The Sales Blog

Mastering the One-Up Sales Strategy: A Manifesto for Transforming B2B Sales in the Modern Business Environment

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 28, 2023

Introduction: The Changing Landscape of Decision-Making In today’s rapidly evolving business environment, decision-makers face unprecedented challenges. The choices they make not only shape the future of their companies but also demand innovative approaches to ...

Understanding Why Sales Teams Prioritize Prospective Client Qualification

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 27, 2023

You want your sales team to qualify prospective clients. You don’t want them to pursue prospects not likely to buy from your ...

Why They Say No: Understanding Client Hesitation in Today’s Market

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 26, 2023

To win deals, you must recognize why your buyers don’t buy.

The Top 9 Obstacles Sales Leaders Create: How to Overcome Them and Drive Sales Success

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 25, 2023

One important belief every leader must accept is that everything is their fault. If you are shocked by this statement, allow ...

Does Your Blood Stain the Red Ocean? Exploring the Impact

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 24, 2023

There is increasing interest in Eat Their Lunch: Winning Customers Away from Your Competition. Several sales organizations ...

Thankful for Everything

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 23, 2023

This last week, I had a conversation with a person who complained about the weather. If you have never been to Ohio, you may ...

Discovering The Trading Value Rule

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 22, 2023

My first cold call pitch sounded something like this: "Good morning, my name is Anthony Iannarino with Company Name, and I ...

Getting Ready for 2024

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 21, 2023

I know you are working on ending the year strong. Your sales manager is encouraging you to pull the last couple of deals ...

When to Fire a Client

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 20, 2023

Occasionally, you acquire a new client who turns out to be one you cannot continue working with. Your sales conversation was ...

Cultivating Success in B2B Sales: Mastering Patience and Persistence for Effective Competitive Displacement

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 19, 2023

To win your dream client, you will need patience and persistence. The most desirable clients have not been waiting for you ...

Revolutionizing B2B Sales-Beyond Names and Titles to Genuine Personalization

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 18, 2023

Transform your sales approach from overlooked to outstanding by mastering true personalization. It’s not just about using ...

Navigating the New Era: Surviving the Cold Outreach Crackdown of 2024

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 17, 2023

In a world where unsolicited emails face their endgame, discover how shifting sales strategies and embracing smarter ...

Revolutionizing Sales: Why Collaboration is the Key to Winning Big in Today's Market

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 16, 2023

Discover the transformative power of collaboration in sales, and how embracing it can turn every client interaction into a ...

Cleaning Up Your Pipeline

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 15, 2023

Over time, your CRM becomes a junk drawer of stalled and stuck deals, lies, exaggerations, half-truths, neglected ...

How to Avoid P2B Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 14, 2023

One of my friends was helping a salesperson to leave the legacy approach and adopt a modern sales methodology. At some ...

Debunking the Myth-Sales Success Is Not a Game of Chance

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 13, 2023

Discover why treating sales like a lottery is a flawed strategy and how adopting an intentional approach can transform your ...

To Hell with Efficiency

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 12, 2023

We are consumed with efficiency. We want to produce more with less and less. As we try to keep pace with the rate of change ...

Redefining the Sales Numbers Game: Why More Isn't Always Better for Sales Managers

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 11, 2023

Discover why chasing higher activity in sales often misses the mark and learn the strategic approach that truly elevates ...

Navigating the Future of B2B Sales-Evolve or Get Left Behind

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 10, 2023

In a rapidly changing world, where B2B buying and selling grow more complex, only those salespeople who adapt by becoming ...

How to Stay Positive at Work

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 09, 2023

Every workplace has its set of problems and challenges, which can cause you to become negative about your work. Negativity ...

Conquer and Command-Mastering the Art of the Displacement Sale

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 08, 2023

"In the high-stakes game of displacement sales, learn how to flip the board in your favor and make the competition ...

Cleaning Up Your Pipeline Junk Drawer

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 07, 2023

Sales leaders expect their sales force to carefully qualify prospective clients, as they don’t want them wasting time on ...

What Kind of Client Relationship?

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 06, 2023

A few days ago, a sales humor profile showed a picture of a performer with a note saying the person was a sales trainer ...

