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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!

Two Tall Guys Talking Sales – The Death of Cold Calling and the Rise of Relationship Selling – E119

Cold calling is dead—or so claims our guest, Ben Victorica, in this thought-provoking Two Tall Guys Talking Sales episode. Hosts Kevin Lawson and Sean O’Shaughnessey dive deep with Ben into the challenges of modern sales pipelines and explore why traditional outreach methods are no longer effective. Together, they uncover how relationship selling, fueled by emotional intelligence and strategic connections, is reshaping the future of sales. Whether you’re a seasoned sales professional or just starting out,… Two Tall Guys Talking Sales – The Death of Cold Calling and the Rise of Relationship Selling – E119

Understanding Your Customers: The Role of Buyer Personas and Quarterly Business Reviews

Want to know the real secret behind successful sales? It’s not just about knowing what your customers need. The true power lies in understanding who they are at their core.

Have you ever wondered why some sales professionals consistently outperform their peers? The answer often comes down to their mastery of buyer personas and detailed profiles that capture the essence of your ideal customers.

Think of buyer personas as your secret weapon in the sales battlefield. These aren’t just random customer profiles thrown together in a rushed afternoon meeting. They represent carefully crafted composites of your most valuable clients, built from real-world data and insights. Your company might need several of these personas, each targeting different market segments with laser precision.

Creating effective buyer personas demands more than just surface-level observation. Start with a thorough analysis of your business landscape. Examine your strengths and weaknesses. Map out the opportunities that excite you and the threats that keep you up at night. This foundation helps you understand exactly where you fit in your customers’ world.

What makes your top customers tick? The answer lies in meaningful conversations with your best clients. These discussions should dig deep into both quantitative and qualitative factors. Demographics tell part of the story – age, position, education, family status. But the real gold comes from understanding their motivations. Why did they choose you? What problems do you solve that keep them coming back?

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Adapting to the New Sales Landscape: The Importance of Omni-Channel Outreach

Are you still relying on trade shows as your primary sales driver? The sales landscape has undergone a seismic shift. Those packed convention halls and endless rows of booths no longer serve as the bedrock of business development they once were.

Let’s talk about what works in today’s sales environment. Building an effective outbound pipeline isn’t just an option anymore – it’s your survival toolkit. But here’s the challenge: how do you stand out in a market where everyone’s fighting for attention?

Your unique value proposition makes all the difference. Yet many sales professionals miss a crucial point: your value proposition isn’t static. What resonates with a manufacturing client might fall flat with a distribution company. Have you tailored your message to address each industry’s pain points?

Think about your last prospecting campaign. Did you give up after four or five attempts? Research shows it takes 12 to 16 touches before prospects typically respond. This gap between persistence and practice often determines success or failure in modern sales.

The game has changed. Your prospects live in an omnichannel world. They check email between Zoom calls, scroll LinkedIn during lunch, and scan their phones throughout the day. How are you showing up in their digital world?

Consider this: every unanswered email or phone call might be a messaging problem. Are you talking about your features when you should be solving your prospects’ problems? Your prospects don’t care about your product specifications. They care about their challenges, their goals, and their bottom line.

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Two Tall Guys Talking Sales – From CRM to AI: Building Your Sales Toolbox – E113

Whether you’re a tech-savvy salesperson or just starting to explore the power of modern tools, this episode offers a roadmap for building an affordable, effective sales tech stack. Kevin and Sean provide real-world examples and practical advice to help you stay organized, build stronger client relationships, and close deals faster. Don’t miss this episode—it could be the catalyst for taking your sales game to the next level. Listen now!

From Chaos to Order: Improve Your Sales Productivity with Effective Pipeline Management

Sales is a complex and intricate world, a jigsaw puzzle where each piece must fit perfectly to create a successful picture. This is especially true when it comes to managing sales, whether you’re a salesperson, a sales manager hoping to enhance your leadership skills, or a CEO in the trenches of a small company. Understanding the challenges and nuances of the sales process is crucial to increasing revenue and productivity.

Imagine you’re in a room full of sports equipment scattered everywhere, from basketball shoes to cheerleading pom-poms. It’s a total mess, and you can barely see the floor. This is a perfect metaphor for what a disorganized sales pipeline can look like. It’s messy chaotic, and there’s always something that doesn’t quite smell right. 

