Sales Leadership Techniques

Most AEs lose deals because they can't build urgency. They find pain. They demo features. They quote price. But they never answer the million-dollar question: "What happens if we do nothing?" Here's how to build the cost of inaction (and close more deals): 1. Find a metric that's suffering. Pain without numbers is just complaining. You need something measurable: • Revenue lost per month • Time wasted per week • Customers churning per quarter If they can't give you a number? Ask who can. 2. Reverse-engineer the cost of waiting. I once had a VP of Sales want $10K off a $50K deal. He said: "We'll wait until January when hiring ramps up." So I asked: "How many reps are you hiring in January?" "10 reps." "How long to ramp them?" "4 months." "What's each rep worth when ramped?" "$40K ARR." 3. Do the math out loud. "So if you're one month late on those 10 hires... That's 10 reps × $40K = $400K knocked off your annual plan. You want $10K off. But waiting costs you $400K. Which sounds more expensive?" He signed at full price. 4. Make the invisible visible. Customers aren't thinking about compound costs. Your job? Bring the horse to water and make them drink. Show them what "doing nothing" actually costs. 5. Use this exact question: "What metric is suffering as a result of that problem?" If they can't answer, ask: "Who would know that number?" Now you're opening doors to power. The cost of inaction drives your timeline. Not discounts. Not "budget cycles." The fear of losing $400K while trying to save $10K. 💡 What's the biggest "cost of inaction" you've ever built? P.S. These 7 strategies will help you CLOSE more deals in a GTM crisis: https://lnkd.in/d_DkYTSH

I’m absolutely appalled by the sales tactics I heard on a recent Kitces podcast episode. Manipulation described as behavioral psychology. 😠 Quoting a fee that’s the highest number you can manage to say out loud. 😤 Selling via fear through “disturbing tracks” - 20+ ways to freak out a potential client so that they hire you to save them. 😡 One example was instilling fear in a homemaker wife of a successful husband that if she dies first he might marry a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader who takes all the money that should go to the kids. But if you hire the advisor he/she will save you from that fate. 😶 These tactics were described as “like taking candy from a baby”. 🤬🤬 For real?! This is how you’ve trained thousands of advisors?! This is terrible for clients and terrible for our industry. Stop it! Advisors, please do not treat potential clients this way! This is awful! And you can have a successful and growing business without any of this manipulation or fear mongering I promise! Try this instead: - Step 1: Listen well to what the potential client needs and discern whether you’re a great fit to help. If yes… - Step 2: Share what you do and how you work, what it costs, and what specific ways you can help the potential client based on your conversation. - Step 3: Answer any questions they have - Step 4: Send a follow up summary of the conversation that they can respond to if they’d like to work together. - Step 5: If they decide to work with you, take really excellent care of them. Help them make great decisions with their money that align with the life they want. Help them feel good about their finances. - Step 6: Repeat This is not a game or a competition. These are real people seeking help. Don’t manipulate them or scare them or win their business. It’s horrifying to me that this still needs to be said. DO BETTER!

This is the advice I wish I had be given early on as a financial advisor. Here's some insight and top tips I've gathered during my last 18 years as a financial advisor and what I wish I would have known when I started. As a young advisor I was taught about the products I could sell and how to become a master at cold calling. I was taught that if I called X times, got Y appointments, I would close Z sales and make a lot of money. And sure, this is all true, but very little time was spent on the value of deeper conversations and learning the meaning behind the money of our clients. Here's what I learned the hard way that led me to great success (top 5% of ~11,000 agents nationally) ✅ Listen more than you talk ✅ Show people you listened by repeating back, in-depth, what they are telling you is important to them without a product agenda in mind! ✅ Quickly find commonalities with the people you're meeting with ✅ Talk about how Solution X = Outcome Y and tie it back to your client's hopes, dreams, and goals ✅ Don't rely on the "illustration" to close the sale for you ✅ Know your crowd; i.e. don't wear a suit and tie to meet with a dairy farmer Can a financial advisor find some level of success by focusing on selling financial product X over and over again? Sure, but most times this will limit your production and growth long term. In fact I've seen many advisors crash and burn using this Product model. The above tips might take a little more time to build up the steam you're looking for, but it's worth it. I remember our weekly sales meetings where I had very little to report early on, but then all of a sudden I was the one with the most production and people were asking me how I did it. Here's to teaching you how to fish instead of giving you one! What tips would you add to support the younger generation of advisors trying to grow? #financialadvisors #success #tips

📣 Stop sending discounts to loyal customers who aren’t discount shoppers. Instead, create value and offer exclusivity: Give them first access to new product launches. Build a sense of community by asking for their input on new product development. Educate and inspire with helpful tips, stories, and content. Share behind-the-scenes moments and introduce them to your brand’s founders. If you have physical stores or pop-ups, invite them to exclusive events. What do your favorite brands do to create value and make you feel part of their exclusive club, without relying on discounts?