Effortless Selling

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 05, 2023

We can divide salespeople into two types. The first type, and arguably the most common, is a salesperson who needs something ...

The New Advantage In B2B Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 04, 2023

Several events and decisions have changed B2B sales in ways that harm sales organizations, salespeople, and their ...

The Value of Context Locking

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 03, 2023

One challenge in employing a modern sales approach based on providing insight is that your contacts often harbor beliefs ...

On Writing Daily

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 02, 2023

On December 28, 2009, I decided I would write and post every day. In 2010, I went to Tibet, and I didn’t take a computer ...

The Imperative of Winning

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Nov 01, 2023

While we have been distracted by technology, a pandemic, and the new business models sales organizations have adopted, every ...

My Sixth Book Day

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 31, 2023

Today is the release day for The Negativity Fast: Proven Techniques to Increase Positivity, Reduce Fear, and Boost Success.

Teflon Mindset - Rising Above Others' Opinions on the Trail to B2B Sales Eminence

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 30, 2023

One day, I was sitting on an airplane, waiting to take off. Before they closed the doors, a good friend called me to tell me ...

There Is No Demand Generation

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 29, 2023

There is no such thing as demand generation. Unless you show up to work to find a long line of people outside the front door ...

Reasons You Lose Deals

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 28, 2023

You may not know why or how you lose deals, but there are a handful of reasons. Avoid the actions and behaviors that cause ...

The Value Of Creating Value

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 27, 2023

Salespeople looking to succeed must go against the current fashions in B2B sales. For reasons that are difficult to ...

Extreme Other Orientation

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 26, 2023

Much of the time, without meaning to, salespeople use language that is self-oriented. Some part of this self-orientation ...

On Becoming Post Political

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 25, 2023

Politics can make people miserable, but you don’t need to allow that to happen. You don’t want politics to be your identity ...

How to Flip the Script-Turning Negative Events into Learning Experiences

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 24, 2023

According to the Sidran Institute, approximately 70 percent of U.S. adults have experienced a traumatic event at least once ...

The Resurgence of Eat Their Lunch

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 23, 2023

Recently, there has been a resurgence of interest in Eat Their Lunch: Winning Customers Away from Your Competition. Several ...

Profit Or Perish

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 22, 2023

There are a number of sales experts who believe that nothing has changed in B2B buying and B2B selling. It’s odd that people ...

Negativity in Social Media-How to Protect Your Mental Space

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 21, 2023

This year, between 3.96 billion and 4.9 billion people use social media daily. The takeaway is that a large portion of the ...

From Insight to Foresight: Crafting Strategic Outcomes

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 20, 2023

One of the most effective sales strategies is information disparity, knowing what your prospective client doesn’t know. If ...

Bridging the Business Acumen Gap- A Primer for Transparent Conversations

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 19, 2023

Business acumen means understanding how business works, including the vocabulary used and the concepts that provide a ...

Leadership Mindsets: How Cognitive Biases Shape Team Culture & Performance

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 18, 2023

The way you lead affects your team. A negative leader will cause their team to be negative, while a positive, optimistic, ...

Email Prospecting: ValueMail

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 17, 2023

Every day on planet Earth, 4.7 billion people send 347 billion emails to others. This number is projected to grow to 361 ...

Tackling Negativity-A Salesperson's Guide to Thriving Amid Rejections

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 16, 2023

For as long as I have been writing here, I have written about the importance of mindset. Your mindset is critical, and ...

Proposal Cartography: Mapping the Journey to 'Yes'

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 15, 2023

You’ve been working with your contact and their team for several weeks. Most of this time has been working on adjusting what ...

Structured for Success: Sales Meetings That Boost Accountability

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 14, 2023

You cannot enforce accountability among your staff without reviewing the outcomes each member of your team self-reports. ...

Solution Design: Conducting the Solution Orchestra

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 13, 2023

One way to improve your sales approach is to treat the sales conversation as a collaboration. You and your contacts are both ...

Measure, Manage, Multiply: The Accountability Playbook for Sales Leaders

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 12, 2023

Many problems that plague sales leaders and sales managers can be traced back to a lack of accountability. Because B2B sales ...

