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Videoconferencing has the potential to lead us into a serious, rapport-killing selling mistake that a whole lot of us are, unfortunately, already strongly predisposed to make.

We’re just not as comfortable in these remote-meeting settings as we are in person. And that means the revenue we generate in virtual meetings is not what it should be.

We’re all taught at some point that we need to ask for a Call to Action (CTA)– a request that the person we’re talking to commit to do something. And usually, we make that request. But how effectively?

Sales and marketing alignment: leaders talk about it. They say it’s what they want. They notice when it’s not happening. But they don’t always offer a clear explanation of what sales and marketing alignment really is.

On this episode from the How To Succeed podcast, we have Stephanie van Dam discussing how to become fearless. She believes that in order to overcome fear and reach the next level of success, one needs to break through the fear and take action.

In this episode, we sit down with Stephanie Paul to discuss the magic of the story and how to use it to engage and influence any audience. Stephanie is an author and speaker coach who coaches executive sales teams, TEDx speakers, fundraisers, and other experts on how to become better storytellers and presenters.

In the latest Sales Mastery study published by Sandler, researchers Barry Trailer and Jim Dickie uncover insights into sales performance across hundreds of organizations.

In the 2022 Sales Mastery study, researchers Barry Trailer and Jim Dickie examine the latest in sales challenges. Their findings uncover actionable solutions any organization can implement to improve processes and up success rates.

As part of the SPS study, we integrated many of the questions asked in the previous AI-for-Sales studies. This year we found that 16% of the firms surveyed reported they have implemented/are implementing some AI capabilities into their sales tech stack.

With deals won reaching 51%, the highest recorded rate as reported by the 2022 Sales Performance Scorecard by Sales Mastery, it is clear many organizations are tapping into a secret weapon in performance improvement. So, wherein lies the secret? Sales Mastery researchers Barry Trailer and Jim Dickie determine several strategies to improve your probability of winning by meeting challenges head-on with a formal approach.

Mike Montague interviews Matt Munson on How to Succeed at Doing a Pre-Mortem. Matt is the CEO of Sanity Labs.

Sales has traditionally been an intuition-driven profession. Today, adopting that approach is a major competitive disadvantage.

Mike Montague interviews Michael Coles on How to Succeed at Getting Tough.

This year, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the book, Dave will revisit each of the original 49 Sandler Rules and give updated takes on their relevance to salespeople and sales leaders.

This year, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the book, Dave will revisit each of the original 49 Sandler Rules and give updated takes on their relevance to salespeople and sales leaders.

Many of you reading this article right now have a team (or teams) of people that report to you in some form or another. As you think about those people, your time spent leading them, managing them, coaching them, developing them, working with them, and yes… all of the other things you have to do as part of your roles or responsibilities, it doesn’t leave much time to add on a thorough accountability process to that list… or does it?

In selling to and serving major accounts, we hear a lot about value. Certain buzzwords have emerged around this topic, terms that, more often than not, simply add confusion.

Mike Montague interviews Scott Perry on How to Succeed at Being Creative on Purpose. In this episode learn: What does being creative on purpose mean? Are YOU creative? Four principles to be creative on purpose.

Holding salespeople accountable: This is one of the major challenges of managing a sales team – regardless of whether it’s a traditional team where people show up for work at a central physical location, or a team working remotely, or a team at a call center. What, exactly, is the best way to do this? And how do you do it without falling into the trap of micromanaging people?

Mike Montague interviews James Abraham on How to Succeed at Dealing with Uncertainty.

Listen Time: 20 Minutes

Of all the sales leaders we work with, we consistently hear the same adage: “I need to hold my salespeople accountable.” That's fine in theory, but the question that sales leaders must ask themselves first is, “What exactly am I holding them accountable to?”

Read Time: 6 Minutes

Collectively over the years I've heard every excuse as to why people don't need to track metrics. "You don't understand I'm just too busy to track that type of thing," or "what is that really going to do for me in the long run."  Well, in the long run, if you truly understand what the outcomes are statistically every time you pick up the phone or attend a networking event, couldn't you predict the future?  Wouldn’t that make life a little less stressful?

