We have recently hosted two different sessions with sales leaders and sales reps on the topic of Prospecting.  It was very interesting to listen to the reps talk about the challenges they have with prospecting.  We heard the sales leaders say things such as: I used to make 30-40 calls per day when I sold […]

I speak with CEOs all the time and a common question I ask is this: “What is your success rate in hiring a salesperson that is productive, meets goals and sticks around more than 2-3 years?” The most common answer is about 1 out of every 7 reps meets that criteria. One CEO I recently […]

If ten CEOs were asked if they had confidence in the sales forecast that their sales leader gives them, nine of them would say no. This is seen time and time again. So why does this have to be so hard? Here is how to create more accurate sales forecasts.

I was recently asked by someone why my brother, Mike, and I started Pivotal Advisors.  I told the story to that person and they felt it was worth sharing, so here it is. About 2005 or so, I was a VP of Sales for a large, fast-growing company.  We had grown from $1M in annual sales […]

Hiring and training a new sales person is very expensive.  From the day they start, they are instantly a negative cash flow to you until they start producing.  So, the instinct for most companies is to get that person selling as fast as they can.  This is logical.  However, the shortcuts that companies take to […]

One of the most common pitfalls of businesses is misalignment between the sales leader and the CEO. Sales leaders are focused on achieving quotas and driving revenue, while CEOs are tasked with ensuring long-term growth and profitability. Without clear communication and alignment between these two, it can be difficult for a company to reach its full potential. Here's what you can do to fix this.

CEOs and owners are often brilliant people that come up with great strategies for growing their businesses. But for some reason, sometimes the strategy doesn't work. It could be a flawed strategy or poor execution, but it could also be that they have the wrong team in place.

You've heard it before. The books and consultants say, "You really should have a sales process," and "You will sell more if you have a sales process." But is that really true? The answer is "no" – up to a point. However, having an inconsistent sales process can absolutely stop sales growth.

One of the most common mistake CEOs and owners make is promoting their top salesperson to sales leader based solely on the fact that they are the top salesperson. This can actually hinder your overall growth.

In the last few years we have talked to hundreds of sales leaders.  Some are pretty darn good while others just “think” they are good.  Here is the funny thing that we notice.  The sales leaders that are really good are the ones that are always looking to improve further. 

Has someone ever told you to “stop fixating on revenue?” Chances are probably not. More times than not, the only two metrics CEOs, owners, executives, and sales leaders look at are revenue and gross profit. Unfortunately, looking at just those two numbers can cause your sales growth to become stagnant.

Open sales territories or open sales positions are the most common factors that can hurt companies’ ability to grow. There are not enough people to take advantage of the opportunities available. How does this happen?