Advanced Discovery-The Discovery Compass-Navigating Toward Value

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 11, 2023

You win and lose deals in the discovery process. This is part of your audition for a prospective client, when they will ...

From Dilemma to Deadline-A Sales Leader's Decision-Making Blueprint

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 10, 2023

If you are a sales leader or sales manager, you struggle to get everything done. You want to work with your team, but you ...

How Consultative Is Your Sales Approach?

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 09, 2023

One way to improve your sales approach is to be consultative. The more consultative you are, the easier it is to win deals, ...

On Pursuing Strategic Outcomes in B2B Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 08, 2023

One way to prevent your clients from treating you as a commodity is to pursue a conversation that differs from your ...

The Challenges of Building Sales Effectiveness in B2B Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 07, 2023

If you are a sales leader or a sales manager, the most important initiative is, was, and always will be sales effectiveness. ...

On The Post-Literate Society

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 06, 2023

My mother taught me to read when I was three years old. She told me she made me play school. This sparked my love of the ...

The Lock and Key-Unlocking Firm Commitments

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 05, 2023

My second book is titled The Lost Art of Closing: Winning the 10 Commitments That Drive Sales. I wanted to title it The Art ...

The Art of Client-Centric Sales Questions- Transforming Self-Serving Inquiries into Value-Driven Conversations

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 04, 2023

Bad questions are bad selling. You need a client-centric sales approach, one with effective strategies and a value-driven ...

Unpacking Risk: How Overgeneralizing Will Sabotage Your Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 03, 2023

To make sense of B2B sales, we use concepts designed to make sense of selling and buying. These concepts are supposed to ...

Versatile Leadership - Mastering Styles for Every Sales Challenge

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 02, 2023

Every sales leader or sales manager has a dominant style, the way they lead most of the time. Leaders are comfortable with ...

The Second Meeting: Syncing Value and Needs

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Oct 01, 2023

There are several things making it more challenging to acquire a first meeting, like the overwhelming volume of emails, ...

Read the Room-A Sales Leader’s Guide to Proactive Communication

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 30, 2023

One mistake you can make as a sales leader or sales manager is believing that you don’t need to repeat yourself. Words came ...

Sales Manager Viruses You Should Avoid

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 29, 2023

You might believe you have ideas, but the reality is that ideas have you. This is the nature of memes, as Richard Dawkins ...

The Value Audition-Earning Your Role in Their Story

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 28, 2023

For as long as anyone can remember, salespeople open a first meeting with a ploy to create credibility. To execute this ...

Revolutionize Your Sales Team: A Leader’s Guide to Transformation

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 27, 2023

There are two reasons you might need a transformation in sales. The first is that you are not meeting your sales goals. Even ...

Your Mindset Is a Choice

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 26, 2023

Those of us who are Enneagram Eights tend to be negative and angry, but we also tend to get big things done—for better or ...

Visionary Leadership - See the Future, Lead the Present

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 25, 2023

Whether you are a sales leader or a sales manager, you are responsible for the future, and you can’t create the future ...

A Set of Rules for Everyday Communication

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 24, 2023

A person with a title that gives them the authority to make a buying decision will receive dozens of emails, several ...

For Better Sales Results Look to the Past

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 23, 2023

From win rates and quota attainment to prospective clients’ opinions of salespeople, all the important KPIs in B2B sales ...

The Easy Button Makes Selling Hard

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 22, 2023

One office store used the “easy button” in their promotions. They even had easy buttons available for purchase in their ...

Why I Am Still on a Negativity Fast

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 21, 2023

I created the Negativity Fast for myself because I was angry and wanted to feel better. Part of my negativity stemmed from ...

How to Speak Fluent Client

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 20, 2023

Success in sales requires you to be a good communicator. Most salespeople agree that they need to speak well, but they don’t ...

A Tale of Two Sales Stories

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 19, 2023

It is your responsibility to create value for your contacts and stakeholders in the sales conversation. Almost everything ...

Some Thoughts On My Work and Methodologies

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 18, 2023

One reason to love criticism is that it means someone disagrees with you. If everyone loves what you do and how you do it, ...