Why chasing sales could be stunting your growth. Are you focusing on the right numbers? If you're focused on chasing revenue, it won't be telling you the whole story, it's time to dig deeper and understand your client profitability. Why is this crucial? ⏬ 1️⃣ Profitability vs. Revenue: It’s possible for sales to increase while profits stagnate. Understanding why this happens is critical. 2️⃣ Cost Analysis: Don't just look at overall costs; understand your costs per client. How much time is spent by staff on each client? 3️⃣ Data-Driven Decisions: With client profitability data, you can identify clients that truly deliver the best financial outcomes, and make informed decisions about where to invest your time and resources. 4️⃣ Revealing Insights: You might find that a client bringing in a large amount of revenue has a very low-profit margin, while another, with lower revenue, has high margins. This information is key for strategic planning. How to get started? ⏬ 1️⃣ Analyse Costs: Gather data on all costs, including staff time, materials, and expenses. 2️⃣ Categorise Clients: Use graphs or matrices to categorise clients based on performance. 3️⃣ Refine Strategy: Use this analysis to nurture key clients, adjust pricing, and make better sales and marketing decisions. 4️⃣ Understanding client profitability lets you move away from simply chasing sales numbers to strategically targeting the most profitable growth. Read our full article (4 min read) (link in comments) to discover - How to calculate client profitability How to categorise and analyse your client base. How to use this analysis to refine your sales, marketing, and pricing strategies. #ClientProfitability #BusinessGrowth #StrategicPlanning #SME #PortfolioFinanceDirector #VirtualCFO #FractionalCFO #SMEFinance #SmallBusinessFinance

"How do I increase sales without offering massive discounts?" After coaching 4,000+ food entrepreneurs, here's the framework: You don't need discounts to get orders. Let me explain 👇 THE MISCONCEPTION: "If I don't give discounts, I don't get orders." This belief is widespread in food delivery. And it's killing margins. Operators think discounting = growth. Reality? Discounting = unsustainable cash burn. THE 3 STRATEGIC USES FOR DISCOUNTS: REASON 1: CUSTOMER ACQUISITION → Purpose: Get first-time customers to try your food → Strategy: Introductory discount for new customers → Goal: Lower barrier to first order → Frequency: One-time per customer REASON 2: REACTIVATION OF DORMANT CUSTOMERS → Purpose: Remind existing customers who forgot you → Strategy: "We miss you" campaign with limited offer → Goal: Win back customers who haven't ordered in 30+ days → Frequency: Quarterly or as needed REASON 3: INVENTORY MANAGEMENT → Purpose: Avoid food wastage → Strategy: Flash sales, happy hours on expiring inventory → Goal: Convert potential waste into revenue → Frequency: As needed based on inventory That's it. Three strategic reasons. Nothing else. WHEN NOT TO DISCOUNT: Don't use discounts because: ❌ You want more orders this week ❌ Sales are temporarily slow ❌ Competitors are discounting ❌ Platform pushed you to offer deals ❌ You think it's the only growth strategy THE DEEPER PROBLEM: If massive discounts are your only way to generate orders, you have fundamental business issues: → Weak positioning in market → Ineffective marketing strategy → Uncompelling brand identity → Quality or consistency concerns → Poor customer experience Discounts mask these problems. They don't solve them. THE MARGIN REALITY: Every rupee discounted = rupee not earned Heavy discounting = customer conditioning They only order when there's a deal You become a discount brand, not a quality brand THE SUSTAINABLE APPROACH: Use discounts strategically (only 3 reasons above) Otherwise, build a brand people order from at full price That requires: → Clear differentiation → Consistent quality → Strong brand identity → Effective marketing → Great customer experience This is how you build sustainable revenue. Are you discounting strategically or desperately? Follow Karthikeyan Selvaraj for more food business strategies. ♻️ Repost if you're in the food business.

I told a $7M company to stop selling their best product They fired me on the spot Six months later, they called back Revenue had plummeted 30% Competitors were eating their lunch "We're ready to listen now," the CEO said What did I see that they missed? → Their flagship product was killing their profit margins Everyone celebrated the 7-figure deals, but nobody examined the hidden costs: - 2x longer sales cycles than other products - 5x more support tickets - Custom implementation eating services hours - Constant feature requests derailing the roadmap - Churn rate double their portfolio average The math was brutal: For every $100k this "star" product generated, it cost $110k to deliver and maintain They were literally losing money with every new logo When we finally restructured their offering: - Standardized 50% of the product - Raised prices by 20% - Eliminated custom implementations - Created clear scope boundaries First quarter results? - Sales cycle shortened by 40% - Gross margin jumped from -30% to +25% - Customer satisfaction actually improved The hard truth about sales growth: Sometimes you need to sell LESS to earn MORE Most companies are drowning in vanity metrics—chasing revenue that looks impressive but destroys their bottom line I've seen this pattern across 50+ companies I've consulted for The fastest path to profitable growth isn't selling everything to everyone. It's identifying which products, customers and markets actually generate profit—then having the courage to focus exclusively on them What part of your business are you holding onto despite the numbers telling you to let it go? Sometimes the bravest growth strategy is knowing what to stop selling P.S. If you need help with your sales, send me a message

