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The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Emily Estey

Recent Posts by Emily Estey:

To Improve Sales Performance, Remember To Switch Your Hat!

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To improve sales performance, remember to switch your hat... and only wear one at a time! Let's talk about the difference between educating and presenting. There is no doubt you are aware of the products, or capabilities, you have to sell. Most of your clients are aware of your "heritage" products, but when it comes to some of the more complex products you are capable of delivering, your clients and prospects need to be educated about what they are and—more importantly—how they can use the products to achieve their business goals.

Topics: Needs Analysis Sales

How to Find the Quality Salespeople You Need in an Employee's Market

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Topics: hiring salespeople Sales

Motivate Your Team: See It and Say It

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I’m a mom. A lot of you are moms and dads as well. I often see parallels between “managing” my family and managing a team of salespeople. I noticed something the other day that I think I’ve noticed before, but hadn't made the association back to managing a team of salespeople until that moment.

Topics: Sales

Get on the Court and Coach Those Salespeople!

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Imagine this. You'll be watching one of the many NCAA basketball games in the next few weeks. One particular game you'll flip to seems really out of control. It looks a little like playground basketball. Not much passing or rebounding, no plays being called, looks of frustration and fear from the players, and lots of fouls. The camera scans the benches, and something strikes you:

Topics: Sales

Relationships Build Revenue

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Recently I had the pleasure of facilitating a group of managers through a four month long program called Coaching New Business. We asked each manager to select two members from their team to work side by side through the How Selling process with a select group of Target Accounts.

Topics: Sales

Next Time, Try a Little Gratitude

try-a-little-gratitudeI heap a lot of praise on my kids. I point out when they do something I haven’t asked them to do, and I make a big deal about it. When they are extra helpful, I heap it on even more. Sometimes I wonder if they hear me because they may or may not even say thanks. And I’m okay with that. 

The other day I asked my 12-year-old son to take out the garbage, and when he came back in the house, I said to him “I want you to know, I really appreciate you.” And he stopped and said “Mom, I like it when you tell me that.” I was taken aback. I pointed out that I give him lots of praise, and he said it was something about the words “I appreciate you.”

Topics: leadership

Why You Should Fire Your Crappy Accounts

fire-crappy-accountsIs it okay if I use the word "crappy" here? Good.

Topics: Sales

A Lesson on How to Manage Millennials from Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll

football_50_yard_lineI know, I know, everyone has an opinion about Pete Carroll, the coach of the Seattle Seahawks, winners of the 2014 Super Bowl. Since I live in the great state of Washington—I'm a fan. 

I was reading an article titled "Player development propels Seahawks" with the subtitle "Carroll's patience helps rookies improve faster." 

How Modern Family Can Teach Us Sales Techniques for Prospecting

Sales Techniques Research Your Prospects
Topics: Sales Buyer's Journey

Executive Coaching: Are Your Meetings Worth $60,000?

A $10,000 MeetingThis week I had the pleasure of running a meeting with a group of department heads. The topic of our discussion was All About Meetings. Prior to the meeting, one of the b2b sales managers did the math to determine how much it costs (time off the streets) to have all of the salespeople on his team attend an hour long meeting. The title to this blog post doesn’t even begin to cut it – the cost was in the $60,000.00 range – for one hour