Hello. I’m a prospect and I need your help. And I don’t just need that help while we are meeting face-to-face. My buying process is lengthy and complicated, and I have questions and concerns that come at me from out of nowhere. Specifically, I need three things from you.

Sales professionals love to be loved. That is what makes saying “no” so uncomfortable. Top professionals have learned, however, that skirting around an issue for fear of disappointing a customer is a rotten strategy that only leads to future problems.

Ryan Taft has never met a sales professional that didn’t agree that follow-up is essential to a healthy sales career. It doesn’t matter if you sell, cars, homes, medical supplies or dog food, follow-up is essential. His experience as a consumer and as a sales coach is that there are three common mistakes made in follow-up.

Some people find networking uncomfortable, and I have to admit, I am one of those people. While at an event recently I was convicted by how well a friend of mine worked the room. He was not just trying to meet new people, he was building relationships. That’s something we all should be doing.

Sales leaders wear many hats. Probably too many hats in Amy O’Connor’s humble opinion. Out of all the hats that a sales leader wears, perhaps the most important hat would don the word “coach” on the front.

Entitled customers can be hard to handle, but they are still valuable customers. So here’s something to make you smile next time you run into an entitled customer.

Recently Ryan Taft was working with a sales rep, we will call her Nancy, who had fallen behind on her sales goals. After going through Nancy’s presentation and her strongest leads, he realized a major flaw. She wasn’t using BAMFAM.

What are you doing to take control of your own success? Sales leadership can be a lonely place when you don’t have anyone who really gets what it is that you do. This is precisely why I started my sales leadership roundtable mastermind group several years ago.

I believe very strongly in mastermind groups, strongly enough that I am a part of four of them. What about you? What are you doing to intentionally push your own learning curve?

Ever heard the phrases ‘start strong, finish strong’ or ‘start where you want to end up’? Far too often sales people become overwhelmed with perfecting every second of their sales presentation. Amy O’Connor’s advice? Practice, prepare and perfect the first five minutes of your sales presentation before mastering anything else.