new

Two Tall Guys Talking Sales Podcast: Why Should a Company Assess Its Practices in Sales?

In this podcast, Kevin and Sean discuss why it is important for companies to assess their sales plans and processes. They explain that having a sales plan is about more than just setting quotas and involves figuring out how to bring value to the customer. It is also important for smaller businesses that are transitioning from founder-led sales organizations to have an assessment to build the right infrastructure. The conversation also touches on how CEOs should still be involved in customer conversations regardless of company size and that competition, complacency, and consistency should all be considered when assessing one’s own organization. Lastly, they invite listeners to reach out with any questions they may have about creating a great sales organization.

You can subscribe to our podcast by searching in your favorite podcast player for “Two Tall Guys Talking Sales,” or you can listen to the embedded version here.

The following is a transcript of the podcast above. It has been sparsely edited to increase its readability, but many of the idioms and poor spoken grammar have been left in place. Fireflies.ai automatically generated the transcription, and, as capable as that product is, there are times when words are missed or the sentence structure is incorrectly interpreted. We have tried to catch all of these software misses, but we are confident that some still remain. The below text is provided for those that would rather read than listen to a podcast.

 00:00

Kevin Lawson

Hello, and welcome to Two Guys Talking Sales. I’m Kevin. 

 00:06

Sean O’Shaughnessey

And I’m Sean. 

 00:08

Kevin Lawson

We’re glad you’re here. In this podcast, we’ll tackle real sales issues big and small for salespeople selling situations and sales leadership. We’ve collectively built successful careers around the problems and solutions used in B2B selling, from software to services, manufacturing, and distribution. We have sold to and for many of the world’s most recognized brands as well as some you’ve never heard of. For roughly the next 15 minutes, we invite you into our world of experience, where we’ll take one issue and dig into it so you might have a solution for when you encounter a similar situation in your career. Let’s dive in. Sean, what are we talking about tonight? 

 00:48

Sean O’Shaughnessey

Kevin, we should discuss why a company should assess its sales plan, process, and methodologies. How about that? 

 00:57

Kevin Lawson

Sounds Good. Maybe we should start by asking, “What are a sales plan, system, and methodology.”

 01:03

Sean O’Shaughnessey

That makes sense to me. Do you want to start? Go Ahead.

Read the rest of the article…