Top Sales Library - a resource of all things sales

Joanne Black

It’s Never About Closing

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Have you ever heard this one? “My salespeople can’t close.” I cringe when sales executives ask for a training program about closing the sale. Save your money. It’s never about closing. Never. That’s just the symptom. The problem almost always stems from the activities salespeople neglect or overlook during earlier parts of the sales process…. Read More

Love Them or They’ll Leave

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Absence doesn’t make your customers’ hearts grow fonder. Your clients want to hear from you … really. They don’t want a pitch or even to hear about your services. They want to know what you know. Many of your clients don’t get out of the office very often. They keep their heads buried in their work, occasionally emerging… Read More

Message to Management: Are You Losing Your Top Talent?

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If your sales reps are overwhelmed, they might decide the job’s not worth the stress. The job of sales reps is to sell—to maintain strong sales pipelines and spend their time talking to clients. When you force them to spend hours entering data, coaching new hires, and attending long, boring meetings, they’ll leave. More than 60 percent… Read More

NEWSFLASH: Buyer-Centric Sales Is NOT New

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I was ready to scream! When I read about how sales has evolved to be buyer-centric and relationship-driven, I was ready to scream. Good salespeople have always approached sales this way. Buyer-centric sales is NOT a new strategy. But it has become an increasingly rare one. “The balance of power in a sales relationship has… Read More

Pick Up the Damn Phone

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You’ve heard it: Television will kill radio. Video killed the radio star. And social media and the Internet will eliminate the time-consuming, face-to-face aspect of sales. Um, no. Marketing automation, CRM, social media, and other technology tools empower us to sell more efficiently and cost-effectively. But if you think back over your most successful business… Read More

Pick Up the Phone, Bring In the Money

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Our smartest, tried-and-true tool for business development, lead generation, and deal closing has always been ourselves. And that’s not going to change anytime soon—if ever. The digital world—as great as it is—threatens personal connections. Humans need face-to-face contact with others. Even with whisper-light computing power and immediate, 140-character Twitter posts, we are a face-to-face species…. Read More

Referred: Rediscovering the Power of the Original Social Network

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Much about the business world has changed in recent years—from the Great Recession that rocked our economy, to the emergence of social media, to the technological developments that have fundamentally shifted the way we work. But when it comes to sales, there’s one thing that hasn’t changed and won’t anytime soon—if ever. People still do… Read More

Sales Reps Not Closing Sales? Try This

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This broken link is to blame for sales teams’ biggest closing mistakes. “My salespeople can’t close.” This is the frustrated lament I hear regularly from sales leaders. But not closing sales is never the real problem. It’s just a symptom. The problem is that sales reps neglect important activities during earlier stages of the sales process…. Read More

Social Deja Vu: We’ve Been Here Before

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Even when there’s nothing on, we’ll always have reruns. You’ve heard it: Television will kill radio. Video killed the radio star. And technology will eliminate the time-consuming, face-to-face aspect of communication. Um, no. Because the more things change, the more they stay the same—in sales and in life. Old but Not Irrelevant People have always… Read More

STOP Cold Calling!

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Why is it when the economy tanks, article after article, webinar after webinar, sales strategy after sales strategy promote cold calling as the tried and true prospecting method? STOP cold calling. It’s a total waste of time. Your time. The prospect’s time. And wasting time is stupid. So stop, already. Welcome to my blog. I… Read More

Stop Spamming People

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Get over it. They don’t want to talk to you. How many unsolicited emails do you get each day? Today I received 25 … before 10:00 a.m. Guess how many I opened? Not a single one. I’m not interested in student loan assistance, Russian beauties, light therapy for depression, surveys, blood pressure solutions, cat food… Read More

Stop Typing, Start Talking: 3 Ways to Succeed in Sales 2.0

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Technology helps salespeople do many things more efficiently, but to seal the deal, we must put away our toys and have a grown-up conversation. The digital world opens up many new opportunities for salespeople, but it also threatens personal connections. Even with whisper-light computing power and immediate, 140-character Twitter posts, people still buy from people… Read More

The #1 Sales Program to Guarantee Qualified Leads

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Relationships drive sales—always have, always will. Most sales teams miss quota year after year. Yet, quotas continue to increase. Doesn’t make much sense, does it? Sales leaders bemoan that they don’t have enough qualified leads in the pipe, that their people aren’t getting meetings with decision-makers, that they can’t seem to differentiate themselves from competitors…. Read More

The Irrefutable Referral Business Case

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How asking for referrals will drive your revenue in 2024 How many people should you ask for referrals to get five new clients? No more than 20. In my experience, at least half the people you ask for referrals will introduce you to your ideal prospect. Referred prospects convert to clients a minimum 50 percent… Read More

The Real Reason Your Sales Reps Can’t Close: How Are They Prospecting?

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“My salespeople can’t close.” This is the frustrated lament I hear regularly from sales management. But failing to close is never the real problem. It’s just the symptom. The problem is that sales reps neglect important activities during earlier stages of the sales process. Unless you address the broken links in your prospecting system, your… Read More