Weather forecasters did not get better at predicting rain because the weather changed. They got better because...
Leadership Articles
Why Sales Reps Don’t Update CRM Fields: Configuration
A rep who lets a CRM field sit blank for three weeks is responding to what the field is asking for. A generic field on...
Sales Rep Assessment Scorecard: Hard Skills, Soft Skills
Ask every manager on a sales team to independently write down, right now, the criteria for what makes a great rep....
Why Sales Managers Are the Least-Coached Role in Revenue
Reps get training every quarter. They get coaching every week, from a manager whose job is partly defined by making...
The Cost of the Heroic Quarter-End Close on Win Rates
At the end of every quarter, sales reps close 2.9 times more deals than they do during a typical stretch of the month....
The Peter Principle in Sales: Research on Promoting Top Reps
Sales organizations promote based on one signal almost every time: who is hitting the number. It feels like the...
Deal Rescuing: Why Sales Managers Take Over Stalled Deals
Deal rescuing is the most common failure pattern in frontline sales management: a manager takes over a rep's stalled...
ODP Sales Coaching Framework: Deal vs. Skill Coaching
ODP, short for Observe, Describe, Prescribe, is the coaching framework a sales manager runs to convert what they see...
Why Sales Forecasts Are Always Wrong: The Two-Owner Fix
A sales forecast number passes through four or five people before it's final: the rep gives a number, the manager...
Buyer Input Data (BID): Definition and Quantification
Buyer Input Data (BID) is the specific, buyer-verified intelligence that proves the cost of a buyer's inaction is...
Best Case, Worst Case, Most Likely Forecasting: The Limits
Best case, worst case, most likely forecasting is one forecast, built on the same rep-confidence inputs, presented...
The 5 C’s: Sales Forecast Close Rates by Buyer State
An accurate sales forecast requires testing five specific conditions confirmed by the buyer directly: Clarity,...