The “dog days” are upon us, but that’s not the only reason that your sales cycles are taking a little longer than you’d hoped. Manage your expectations, make sure next steps are in place, and then manage your expectations again…

People are resistant to change. Sometimes for no reason at all, and sometimes when it would even be in their best interest.

You cannot deliver a valuable message without the attention of the recipient, yet that's exactly the step most salespeople try to skip.

When results are less than optimal, organizations typically go in one of two directions, and it's often not the right one.

A lot of sellers are concerned right now. Because of the pandemic, they can't sell the way they used to. Something definitely has to change, but those changes were going to need to be made regardless of the pandemic.

'Enough' is an arbitrary term, yet it's a concept that a lot of people struggle with. As soon as I stopped trying to do everything at once and took a more measured approach, my results took a turn for the better. Yours can too.

It's easy to get caught up in what you feel you should be doing and all of the ego that gets tied up in that, but sometimes the thing that actually needs to be done is right in front of you. Are you paying attention?

Like many salespeople, I’m a bit of a control enthusiast, but there comes a time when for everybody's benefit you just need to let it go.

There are two necessary conditions for getting your prospecting messages returned- be someone worth talking to and have something worth talking about. When you're prospecting, do you meet those requirements?

I've spent much of the last few weeks questioning a lot of the things I'm doing in my business and frankly, with my life. Fortunately, I'm pretty satisfied with the answers, but what's more important is that I'm asking the questions. Are you?

How to have meaningful, empathetic, and effective conversations with prospects and customers right now.

I don’t think tech helps you sell. I think tech helps you scale.

I have reviewed a few email scripts from clients recently, and a common theme is making itself readily apparent. You're trying to do too much.

Selling is a verb, not a passive state. Sales don't close themselves, they require someone to steward the process along. That's you.

When this break is over, how will you report back about what happened? Will you have used it well or wasted an opportunity?

It comes down to keeping things simple and doing the next right thing.

I believe that the way you act during times like these is remembered and rewarded (or not) when things get better. Your prospects and customers are paying attention right now.

What a time to spend in a deeply reflective state, wondering about what your future will look like, and how much of your past behaviors you want to bring with you.

So the key, as usual, is to set some boundaries along with some attainable objectives to keep things moving in a positive direction. All you can do is all you can do.

Am I telling you to get off social media? Of course not. I am, however, challenging you to question the frequency and the time you spend on those sites. Is it really as important as your calendar and your usage stats are suggesting it is? Probably not, which is the first sign that there might be an issue…