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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!


From Features to Solutions: Rethinking Sales for the New Year – Video 6 of the New Year Motivation Series

In the New Year, sales professionals should focus on problem-solving to enhance their approach. Successful sales hinge on understanding a client’s core issues and how a product can solve them. Proposals should tell a compelling story, supported by relevant case studies. Transitioning from a feature-focused to a solution-oriented strategy will differentiate one in the market and foster long-lasting relationships.

Ace of Hearts: Joint sales calls with top management: Role-playing for Different Scenarios

Role-playing is a critical strategy for preparing for a sales call involving top management. It replicates the actual sales scenario, including realistic data and potential objections, allowing for feedback and strategy refinement. It also enhances the sales team’s ability to handle objections confidently and promotes active listening for better client engagement. Implementing role-playing as a standard practice serves multiple purposes such as aligning strategies among team members and enforcing a robust, collaborative framework that elevates the overall sales approach.

Analyzing Customer Goals: Understand customer goals and their desire to achieve them to tailor your solution – Driving New Sales: Transforming Small Businesses into Sales Powerhouses – Episode 3

When you listen to this episode, you are taking a transformative step towards redefining your approach to sales. Sean O’Shaughnessey delves into the intricacies of aligning your product not just with the apparent goals but the intricate, layered objectives of your client. Master the art of turning each sales pitch into a finely crafted solution, transforming your role from a mere vendor to a strategic partner in your client’s journey. Hit play to elevate your sales game today!

Researching Industry Trends: Stay updated on shifts in the market to provide relevant solutions – Driving New Sales: Transforming Small Businesses into Sales Powerhouses – Episode 1

Welcome to another episode of “Driving New Sales: Transforming Small Businesses into Sales Powerhouses.” This podcast is your compass in navigating the complex world of B2B sales, especially in the enterprise landscape. In this riveting episode, our host, Sean O’Shaughnessey, deep dives into a topic of crucial significance for sales professionals: Researching Industry Trends in the Enterprise Space. If you’re eager to transform from a transactional vendor into a strategic partner, this episode is your… Researching Industry Trends: Stay updated on shifts in the market to provide relevant solutions – Driving New Sales: Transforming Small Businesses into Sales Powerhouses – Episode 1

Eight of Spades: Defining your corporate sales strategy: Crafting a Sales Process Flowchart: Visualize the stages in your sales process for consistency

The Quintessential Blueprint for Sales Mastery In architecture, the blueprint guides turn an imagined design into a tangible, functional building. Similarly, a Sales Process Flowchart is the foundational structure upon which sales organizations can build scalable, consistent, and successful strategies. The importance of this tool lies in its ability to crystallize the sales process into a series of actionable steps, thereby providing a roadmap to success. The goal is to achieve consistency, predictability, and scalability,… Eight of Spades: Defining your corporate sales strategy: Crafting a Sales Process Flowchart: Visualize the stages in your sales process for consistency

Two Tall Guys Talking Sales Podcast – Special Episode: CEO Workshop – Understand Your Client’s Business To Sell More Effectively – Episode 52

This special episode of Two Tall Guys Talking Sales comes from a recent CEO Workshop put on by Sean O’Shaughnessey and Kevin Lawson. It was taken from a LinkedIn Live presentation that aired on September 29, 2023. You can listen to this episode or click over to the LinkedIn Live presentation at https://www.linkedin.com/events/ceoworkshop-understandyourclien7106962760084688896/ Are you a sales leader or CEO looking to supercharge your sales strategy? In this episode of “Two Tall Guys Talking Sales,”… Two Tall Guys Talking Sales Podcast – Special Episode: CEO Workshop – Understand Your Client’s Business To Sell More Effectively – Episode 52

Two of Spades: Understanding your client’s business: Identifying Key Decision Makers: Know who holds influence to target presentations and pitches effectively.

Precision in Sales: Identifying Key Decision Makers Navigating the labyrinth of modern sales requires more than just a sharp understanding of your product. It requires clarity about your audience – the pivotal decision-makers who shape the trajectory of business deals. Drawing an analogy, consider a seasoned archer. The archer’s prowess is not merely in the pull of the bow but in the precision with which he identifies and hits the target. For those vested in… Two of Spades: Understanding your client’s business: Identifying Key Decision Makers: Know who holds influence to target presentations and pitches effectively.

May Newsletter Featuring Information About Fractional Executives

                                                                                                                                                                 Spring has finally arrived. The flowers are blooming. The trees are growing leaves. And, of course, it feels like it rains almost every other day!   This edition of my newsletter focuses on using fractional executives to grow your business. Jayant Chaudhary summed it up very well in his article “Why Fractional Executives Are the Best Investment For Your Business” with this final statement:   “Hiring a fractional executive is the best… May Newsletter Featuring Information About Fractional Executives

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.

Presentation to FocusCFO meeting

I was honored to present “The States of Sales in Small Businesses” at the annual meeting of FocusCFO. This presentation compiles data from the survey of thousands of business owners regarding their sales practices. Sadly, very few small businesses excel at sales, which is why they need to hire high-quality fractional Vice Presidents of Sales, like the services provided by New Sales Expert, LLC.

FocusCFO provides CFO services on a fractional basis, meaning clients get all the advantages of a full-time CFO on flexible and affordable terms, working under a recurring schedule that fits within their budget. With a CFO on the management team, the entrepreneur is free to focus on what they do best: building great products and services and growing revenue.

Small and mid-sized businesses benefit from FocusCFO’s industry-leading model.

Read the rest of the article…