Read Time: 6 Minutes

Mike Montague interviews Olympic Gold Medalist Garret Weber-Gale on How to Succeed at Mental Preparation.

Listen Time: 26 Minutes

Retail champions, the subject of my book RETAIL SUCCESS IN AN ONLINE WORLD, outlines not only how to connect with customers face-to-face but also a long-term engagement strategy for after the customer leaves the store. 

Read Time: 6 Minutes

The internal revolution that delivers a predictable, rapid growth curve requires a scalable sales team. This revolution always starts with the sales leader; it is always launched, modeled, promoted and defended by that leader, in close collaboration with the senior leadership of the company; and it always expands outward.

Read Time: 6 Minutes

This year, on Fridays, Dave talks about the attitude, behavior, and techniques of successful sales managers as he shares his thoughts on the 49 Sandler Rules for Sales Leaders.

Listen Time: 9 Minutes

In addition to following the basic principles of not presenting too early and ensuring that the presentation is delivered as one component of an effective professional sales process, there are four steps sales professionals can follow to ensure more effective presentations.

Read Time: 5 Minutes

Let’s start by talking about the elephant in the room: Cold calling is almost every salesperson’s least favorite topic. In fact, the only two groups who like the idea of cold calling are those who have never done it and sales managers.

Read Time: 6 Minutes

Learn how the insights and our real-time messaging works on the Sales Accountability platform.

Watch Time: 3 Minutes

The SalesAccountability platform offers a wide variety of functions to help your team improve their sales process. Learn how to add users and setup teams within the platform to hold your team more accountable!

Watch Time: 6 Minutes

Do you understand all the the sales accountability platform has to offer? Learn all you need to know all you need to know about the competitions tab in the system.

Watch Time: 3 Minutes

Are you taking advantage of the Sales Accountability platform? Learn how to access and take advantage of your performance analytics available to you through the tool.

Watch Time: 5 Minutes

Looking for the best way to log your daily activity and sales? Learn the best way to navigate your Sales Accountability dashboard today.

Watch Time: 3 Minutes

Keep, Attain, Recapture, Expand. Learn more about the concept of KARE in the heart of SalesAccountability!

Watch Time: 4 Minutes

Hap Klopp, Founder and former CEO of The North Face and author of multiple books, shows you how to succeed with the attitudes, behaviors, and techniques needed to be more successful in the the face of digital disruption. Get the best practices collected from around the world.

Listen Time: 30 Minutes

The programmed patterns that we have transcend our roles in life. It's not something that you only do at work; this happens at home too. Contemplate a situation which causes you to react regularly in the same way:

What's the situation, what do I think about it, how does that make me feel, and what do I do.

We've adapted patterns, or scripts, for dealing with stressful situations and this began in childhood. Since we learn them under stress, we adhere rigidly to them. This means that we might notice the patterns we follow in ourselves or our people more under stress. The reality, we can't coach anyone to train anything if we don't know its origin. If its rooted in behavior associated with programming then it will be more difficult to change than if it is simply a problem from a lack of process.

Thought produces feeling. Feeling produces action. Action produces belief. A new programming that we write for ourselves requires confronting and understanding the truth. If you need help with coaching yourself or your team check out my reminder lists on take aways for managing your emotions and your teams behaviors.

Are your sales presentations more like a Gettysburg Address or a Gettysburg Oration? Few people know that President Lincoln was actually the secondary speaker at Gettysburg. The program for the dedication of the Gettysburg Cemetery, four months after the famous 1863 battle, listed Dedicatory Remarks, by the President of the United States after Oration, by Hon. Edward Everett, the main speaker. 

Dave Mattson, President and CEO of Sandler, shares his best practices for honing your talk tracks. Learn how to write, practice, and deliver your talk tracks for each part of the sales call.

