Kristie's Blog

Do You ♥ What You Do?

Today, I met with a man who wants to learn more about my fractional and interim sales leadership services. He isn’t considering becoming a client. He is thinking of leaving Corporate America and becoming a fractional sales leader instead. As I began telling him about how I started my business as a fractional leader eight years ago and how it’s still a part of my service offerings today, he commented ...
February 15, 2024
Read More →

Unleashing Resilient Growth: 5 Steps to Success in Business

Guest Blogger: Amy Looper, Transformational Coach, Speaker, and Founder of Resilient Growth Unleashed The key to business performance is not in the latest marketing hack or sales tactic but rather in your personal belief and commitment to your vision. In this article, you will discover the 5-steps that will help you succeed in your business or career without sacrificing your health, relationships, or income. Step 1: Establish and commit to your ...
January 16, 2024
Read More →

Do You Need Sales Leadership Malpractice Insurance?

From Jan. 1st to Feb. 15, I’m in a state of perpetual piss-offedness (I made that word up) every time I walk into the gym and head to the cardio area. Why? Because for the first 45 days of EVERY year, I have to share MY Stairmaster with “The New Years Resolutioners.” Those lovely individuals who, every January, decide that this is the year they’re going to eat better, workout ...
January 11, 2024
Read More →
sales super hero

Don’t make these RKO mistakes!

How is your RKO (Revenue Kick-Off) agenda coming along? Are you set up with all the key elements for success? Over the years, I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the truly transformative. This includes the decision many companies have made to change the event’s name from SKO (Sales Kick-off) to RKO (Revenue Kick-off). I believe everyone who is directly impacting revenue should be involved….. I’m talking to you, Marketing ...
December 12, 2023
Read More →

Not Everyone Feels Thankful

My 2023 has been filled with blessings, so many blessings. Also, a few unexpected challenges. I will share with you a few of the blessings that have been bestowed on me this year, but before that I want to share with you something that isn’t talked about enough this time of year: loss, disappointment, and sadness. The holidays are a hard time for some of you.  Having to put on a ...
November 13, 2023
Read More →
Stop Letting the Prospect Control YOUR Sales Cycle

Stop Letting the Prospect Control YOUR Sales Cycle

Does this sound familiar? “We’ll need to talk internally, and then we’ll get back to you.” Let me guess, you hear this right after you’ve finished your software demo and are trying to schedule another call. Am I right? Keeping deals flowing through the pipeline is critical for you to hit quota and for your company to realize its revenue goals. However, preventing deals from stalling out and prospects from ...
September 11, 2023
Read More →

The Hidden Pitfalls of Over-Scripting Sales Calls

I make my living creating and improving sales processes and creating sales playbooks, so it might seem strange that I’m making a case for NOT over-scripting sales calls for SDRs, AEs, and CSMs. The fact is, I’ve never been an advocate for scripting. Instead, I say, “Hire smart people and teach them the framework of each type of call and let them use their words and personalities to get the ...
June 15, 2023
Read More →

No More Second Chances

Lately I’ve noticed a trend that I’m frustrated and concerned by…….people not doing what they say they’re going to do in the time frame in which they said they would do it in. This isn’t just a professional issue, like the company I’m trying to do business with that says they’re going to follow up and doesn’t. It’s also happening in my personal life like with the guy I’ve been ...
May 4, 2023
Read More →

Why NRR Will Matter More in 2023

Co-author: Rachel Epstein The current economic climate is causing customers to re-evaluate the necessity of existing vendor partnerships and SaaS platforms thus leading to a possible increase in customer churn next year. The last thing any sales leader needs right now is to worry about customer retention while already stressed out about reaching their, probably unrealistic, quota that’s been set for 2023. A proactive strategy for retaining your customer needs ...
December 14, 2022
Read More →

No Sales Process = No Revenue Progress

Co-Written with Rachel Epstein Salespeople often don’t enjoy following imposed rules around selling. And we get it – it can seem more like a burden than a benefit. But companies without a formalized and documented sales process are more likely to have underperforming reps who generate less revenue. In fact, HBR reports that companies with a formal sales processes in place see a 28% increase in revenue. It’s simple… if ...
October 21, 2022
Read More →

Recession-Proof Your Pipeline…..Now

We’ve had a lot of turbulence in the last three years. The pandemic, the Great Resignation, and most recently the war in Ukraine which has pushed the price of oil and gas to an all-time high. All this turmoil has increased prices of just about every consumer good and I’m now seeing an impact on business spending because of talk about a looming recession. The result for your sales team ...
June 1, 2022
Read More →

Be Proactive to Save Top Talent

How are The Great Resignation and Inflation connected? Ever since the pandemic, we’ve seen increases in prices when it comes to the food and housing market. Combine that with the highest ever rate of resignations and career switching ever in the history of US (In November 2021, 4,510,000 people quit compared to 3,084,200 in November 2019) and you get a huge surge in salary increases and the hottest job market ...
April 27, 2022
Read More →
Improve Your Leadership Skills

What Are You Doing to Improve Your Leadership Skills?

