Category: Sales

Cold calling might be the most dreaded activity in sales, especially during a slow season. As someone who‘s trained countless sales professionals at HubSpot, Stage 2 Capital, and Harvard Business School, I can tell you it’s also one of the most misunderstood. I run an exercise in some of my HBS classes. We have students…

Finding the right sales tools for small businesses can make the difference between chasing leads endlessly and closing deals with confidence. As someone who has worked closely with a small business owner, I know how important it is to have tools that help us work smarter. In this article, I’ll explore what I believe are…

I’ve led two sales teams at SaaS and was a salesperson myself. I spoke to hundreds of C-level salespeople and founders from enterprises like Coca-Cola to different IT vendors. When we talked about strategic sales planning, it was often confused with operational planning, as I came to understand through conversations. Back then, I thought it…

I recall the first time I was introduced to the BANT framework. I was enrolled in an online education program designed to train me as a sales development representative. The program was self-paced, allowing us to study the material at our convenience. I made flashcards to assist my memorization, and I came across the word…

I’ve been fortunate enough to work my way up from being a BDR at Experian Marketing Services and an AE at LinkedIn Learning all the way to where I am now. As the head of business development at Untap Your Sales Potential, we coach and train the top 1% of sellers at SAP, Microsoft, Gong,…

In my early sales days, I would spend hours preparing for a meeting, doing research, crafting the perfect pitch, and rehearsing objections. But, I didn’t realize the real test often comes after the call ends. It wasn’t in what I said, but in what I did next. I assumed a good meeting guaranteed a next…

Like most people, I don’t read all of the sales emails I get. When I do open an email, I skim its contents and immediately close out long, rambling messages, which is exactly why the search for the ideal email length is like Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail. It’s not about nitpicking word count;…

I still remember the worst discovery call of my career. I was twenty minutes into what I thought was a brilliant interrogation of a CFO at a growing tech company, rattling off question after question from my carefully prepared list. Budget? Check. Authority? Check. Need? Check. Timeline? Check. I was hitting every qualification box, feeling…

I distinctly remember a meeting when our sales and marketing teams brainstormed how to grow the business: “We need more leads,” echoed the sales team. “No, we don’t. We need to learn to close better,” said the CMO. “Wait, what’s the actual plan?” said the confused voice in my head. Everyone was brewing with ideas…

Purchase order numbers. I wonder how many invoices I’ve added PO numbers to in my years as a freelance business reporter. That number may be in the thousands. I’ve seen just as many POs as an online shopper. And, I’ve benefited. Having the correct PO number on my invoice means I get paid a lot…