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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!

Stop Guessing, Start Growing: How Strategic Sales Assessments Drive Real Revenue

You’ll eventually hit a wall if you’re running a sales organization—or wearing multiple hats as founder, CEO, and sales manager. That wall is often invisible until growth stalls, key deals slip through the cracks, or your top salesperson burns out. So, what’s the next move? It’s not more hustle. It’s assessment.

A sales assessment isn’t about checking boxes. It’s about understanding where you are, how you operate, and what’s holding you back. Too many small business leaders assume they’re doing fine because revenue is growing or the team is hitting their quotas. But are you growing at the rate your market allows? Are your sales activities aligned with your long-term goals? Are you building a repeatable system, or are you just getting lucky?

Let’s get tactical. A sales plan isn’t just a revenue target. It’s your go-to-market strategy. It defines your audience, your message, and your motion. It answers why you’re talking to those prospects and what value you’re bringing to them. Without a plan, you’re reacting instead of executing. You’re chasing leads instead of building a pipeline.

If you’re a small company—perhaps under $30 million in revenue—and selling into a national market, chances are your market potential is hundreds of millions, maybe billions. That means your market share is a rounding error, which means there’s room to grow. The question is: Are you operating in a way that allows you to capture that growth?

Even if you’re running lean, you should benchmark your performance against top-tier organizations. Not because you’re competing with them directly, but because they set the standard. What are they doing that you’re not? Where are they more efficient? How do they structure their teams? You’re leaving money on the table if you’re not asking those questions.

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Two Tall Guys Talking Sales – Know Your Numbers: A Sales Leader’s Guide to Growth Metrics – E132

As Q2 kicks into full gear, it’s time to pause and reflect—are you ahead, on pace, or falling behind on your sales targets? In this insightful episode of Two Tall Guys Talking Sales, hosts Kevin Lawson and Sean O’Shaughnessey unpack one of a sales leader’s most crucial yet often overlooked responsibilities: knowing your numbers. With equal parts practical advice and strategic vision, this conversation walks you through the foundational metrics every sales leader should track—customer… 

Level Up Your Sales Prospecting with Advanced Research Techniques

A shoutout to Chris Spanier and Episode #85 of the Practical, Actionable Marketing Podcast

Sales prospecting has always been a grind. What if you could cut your research time in half and dramatically improve your outreach results?

In Episode #85 of the Practical, Actionable Marketing podcast, host Chris Spanier delivers a masterclass on how to do just that. Titled “Advanced Prospecting Research Tools,” the episode is packed with time-saving techniques and tools that help sales professionals build sharper prospect profiles faster.

As someone with over four decades in sales and sales management, I believe this kind of tactical insight makes a difference. If you haven’t already, listen to the episode. Then, come back here for a quick breakdown of what Chris covered—plus a few of my thoughts.

Why Prospect Research Matters More Than Ever

In a market saturated with sales messages, relevance is your only competitive advantage. The days of blasting generic emails to massive lists are over. Today, the winners are the ones who personalize their outreach with precision—and that begins with better research.

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Two Tall Guys Talking Sales – Fixing the Funnel – Building a Sales Pipeline That Actually Works – E130

Welcome back to Two Tall Guys Talking Sales with hosts Kevin Lawson and Sean O’Shaughnessey. In this episode, the tall guys dive deep into one of the most critical yet commonly broken elements in any sales organization: the sales funnel. Whether you’re stuck with a clunky three-stage process that tells you nothing or overwhelmed with 35 micro-stages that only confuse your reps, Sean and Kevin offer a practical guide to rethinking and rebuilding your pipeline… 

The Power of Personal Branding in Enhancing Sales Productivity

Navigating the world of sales can sometimes feel like traversing a labyrinth. Salespeople, sales managers, and CEOs alike grapple with the challenge of increasing revenue and enhancing productivity in their sales processes. To be successful, you need more than knowledge of products and services; you need to develop trust and a strong personal brand.

Business-to-business (B2B) sales involves transferring trust from ourselves to our prospects. We trust in our products and company, but convincing prospects to share that trust is the real challenge. This trust should encompass the product, the company, and perhaps most crucially, the salesperson. Remember, B2B sales could be defined as helping prospects decide in our favor within the desired timeframe.

The key to B2B sales is developing a personal brand that inspires trust in salespeople. The salesperson’s ability to convey reliability, expertise, and credibility can significantly influence how fast a prospect invests in a product or service.

