2024 was record sales year for Hannah Romell… And this an episode like no other! “Hannah the Hunter” (as she refers to herself) is the first person Mike has hosted not having spoken to the guest before the show. She got his attention with a LinkedIn post sharing her gratitude and excitement about her breakout year. Tune in to hear firsthand how Hannah adopted a handful of simple, yet transformational, changes following a New Sales. Simplified. workshop that made a world of difference: How Hannah’s view of herself as a sales professional and the realization t ..read more

By popular demand, Greg Stanley returns for Episode 88. Greg was recently featured in Episode 85 where he and Mike covered a variety of topics but barely scratched the surface on compensation plans. The feedback was so positive from that conversation with many listeners specifically requesting a full episode dedicated solely to sales comp, Mike got him back on the show as quickly as possible. While Mike has been quite outspoken (in Chapter 10 in Sales Management. Simplified. and Episode 54) about his three big pet peeves regarding sales compensation (1. Plans that are too flat.   ..read more

In this first episode of 2025, Mike is simple and straight forward tackling one of the biggest obstacles to sales success that he is currently seeing — sales managers, salespeople, and entire sales teams who have lost sight of their primary job and lost focus on WINNING NEW SALES! Too many sellers and leaders are engaging in tension-relieving activities instead of goal-achieving activities. They’re busy but not productive. They’re distracted by lower-payoff tasks and not prioritizing the only three sales verbs that matter — Create. Advance. Close. Listen in for a refresher on the pow ..read more

Episode 86 is packed with several of Mike’s biggest takeaways from his work in 2024.  Buckle up as he unleashes blunt observations touching on various topics including… C-Suite and corporate executives who’ve completely lost sight of the sales manager’s primary job How the “slowdown” and having to sell into economic headwinds has exposed a significant number of salespeople (who thrived “fulfilling demand” when business was dropped in their laps) lack the propensity and ability to “create demand” and new opportunities in the pipeline  The unpopular reality that the past five years of ..read more

Episode 85 features a unique conversation between Mike and his friend, Greg Stanley, who specializes in helping small and medium-sized companies unlock growth potential by optimizing their revenue function and increasing valuation. Greg founded Accelerant Consultants after a long, successful stint at one of the Big 4 firms.  This dialogue touches on foundational sales management topics including getting the right people in the right jobs, ensuring that the sales deployment model aligns with the corporate strategy, and that the compensation plan not supports (instead of hinders) the c-suit ..read more

Episode 84 was inspired by a recent discovery meeting between Mike and a smaller company looking for his help to take their new business development game to a new level. During the conversation, Mike shared his simple “Buckets of Blame” framework to help these executives get a big picture 30,000-foot view of five potential obstacles that may be preventing their sales team from bringing in new business at the desired rate – and to estimate the percentage of “blame” to attribute to each of the five buckets. Take a listen to see which of these buckets might be preventing you (or your team) from w ..read more

Mike is joined by sales management expert and coach (former golf pro and top-ranked salesperson), Matt Ferguson for a wide-ranging conversation covering…. The fact that almost every sales manager they know feels overwhelmed, overworked, under-appreciated and under-supported Almost 90% of sales leaders say they received ZERO training for their current role Why the transition from top-producing individual contributor into sales manager is so difficult How the phrase “you are who you hang out with” is not just wise advice for picking your friends, but also applies to salespeople targeting the ri ..read more

This episode was inspired by recent conversations between Mike and sales leaders at three different clients  — all in very different industries, and all currently selling into some significant headwinds. Mike recorded this episode believing it would not only benefit sales leaders but their teams as well, particularly those sellers looking to take their game to the next level and become perennial top producers. As you listen, be encouraged that there is no secret sauce or shortcut to staying on top or breaking through to even higher levels of performance. As Mike so powerfully points out ..read more

While observing the launch of Jeb Blount’s brand new bestseller, Mike sensed something different. Just seeing the fun Jeb was having promoting Selling in a Crisis, and enjoying the excited reaction from so many sellers and sales influencers, Mike texted Jeb with a crazy question:   “Jeb, I’m seeing the reaction to the book from sellers and influencers.  The timing is absolutely perfect as my client sales teams are preparing to sell into strong headwinds next year. The community needs this book. Do you think it’s possible that Selling in a Crisis could be even bigger than Fanatical Pr ..read more

This episode was inspired by recent conversations between Mike and sales leaders at three different clients  — all in very different industries, and all currently selling into some significant headwinds. Building off this powerful mantra that his dad often preached:  "In good times we need to get our fair share of the business, but when things are tough we need to get an unfair share…" ...Mike unpacks the old school concept of creating a focused, intense, orchestrated sales blitz (or campaign) and his theory that these types of short-duration campaigns are often so successful because ..read more