The Helpfulness Quotient and B2B Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 17, 2023

Every person has an IQ, your intelligence quotient, which is misunderstood by many. We also all have an emotional ...

Why Your Team Doesn't Work

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 16, 2023

Your team isn’t doing the work they need to succeed in sales. You hired people who have experience in B2B sales, and you ...

How Long to Train Your Sales Force

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 15, 2023

Every year, usually at the sales kickoff meeting, a sales organization will provide training. If they provided negotiation ...

On the Tendency to Commoditize Yourself

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 14, 2023

Some time ago, we commoditized discovery. Each salesperson would talk about their company, their clients, and their ...

How to Reach Your Quota in 2024

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 13, 2023

We see data that suggests salespeople believe they can’t reach their quota as soon as they find out what it is. A recent ...

For Those Being Left Behind in B2B Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 12, 2023

There are several reasons one might fall behind the changes in B2B buying and B2B selling. Just like our clients fall ...

How and Why to Adopt a Modern Sales Methodology

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 11, 2023

B2B sales has always evolved to address the needs of buyers and decision makers. When the external environment is stable, ...

On Buyers Starting on a Digital Journey

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 10, 2023

At a recent conference, one group shared that buyers start their buyer’s journey on the seller’s website. I’ve also heard ...

How to Control Your Sales Team

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 09, 2023

Every leader wants control of their team. They want them to do the right thing, in the right way, at the right time. Many ...

Battle Cards or Value Creation Cards

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 08, 2023

The idea of a battle card is to provide a salesperson with information that might help them beat a rival for a prospective ...

On the False Belief in Technology

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 07, 2023

In the past few days, several people have shared content touting the idea that technology can improve sales results. A ...

The Increasing Need for Data in B2B Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 06, 2023

Your prospective client is trying to understand their problem and what they need to change to reach their desired outcomes. ...

Explaining the One-Up Book Club

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 05, 2023

This post will explain what you need to know about the One-Up Book Club. It will summarize why it’s necessary, how it will ...

How to Lose an Opportunity Before Creating It

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 04, 2023

You can lose an opportunity before you create it. There are several mistakes that can end your chance of winning your ...

Your Development Plan

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 03, 2023

You and I live in a time where the rate of change is accelerating, and this has generated stress and anxiety among many ...

Excessive Focus on Cold Outreach and Pipeline

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 02, 2023

Few people would argue that cold outreach is unnecessary, but there was a time when a lot of people insisted that it was ...

Five Rules to Ensure a Second Meeting

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Sep 01, 2023

Several companies with revenues measured in billions confessed that the size of their company makes it easy for their ...

Introducing The One-Up Book Club

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 31, 2023

This post offers no explanation as to why I believe sales is broken, so if you want to understand, I recommend you read ...

When You Try to Cheat Nature, Nature Cheats Back

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 30, 2023

So many of us try to cheat nature. Instead of doing the right thing, in the right way, at the right time, we look for ...

How to Break Your Client's Trust

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 29, 2023

I received a LinkedIn message from a supposed salesperson who suggested he wanted to introduce me to a prospect. I accepted ...

The Increasing Folly of the Linear Sales Process

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 28, 2023

The promise of the linear sales process was that every salesperson could follow it to win enough deals to hit their targets. ...

A List of Strategic Advantages In B2B Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 27, 2023

One salesperson wins a client’s business. All the other salespeople competing for the client lose the opportunity. In a ...

9 Ways to Improve Your Sales Results

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 26, 2023

There are many things you can do to improve your sales results, and nearly all of them conflict with the current fads and ...

The Oddity of Emailing Your Client

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 25, 2023

In the past couple of weeks, salespeople have claimed that their clients don’t want to meet with them face-to-face. One ...

You Start Discovery Too Late

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 24, 2023

Most people in sales would agree that discovery in B2B sales is the top critical factor in your success. When you look at ...

If I Were Your Prospective Client

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 23, 2023

If I were your prospective client, I would tell you your emails are invisible. I would tell you I am a busy person with a ...

If I Were Your Sales Manager

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 22, 2023

If you were my salesperson, I would tell you to start your week on Sunday by planning your schedule for the upcoming work ...

