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When you get the leeway to take more risks and push more envelopes, you begin to break away from the pack. Suddenly, you look around and notice you're doing things a lot differently than your peers. It's like you're on an island. Even though you're there for all the right reasons, you still feel like you're alone.

No matter how you slice it, there is no such thing as a sustainable shortcut. On a long enough timeline, those who do things the right way prevail over people who consistently cut corners.

The average sales person doesn't realize that he can't just read his print copy to people and expect customers to buy. Talking points are meaningless unless they're intensely personal. Work ethic, hustle, and customer service are not salient enough concepts to convert customers by themselves.

When you start pulling orders ahead, you start the next period at a deficit, which adds a level of pressure and uncertainty to your performance for the next month. You’re increasingly likely to borrow again from Peter to pay Paul. Not only is this a symptom of a terrible pipeline, but it’s only a matter of time before you do long term damage to your business, and your reputation as a salesperson.

I love email. I think it’s a very effective communication tool. That said, I think we take a few too many liberties with this medium. There’s no denying email can be a wonderful communication channel, but it becomes problematic when it is our primary communication channel.

If you don't know what (at least) the next two steps are in your sales process, then you're not ready to take any steps in your sales process.

Sure, a few people may be unbelievably fortunate, but that's not a game you can bet on and win. True mastery comes with time, experience, and dedicated intentional practice.

To redefine selling, we need to redefine the sale. Brian Tracy says that “a sale is nothing more than a transfer of enthusiasm from one party to another.” This is my favorite definition. There really isn’t a whole lot more to it than that, and most sales that are made don’t even involve money.

Chances are, if you’re completely torn up by every lost sale, your pipeline is not as robust as it should be.  

You might think I’m weird, but I’m here to tell you: those metaphorical punches in the face can be exhilarating, and they help drive my success. Bumps in the road beg you to reevaluate.

Between every stimulus and your response, there is a moment where you get to decide how to proceed. That's what you can't forget. That's what you cannot allow to be beaten out of you. You have a choice.

The counter was reset to zero this week. The hourglass has also just been flipped over- there's a lot of sand at the top. There’s never been a better time to start looking at the long-term than right now.

Your attitude is the foundation for your success. Work on it, build it, and remind yourself of it. The world is a better place when you’ve got your swagger about you, and you can’t count on anybody but yourself (or maybe your mom) to boost it.

A funny thing happens when you stop focusing on the end of the month. It's almost as if you're given more months.

When you ask questions that others won't ask, you learn things that others won't learn...

If you can adequately differentiate yourself and demonstrate that you can provide outcomes that nobody else can, then nobody is really a competitor.

The disease afflicting most sales organizations is not a lack of skills, desire, or even commitment. What these teams have not created is a culture or environment where continuous improvement is the norm.

Your product is not a commodity. There are significant differences between you and your competitors. However, your prospect may not yet appreciate those differences.

Of course, you need to know how the decision will be made. Of course, it's valuable (but not necessary) to know what the budget will be. But anybody can ask those questions. You need to ask the questions that nobody else can ask.

The fact is, sales success is difficult to achieve. But there’s a lot of satisfaction in learning to accomplish things that have a high degree of difficulty.

None of your customers do business with you because you occasionally buy them a free meal, entertain them for an afternoon, or make a great presentation. They buy from you because they have a problem, and you have the solution.

It's about identifying and understanding what needs to be done, empowering others to do the work they're entrusted to do, and owning the outcome regardless of whether it's good or bad.

It's a common assumption that your company knows exactly what it needs to do in order to deliver results and outcomes for the customers you serve. More often than not, that's just not the case.

Sales is a results-oriented game, so that's usually where you focus. It’s easy to assume that if you set a goal and accomplish it, then the steps you took to achieve it were right. That's a poor assumption.



If we shift our perspective and think of lost sales as opportunities to learn and adapt, we have much more to gain. I recommend asking yourself these questions to learn from “no.”

When challenges arise, it’s easy to get defensive and complain, but when the going gets tough, the tough get going. The tough view obstacles as opportunities. Sometimes we all need an attitude adjustment.

Stop worrying about the budget and start talking about solutions to problems that were previously impossible to solve.