June 3, 2022
The best way to have a great sales call is to start by having a great sales call. At the beginning... in the first five minutes. Because first impressions matter. And establishing credibility and rapport and momentum all mat…
May 31, 2022
Brendan is just back from the Indy 500...and it was awesome! In this quick ~7 minute chat, Brendan and Bob talk about the parallels between being a race car driver and a startup founder. And there are a few.
May 26, 2022
Conferences and other in-person events are starting to come back. And with it, the fear of being alone in a crowd or striking up a conversation with a stranger. In this quick ~12 minute chat, Brendan and Bob break down ho…
May 23, 2022
It's a fact... Finding a good salesperson is hard. Seemingly impossible sometimes. And it is one of the reasons that founders need to develop some sales horsepower of their own. In this quick <9 minute chat, Brendan and B…
May 19, 2022
It's easy to say Yes... but at some point you run the risk of becoming overwhelmed. Do you have people you can turn to and get the blunt, unvarnished but thoughtful feedback you need? And where do you find those people? I…
May 16, 2022
Failure can be demoralizing. And discouraging. And cause you to want to go back to your shop and just build new features. But it doesn't have to be that way. And maybe it's all about perspective. In this quick <9 minute c…
May 12, 2022
One very reliable way to find new B2B sales opportunities is to talk to people down in the trenches. It's down in the inner workings of the business where the difficulties lie, where the inefficiencies are rampant, and where…
May 9, 2022
We're all quirky. And we all do things differently. The key is to recognize it and then come up with workarounds. This is a super short chat (~ 5 min!) t about how it's not about being perfect... It's about being aware an…
May 4, 2022
Sales success is heavily reliant on an effective client discovery process. You need to be able to ask the right questions, listen intently, and get detailed answers in order to qualify the opportunity and the client. So w…
April 28, 2022
Your customer wants to talk, and they want to be heard. So be efficient. Answer questions quickly, succinctly, crisply. Don't waste time. Salespeople want to talk, but so do customers. So... let them. Brendan and Bob cut …
April 25, 2022
This is a quick one... As a founder that sells and wants to grow your business, you need to be efficient and focus your skills on what you're good at. And you're probably not good at everything, right? In this super short ep…
April 21, 2022
You can't remember everything, so you need to be able to take notes. But how do you do it without taking your attention away from your customer and the conversation? Brendan and Bob spend a quick 16 minutes discussing sim…
April 18, 2022
A really good sales call should lead to the next step. But to make that happen, it takes planning and preparation. In this quick 10 minute episode, Brendan and Bob talk about how you can make the most of a sales opportunity …
April 12, 2022
Brendan just finished up running the AccelerateBaltimore program for 2022. And a good accelerator can be a great way for an early-stage startup to jump-start their momentum, develop important entrepreneurial skills, and begi…
March 21, 2022
Sales has lots of steps, plenty of follow up, and all sorts of details and paperwork. So...How do you keep track and stay efficient? Try a few simple checklists. Atul Gawande's book, The Checklist Manifesto, got us th…
March 15, 2022
You need to present a proposal to your customer. Do you have a plan? What do you intend to include? How are you handling pricing and terms? In this concise 14 minute episode, Brendan and Bob talk about the key steps and s…
March 11, 2022
In this very quick 13 minute episode, Brendan and Bob talk about why founders should be thinking about sales right at the beginning, and why they are well-suited to be effective sales leaders.
March 3, 2022
A lot of sales is a lot of simple stuff. Basic practices. Fundamentals. It doesn't have to be complicated. And those little things are easy to do. And they add up. In this very quick 12 minute episode, Brendan and Bob…
Feb. 17, 2022
You know this, of course... Stories sell. They resonate, they connect, and they make things special. Even something as generic as firewood. In this lively ~16 minute episode, Brendan and Bob dig into why stories work and …
Jan. 25, 2022
When you think about competition, make sure you're focused on the right competition. Because mostly it's not coming from where you think it is. It's like your classic horror movie... the competition is coming from inside the…
Jan. 18, 2022
It's never too soon to be thinking about (and discussing) customer success. But how you go about it matters. It's not a simple promise, but rather is an agreement with your customer. In this episode, Brendan talks with Bo…
Jan. 14, 2022
Customers are much smarter and more informed than ever before. And that presents either a problem or an opportunity. In this quick episode, Brendan and Bob talk about how to think about your much more knowledgeable prospe…
Jan. 11, 2022
Now that you're starting to learn more about your customer and all the details that go into the opportunity, it's time to start making the cold calculation around whether or not they are a good opportunity for you. You have …
Jan. 6, 2022
The customer discovery process is arguably the most important sales skill to have. Being able to effectively understand your customer, their requirements, their environment, their culture, and all the other variables involve…