Colleen Stanley
CustomerThink
Denver, CO, United States
Contact Colleen
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Past articles by Colleen:
Avoid This Sales Coaching Mistake
I’m reading “The Talent Code” by Daniel Coyle and am reminded of the importance of understanding the neuroscience and practice needed to achieve sales excellence. It’s easy to believe that masterful people are born, not developed. But as Coyle’s research points out, excellence is not simply a game of lucky genetics. It is the result of deliberate, intentional practice. If you desire to be a… → Read More
Sales Productivity During a Pandemic
When the COVID-19 crisis struck, many companies thought the move to remote offices and remote selling would last just a few months. But the pandemic seems to have a different timeline, which no one knows. Dr. Robert Sutton recently wrote a great article in The Wall Street Journal about remote working. And to paraphrase him, many people working during the pandemic are experiencing fragmented… → Read More
Demystifying Virtual Selling
Sales trainers, sales managers and podcasters are focused on helping sellers learn how to sell in a world gone remote and virtual. These conversations show that there is angst among sellers that this new thing called “virtual selling” is mysterious and difficult to master. So let me relieve some of your angst by challenging your belief systems about virtual selling by sharing some of my beliefs.… → Read More
Selling During COVID-19: Improvise, Adapt and Overcome
My husband Jim is a former Marine. And on more than one occasion, he has said that I remind him of his former drill sergeant. (But that is a story for another blog.) Marines are taught — and drilled — to overcome any obstacle. It’s a mindset that helps a Marine deal with the chaos of combat and physical, mental and spiritual hardships. Many salespeople might feel that they are in the middle of a… → Read More
What’s in Your Salesperson’s Briefcase?
A popular television commercial asks, “What’s in your wallet?” Whenever I see the ad, I immediately think of another question: “What’s in your salesperson’s briefcase?” Salespeople get hired and show up at work with two briefcases. One is visible, and a sales manager has seen the contents because they hired the person. This briefcase is full of industry experience, a number of years in sales and… → Read More
Why Is Listening So Hard For Sales Professionals?
We’ve all heard the phrase, “God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason.” The inference is that we should all listen more and talk less. This isn’t a new revelation or even close to thought leadership. However, listening is a continuing challenge most sales organizations continue to deal with as they try to prevent ‘show-up and throw up’ sales meetings. There are several reasons that… → Read More
Effective Sales Management Is Emotion Management
You’ve hired a good salesperson but the reality is you’ve also hired a human being. And even really good human beings bring faults and blind spots that will need to be addressed. (Anyone reading this married, in a serious relationship or raising children?) If you want to know how to be a good sales manager, remember the importance of emotion management when addressing sales performance issues.… → Read More
How Much are Objections Costing Your Sales Organization?
Meet Eddie. He is the sales elephant in the room. He represents the unspoken objections, the ones salespeople dread bringing up or avoid all together for fear that such a discussion will kill the deal. As a result of this false belief, most salespeople miss the real meeting, the one that occurs after the sales meeting. This is the meeting where the prospects convene and discuss the real concerns… → Read More
Is Your Sales Team More Committed to Success Than Your Prospects?
Jill is one of those great salespeople you wish you could duplicate. She works hard, has a great attitude, does what she says she’s going to do and delivers high value for customers. But sometimes, these great attributes become an Achilles heel for Jill. She is so committed to helping her clients be successful that she often wastes time and energy with prospects that are whiners, not winners.… → Read More
Will You be Replaced By a Sales Robot?
The robots are coming, the robots are coming. And with that, the new movie version of “Death of A Salesman or Saleswoman.” Not so fast. AI is here to stay and, in many ways, will help salespeople spend time on what they really like to do: sell rather than figure out who to sell to, when to approach and what to sell. For example, Victor Antonio, co-author of “Sales Ex Machina: How Artificial… → Read More
Will You be Replaced By a Sales Robot?
The robots are coming, the robots are coming. And with that, the new movie version of “Death of A Salesman or Saleswoman.” Not so fast. AI is here to stay and, in many ways, will help salespeople spend time on what they really like to do: sell rather than figure out who to sell to, when to approach and what to sell. For example, Victor Antonio, co-author of “Sales Ex Machina: How Artificial… → Read More
What Key Performance Metrics Should Sales Managers be Held Accountable to?
I recently attended a sales conference where CEOs, vice presidents of sales and other sales speakers spoke about such great topics as sales enablement, sales compensation and my topic, building high-performance sales teams. A participant asked a great question: “What key performance metrics should sales managers be held accountable to?” It was a great question because most of the presenters,… → Read More
How Emotionally Intelligent Sales Managers Lead Their Teams Through Change
“If progress is impossible without change, those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” – George Bernard Shaw “We don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.” – Gail Sheehy When I speak to CEOs and sales managers, I ask them how many have seen changes in their business in the last six to 12 months. Almost 90 percent of them raise their hands. Change is… → Read More
How Emotionally Intelligent Sales Managers Lead Their Teams Through Change
“If progress is impossible without change, those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” – George Bernard Shaw “We don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.” – Gail Sheehy When I speak to CEOs and sales managers, I ask them how many have seen changes in their business in the last six to 12 months. Almost 90 percent of them raise their hands. Change is… → Read More
Fear – the No. 1 Emotion That Stops Sales Success
Sales managers have a number of roles to fulfill. One is sales coaching, which kind of like playing sales doctor, trying to properly diagnose the root cause for poor sales performance. There are a number of places to examine during coaching sessions, but one often-overlooked area is understanding how the emotion of fear affects the salesperson’s actions or inactions. * Fear of failure inhibits… → Read More
Fear – the No. 1 Emotion That Stops Sales Success
Sales managers have a number of roles to fulfill. One is sales coaching, which kind of like playing sales doctor, trying to properly diagnose the root cause for poor sales performance. There are a number of places to examine during coaching sessions, but one often-overlooked area is understanding how the emotion of fear affects the salesperson’s actions or inactions. * Fear of failure inhibits… → Read More
What Should You Look For When Conducting a Win-Loss Analysis?
“Insanity is repeating the same behaviors and expecting different results.” How many sales organizations are headed down the path of insanity because they aren’t taking the time to conduct a formal or informal win-loss analysis? The answer: too many! When I speak with CEO or sales managers, I often ask how many have conducted a win-loss analysis. Not enough hands raise, telling me their sales… → Read More
Two Valuable Sales Lessons from Non-Sales Trainers
I just attended the National Speakers Association industry conference. Like our clients, we enjoy learning and exploring new ways to improve and add value. Some of the sharpest people in the industry, experts on topics from innovation to customer service to leadership, attend this conference. It’s always amazing to me how much I learn about sales—from people that don’t specialize in it! Here are… → Read More
Necessary Sales Endings – Which Salespeople Should Exit Your Sales Bus?
We’re almost halfway through 2018, a good time to evaluate what’s working or not working in your sales organization. One of the first things to evaluate are the performances of your sales team members. CEO’s and sales managers: How many of your salespeople should remain on your sales bus? When conducting our sales management courses, I often ask, “How many of you have held onto poor performers… → Read More
Necessary Sales Endings – Which Salespeople Should Exit Your Sales Bus?
We’re almost halfway through 2018, a good time to evaluate what’s working or not working in your sales organization. One of the first things to evaluate are the performances of your sales team members. CEO’s and sales managers: How many of your salespeople should remain on your sales bus? When conducting our sales management courses, I often ask, “How many of you have held onto poor performers… → Read More