Have you noticed? Temperatures are rising, which means summer is about to make its big entrance. For most of us, that’s entirely good news, because summertime means things like vacations, cookouts, and maybe even some time at the beach with a good book. For salespeople, though, the advent of summer is likely to be a bittersweet development, one that leads to an unnecessary drop in annual income… because of the Myth of the Eleventh Commandment.

We’re sometimes asked what the bare minimum should be in terms of digital prospecting ability for an individual salesperson. Below, our list of five things we believe every salesperson, operating in any industry, should be able to do in terms of digital prospecting. If for some reason you can’t do this much right now, you should learn how, and sooner rather than later!

When we talk about Transactional Analysis (TA) in our classes, we focus primarily on the ego states of the Parent and the Adult. The Parent is split between the Nurturing Parent and the Critical Parent. The Nurturing Parent is the instinct to empathize without indulgence and offer solutions, to help someone feel heard and validate their experience. The Critical is the instinctive habit of providing unsolicited advice out of the present. Statements such as, “You should do this…You should have done that…What were you thinking?”

When we are engaging in conversation we rotate between ego states, typically triggered by the nature of our relationship with the other and the content of the conversation. When it comes to your constituents, your prospects, or your family, what is your predominant ego state? Read my blog on a quick synopsis of TA and let me know where you see yourself and whether that serves you well.

Learn how to hold salespeople accountable for their behaviors. Whether it is yourself or your sales team, Hamish Knox and Haley Ayraud will help you learn the best practices for sales accountability and building new habits.

Todd finally learned that he had lost the large deal. He was confused and thought his demo had gone well.  A month had passed since he was told by the prospect that he had “done a good job presenting his software!”  What could have gone wrong?

Turnover is a serious issue with unemployment rate so low. Too often we lose focus on retention of employees when we’re having perpetual issues with hiring and do not look for solutions in hopes of finding the right employee.

A well-established company has an onboarding and offboarding process that ensures we learn lessons from the employees we let go and set everyone who joins our organization up for a successful venture. If you currently have issues with hiring, letting go, or retaining employees I encourage you to read my blog on five strategies to ensure your next hire is a fit and your next termination has a built-in system to learn from the relationship.

In this special bonus episode, Dave Mattson talks about a common problem with sales presentations. If you wait until the end of the presentation to close, you put too much pressure on you and the prospect. Learn how to prevent this pressure and succeed at giving sales presentations.

We’re programmed to buy in a certain way and we’re programmed to sell in a certain way. Sellers qualify based on the ability to use a good, rather than any actual qualification. Are you qualified to get your carpets cleans? The question is, do you have a home or carpets? People who are technically qualified get pushed into a state where they’re looking at solutions.

Salespeople are problem-solvers and fixers who want to present their goods as opposed to investigate the ability for a buyer to want or use these goods. Buyers naturally gain an advantage in this area in that they begin getting really good information on solutions and ideas to solve their issue with free information. The salesperson is doing this to get their needs met and to feel optimistic about their job but are being trapped into doing unpaid consulting which is engaged with no commitment by the buyer. Often times, sellers don’t realize they create unequal business stature and are willing to be abused in hopes that they are chosen at the end of an engagement.

Most people underestimate the power of first impressions. We often don’t think of who we might bump into or what role that person you just met could have in your future. If you knew that you were meeting someone who was going to loan you a quarter of a million dollars or invest in your firm, what extra preparations would you make to insure that you don’t blow the opportunity?

When I was rejected for a job at McDonald’s I faced an existential crisis over the fact that I was unemployed and likely unemployable. I went from being a handy-man to a painter and out of that built a construction business. Somewhere down the line, with 40 employees, I realized I had no idea what I was doing. I spent most of my time firefighting and being over-protective of my business to the point that I believed I was the only one who could solve the problems of my business.

Upon this discovery I set out on a series of goal setting determining where I wanted my life to go. I wanted to expand and grow my business and I wanted to spend time getting to know my children and being a part of my own family. These goals were at odds, as I was spending more than 80 hours a week working and getting to know my children’s most comfortable sleeping positions.