The biggest mistake I made in business development? (And the one I see others make every week…) Asking for the business before I gave any value. ❌ I’d pitch. ❌ I’d present. ❌ I’d try to impress. But it rarely worked, and never felt right. What I finally learned was this: You don’t earn trust by selling. You earn it by giving, long before you ever make an ask. So, if you want to become the kind of advisor clients  seek out… ✅ Start with value.  ✅ Lead with generosity.  ✅ Then let trust do the rest. Here are 8 of my favorite ways to offer value before  asking for business: 1. Make a Strategic Introduction → Connect them to someone helpful. Your network  becomes part of your value. 2. Ask for Their Perspective → Curious questions create more respect than pitch  decks ever will. 3. Send a Thoughtful Surprise → A book, a note, a resource. Relevance shows you’re  paying attention and that matters. 4. Share Tailored Insights → Generic = forgettable. A timely idea, just for them, can  open big doors. 5. Invite Them to Something Exclusive → Roundtables or niche events. Scarcity adds value.  Inclusion builds connection. 6. Host a Problem-Solving Session → Brainstorm a real issue together. Let them experience  your thinking in action. 7. Offer a Mini-Diagnostic → Spot something they didn’t know was broken. It  reframes you from seller to solver. 8. Provide a Sample of Your Service → No pressure. Just a preview. Let them feel the value  before the ask. Here’s the shift: Don’t try to close a deal. Try to open a relationship. Give first.  Then give a little more. And I promise the results will take care of themselves. 👉 Which one will you try this week? ♻️ Valuable? Repost to help someone in your network. 📌 Follow Mo Bunnell for client-growth strategies that don’t feel like selling. Want the full cheat sheet? Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/e3qRVJRf 

How effective are different client acquisition tactics? Our research reveals a fascinating disconnect between what advisors think works and what actually drives effective marketing. https://kitc.es/3Y4E3Uf While 58% of advisors experienced success - i.e., gained at least 1 new client - across the various marketing tactics surveyed, the most effective approaches aren't always the most popular. Client referrals dominate with a 95% success rate, followed by centers of influence at 85%. But here's the surprise: cold calling and door-knocking also rank in the top four for success rates, despite being used by less than 10% of advisors. The common thread among these high-performing tactics is direct, personal interaction—whether warm referrals or cold outreach, face-to-face communication remains critical for building trust. However, success rates only tell part of the story. When measuring revenue per new client, the picture shifts dramatically. In-person events like client appreciation gatherings and seminars generate the highest revenue per client at $10,000 and $7,679 respectively, compared to an average of $5,827 across all tactics. Meanwhile, cold calling—despite its high success rate—ranks last in revenue per client. This suggests advisors need to balance two metrics: the probability of winning clients and the quality of clients attracted. The most efficient marketing strategies optimize for both success rates and revenue potential.

7 proven ways to increase FMCG sales without discounts Discounts might seem like the easiest way to increase sales, but they’re also the fastest way to lose profits and damage your brand. There’s a better way. In 2013 when I started as a sales team lead in FMCG, I struggled. I relied on price discounts as the only way to increase my sales in stores, but this was unsustainable. Over time I learnt these 7 strategies and I’ve used them to double sales of established brands in retail outlets in 6 - 12 months. It is more sustainable for the company and your Bosses will love you. 1. Product visibility and placement. Shoppers buy what they see. Make sure your products are in the right place, such as eye-level shelves, hotspots, and checkout zones. 2. Strong retailer relationships. Retailers will champion your products if they feel valued and are incentivized. Offer quarterly rewards, better margins, or recognition programs to win their loyalty. 3. In-store communication. Your communication material in the store is your silent salesperson. Use clear, benefit-focused messages on materials like wobblers, banners, posters and shelf talkers to educate shoppers. 4. Right pricing. Help retailers stick to recommended prices. Educate them on their margins and how fair pricing improves volume and profits. 5. Product distribution. If it’s not on the shelf, it can’t sell. Fix stock outs, prioritize key outlets, and close distribution gaps to keep shelves full. 6. Shopper engagement through sampling. Sampling builds trust. Let shoppers experience your product firsthand through demos or activations in high-traffic stores. 7. Effective sales team execution. Your sales team is the engine. Train them, set clear KPIs, and give them juicy incentives to ensure great execution. Which strategy will you focus on first?