sales

This is the third installment in our series on Being Proactive. If you missed the previous two, I encourage you to go back and read them — they set the foundation for everything we’ll talk about today.

If you are a salesperson in a showroom (retail or trade), or if you manage one, it’s likely that you rely heavily on incoming opportunities — traffic — for new business. That’s understandable.

It’s also understandable that you may consider your greatest competitors to be other showrooms offering…

This is the second installment in our December series on Being Proactive. In the first newsletter, we defined proactive as taking responsibility for one’s own life — and all the elements that come with it.
Now, let’s go a little deeper into what it looks like in practice.

We often hear being proactive used interchangeably with taking initiative, which is accurate — even if it’s not the full definition.

Consider the many ways initiative shows up:

• Creating instead of waiting
• Going after what …

This is the first in our December series on Being Proactive. Before we talk about actions, habits, or outreach, it’s helpful to revisit a term that’s become so commonplace — maybe even overused — that we’ve lost some of its power.

Stephen R. Covey introduced “proactive” in Habit 1 of his landmark book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. He wrote that human beings are responsible for their own lives. Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions. We can subordinate fee…

This month in the Sales BE Series, I focused on the powerful theme of being coachable—a mindset that accelerates both personal and professional growth. With sales managers, business owners, and entrepreneurs gathered, we explored how openness to feedback creates space for learning, growth, and long-term success.

What Does It Mean to Be Coachable?

I began by asking a simple but important question: Do you have a coach right now? Whether in business, wellness, or even learning a new skill, having…

Being Coachable: What Has Been Missing or in the Way of Your Achievement?

This is the third installment in our series on what it takes to be coachable. In the last post, we explored your history and present circumstances as they relate to achieving your goals and working with a coach. Now, let’s take it further. Ask yourself:

• How straight have I been with myself—about how I operate, how I respond to new situations, unfamiliar actions, and input from others?
• If I’ve tried this before, what s…

August’s BE Series session focused on a powerful theme: being a student. In sales and sales management, it’s easy to think experience alone makes us effective. But the truth is, growth happens when we keep learning—staying curious, humble, and willing to practice. Here are four lessons we explored this month.

Cultivate a Beginner’s Mind

Certainty is the enemy of growth. When we think we already know it all, we stop learning. A beginner’s mind means showing up curious and open—whether in a sa…

This month’s theme is Being Committed, and we’re exploring how to Secure the Sale or Schedule the Next Step.

That means confidently leading each interaction toward a clear outcome—despite the twists, turns, and roadblocks that sometimes get in the way.

This week’s focus is: Being committed despite setbacks.

While we can anticipate possible obstructions, we can’t predict them all.
We can’t control the circumstances, or the weather, or other people.
Setbacks are part of the game.

Adversity ca…

BE Committed – Not Just in Words, but in Action

For Sales Leaders Everywhere

June’s Sales BE Series focused on one of the most misunderstood and under-practiced concepts in sales: commitment. Not the kind we talk about, but the kind we demonstrate through action—especially when it gets hard.

Commitment Means Doing, Not Just Saying

We’ve all heard the phrases: “Sell yourself,” “The customer is always right,” “They’ll come back if they’re interested.” But do your actions align with the outcome…

This month’s theme is Being Committed, and our focus is on how to Secure the Sale or Schedule the Next Step.

This is the step where all your earlier efforts come together. It’s the culmination of the entire sales process—and it depends on your ability to confidently lead each conversation toward a clear result.

This week, we're looking at: Being committed to producing an outcome.

Achieving an intended outcome begins with exactly that—intention.
Start with the end in mind and direct your action…

This month, we’re exploring what it means to BE Brave in sales—showing up with curiosity, presence, clarity, and compassion. This week, we’re talking about: BE Brave – and committed. Can we finish now?

Some sales training programs define objections as buying signals—because objections reveal interest. If that’s true, then overcoming an objection should naturally lead to the next step: asking for the order.

But here’s where many sales fall apart.

Either the objection isn’t fully resolved, or t…