The Problem of Needing Deals More than Your Client Needs Your Help

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 21, 2023

There are two types of salespeople: those who need a deal and those who don’t. Sales organizations also fit into one of ...

Selling the Relationship

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 20, 2023

There are two ways you might sell. The first uses a transactional sales approach in which the sales rep takes an order. ...

The Implications for Transactional Sales Approaches

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 19, 2023

Every sales leader wants greater revenue, which is the primary strategic outcome for which they are responsible. However, ...

Free Range Salespeople vs. Technology Pod Dwellers

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 18, 2023

The last few posts I published on LinkedIn have revealed generational differences. The content suggested salespeople should ...

The Lies Salespeople Tell Themselves About Clients Not Wanting to Meet in Person

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 17, 2023

A salesperson commented that he had not had a face-to-face meeting since 2020, even though he has asked for a face-to-face ...

How to Prepare for a Sales Call

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 16, 2023

After you have made hundreds or thousands of sales calls, you can become so comfortable that you stop preparing for a sales ...

What Kind of Salesperson Will You Be?

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 15, 2023

You are responsible for what kind of salesperson you are going to be now and in the future. I am going to try to convince ...

The Decline and Fall of the Trusted Advisor

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 14, 2023

In the past, a salesperson would aspire to become their client’s trusted advisor. They wanted to be the person their client ...

Sales Reps vs. Research Platforms and Impact

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 13, 2023

Yesterday, an entrepreneur engaged with a post about what buyers need from you. His platform allows sales organizations to ...

The 12 Benefits of Being One-Up In B2B Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 12, 2023

In Elite Sales Strategies: A Guide to Being One-Up, Creating Value, and Becoming Truly Consultative, readers will find a ...

The Story Your Client Needs to Hear

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 11, 2023

You have been taught, trained, and told stories in sales. These stories may include your company’s history, starting from ...

Sell To People Who Buy What You Sell

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 10, 2023

B2B sales continues to regress as many leaders value efficiency above all else. For these leaders, they believe that they ...

B2B Sales and the Dance

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 09, 2023

For as long as anyone can remember, sales leaders have sought a way to ensure their team wins deals. They spent a lot of ...

The Importance of Reading and Research in B2B Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 08, 2023

Mark Twain once said that someone who doesn’t read is no better off than someone who can’t read. Yet, here we are in the ...

Following Up with Existing Clients in B2B Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 07, 2023

After a long pursuit, you have won your dream client. You have a signed contract, your operations team is executing, and you ...

Our Communication Breakdown in B2B Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 06, 2023

Many salespeople want to act strategically but choose transactional communication mediums. You may believe no one wants to ...

Enduring Principles and Changing Sales Methodologies

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 05, 2023

Occasionally, I am challenged on my belief that sales has evolved—and it continues to. I often hear something like, “The old ...

The Importance of Self-Reporting in B2B Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 04, 2023

Your CRM can capture dozens of metrics. It can record each salesperson’s activities, document opportunities as they ...

What Your Buyer Needs From You

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 03, 2023

If you believe that selling is difficult, know that buying is often more difficult. Part of what makes buying challenging is ...

Why Ask Your Clients for Their Strategic Outcomes

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 02, 2023

Theodore Levitt, a marketing professor at Harvard Business School taught his students that people don’t buy drills; they buy ...

How to Not Sell - An Observation

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Aug 01, 2023

Most of what you read here are articles designed to help you sell more by selling better. But lately, I have noticed that a ...

What Did Your Client Learn?

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 31, 2023

In a workshop with an excellent sales force, we played a game from Elite Sales Strategies: A Guide to Being One-Up, Creating ...

Priorities, Focus, and the Discipline to Get Things Done

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 30, 2023

People who want to get things done must determine their priorities so they can act on their self-discipline to ensure they ...

How to Win a Client for Life

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 29, 2023

You can compete to allow you to win an order or a project, and you can compete to win a client for life. Once you succeed in ...

Until You Kill Your Darlings

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 28, 2023

The pull of habit and an unwillingness to change will prevent you from improving your results in sales. Even worse, as the ...

The Only Technology That Wins B2B Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 27, 2023

As sales tech stacks grow, consuming more time and becoming more expensive, sales results continue to plummet. Far be it ...