Developing a strong personal brand begins with creating a presence that signals control and understanding of the business. This can be achieved by showcasing the benefits of your product or service to your customer’s business. A straightforward way to build your brand is by seeking references from your network, former employers, and customers, and showcasing these on professional platforms like LinkedIn.

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Two Tall Guys Talking Sales – Amy Connor discusses Salespeople vs. Lead Generation: Are You Using Your Team Wisely? – E125

How do you measure the success of your sales and marketing efforts? If you’ve ever wondered whether your marketing dollars are driving revenue or if your sales team is making the most of their leads, this episode is for you.  Kevin Lawson and Sean O’Shaughnessey sit down with Amy Connor, founder of CMO on Loan, to discuss how marketing and sales should work together for growth. Amy brings her extensive experience from Procter & Gamble,… 

Two Tall Guys Talking Sales – Future-Proofing Your Sales with the Right Tech Stack – E115

This episode of Two Tall Guys Talking Sales is a must-listen for anyone looking to future-proof their business. Kevin and Sean offer practical advice and actionable strategies to help you streamline operations, adopt cutting-edge technologies, and align your team for success. Whether you’re planning for 2025 or 2035, the insights shared in this episode will set you on the path to achieving your goals.

From Micro-Manager to Leader: Fostering Growth in Your Sales Team

Are you unknowingly sabotaging your sales team’s success? The answer might surprise you. The actual cost of micromanagement extends far beyond immediate productivity concerns.

Trust forms the bedrock of every high-performing sales organization. Yet many sales leaders unconsciously undermine this foundation through micromanagement. You’ve seen the signs – constant check-ins, questioning every decision, and hovering over your team’s shoulders. The culture you’ve worked so hard to build is slowly eroding.

Your best salespeople are leaving. Team morale is plummeting.

Let’s be clear about what constitutes micromanagement in sales. It’s not about being involved or interested in your team’s work. The real issue emerges when you start dictating every move and creating an atmosphere of constant surveillance.

Consider the cost of replacing top sales talent in today’s market. Beyond the substantial financial investment, you’re losing institutional knowledge and client relationships. Your organization can’t afford this drain on resources, and the impact reverberates throughout your entire sales ecosystem.

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Balancing Act: Networking, Direct Prospecting, and Customer Referrals for Revenue Growth

Is your sales pipeline running dry? We’ve all been there.

Let me share a personal story that might resonate with you. After spending months securing a major deal, I found myself staring at an empty pipeline. The celebration of landing that giant whale quickly became a stark reality check. This experience taught me an invaluable lesson about sustainable sales growth.

Revenue generation isn’t just about closing deals—it’s about maintaining a consistent flow of opportunities. Your success depends on mastering the art of prospecting, yet many salespeople struggle with this fundamental skill. Are you dedicating enough time to building your pipeline, or are you caught in the feast-and-famine cycle?

The most effective sales professionals understand that prospecting isn’t a one-dimensional activity. Think of your prospecting strategy as a carefully orchestrated symphony, where different elements work together to create a harmonious result. Direct outreach and network-based approaches each play their unique roles in this composition.

Visualize a three-legged stool symbolizing the three-pronged approach to sales: networking and referrals, direct prospecting, and existing customers. Each of these legs supports growing your business and consistently achieving your revenue goals.

Consider how a software company might approach this dual strategy. While tracking metrics for direct outreach is straightforward, measuring networking success requires a different lens. How many new relationships have you cultivated? Which dormant connections have you rekindled? These indicators matter just as much as your cold call statistics.

I recently spoke with a consulting professional who shared an interesting perspective on networking metrics. Rather than counting sales pitches, he measures success by the number of times he naturally introduces his services in conversations. This subtle shift transforms aggressive selling into educational opportunities. Have you considered how this approach might work in your context?

Your prospecting strategy must align with your target audience’s expectations and behaviors. Waiting for inbound leads isn’t a strategy—it’s a recipe for inconsistent results. When you prospect through your network, the goal isn’t to ask for immediate business. Instead, you’re planting seeds for future opportunities through strategic introductions.

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Why Americans Should Be Thankful This Thanksgiving

As Thanksgiving approaches, the season offers a powerful moment to recognize our extraordinary position in the global business landscape. As business leaders, entrepreneurs, and professionals, we operate within a framework of unprecedented opportunity and abundance, and this reality deserves our attention and appreciation. Our daily business operations rely on technological capabilities that much of the world’s population cannot access. Each time we open our laptops, join virtual meetings, or process digital transactions, we leverage tools…