When my oldest son was 9 and my oldest daughter was 14, I have very little recollections about their experiences over the next four years. I had built so many commitments to clients and prospects that I neglected my commitments to my family. I needed help and bought a Sandler franchise to get training by the promise that, while I could not guarantee a monetary return in a month, I could get control over my schedule and see my family. If you’re interested in some of my story read my transparent blog on the actions I took to take ownership of my life.

Customer relationships are the lifeblood of any sellers’ career. The ability to attract clients, build rapport, and start sales conversations ultimately determines the level of success that a salesperson will enjoy. You can be an extreme specialist who knows all the tricks of the trade, but without supplementing your knowledge with interpersonal communication skills, you’ll fail to connect with your clients or prospects on a deeper level. Building rapport is essential to turn yourself from a transactional seller into a trusted partner. Below I’ve outlined four ways to strengthen your bond with clients.

Many salespeople are this time of year. When October, November, and December roll around, and you find yourself on edge because you’re a little (or maybe a lot) behind quota, please don’t do what most salespeople do. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking, “Well, it’s the end of Q4; let’s face it, that’s always a tough time of the year for me.”

Rule 28. A sales meeting is your sales presentation. Master the skills that support a great sales meeting. Here's the bottom line, we want our sales meetings to be great, and we know they're not. And sometimes they're not because we're running from one meeting, we thought we had about a 30-minute window to get ourselves ready for a sales meeting which turns into a three-minute window and so we show up unprepared.

The How to Succeed Podcast is a public and free podcast from Sandler Training, the worldwide leader in sales, management, and customer service training for individuals all the way up to Fortune 500 companies with over 250 locations around the globe.

Rule number 23, create a culture of accountability. Help your people own their success. Listen, every time I do executive coaching, one of the top topics is how do I create a culture of accountability. Okay, I agree. We want it. We all strive for it. We want our people to accept challenges. 

Welcome to Selling the Sandler Way, with your host Dave Mattson, the president and CEO of Sandler Training. He is a five-time bestselling author, speaker, trainer, and consultant to hundreds of international organizations. In this show, he talks to other Sandler trainers about the Sandler Selling System.

Know how the prospect makes a buying decision and you are three-quarters of the way to making a sale.

Use The Navy SEAL's 40% Rule To Achieve The Impossible. A common obstacle of success in sales leadership is getting stuck in a rut. Worry, fear and doubt are manufactured emotions that can limit a sales team’s ability to achieve their goals and potential. The rut is a comfort zone for you and your organization. Success can still happen in the rut, but according to the Navy SEAL’s 40% Rule, the big wins will never be achieved here. 

Amy Woodall, a Sandler trainer, talks about her best practices for managing expectations. Whether you are setting the first appointment with a prospect, setting clear guidelines for delivery, or just talking with your co-workers or spouse, setting expectations can be the difference between success and failure. Amy shares attitudes, behaviors, and techniques for setting clear up-front agreements with others.

Did you know that the average tenure of a Sales VP is only between 24-32 months? They barely have time to unpack their bags and get settled before they are looking for another position. In the meantime, the company has not only lost its Sales VP but probably its best sales person as well. Why is this? And is there something that can be done to change this dynamic?

Instead of accepting play-it-safe words, turn them into a question directed at the prospect.

“Just put me in coach, I’ll create miracles.”  That enthusiasm is great and can indeed have a strong impact on a sales team, but there are some common mistakes the new sales manager make:

Holding your people accountable is simple. In working with sales leaders around the world, accountability isn’t easy because those leaders possess one of three self-limiting beliefs that cripple their accountability program.

It’s already the second quarter; is it too late to discuss sales mistakes to avoid in 2017?  Or lessons learned in 2016?  It matters not what month or year it is, for some sales lessons are timeless, and furthermore, we need to revisit them on a regular basis.

Traditional sales training says present, present, present and close, close, close – convince your prospect with a compelling presentation, show him enough value, and he will surely buy.  When I first got into sales I really sweated the presentations.  I practiced them over and over; used different visual props and brochures; tried a variety of persuasive arguments; and created notebooks full of evidence favoring my product and my company.  Ultimately it became apparent that no matter how exciting or compelling my presentation was, my close rate was mostly dependent on what happened before the presentation, not during it.