No One Wants to Talk to Me

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 26, 2023

To succeed in sales, you need a growth mindset that will allow you to persist after being told no. You also need to be ...

The High Cost of Inaction in Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 25, 2023

Between emails, text messages, the internet, Slack, and other interruptions, it is easy to be distracted by the overwhelming ...

How to Acquire More Client Time in B2B Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 24, 2023

Leaders who push for sales velocity have things backward. Any suggestion that a salesperson should try to speed up the sales ...

The Regression of B2B Sales to a Transaction

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 23, 2023

Instead of progressing, B2B sales is regressing back to transactional approaches. Sales organizations and sales reps should ...

The Unwillingness to Change

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 22, 2023

In politics, if a candidate changes their position on an issue, they will be accused of flip-flopping. The accusation is ...

The Price of a Meeting

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 21, 2023

A recent LinkedIn post included a screenshot of a Google calendar invitation for a “Very Important Meeting” at Shopify. ...

Chasing Mastery in Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 20, 2023

Selling may be your job. You might have fallen into a sales role because you needed work, or perhaps the allure of making ...

How to Manage Your Sales Day

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 19, 2023

Without a plan for your day, you are likely to waste time. Look at your calendar and notice how much white space is ...

Activity vs. Effective Activity

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 18, 2023

More. More. More! More emails. More cold calls. More opportunities. More pipeline. I don’t suggest that activity isn’t ...

The Sources of Fragility In Sales Organizations

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 17, 2023

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, fragility is: the quality of being fragile or easily broken; hence, liability to ...

Why I Wrote The Negativity Fast

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 16, 2023

The acceleration of change in our time is itself, an elemental force. The accelerative thrust has personal and ...

How and When to Engage with Client Problems

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 15, 2023

At the first sign of trouble, the salesperson who disappears has damaged their relationship and put future business at risk. ...

Sounding the Alarm on Sales Effectiveness

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 14, 2023

Humans tend to get better at things over time. For example, if you were to need surgery, you’d be better off needing it now ...

On Publishing 5,000 Blog Posts

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 13, 2023

On the night of December 27, 2009, I set my alarm for 5:00 AM instead of 6:30. I told my wife, Cher, that I would be getting ...

Don't Give Up Too Soon

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 12, 2023

Some clients are more difficult to pursue. You can call, leave voicemail, follow up with multiple emails, and get no return ...

The Worst Kind of Leader

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 11, 2023

Leadership is too important to get wrong. From vision and results to culture and growth, leadership is a critical factor in ...

The Single Reason You Can't Get a Meeting

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 10, 2023

To succeed in sales, you need to be able to acquire a first meeting. That is your audition, and your contact will decide ...

How a New B2B Sales Rep Should Manage the Learning Curve

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 09, 2023

Some people believe salespeople are born, while others believe they are made. Thanks to certain personality traits, some ...

How To Take Notes on What You Read

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 08, 2023

I could read when I was three years old, thanks to my mother. From that point on, I have never been without a book. When we ...

What We Owe Each Other in Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 07, 2023

Occasionally, it is helpful to remember what we owe each other. The sales force has an obligation to their company, and the ...

The Buyer's Burden

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 06, 2023

If you believe that selling is difficult, try buying. To get a better sense of the buyer’s burden, draw on empathy, a ...

Why You Must Invest In Yourself

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 05, 2023

I’ve undergone two brain surgeries. The first was to glue a large mass of arteries and veins shut and the second was to ...

Why I Continue to Write by Hand

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 04, 2023

I will continue to write every post by hand, as I have done since December 28, 2009. Others will use newer technologies to ...

Your Buyer Wants to Discover Something in the Sales Conversation

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 02, 2023

It wasn’t the salesperson’s fault. He was young and unprepared, wearing a ball cap with his tech company’s logo and a ...

How Many Deals Do You Have to Lose Before You Focus on Effectiveness

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jul 01, 2023

Every day, salespeople lose deals. Sometimes, it’s because of an unforced error, and other times it’s because the competitor ...

What Sales Leaders Owe Their Sales Force

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 30, 2023

Leaders often believe their team has everything they need to succeed. Occasionally, this is true, but when it isn’t, it can ...

