I had an inquiry today from a sales manager that was looking for some help for a couple of his salespeople. I asked him, "If you had to pick three sales issues to focus on, what would they be?" He replied,

Three different stories with the same ending. Here's what happened.

There's a gazillion ways, but 

I was on a coaching call with a client while they were waiting for a flight. The call was short, but long enough for them to share a brilliant analogy with me. So, I will share it with you.

This scenario plays out every day in millions of households every day.

Yesterday I wrote about the lack of trust and ability to develop relationships being the first obstacle to sales success. I intended to write about a short term mindset vs a long term mindset, but I had a conversation over the weekend that sent me down another path...

The first one is a double-whammy.

Good or bad?

Have you ever thought about the pluses and minuses?

Today, a channel account manager wanted to "reset" his partners. So, he sent us 5 email templates that he was going to use to light a fire under their you-know-whats. The first one was intended for Disengaged Partners.

"When we first started working together, you stated that you wanted to add value by expanding within your current client engagements -- primarily through additional services. Are you on track to reach that goal for 2017?"

What does he want them to say?

Last weekend in October. Two months until the end of the year. Two months until 2018. What did you do this weekend?

• Wonder how you were going to make your October quota in two days?
• Wonder how you were going to bail out 2017 in the next two months?
• Wonder whether you were thinking big enough or safe enough for 2018?

May I share a couple of recent stories?