Need some motivation? Look no further than this group of TED Talks, from experts in a variety of fields. From the aid worker who battled hippos (and lost) to the analyst who discovered the power of drawing toast (and how those drawings revealed simple solutions to complex problems),” this roundup of TED Talks is ideal for motivating yourself or your sales team.

You’ve closed the deal – but your job isn’t done quite yet. Managing client expectations can help you make the most of your new relationship and ensure you are striking the right balance. By working together to outline goals, define success, and clearly communicating your progress and milestones, you can increase transparency to build the long lasting relationship with your new client.

Unless you ask questions to find out what the prospect or customer is thinking, you are fooling
yourself into losing the sale.

We know from some extensive research on goal setting that most people make a New Year’s wish instead of a resolution. Proper goal setting requires commitment to your dreams. It gives you a road map to follow, allowing you to focus your efforts on the right thing at the right time, and holding you accountable for progress. If you are committed to succeeding in 2016 and want to do something about it, then follow these 6 steps to a perfect goal setting plan for this year and the rest of your life.

Salespeople are often viewed as individuals who hold themselves accountable. Accountable to getting up and out every day and pushing themselves to get to the next level.  They are most often seen as doing things that others don't want to do. They hold themselves accountable. What's the reality? It's not always that easy. Many salespeople would say (my educated guess) that holding themselves accountable is one of the toughest things they face

There's no denying that finding a job in this market can be tough. In fact, an average of 118 people apply for any given job opening and only 20% of those applicants are offered an interview. If you are struggling to make your resume stand out or to shine in an interview, you may be falling victim to some of the common job hunting mistakes. When it comes to tips and techniques to sell yourself in an interview, many of the tips and techniques taught by Sandler can be applied to a job search. Making a few tweaks to your process could help you land the job of your dreams

A recent Sandler Training survey revealed that nearly 70% of working Americans agree that the key to getting ahead in life is to learn how to sell yourself. What does that mean for recent graduates? Learn how to sell yourself early in your career to stay ahead and put yourself on the right career path. And there's no better time to start selling yourself then during your first professional, post-college interviews

Sandler Training spends more than 92,000 hours per year training companies and individuals how to strengthen sales, leadership and management skills.

As a manager, executive or owner, the only valuable you possess is your time. To successfully manage your time and grow your business, ask yourself the following question daily: "Does 'it' advance my business?" ("It," being whatever activity you are doing or about to start.) Let's take a look at several examples, which might resonate with you. Activity – Understanding your direct reports' personal goals Does it advance my business? Absolutely

Many salespeople are too eager to make presentations – are you? They view them as opportunities to establish the value of their products or services by demonstrating their unique aspects. You can't establish value, however, until you have determined which aspects, if any, are relevant to the prospects' situations.

Recently, you probably invested a lot of time and energy putting together a presentation of your product or service. You crafted your presentation, dotted all the "i"s, crossed all the "t"s, covered all the bases, and answered all of the prospect's questions. But, instead of a buying decision, you only received a stall, a put-off, or a request for some concession. At whom do you point the finger of blame?

Salespeople invest time developing their pitch, formulating questions, and preparing responses to expected questions and objections from the prospect. They rehearse, refine, and rehearse some more.

Clients and prospects tell on a regular basis about how they spend 5 - 20 hours a week preparing proposals for business they are "hoping to get;" however, most of the time their efforts are unsuccessful. Why are we compelled to provide proposals when our 'gut' tells us we are wasting our time? Let's explore some of the reasons we feel inclined to provide proposals: The prospect asked for it. 'If I don't provide the proposal I definitely won't have a chance at getting the business.

