COVID-19 has had drastic effects on many companies unequipped for a radical shift in how customers do business.  The good news is, there is still money to be made, and those able to pivot in new directions can still achieve sales success. Sales leaders are advised to follow the five C’s of COVID-19 in order to effectively lead their teams, retain and gain customers, and reach their goals in unprecedented times. 

In the fast-moving world of B2B sales, maintaining a fresh, modern, and cutting-edge sales philosophy is what’s really going to drive conversions all throughout your sales team and sales process. Now, there are a number of different ways you can go about implementing an effective sales philosophy, but one of the most cost-effective ways to go about it is to simply implore your sales leadership to provide strong coaching and mentoring for your lower-level sales representatives.

I have been truly humbled in my career, by working with and for amazing sales leaders. Even today in my sales consulting firm, I am constantly amazed at how these amazing individuals exhibit these behaviors and assets. I have not included in this blog assets like honesty, values, proven skills, trust, leadership and communication — I will leave these for another time. 

Let's spend a minute on disruption. Disruption as a word/phrase means: "A disruption is a major disturbance, something that changes your plans or interrupts some event or process."

As we all know and have probably experienced in our career, there are a lot of sales training programs out there in the marketplace. We typically sit in a room for hours or sometimes days listening to an instructor tell you how to close more deals or improve a certain skillset. . 

I've learned countless lessons as Sales Result's CEO, some the result of great decision-making, others from making mistakes. Fifteen years later, I use these learnings to coach sales leaders to be the best version of themselves. Today's blog features five key points that I incorporate into every executive coaching engagement, and that I believe are incredibly important for any CEO or sales leader to remember. 

As we approach 2017, most Sales Managers and VPs of Sales have already started the budget and planning phase. I get asked by sales leaders what, besides the normal stuff, to invest in. The “normal” being travel and entertainment, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), hiring and onboarding, and sales kickoff meetings.

The VP of Sales’ primary responsibility is delivering revenue, wether it's a hard number, growth/profit targets, and/or market share. It's a critical position in any company. Unfortunately, VP of Sales positions are notorious for high turnover—usually due to burnout or bad fit. In fact, there’s reason for the common saying “You’ve Got to Get Past the Carcass of Your First VP of Sales”.

Do you manage a team of sales reps with clear (or sometimes not-so-clear) over-performers and under-performers? Do you have a rep on your team who you wish you could duplicate? Are you able to weed the “A” players from the “C” players, and articulate why they fall in their respective categories? Simply put, are you able to define your Characteristics of Sales Excellence?