A personal relationship will sometimes form out of a professional one, but it rarely goes the other way around. Stop telling yourself that lie.

A focus solely on the results (or lack thereof) is highly problematic though because despite what you're desperate to believe, you don't have nearly as much control over those results as you'd like. What you do have control over, however, is the process you undertake to generate those results.

Failure in sales rarely has anything to do with the product or the company. It's got a lot more to do with three things that are imminently within your control.

It seems to me that any salesperson worth a salt that takes real responsibility for their profession knows the fundamentals, as well as how to best deploy them. No #hashtags required.

If you’re familiar with Mike’s previous work (and if you aren’t, where have you been?), you’ll recognize his straightforward approach developed further. There are also some absolute gems in here that I’ve not seen in writing before.

There is a lot of talk about established (but lazy) salespeople, the value of SDR's, and hunters vs. farmers. Here's something that I think all of those discussions are missing.

You don't need to be or act like anyone else in order to be an effective salesperson. In fact, the most effective seller you can be is you.

No matter how you slice it, there is no such thing as a sustainable shortcut. On a long enough timeline, those who do things the right way prevail over people who consistently cut corners.

When you start pulling orders ahead, you start the next period at a deficit, which adds a level of pressure and uncertainty to your performance for the next month. You’re increasingly likely to borrow again from Peter to pay Paul. Not only is this a symptom of a terrible pipeline, but it’s only a matter of time before you do long term damage to your business, and your reputation as a salesperson.

If you don't know what (at least) the next two steps are in your sales process, then you're not ready to take any steps in your sales process.

Sure, a few people may be unbelievably fortunate, but that's not a game you can bet on and win. True mastery comes with time, experience, and dedicated intentional practice.

Chances are, if you’re completely torn up by every lost sale, your pipeline is not as robust as it should be.

The counter was reset to zero this week. The hourglass has also just been flipped over- there's a lot of sand at the top. There’s never been a better time to start looking at the long-term than right now.

New issues and initiatives undoubtedly regularly come up in your personal life and your business. Do they present bona fide opportunities? Or are they just shiny objects and distractions in disguise?

The disease afflicting most sales organizations is not a lack of skills, desire, or even commitment. What these teams have not created is a culture or environment where continuous improvement is the norm.

Sales is a results-oriented game, so that's usually where you focus. It’s easy to assume that if you set a goal and accomplish it, then the steps you took to achieve it were right. That's a poor assumption.

It's a common assumption that your company knows exactly what it needs to do in order to deliver results and outcomes for the customers you serve. More often than not, that's just not the case.

If we shift our perspective and think of lost sales as opportunities to learn and adapt, we have much more to gain. I recommend asking yourself these questions to learn from “no.”

You have to do the hard work up front to understand the challenges your customers face, and how you’re uniquely positioned to help them. What do you bring to the table that nobody else does?

Your prospect doesn’t care about your product. What they care about is how that product is going to help them achieve their goals– as specifically as possible.