Your Advice, Recommendations, and Confidence

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 30, 2023

All salespeople want to be consultative—their clients’ trusted advisor—but most are wholly unprepared to take on that role. ...

10 Obligations You Are Responsible for in the Sales Conversation

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 29, 2023

You have asked your prospective client for a first meeting and they have agreed to give you their time. This means you have ...

Your Effect and Sales Effectiveness

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 28, 2023

There is nothing more important for a salesperson than sales effectiveness. If you want to measure your sales effectiveness, ...

10 Variables Impacting Your Win Rates in B2B Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 27, 2023

There are several variables that impact your win rates, and all of them are important to buyers. The best way to evaluate ...

The Cult of Sales Efficiency and the Cult of Effectiveness

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 26, 2023

The cult of sales efficiency worships at the altar of more, faster, and automation—the Gods they worship. They believe that ...

Your Value Proposition Isn't Valuable in an Early Sales Conversation

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 25, 2023

In two interactions in the past week, I listened to two salespeople who believed they were using their value proposition to ...

A Sales Manager's Guide To Behavioral Changes

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 24, 2023

It isn’t easy to change how your sales force sells. When your sales force has sold using one methodology the approach is ...

How to Deal with the Obstacles Preventing Net New Revenue Growth (Part 2)

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 23, 2023

There are many forces and factors that prevent net new revenue growth. In this 2-part series we’ll offer ideas about what ...

How to Deal with the Obstacles Preventing Net New Revenue Growth (Part 1)

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 22, 2023

There are many forces and factors that prevent net new revenue growth. Some are external forces or factors, and others are ...

How Your Self-Oriented Approach Fails

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 21, 2023

If you are a sales leader or a sales manager, you may not know how your sales force prospects. Then again, you may know, and ...

Ten Priorities For Salespeople in 2023

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 20, 2023

This is not your mother or father’s sales environment. Selling is much more difficult than in the past, and it isn’t likely ...

How Sales Leaders Commoditized the Sales Process

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 19, 2023

For as long as anyone can remember, sales leaders have searched for a way to consistently win new deals. To even out the ...

How to Be Human in a World of Artificial Intelligence

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 18, 2023

You don’t need more technology to improve your sales results. The only things you need are a CRM, a source of data, a ...

Mastering B2B Sales and The Revenue Growth Blueprint

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 17, 2023

B2B sales has never been easy, but it seems to be getting more difficult as a confluence of forces change B2B sales. We ...

Why New Reps Should Sell a Commodity

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 16, 2023

As a new sales rep, you might want to sell a product that is unique and special. You might believe it would be even better ...

Do the Damn Reading

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 15, 2023

It isn’t difficult to acquire a strategic advantage in sales. Yet, most people refuse to take the single action that tens of ...

9 Priorities for Sales Leaders Now

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 14, 2023

It isn’t easy to lead a sales force in the best of times, and it is more difficult in a recessionary environment. As a sales ...

Actual Intelligence > Artificial Intelligence

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 13, 2023

If you spend any time on LinkedIn, you find a lot of content about ChatGPT and other tools built on large language models. ...

The Folly of Cold Emails

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 12, 2023

A few minutes after ChatGPT was released, the techno brutes immediately found the value of using a robot to write cold ...

How to Research Your Strategic Targets - A Template

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 11, 2023

One mistake salespeople make in discovery is asking questions they should have answered through their research. These ...

Your Buyers Changed. You Didn't.

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 10, 2023

Research on B2B buyers shows they have changed how they buy. The biggest shift is that they do their own research before ...

The Importance of Focus Over Distractions in the Age of Technology

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 09, 2023

It seems we continually lose the thread when it comes to selling. Sales organizations are distracted by every new shiny ...

How to Use Proof Providers

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 08, 2023

You want to wow your prospective client by sharing testimonials and case studies that prove you can help them improve the ...

A Confluence of Forces Changing B2B Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 07, 2023

In 1965, the futurist, Alvin Toffler wrote, "The acceleration of change in our time is, itself, an elemental force. The ...

What To Do After You Lose a Deal

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 06, 2023

No salesperson wants to lose a deal, especially a large enterprise-level deal. No matter how good you are in sales, losses ...