The last two years have been a challenging time for sales leaders as we’ve tried to navigate remote leadership, the Great Resignation, and a global pandemic. So, I hazard to guess that you might not have had professional development at the top of your radar. It’s your responsibility to ensure that you’re a better and more effective sales leader each year.   When you interview sales rep candidates you probe ...
February 23, 2022
Read More →

The Cost of Not Having Buy-In

WARNING – If you found my last sports-related blog post 2 weeks ago boring and something you couldn’t relate to, I’m sorry, but I’m back with more leadership lessons from Big 12 Football. Yesterday, Lincoln Riley, Head Football Coach at SEC-bound (not bitter) Oklahoma Sooners, announced that he was leaving OU for USC with NO warning, NO discussion, and NO explanation. After the sports and Twitter universe took a collective gasp, they ...
November 30, 2021
Read More →
Go for 2 and the win

Go for 2 and the win!

“We made the decision early. If we scored, we were going for two — going for the win.” – Coach Leipold  Something amazing and very unexpected happen last week. The Kansas Jayhawks beat The Texas Longhorns at DKR Texas Memorial Stadium. That’s right, we’re not talking about the top-ranked KU Men’s basketball team. No sir, y’all, we’re talking about the 1-8 Kansas Football team! The 31-point underdogs beat the SEC-bound ...
November 17, 2021
Read More →

5 Steps to Hiring the Right Sales Person: Step 5

Step 5 – The Formal Offer You’ve spent the last couple of weeks narrowing the field from 100+ resumes to one final candidate. Now, it’s time to close the deal. You’ve come this far so we don’t want you fumbling the ball on the 2-yard line. Here are the steps I take to ensure I seal the deal. The Verbal Offer I call the candidate a day after the last ...
October 13, 2021
Read More →

5 Steps to Hiring the Right Sales Person: Step 4

Step 4 – Assess and Educate Them After doing the Behavioral-based interview, you should have a good idea what makes your candidate tick. Now is when I like to run them through some sort of assessment to see if they have the same competencies as other successful sales reps. who are doing the job today. I like to run the candidate through a Sales Profile Assessment by Wiley & Sons, ...
October 13, 2021
Read More →

5 Steps to Hiring the Right Sales Person: Step 3

Step 3 – The Formal Behavioral-Based Interview The candidate has made it through the resume review and the phone screen, now it’s time to meet them in person or virtually and learn more. Introduction I’ve been using a behavioral-base interview for many years. I believe the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior (this is true in dating too!). As a result, I ask a series of behavior-based questions ...
October 13, 2021
Read More →

5 Steps to Hiring the Right Sales Person: Step 2

Step 2 – The Phone Screen In Part 1 I reviewed how I attract and select candidates to move onto the next step, the phone screen. Now it’s time to meet the candidate. If they pass the resume review, I do a 30-minute phone screen, NOT Zoom meeting.. All sales jobs require you to be effective on the phone. So, the candidate needs to be able to communicate in an efficient, articulate, and ...
October 13, 2021
Read More →

5 Steps to Hiring the Right Sales Person: Step 1

Step 1 – The Job Description and Resume Review The first step, when I go in search of a sales candidate for a client, is to help my client put together a hiring profile of the ideal candidate. I ask my clients the following questions: What traits do the most successful current or former employees have? Tell me about reps that didn’t work out Are there deal breakers such as ...
October 13, 2021
Read More →

5 Steps to Hiring the BEST Salesperson

I’ve written a series of blog posts to help you attract, screen, interview, and hire the best sales rep you can find on the market. I’m going to share successful strategies I’ve learned, developed, and implemented, in several companies over the past 20 years. Hiring the wrong sales representative is costly. I want to help ensure that you have the tools needed to make sure you’re placing the right bet ...
October 13, 2021
Read More →
top sales world banner

Sales Acceleration Group blog was recognized as one of the top 50 Sales Blogs

The Sales Acceleration Group blog was recently recognized among the 2021 Top Sales & Marketing Blogs featured on Top Sales World! Congratulations to my fellow contributors in the “Top 50”. I invite you to review all of my blog posts. “Top 10” Article of the month from Top Sales World I was also honored to have been recognized for their “Top 10 Articles” in September. Check out The Great Resignation ...
October 12, 2021
Read More →
Get Out of Your Bubble

Get Out of Your Bubble

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to travel to Bucharest, Romania to visit a client I’ve been working with for 6 months. I didn’t have expectations beyond strengthening the relationship with my client, by spending time together, and wanting to better understand the country and culture. Since I set the bar fairly low the trip far exceeded my expectations. It has been over 30 years since I’d been to ...
August 23, 2021
Read More →

Own Your Life and Your Future

I started using #ownyourownshit about 5 or 6 years ago when I was in an environment where there were a lot of excuses flying around. The reality was, those individuals, the ones with all the excuses, could have controlled a lot more than they were taking responsibility for. The majority of complaints I hear from sales reps revolve around things that they can control and either choose not to, don’t ...
July 19, 2021
Read More →
Blog Categories
Latest Articles

Weekly ‘Kristieisms’ in Your Inbox

Antecdotes, advice and tough love for sales professionals who want to be intentional about their career.

client-bus
client-exegy
client-lean-media
client-netskope
client-omni
client-smore
client-super-dispatch
client-yarooms

Weekly ‘Kristieisms’ in Your Inbox

Antecdotes, advice and tough love for sales professionals who want to be intentional about their career.

Yes, Please

About Kristie

What We Do

Resources

Search Website