Category: Sales Leadership

Doing the Right Thing Requires #Discipline

“Do the right things and the right things will happen.” – Kristie Jones I share this with founders, sales leaders, and reps on a regular basis. I truly believe that if each and every person does what they know to be the right thing then the universe will conspire to make sure the right things will happen. Things like financial security, success, promotions, work/life balance, and much more. What’s the ...

October 19, 2020

Your Funnel is a Fantasy

It appears that there were enough deals in the pipeline and yet here you are again, a few days left in the quarter and you’re only at 52% of your Q3 goal. The quarter started out as it usually does; a “full” pipeline, reps confident they will hit quota this month, and you reporting the good news to the board. But with only a few days left neither you nor ...

September 17, 2020

Accountability – Understandably Uncomfortable… Still Necessary

“Chose Discomfort Over Resentment” – Brené Brown These are awkward times. You and your sales reps are still working from home. You’re being asked to think about equality and how that might change your leadership style. You and your team are under a lot of pressure to hit the revised (or not) revenue targets you’ve been given. AND the end of the quarter is just days away. It’s a lot. ...

June 24, 2020

Interim Sales Leadership: Why it Makes Sense Now

Like every company out there, start-ups and privately-owned companies are worried about the impact of the current economic situation. The #1 priority is figuring out how to keep the business afloat with limited people and financial resources. Most owners or founders have not ever led a sales team during a crisis – and are unsure how to lead, motivate, and drive the activities necessary to capture new revenue. What made ...

May 19, 2020

You Need a Rock Star to Help You “Sell Your Way Out”

You were happy with your sales team. Most of your reps were hitting at least 62% of quota. They loved working for you and the company. Who wouldn’t? Free lunch on Fridays, beer in the fridge, and you weren’t really holding them accountable to performance metrics. Life and the economy were good; until they weren’t. As you are finding out, what worked then, won’t work now and this might include ...

May 19, 2020

3 Clues that Your Sales Process is Broken

I worked for a CFO once who would regularly say, “That sounds like a broken process.” I got tired of hearing that, not because he was wrong, but because he was right. I often get calls from Founders or Sales Leaders asking if I will come in and evaluate their sales reps. because they aren’t sure they’ve got the right players on the team. I gently say to them that ...

February 18, 2020

The Problem with Productivity

The dictionary definition of productivity is: The amount of time it takes to complete a task. The KKJ definition: The ability to identify and execute on tasks that will result in providing the highest value outcome. So what’s the big deal? Why should sales leaders care about and measure the productivity of their sales reps? Because it matters. What I love about sales is it is the blending of art ...

January 15, 2020

“Stalled” is NOT a Stage

I was doing a pipeline audit for a client a few years ago when I ran across a sales stage called “Stalled”. What is this, I asked? “Oh- That’s where we put all the deals that we think will close someday but are currently stalled out. We don’t want to lose track of them.” WTF???? So as crazy as this sounds, they aren’t the only company I’ve run across with ...

January 10, 2020