If you're like most salespeople, you don't know how to network effectively. Usually you'll wing it, improvise, or spend time with colleagues or clients you know really well instead of engaging prospects. When I ask, "why you don't approach prospects at networking events?", I'd get a lot of "I don't knows." What you don't know, or don't even realize, is your problem is mom. Specifically in influence the messages mom drilled into your head in your first six years like

Have you ever killed a sale by bringing up an irrelevant feature to your prospect? Something you, or probably your marketing department, thought you prospect should know about before they signed up? At Sandler, this is known as "painting seagulls in your prospect's picture." Unfortunately, your seagull can quickly turn into an albatross. Traditionally trained salespeople who sit through hours of product training before being let out in front of prospects can't wait to share all their product knowledge when they get in front of anyone, qualified prospect or not

Make a mutual decision with your prospect. Sandler trainer Danny Wood discusses Rule #16: Never ask for the order, make your prospect give up.

I love small businesses and their owners. I spend much of my day marveling at the great accomplishments of this hearty bunch of entrepreneurs who pursue their dream and formulate the backbone of our business society. They are the lifeblood of this country. there is a soft spot in my heart for the struggles they endure as well as the challenges they must overcome to succeed.

Sales isn't for the faint of heart. You don't just encounter negativity on a fairly frequent basis. In many cases, it is your job to sniff it out and address it immediately. Sandler Rule #3: "No Mutual Mystification," deals with an issue that often plagues sales professionals –  "happy ears."

Why should we buy from you? What makes you different than my current _______? Why should I invite you in to see me? We are already doing business with you so why should we look at this new product /service? Sound familiar? A bit tired of hearing this? Get used to it. This is simply what customers and prospects say to sales people. And we can't fault the prospect/ customer for asking the question. They don't have time to waste, and they need a good reason to spend time with salespeople who know how to sell value-whether through a meeting or to view a new product or service

Why? Why do we get up every day and go to work? Because we have bills to pay: Really? Listen to the news-not paying your bills is now as much a status symbol as a Gold Card in the 1980's. Because that's what is expected: Really? In most companies, the last time you saw your job description was the day you interviewed-and you don't know what is really expected, do you? Because employees depend on us: Really? Management texts say a great manager implements systems that will operate well when management is not there. Really it's because Mom or Dad said so

The prospect said no. That's the end of the sales process, and you've somewhat succeeded in a sense that you at least got an answer. It's not a "yes," but your job is technically done now, right? According to Sandler Rule #39, you should think again.

The change in the economic climate in the last two years has affected everyone, and one of the more dramatic effects is the cultural impact it's had on organizations. Employees no longer feel safe, and they don't like it. They are feeling left out, they are angry to see their friends laid off and their pay cut, and all they hear as a reason is that sales have dropped 30, 40 or 50% - and they now demand to know more! They want to know why the results are so poor.

It may be in the salesperson's best interest to stop talking from time to time. Share your product expertise after you've qualified the prospect. 

Wouldn't it be wonderful for a prospect to accurately and honestly lay out all of their issues for you in your first meeting? This means no more seemingly-perfect deals to disappear, no more "perfect matches" to end with unreciprocated phone calls, and best of all, no more "What went wrong?"

If you simply differentiate yourself as saying you're "the best" sales professional out there, then you can look forward to clients and prospects who will wander around to see if one of the millions of other "bests" out there are cheaper. This rule is simple. See what your competition does, and then make sure that what you do is incomparable. Having a unique game plan will help set you on the path to one-of-a-kind success.

I propose a ban on proposals! I find them to be an enormous waste of time as no one has ever in the history of sales purchased anything solely based on the proposal. We unwittingly taught all prospects that they simply have to ask and we will provide them with all the information they need in order to deal with their problem

Many salespeople bail out long before they get thrown out. Do you ever wonder why so many salespeople leave a sales opportunity too early?

Whoever said talk is cheap didn't know much about sales. Talk-too much talk, that is-can cost a lot. This is a difficult lesson for many sales professionals to learn, and that's understandable. People in sales tend to have outgoing personalities. They enjoy good conversation, and the longer they are in sales, the better they get at making small talk, establishing an emotional connection with the prospect, and driving a conversation toward the specific end of closing a sale