The sales pipeline is vital for tracking and managing sales prospects from the initial contact to the deal’s closing. It visually represents where potential customers are in the sales process. However, if not properly managed, the pipeline can become a mess. 

A common issue is when a deal gets pushed from one month to the next. The sales rep simply changes the closing date, making it seem like procrastination has become a part of the process. This can be due to various reasons, such as a lack of commitment from the customer, the sales rep not understanding the customer’s needs, or simply a lack of follow-up. To avoid this, it’s essential to go back to basics. Understand where the customer is in their evaluation and buying process. Are they genuinely interested in buying or just exploring the idea? It’s perfectly fine for a customer to be in the exploratory stage, but that doesn’t mean they’re ready to buy. These customers should be considered early-stage prospects and not be rushed into buying. 

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Overcoming Ghosting and Other Modern Sales Challenges: A Proactive Approach

Many salespeople, sales managers, and company CEOs grapple with the unique problem of adapting their sales strategies to ever-changing market dynamics. This problem stems from an old-fashioned practice in which sales leaders tend to offer the same advice that made them successful when they were nascent salespeople. However, to remain competitive and productive, realizing that this traditional advice may no longer hold relevance in today’s sales world is crucial.

Let’s consider a sales leader who made his mark when the internet was still in its infancy, and email and mobile phones were not part of the sales process. If this sales leader continues to advise their team based on those past experiences, they will likely be setting them up for failure. Today, the sales world is no longer about physical gatekeepers but about navigating spam filters and phone blockers. The sales environment has evolved, and it’s time sales strategies do, too.

A typical issue salespeople face today is being ‘ghosted’ by potential clients. Ghosting, a relatively modern term, refers to the situation where the person you’re trying to reach is not returning your calls or emails. It’s a frustrating experience, but it also indicates a salesperson’s failure to be proactive and do the right things earlier in the sales cycle. Modern salespeople need to think ahead, plan better, and ensure they set up the next meeting before leaving the current one. This proactive approach can help prevent ghosting, keep the sales conversation going, and indicate progress.

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Mastering Sales in the Digital Age: A Case Study on Megan O’Hara

The sales landscape constantly evolves, and the tools and techniques used to reach potential clients are continually refined and reimagined. One such innovative approach to sales and marketing is pioneered by salespeople and sales managers leveraging technology to add value to their client relationships and boost their sales figures. 

Megan O’Hara, an executive solution specialist in Columbus, Ohio, is at the forefront of this movement. She has developed a unique method of reaching out to clients that adds value to their lives, increases her customer access, and builds her credibility. This method is simple yet impactful: Megan sends a weekly tech tip in a short video format every Monday.

This approach is designed to keep her name at the top of her clients’ minds. In a world where attention spans are increasingly limited and competition for customer attention is fierce, being the first person a client thinks of when they need a product or service is vital. By sending out these tech tips, Megan is providing a valuable service to her clients and ensuring that she remains at the forefront of their minds.

The success of this approach is evident in the response Megan has received from her clients. Many have contacted her after receiving her tech tips, expressing appreciation for her added value to their lives and initiating further business conversations. This is a clear testament to the power of this approach in building strong client relationships and driving sales.

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The Art of Retention: Mastering Client Information for Sales Success

The adage “knowledge is power” holds undeniable truth. The ability to meticulously document and retain client information and sales opportunities is a cornerstone for cultivating a thriving sales environment. This necessity spans industries, transcending the boundaries of size and scope within organizations. For sales professionals, sales managers, and CEOs of smaller companies, mastering this aspect of sales operations can be the difference between merely surviving and truly flourishing in today’s competitive marketplace. The foundation of… The Art of Retention: Mastering Client Information for Sales Success

The Follow-Up Formula: Driving Sales Success in the New Year – Video 7 of the New Year Motivation Series

Effective follow-up is essential for sales success in the New Year, as emphasized in a video series covering best practices. Promptly thanking clients, utilizing a CRM efficiently, scheduling the next meeting immediately, and adapting follow-up strategies to industry rhythms are crucial steps. These actions distinguish a good sales year from a fantastic one, underlining the importance of follow-up in building relationships and achieving sales targets.