In Episode 76 Mike returns from his sabbatical with a reminder for sales leaders that they are STILL the key to driving the culture and results. As goes the leader, so goes their team! He also makes the case that regardless of the current business stresses or cycles, truth is still truth, best practices remain best practices, and solid execution of the fundamentals is the key to victory. Mike wraps the episode spending a few minutes sharing takeaways from his time away from work, email, and social media, and announces key adjustments he is making in his business going forward. ________________ ..read more

Episode 75 continues the string of recent shows where Mike shares real-life examples from what he’s observing with sales and sales management teams. In this case, Mike was blown away leading a follow-up workshop with a large team that had done the heavy lifting to sharpen their “sales story.” Rep after rep testified to the difference in how customers were perceiving them and positively responding to their new customer issue and outcome-focused messaging. Listen in for a quick refresher on the amazing benefits a compelling, differentiating, issue and outcome-focused “sales story” delivers and a ..read more

As Mike shares starting off this power-packed episode, every once in a while, a client challenges him to create something new. In this case, a passionate enablement leader requested something quite specific: How can sales managers take what they are learning from conducting excellent 1:1 accountability meetings to coach their people more effectively?  In Episode 74 Mike overlays his three favorite sales verbs (Create. Advance. Close.) on top of the Sales Management Accountability Progression (Results. Pipeline. Activity). The result is a powerful, prescriptive guide to help managers ask e ..read more

This thesis of Episode 73 is that the world works much better (particularly in sales) when everyone focuses on, and worries about, their primary job!  This episode was prompted by stimulating conversations in two recent sales leadership sessions.  First, at the VIP Q&A during Day 2 of the recent Supercharge Your Sales Leadership event, an operation-minded CEO asked Mike to elaborate on a bold (and controversial?) statement made in response to a manager asking how to keep salespeople selling when they’re worried about outselling capacity and overloading the operations/production/d ..read more

Episode 72 is different. Instead of talking about leading your sales team, Mike challenges listeners with this important personal question: Who is on YOUR team? This episode was inspired by several factors, including a personal breakthrough Mike is experiencing in his own life, combined with a well-timed Netflix docuseries episode that perfectly depicts the transformative change you can experience from making the right additions to your personal team. Who is rooting for you? Who is challenging you? Who are you going to for outside perspective or expert advice? Who is helping ensure that you wi ..read more

Episode 71 was inspired by a message Mike received from an executive whose sales team was not securing enough meetings with prospective customers. The executive shared two specific frustrations: The sales team’s lack of effectiveness at getting prospects to agree to an initial meeting The number of prospects cancelling at the last minute or “no-showing” for a meeting they had previously agreed to attend In this episode, Mike shares his initial response to this request for help and offers up a list of potential causes for ineffective prospecting – ranging from impersonal, automated approaches ..read more

Mike recently led a workshop for a group of talented, hungry, driven, young sales managers who were falling into an all-too-common trap – “doing” instead of coaching, developing, and holding sales reps accountable. During the session Mike challenged this group of managers with a question he had never thought to ask before: When making joint sales calls with your people, is your primary purpose to… A) Proactively develop your salesperson, or B) Advance and close the sale The healthy discussion that ensued inspired this episode. Listen in as Mike shares more of the story, promotes the importance ..read more

In this episode Mike tackles a critical sales management topic that does not receive enough attention.  Too many sales managers allow underperformance to go unaddressed for way too long!   Episode 69 is granular and prescriptive as Mike shares exactly how to start the conversation with a struggling salesperson and begin the all-important process of coaching that seller up, or if necessary, out. RESOURCES MIKE REFERENCED IN EPISODE 69: The First-Time Manager: Sales  book (Chapter 8) The free guide on increasing accountability and creating a high-performance sales culture: Mi ..read more

During Week 1 of the 2024 Sales Kickoff Meeting Season, one of Mike’s clients included a live Q&A to conclude a virtual session. The questions from the salespeople and sales leaders were so good, and so different from what Mike is typically asked, he decided to share them (along with his answers) in this episode. You’ll want to share this episode with your sales team!  Take a listen for Mike’s answers to these eight great questions: At what point do you move on to the next opportunity? How many NO’s do you need to get before giving up, or how long do you continue to pursue a prospect ..read more

In this powerful episode, Mike puts the wrap on an amazing year. Episode 66 combines straight talk from two of Mike’s highly-rated, trusted advisors – his golf coach, Brian Fogt, and his financial advisor, Jacob Turner – along with his own Year-End/New Year’s Sales and Sales Management “Fundamentals Checklists.” Enjoy listening to Mike interact with two true professionals – people he turns to (and pays) for advice! Be amused at the similarities between investors, golfers, salespeople, and sales leaders – most of whom suffer from FOMO, tend to bore easily, and are quick to chase sexy quick fixe ..read more