How Salespeople Must Deal with Recurring Sales Problems Proactively

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 05, 2023

Salespeople often run into problems during the sales conversation. When these problems recur over time, it can cause a ...

The Operator's Advantage: Moving from Operations to Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 04, 2023

You are in an operational role, where your job is to execute what your salesperson sells. Occasionally, a salesperson asks ...

The 6 Types of Questions You Need in B2B Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 03, 2023

Since forever, salespeople have been told, occasionally taught, and less frequently trained to use good questions. Despite ...

Leaders' Responsibility for Low Win Rates

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 02, 2023

Recently, Andy Paul shared with me that the average win rate in sales is 17 percent. That means it must be nearly impossible ...

B2B Sales Theory and Practice

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, Jun 01, 2023

I recorded a podcast with Andy Paul, Mike Bosworth, and Vince Beese. Andy started by addressing the idea that some people, ...

Discovering the Root Cause

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, May 31, 2023

The decision-maker sitting across from me was explaining how every company in my industry had failed him. He disclosed his ...

Coaching Sales Managers: 10 Tips for Building Sales Leaders

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, May 30, 2023

Behind every successful sales team is a sales manager with incredible leadership skills.

The Sales Leader's First Decision

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, May 29, 2023

When you are building a sales force or a sales team, you will hire people that have been trained by other sales ...

The Ultimate Guide to Sales Coaching: Tools, Tips, and Tactics

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, May 28, 2023

Are you tired of mediocre results and missed targets?

Too Much Faith In Your Solution

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, May 27, 2023

One outcome of solution selling was that sales organizations and their teams began to believe that their solution was what ...

8 Advanced Selling Techniques to Master in 2023 (+ Expert Insights)

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, May 26, 2023

Are you tired of using the same old sales techniques that fail to close deals and bring in new clients?

Soft Skills Training for Sales Team: 7 Top Skills (+ Programs to Train Them)

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, May 25, 2023

“You can’t learn to be good at sales, it’s just something you’re naturally good at.”

Cold Outreach As It Is Practiced Today Is Dead

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, May 24, 2023

Social selling promised sales organizations they would no longer need to make cold calls to create new opportunities. When ...

How to Capture Mindshare

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, May 23, 2023

In recent posts here, I have suggested that success in sales is going to require professional expertise. As the uncertainty ...

Why Sales Leaders Must Prioritize Sales Effectiveness

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, May 22, 2023

Many sales leaders believe that they will achieve their sales goals by increasing the number of new opportunities their ...

Things That Are Not Your Fault But Are Your Responsibility

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, May 21, 2023

Something that helps you to be a good leader is to believe everything is your fault. A few days ago, there was a LinkedIn ...

The Problem with Prospecting Metrics

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, May 20, 2023

No sales leader will dispute that prospecting is critically important to generating new deals and net new revenue. Many ...

The Best Cold Call Script You'll Ever Need

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, May 19, 2023

My first job, which I started at age 12, was delivering newspapers. Making money meant knocking on every door in three ...

The Five Problems In Your Sales Pipeline

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, May 18, 2023

Sales leaders often require their sales force to fill their pipeline with several multiples of their quota. Ensuring you ...

Concessions vs. Negotiations: Sales Credibility at Stake

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, May 17, 2023

Many sales organizations use a terrible approach to negotiation, one that harms salespeople and their companies. Concessions ...

The Mistake of Pursuing Easy-to-Win but Undesirable Clients in Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, May 16, 2023

One mistake weak salespeople make is pursuing clients that are easy to win but difficult to service after the deal is ...

Mastering the Art of Selling Value—Strategies for B2B Salespeople

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, May 15, 2023

Many salespeople believe they are selling value when they are really selling their products and their services. This is the ...

Thoughts About Effective Selling

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, May 14, 2023

Those of us who have had the experience of selling in a highly commoditized industry adapt to the lack of differentiation. ...

Fearing Your Client: The Importance of Candor and Courage in Sales

Posted by Anthony Iannarino, May 13, 2023

One of the most important things about the One-Up approach you find in Elite Sales Strategies: A Guide to Being One-Up, ...

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