One of the first lessons I learned in sales was that customers buy confidence. I believed it for years. It made sense because every great salesperson I admired carried themselves with confidence. They spoke with conviction, answered questions quickly and always seemed to know exactly what to do next. Naturally, I assumed that if I...
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Why Customers Don’t Tell You ‘No’… and You Still Lose
Here is a true story that makes my heart ache. About 15 years ago I was targeting a particularly lucrative client that was ripe with endless opportunities. A unicorn. A white whale. A real humdinger of an account. Like always, I put my all into prospecting this account trying to find and meet the right...
Some Lost Sales Have Two Stories
Every salesperson has experienced it. You invest hours preparing, ask good questions, build a great relationship, present your proposal with confidence, and then…nothing. The prospect chooses someone else. Maybe they stop returning your calls altogether. Losing a sale is frustrating enough, but what happens next often determines whether you become a better salesperson or simply...
The Ownership Mindset: Thinking Like A Leader
‘Lead where you are’. I remember hearing that once early in my career before I ever had any real titles or responsibilities. For some reason I knew what that meant, but I wouldn’t have been able to define that if someone asked me to. In fact, I can recall several times when I have given...
The Ownership Mindset In Sales
What is the number one reason why salespeople get a bad reputation? Sure, we’re not perfect, but most of the problems we create are caused by the things we say. Think of any salesperson you didn’t like either as a co-worker or a customer and chances are it will have something to do with what...
Who’s To Blame?
I wouldn’t say that I was a bad kid growing up, but I certainly got in my fair share of trouble. There were times when I broke something when no one was looking, or got in a squabble with one of my sisters, but I did everything in my power to build a case that...
The Common Sales Challenges Businesses Face in 2026
Scorecard Sales: Building Sales Teams That Actually Win Selling got harder in 2026, and the data confirms it is not just a feeling. In its May 2026 survey, the NFIB Research Center reported that small business optimism fell across every major industry it tracks—construction, manufacturing, retail, and services—with real sales expectations and owners’ willingness to...
The 2026 Answer to AI and Modern Sales Challenges: A Systematic Sales Training Process
Scorecard Sales: Building Sales Teams That Actually Win The forces reshaping B2B sales in 2026 are no longer theoretical. Artificial intelligence is absorbing the routine work that once filled a rep’s day, demand has softened, and buyers arrive better informed and more skeptical than ever. The result is a market that punishes weak selling habits...
Why Businesses Need Professional Sales Training in the Age of AI
Scorecard Sales: Building Sales Teams That Actually Win For the first time in modern record-keeping, the federal government is projecting that America will employ fewer salespeople a decade from now than it does today. In its January 2026 occupational projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics placed sales and related occupations among only four of...
Professionalism As Your Personal Brand
Branding generally tends to be a function of marketing, which is something I agree with for the overall company. As salespeople, we need to align ourselves with the company’s brand so that customers can get a consistent experience. However, our individuality will eventually bubble up and oftentimes can become more prominent than the company brand....