The Lost Book of Sales

Age of distractions

Yet another calm weekend after months of lockdowns and I sit down to enjoy a book. After turning a couple of pages, I'm no longer able to keep going. In-between, I've managed to look at my phone four times and I've had my thoughts wander away. Why does something so simple feel suddenly so difficult?

Thoughts

Sharpening your toolset

As a professional in any field there is a high chance that you've developed a set of tools and mental models to conduct your work. Today I wanted to briefly discuss how great professionals become better by continuously sharpening their skill sets.

Guides

The principles and structure of a well-performed sales discovery

Discovery is one of the most critical parts of any sales process. If you manage to listen, understand and ask the right questions, you'll be well on your way to educate and deliver an unrivalled buying experience.

Guides

About sales qualification frameworks

For as long as companies have sought to make revenue generation predictable, the idea of sales qualification has been taught to salespeople across industries.

Guides

Writing effective follow up emails, examples included

This article is about drafting an effective, clear, accountable and a commitment inducing follow up email the right way.

Insights

8 principles to help you stay mentally balanced and happy

I thought to share with you some of the things that I've written down for myself over the past few years. Thinking about these principles helps me when life gets difficult or if I catch myself confused.

Stories

My story about getting the Salesforce administrator certification

I've been working in sales for the most part of my career, but it wasn't until I moved to a new company when I got to use the "industry standard" Salesforce platform as an everyday tool.

Guides

Don't trust an RFP without asking this important question from yourself first

RFP, RFI... What are they and why shouldn't you as a salesperson blindly trust them?

Sales

How to be successful when starting in a new sales position?

For a sales professional, starting in a new position can feel intimidating. A new role in a company with new tasks can often come accompanied with stress and expectation to start performing fast. An interview with Miikka Aalto.

Sales

Asking the golden question and presenting your complex offering

Today we have a growing tendency of avoiding long and boring slideshows that were very common five years ago. This is a positive change in the world of business.

Stories

Behind the approach that helped Kyrö Distillery Company become a well-known international brand

How did a group of Finnish friends that came up with the idea in a sauna ensure the successful expansion of their product?

Other

Summer reading 2018

In this short post I'm quickly sharing a couple of books that I have read and enjoyed in the past year. You might find some of these books interesting...

Guides

Hiring your first freelancer: Things to take into account & best practices

Many people that I've come across have thought of hiring a freelancer but do not know exactly where to start.

Stories

Careers of the past versus careers of the future

In this keynote, I discuss some of the key differences between our careers today and the careers from the past.

Guides

How to conduct outbound sales when quick results are expected?

Especially smaller companies where less than three people are dedicated to driving the revenue growth, there is often a strong need to achieve results very fast.

Technology

Internet Companies Hall of Fame (Part I): 7 companies that set an example for doing online business

Excellent engineering, world-class teams, great user experiences and business models that work while making the internet a better place.

Guides

Three practical tips to instantly improve your sales interactions

After hundreds of intro-calls, client meetings and sales cases, each of us start to notice patterns that help us improve our performance while being out of the comfort zone.

Sales

Three tricky yet simple things that will surely keep you a demanded professional in the modern business world

Based on my experience so far, no matter how you look at it, there are only three main aspects that we should stay on top of in order to ensure our own employability.

Guides

Taking better control of the sales cycle and avoiding the "buyer-seller dance" - Using the upfront contract

A successful sales professional has proper visibility into the decision-making process of the buyer and should be able to control, as well as reliably forecast the time-related aspects of a complex deal.

Guides

Why to-do lists often stink and how do the truly successful people maintain their productivity?

Discipline and productivity go often hand in hand forming together one's ability to constantly perform.

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