The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

People crave feedback. We want to know if what we are doing is good, bad, or just plain ugly.

It starts when we are little kids. We all desperately wanted our parent's attention. We wanted them to "watch us" run fast, jump high, or sing a song. We wanted them to be proud of us, but also to give us feedback. Were we doing it "right?" How can we do it better? 

Well, not much has changed since we were children. We still want to know how we are doing. Yet, so many managers seem to think that their people don't need feedback or even want it. WRONG! Your people desperately want to know how they are doing. Feedback is a fantastic way for a sales manager to improve their team's sales performance by reinforcing good behaviors and improving upon weak behaviors.

No one likes to wait!

We don't like to wait in lines, on hold, or for Christmas morning. We want things now! As a society, we've become accustomed to instant downloads, on-demand programs, and same-day Amazon Prime deliveries.

Which is why sales organizations want to accelerate the sales process. For years, B2B sales were often seen as a long, complicated process where the salesperson could do very little to speed up the sale, but today you can speed up the process by simply slowing down!

We're ignoring you. 

You know it's true. You've always thought it to be the case, but now you have confirmation. Prospects are ignoring you! And how I do know this? 

I'm a reformed client. 

"If you don't know your numbers, you don't know your business!"
-Marcus Lemonis 

My friend (and Managing Partner at The Center for Sales Strategy), Matt Sunshine, got me into the CNBC television program, The Profit. And I am absolutely addicted to it. And I mean addicted… I might have just finished watching 6 hours of the program this weekend. 

And you should be watching it, too!

Marcus Lemonis is the CEO of Camping World, and he uses his money to invest in struggling businesses that he features on his show. The stories are exciting, compelling, and full of drama! But, that's not why you should be watching the program.

"It's strange to me too, but we're talking about practice man, we're not even talking about the game... the actual game when it matters... We're talking about practice."  - Allen Iverson 

I just sat there and watched. I was too stunned to really do anything else. It was the best needs analysis that I've ever seen...

Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, and Magellan.

These are legendary explorers who set out to discover the great unknown of our world! These men were brave, bold, and courageous. They feared nothing. They were willing to risk it all for the sake of discovering a new world!

As an Account Executive, we hated when it happened.

As a Sales Manager, we might have done it a few times... ok... we probably did it a lot. 

We turned an email into a sales meeting (or for us older guys... a memo).