Inside Sales Expert

I used to think that the sales team *reported to* the VP of Sales or sometimes the COO but I was wrong. Who controls the pricing of the product that you sell? The Product team. Who determines who the product should be sold to? The Product team. Who helps determine what channel will sell the product? Sometimes the Product team. Who determines what features get built? The Product team. I don't care who you think you or your sales team reports to now. Technically, if you're a sales leader, you report to Product. 👉🏻 Not literally, of course, but as sales leaders, we work to serve the Product team to sell the product that they create for us to sell. 💡 Learning Lesson: Work closely with your Product team to understand why they built the product, for whom they built the product, why it's priced the way it is and provide a continuous and productive feedback loop from the customers and prospects to Product. Do you see why I say that Sales "works for" the Product team? Agree or disagree?

I’m 54. I've had 3 successful exits in my sales leadership career & never have to take a W2 job again if I don't want one but... ...I still don’t know what the hell I’m doing most of the time. 🤪 Just a reminder that the people you may look up to, so-called "influencers," are still figuring it out. Life is the trip, there is no destination.

I'll never understand why people are a$$hole$ to recruiters. Yeah, 75% of them are really bad at their jobs. But networking with recruiters when you don't need a job is like saving for a rainy day. You never know when you might need them & it's always better to be prepared.

12 reasons you shouldn't hire that salesperson you're interviewing. Hiring is hard but if you see any of these things during the interview, run for the hills. And especially if you see combos of any of these 12, quickly and respectfully reject the candidate. • They can't get their tech to work. Come on. You've had how much time to figure out if your tech works? • Can't talk to former bosses. They get squeamish when you ask if it's okay to speak with several of their former bosses. • They ask few questions. Or the questions they ask are just lame. • You're still not sure. You've met them several times and you're still not sure if they're a fit. • They're late. And they've been late to a few other interviews too. • It's clear they did little research. If this is the effort they're putting in now, it's downhill from here. • They flat-out tell you they're money motivated. They're just trying to tell you what you think you want to hear. • Lack of energy. Let's face it: you can't give people personality transplants. If they lack energy DURING the interview, what's their normal state? • Answers lacking examples. They seem to know how to answer the interview questions but when pressed, have no examples of when they did the thing. • Unprofessional Behavior: The candidate makes an off-color joke or is dressed inappropriately. • Inability to Take Responsibility: They fail to take responsibility for past mistakes or failures nor do they have any learning lessons from past failures. • Inability to Handle Criticism: The candidate becomes defensive when receiving constructive feedback during the interview. Some of you might like to explain away many, if not all, of these observations and make excuses to hire the candidate. Go right ahead...at your own risk. I've learned these lessons the hard way. Interviewers need to remember that sales candidates are acting on their BEST behavior during the interview. So if you see any of these behaviors, you're seeing their BEST self. It's all downhill from there.

One of the hardest things I've ever had to do as a sales leader: Ask one of my toxic, yet top-producing salespeople to leave the building. Flew to Chicago & had dinner with her personally to encourage her to quit. I even got permission from the CEO to do it. She was that toxic

My 1st year in sales (1995), I made ~$100k ($200k today's $$) & my boss asked me what I was going to do with all that money? I told him that I was going to splurge and get a new BMW. What he did next is what every sales manager who cares about their people should do. ✅ He told me, "it's not what you make, it's what you keep." And handed me the book, The Millionaire Next Door. You see, real millionaires aren't the typical flashy types we see in the media. 📉 Real millionaires, the truly wealthy, keep their expenses low. Most sales managers want their reps to buy big houses and fancy cars and rack up lots of debt. That gives the manager a sense of perceived control. That sucks. 👉 My first sales manager cared enough about me to give me a life lesson that changed my life forever. It was cool of him to do that right? Imagine a world where all sales leaders cared about their sales reps like this right?

I received a job offer including a savage non-compete agreement. So I had a lawyer review it and she said: 🦈 "This non-compete has more teeth in it than Jaws. If you really NEED a job, go ahead and sign it. If you don't need a job, don't sign it." (wait there's more) 👇 But when I told the CEO why I was declining his offer, he said: "This is standard language. You know it's not enforceable." 🤔 When I asked him to remove it, he refused. So I declined and referred another friend who DID NEED a job and he got the job, signing the non-compete. 🚫 And years later, when he left the company, they sued him. He spent $60,000 to defend himself and then the company dropped the suit knowing the non-compete was not enforceable. 💩 They sued him just to mess with him AND to send a clear message to their current employees. This was 2008 and the FTC just banned non-competes in April 2024. How many other employees have been screwed by these vicious, legal instruments since then? Have you been screwed over or limited by a non-compete?

My sales rep thought he had a "good relationship" with a client. But then he had a rude awakening when the client wrote: "Dance, monkey, dance." 🐵 He knew their favorite baseball team. Where they grew up. Knew the names of their kids. They laughed and laughed and laughed at each other's jokes...🎉 But then he accidentally intercepted an email from his potential client where the client was telling his peers "watch how I can get this rep to lower his price for me" and included a little "Dance Monkey, Dance" gif in the email. 😳 My rep was humiliated. This is why I get passionate when I hear people say: 💩 "KG, KG, you don't understand, sales is ALL ABOUT the relationships!" 💩 "People buy from people they like!" This kind of 8u||$h|+ results in salespeople who think that in order to win business, they should be nice and make friends with their potential clients. This couldn't be further from the truth. 💡 Learning Lesson: Teach your reps that it's better to be respected than it is to be liked. Teach your reps to look for ways to bring insights to their client and teach the client something they didn't know already. Doing that will develop trust and respect and THAT will be the basis for the relationship. Anybody else been in a situation like this? You thought you had a "great relationship" with a client and then you had a rude-awakening? Drop it in the comments

Agree or disagree: "Sell me this pen" is a good interview question to use to identify great salespeople? Why? Why not?

Hot take: you're wasting your time if you spend your time equally with all of your salespeople. I've been in sales leadership for >25 years & learned that leaders shouldn't spend their time equally with all of their salespeople. There's only 4 types of salespeople and you should spend your time with only 2 of these types: 1. The Eagles. they march to the beat of their own drum, never follow the playbooks, hate the training and for some reason, they still hit or exceed their goals. Leave them alone. Most of the time they want to be left alone. NEVER let new people sit with them for "call shadowing." They are not examples you want other people to follow. 2. The Unsalvageables: they don't follow the playbook, never take direction, rarely hit goals. Spend ZERO time on these people over the long haul. 3. The Try-Hards: they're following the playbook but just not having the success just yet. Work with these people for a defined period of time, like 90-180 days. Some of these people will make it through, come around and start hitting goals but many will not. But give these people attention because they're trying. 4. The Boy/Girl Scouts: they follow the playbook and training, they're highly coachable and they hit goals regularly. Spend the vast majority of your time with these people. It's where you'll get the best ROI of your time. What do you think?