Every growing sales organization that I’ve worked with has faced this challenge at one time or another. The sales force has an urgent need for more reps, but there aren’t enough seasoned veterans available to fill all the open roles. To fill the gap, the organization hires a handful of promising, but inexperienced, sales talent.

The challenge then becomes one of ramp-up. How does the organization get these sales reps up-and-running to quickly meet demand and expectations?

If you have inexperienced sales reps in your organization, you probably know the challenge well. You’re excited about their potential, but you wish they’d reach it a little faster. How do you help? More training? More coaching? [Read more…]

Here in the Bay Area, the whole city is still celebrating the Warriors NBA championship, their first since 1975. I’m a huge Warriors fan, so this whole season has been huge fun for me. Even for casual fans or non-fans, though, it’s been hard not to get swept up in the excitement surrounding the team.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the championship run is how they did it – by winning more games than any other team and ultimately beating the best player in the world, LeBron James. Of course, we also have a star player who’s pretty good in his own right – Steph Curry, who won the league’s MVP trophy this year.

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You’ve reached the end of the process. It’s the closing meeting. Time for you to put your best proposal forward, overcome the prospect’s objections, and move forward with a new client in hand. Many sales people live for this meeting. They love closing above all else.

Not you, though. You’re anxious. Your stomach is a bundle of nerves. You can’t escape the fear that something will go wrong and you’ll lose the sale right at the very last step. You might be so nervous that you don’t even want to go through with the meeting.

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