You walked out of the conference room after thirty minutes and turned to your sales leader. I like him. Three words. The decision was made. The two remaining interviews on the schedule became formalities — questions designed to confirm what you’d already concluded. The reference checks were perfunctory. The offer went out the next […]
Your hiring manager wrote the job post. You skimmed it. It looked fine. Professional language. Competitive compensation. Growing team. Great culture. It went up on LinkedIn and three job boards on Tuesday. By Friday, you have eighty-three applicants. By the following Tuesday, you have a hundred and twenty. Your hiring manager is drowning. They can’t
The Sales Hiring Blind Spots Series #3 | How to Write a Job Posting Read More »
You wrote a job description for a “sales professional.” Three words. Your hiring manager pulled the rest from the last description you posted two years ago. The recruiting partner didn’t push back. The applicants started flowing. Twelve interviews in, you can’t tell who’s qualified. None of them feel right. None of them feel wrong enough
The Sales Hiring Blind Spots Series: #2 Why the Generic Seat Keeps Pulling You Back In Read More »
Operations runs without you. Finance runs without you. Sales hiring still runs through you — because nobody else on your team knows how. Until that changes, the seat is yours. Here’s how it changes. You read every resume. You screen every candidate. You make every final call. You built a $25M to $50M
The Sales Hiring Blind Spots Series: #1 Why the Resume Lie Keeps Pulling You Back In Read More »
Your sales team just lost a deal on price. Again. The prospect said it was too expensive. Your rep came back asking for approval to discount. You approved it — or you didn’t — and either way something felt wrong. Here’s what actually happened. The prospect didn’t reject your price. They rejected your story. Price
Price Is Not the Problem. The Story Is. Read More »
Will Guidara’s Unreasonable Hospitality teaches a lesson most businesses miss: Don’t try to out-compete on the things everyone else does well. Differentiate at the friction points. The moments that matter most aren’t when everything goes smoothly. They’re when things break. When timelines slip. When customers get frustrated. Most companies panic at friction points. They
There Can Only Be One Person in the Angry Boat Read More »
I live in the Metro Detroit area. The local NFL team is the Detroit Lions. A long-suffering franchisee that has a recent upsurge in success. (Compared to the previous 50 years) The Detroit Lions had everything lined up for a championship run in 2025. Talent. Momentum. A city that hadn’t seen a Super Bowl in
Sales Fundamentals Aren’t Sexy. They’re Profitable. Read More »
You don’t have a time problem. You have a campfire problem. In 2011, Seth Godin wrote: “You don’t need more time…you just need to decide.” Seven years later, he followed up with another post: “Deciding is difficult, because decisions bring responsibility. It’s better to not decide, the lizard brain says.” I decided in 2012 to stop
Time and Attention Read More »
Why Your A-Player Sales Hire Is Already Looking for Another Job You fought hard to land that A-player. Great interviews. Strong references. Real talent. Then you fumbled the handoff. And now they’re scrolling LinkedIn on their lunch break. The “They’ll Figure It Out” Myth I had a client who believed their new sales hire would
Sales Onboarding: The Handoff That’s Killing Your Retention Rate Read More »
Your competition is betting on AI to fix their sales problems. They’re about to lose. Here’s what they’re missing: AI is a toolbox. A damn good one. But it can’t build human connections. It can’t read a room. It can’t earn trust when a buyer is scared to make a decision. The sales landscape is
The 8 Sales Competencies AI Will Never Replace Read More »