BLOG
BOLD GROWTH: FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES LEADERS
Want Better Sales Results? Offer Your Clients Fewer Choices.
Less is often more. Learn how to improve B2B sales results by drawing insights from retail and supply chain challenges. Offering fewer choices enhances trust, empowers clients, and drives informed decision-making for lasting sales success. ***** While I work primarily with B2B sales teams, there is much to be learned from our peers in the B2C selling marketplace. One of those takeaways comes from retail. The pandemic and ensuing supply chain problems forced retailers into significantly downsizing or eliminating the number of options provided to consumers. But even when supply chains started to get back on track, that choice didn’t automatically return. In many ways, it has been better for retailers and consumers alike. What can B2B sales teams take from this lesson? Offering more choice to your clients isn’t the answer; in fact, it’s creating confusion and hurting your sales growth. There’s a tipping...
Sales in Manufacturing Podcast: The Modern Seller’s Landscape
Navigating modern selling challenges in manufacturing requires strategic acumen, as it involves intricate processes, complex products, and the imperative to build lasting relationships. In this episode of A Broadcast for Manufacturers, Amy Franko joined the hosts to delve into topics shaping the manufacturing sales landscape. As the leader in modern sales strategy, she shared insights on navigating intricate sales processes and discussed the distinct challenges and opportunities for women in manufacturing sales. Listen for a deep dive into pivotal discussions in the manufacturing sales space! Some highlights: Amy's experience in manufacturing and tech sales: Amy shares her background, starting in manufacturing and tech sales, working for IBM and Lenovo. Emphasizes the importance of sales structures, processes, CRM, and skills data for understanding team strengths and opportunities. (4:47 - 6:25)...
A Surprising Truth About Positive Mindset and How Elite Sellers Use It
Modern sellers, take note. Novak Djokovic's mindset revelations for elite athleticism are also applicable for sales professionals and sales leaders. Embrace the reality that constant positivity is impossible, view mental strength as a skill, and conquer the fear of success. ****** Novak Djokovic is one of the winningest tennis players in the history of the game. He has earned 24 Grand Slam singles titles in men’s tennis, including seven at Wimbledon. He got his start in tennis around the age of 5, on a tiny tennis court where his first coach invited him to play when she saw him looking through the fence. The court was next to a pizzeria that his parents ran on the property of a very modest ski resort. His coming of age in tennis and in life was surrounded by civil war during the 1990s as Yugoslavia disintegrated, and he lived in what is today Serbia. His time on the court and in school was interrupted by...
Unwind Your Mind: Year-End Reflection Questions to Jumpstart 2024
This article offers a reflective approach to achieving significant sales goals in 2024, presenting a series of questions for leaders and professionals to guide their strategic thinking. In my sales strategy and board directorship work, I’m working with leaders going after significant goals – the kind that are game changing for their organization or the community. It has been a busy season for me as well… the past several months have seen new clients and new projects. That had me thinking: Where will I find time to allow for new ideas? Time to let my mind unwind a bit? These have been the sentiments for many that I’ve connected with over the past year. Accomplished leaders and professionals running from one thing to the next. Busy, and trying to make sure it’s productive. This article isn’t a set of strategies, but instead a set of questions that you can use as a guide to unwind your mind and provide...
Business Podcast: Fueling Your Creative Side
Catherine Lang-Cline of Portfolio Creative is one of Columbus' rockstar business leaders, and I am so happy she invited me to join her on The Secret Art of Business podcast. Sometimes we are prone to separate business and creativity... but I love bringing them together because they do enhance each other! In reflecting about this discussion, I realized I have never really thought of myself as a creative person in terms of traditional art and design. But sometimes we need to change our own narrative. We are *all* creative, we just have different ways of expressing it! This was a fun discussion, and I hope everyone will listen in to it. Some highlights: Entrepreneurial Calling: A bit about my strong entrepreneurial calling and my pivot into entrepreneurship. It was a "winding road." Tapping into Leadership: How I get my leadership "fix" as a board director for the Girl Scouts of Ohio's Heartland. Tapping...
Universal Accounting Podcast: Accounting Practice of the Future Needs
Amy Franko on the Universal Accounting Podcast In this episode of the Universal Accounting podcast, Amy Franko joined host Roger Knecht, president of Universal Accounting Center, to discuss how The Accounting Practice of the Future Needs Business Development Strategy. Some highlights from the episode include: Dynamic Changes in Business Development Landscape: The business development landscape has undergone significant transformations in the last three to five years, with notable shifts even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes have persisted and continue to shape the current business environment. The pandemic acted as an accelerator for changes that were already underway in the business development landscape. This suggests that the pandemic expedited trends that were emerging prior to its occurrence. Need for a Specific Business Development Strategy: In response to the evolving...
You’re as Strong as Your Sales Team: Strategies for Sales Leaders
There's a critical connection between a sales leader's strength and the collective performance of their sales team. Every sales professional plays a pivotal role in determining overall success. This article provides sales strategies for sales leaders, with insights into current sales trends, essential leadership qualities, and common leadership pitfalls to steer sales teams toward remarkable growth. ***** A sales leader is only as strong as the collective sales team. Every sales professional either contributes to or deducts from the overall success of your team, your clients, and your organization. This article offers trends impacting sales growth, crucial leadership capabilities, and leadership mistakes to avoid. Current Trends Impacting Sales Growth and Leadership The sales landscape has changed significantly in recent years, and successful sales leaders can leverage these changes to build a...
Video: Your Best Investment: A Case for Lifelong Learning
What are the secrets to longevity? After considering the traits of one very exceptional nonagenarian, I can boil it down to two things: self-care and lifelong learning.
Today’s post digs into the second of those two… what lifelong learning can do for us personally and professionally. It’s the best investment you can make.
B2C Consumers are Having a Spending Moment; It Matters in B2B Sales
B2C consumers are spending on the short-term Experience Economy, and this shift matters for B2B sales. Learn what this means and how modern sellers are adapting their sales approaches. *** Consumers are having a spending moment. In a recent WSJ article on American consumer spending, financial hurdles in the marketplace (inflation and interest rates) are causing consumers to rethink where they’re putting their money. Rather than use funds for long-term investments like down payments on a home and retirement planning, they’re increasingly using their funds on experience spending (think once-in-a-lifetime travels and events). Dubbed the “experience economy,” this approach to spending will impact how you’re interacting with your buyers – even in B2B environments. The jury is out on whether this trend is fleeting or here to stay, but it shows how buyers are thinking right now. And how buyers are thinking...
The One Sales Habit of Top Sellers
Top sellers create routines that give them the purpose and structure to make needed progress. This post shares two routines that have helped me create success, both in sales and in my life. *** My husband and I made a big move several years ago. We went from typical suburban cul-de-sac living with lots of neighbors, to a more rural setting with wide open space, more land, and only a couple of neighbors that we didn’t see very often. While there was a lot to love about this new life, I found myself struggling at first. I wasn’t my usual self. I finally figured out with the help of my coach that I was struggling with feeling like this was “my place,” and trying to reconfigure the basic routines that I had become so used to. One by one, the routines that I had (like where I shop, where I work out, who I spend time with, the route to the office), all had to be replaced with new routines to support this...
Our Strategic Selling signature sales training program is now available online. This online sales learning program is ideal for professional services and B2B sales. Get started with 2 free lessons.
