The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

Salespeople are hired to sell. So the more sales they make, the more successful they must be. Right? The more they sell, the bigger their lists, the better they’re doing. Or maybe that’s not always right. Making a lot of sales does not guarantee success. Making a lot of good sales is what it takes to succeed in the long-term.

Veterans know that all sales are not created equal. Quality is often better than quantity. Some sales gallop freely ahead like a fine racehorse, and some leave a mess to clean up like ponies in a parade.

Let’s look at what makes a good sale: 

The mantra that "you need a personal, professional brand" is no longer new. If you're like most sales professionals, you're open to the idea, but it can seem like such a major project. Let's look at three myths you need to move past to get started building a brand for yourself. 

Most times when you find yourself at a crosswalk, you simply stand in front of the "don't walk" signal, and the light will eventually say "walk." Sales can be a lot like that. You just show up often enough and someone eventually buys something.  

At important, busy intersections, corners where some extra caution is required, you can walk up to the crosswalk and watch the lights cycle through for the cars over and over, but you just keep getting "don't walk." After a while, you'll look behind you and see there's an extra step you need to take to get across: there's a button you need to push to get the "walk" signal you want. It's an easy thing to do, but if you don't notice it, you could stand there all day waiting.

Defining what position your own professional brand should take is hard work. Which is why most salespeople and development officers are still talking mostly about their company, their products, and their causes on their LinkedIn profile.

It’s important to be proud of your company. If you are, you might even say you’re blessed, or damn lucky, depending on your point of view. But when someone is deciding whether or not they want to take time to meet with you, it’s about you.

Do women managers care more about their employees? A recent Gallup Poll finds that “female bosses are more engaging than male bosses.” They site several reasons why and conclude by recommending businesses hire more female managers. While we certainly need to keep narrowing the gender gap in America’s management ranks, what can anyone do to increase employee engagement among their direct reports?

Let’s start with the Gallup Poll. These management activities were found to increase employee engagement:

• Encouraging their subordinate’s development
• Checking frequently on their employee’s progress
• Giving recognition and praise for good work

In sales we often feel that if a prospect doesn’t buy from us we’ve somehow failed. Some sales managers reinforce this belief. The truth is that not all prospects are created equally. As with your active clients, some prospects are clearly better than others.

Sales is about selling someone a solution. You make the sale when you identify needs your client is motivated to solve, and rally your company to apply their resources and capabilites to solve that problem. As eager salespeople, we may try to solve the first problems we identify. But let's look at why that may often be the wrong problem to solve.

Building your personal brand often begins with describing yourself. Yet this is often the hardest part for people. To say “I am this” or “I am that” can be a struggle. We can describe most everyone else, but many of us fall mute when it comes time to talk about ourselves.

If you’re a sales manager, you need to know where your salespeople are with their accounts. If you’re a salesperson, you need to know even more. Taking a critical look at where you really are in the sales funnel process with your accounts is time well spent.

Everyone is telling salespeople to start doing things on LinkedIn, and they’re right. But first you need to stop doing a few things. Here are three things you should stop doing on LinkedIn: