Know Who You're Talking To: The Power of Personality-Based Selling (and Living)
Understanding and adapting to a buyer’s personality type is a critical sales skill that can significantly improve close rates, reduce objections, and build long-term relationships. Drawing from DISC and MBTI frameworks, buyers can be categorized into four core types—Driver, Analytical, Amiable, and Expressive—each with distinct motivations and communication preferences. The article provides detailed strategies for identifying and selling to each type, including hybrid personalities, using real-world examples and role-play scenarios. It also highlights the risks of misalignment, such as being ghosted or losing credibility, and offers advanced techniques for adapting in real time. Beyond sales, this approach enhances communication in all interpersonal relationships, from family to the workplace.
Write Your Way to Sales Success: The Power of the Pen
As a media sales professional, your words are your weapons. They’re the tools you use to persuade, influence, and close deals. A well-crafted email, a compelling proposal, or a persuasive pitch can make all the difference. Why Writing Matters in Media Sales Clear and Concise Communication: A clear and concise message ensures your audience understands your point, leading to faster decision-making and increased efficiency. Read More
Maximize Your Sales Success: The Power of Reading, Writing, and Speaking in B2B Sales
I am never without a book, whether it’s a hardcover or an audiobook. If I’m doing anything that allows me to listen to a book, you’ll find me with an audiobook. I used to buy books for my clients, only to see them collect dust, unopened and unread. Right now, the One-Up Book Club is on its second round. The first five books include Nate Silver’s On the Edge, How Migration Works by Hein de Haas, Overruled by Neil Gorsuch and Janie Nitze, Minds Wide Shut by Garry Saul Morson and Morton Schapiro, and Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari. Read More
How to Write a Business Proposal [Examples + Template]
A business proposal can bridge the gap between you and potential clients. Done correctly, it will outline your value proposition and persuade a company or organization to do business with you. Here, we’ll take a look at the various kinds of business proposals and go over how to write one. We’ll also see some ideas and examples to help guide yours. Read More
Mastering Chess Strategy and Sales Conversations: How Openings Win in Both Games
In the seventh grade, I learned to play chess. When I got to high school, I came across a book called Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess, and decided to study it. It was unusual. It gave you a chess puzzle to solve. To see how you did, you had to turn the book upside down to read Fischer’s notes and recommended strategy. I played all summer and got better and better, beating my freshman peers easily. The seniors, however, were able to beat any and all freshmen. Read More
Mastering Body Language in Media Sales: Advanced Techniques for Experienced Professionals
In media sales, your ability to build relationships, influence decision-makers, and close deals depends as much on how you communicate as what you say. While seasoned sales professionals understand the fundamentals of body language—eye contact, posture, and mirroring—true mastery involves recognizing the subtle cues that reveal client intent, controlling your own nonverbal signals, and using advanced techniques to create trust and urgency. Read More
Questions/Answers, Engaging Customers In Verbal Ping-Pong
I listen to a lot of sales calls. Recordings of client sellers in calls/meetings. Sometimes webcasts where someone is talking about call strategies and going through role plays. This week, it was on creating urgency with questions. So much of it begins to look like a game of pint pong. Read More
Flood Your Pipeline: Why Your Lead Generation B2B Sucks (And How to Fix It)
Sitting there, sipping on your fourth coffee, staring at your CRM like it’s about to magically sprout leads. Hitting refresh on your inbox like the sales gods are about to drop a golden opportunity straight into your lap. Your pipeline? Drier than a gas station turkey sandwich. Your sales team? One bad month away from collective burnout. Your boss? Asking why leads aren’t flowing in like the Nile while you try not to throw your laptop out the window. Read More
What is Benefit Selling in Traditional Media Advertising?
Benefit selling is a sales approach that emphasizes the results and value of a product or service. Rather than focusing on what an ad space is—such as a 30-second TV spot or a full-page magazine ad—it focuses on what it does for the client, like boosting brand recognition, increasing foot traffic, or generating leads. Read More
Information Asymmetry…
Information Asymmetry has been a powerful tool in buying/selling almost from when Eve convinced Adam to take a bite of an apple. Centuries ago, Francis Bacon said, “Knowledge is power.” We’ve always tended to wield that knowledge as a weapon, creating advantage to us. Information asymmetry occurs where one party has a disproportionate informational or material knowledge advantage over the other party. Read More
Creating Customers For Life…
No, this isn’t a post on the importance of retention/renewal/expansion, though the underlying principles can impact retention/renewal/expansion. It’s a very different focus on our customers, what they mean to us and what we mean to them. This came up in a discussion, someone was asking about Partners In EXCELLENCE, our GTM process, and our strategies. I mentioned, offhandedly, that we have a principle underlying everything we do. I said, “We are driven by creating customers for life!” Read More
Mastering the Sales Cycle: Beyond Cold Calling for B2B Success
There is way too much on cold calling. On any day, you can find all kinds of self-proclaimed experts publishing posts about cold calling. Occasionally, you will find these experts arguing over the best way to make a cold call. One expert will focus on how you introduce yourself, while another will claim that they can improve your chances of a conversation and acquiring a first meeting. It is rare to see the cold call expert offer anything important outside of their chosen area of focus. Read More
How Lack of Research and Confidence Undermine Your Cold Calling Success
Are your cold calls falling flat because you’re making simple mistakes? The salesperson called me, but I couldn’t talk at that moment. I was busy focused on something and was unwilling to stop, although I usually take cold calls. If you make cold calls, you should take them because you may learn from different approaches. Read More
Cold Calling: What It Is & How to Do It Right
As a B2B SaaS content strategist, I‘ve found myself on the receiving end of countless cold calls, especially after signing up for industry reports. It’s always a strange experience that keeps surprising me. Just last week, after downloading a marketing automation whitepaper, my phone lit up with calls from eager software representatives. Read More
Modern Technology is Reshaping Relationships and What We Can Learn to Rebuild Meaningful Connections
Discover the hidden ways modern technology is reshaping relationships and what we can learn to rebuild meaningful connections. This article is inspired by The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt. While the book primarily focuses on children, it offers valuable lessons for adults as well. Read More