The following is a conversation I had recently with Nick Bailey, managing director of Apexselling Ltd. Nick's new book, "Customers are F.I.C.K.L.E: How to Sell Large and Complex Deals to Equally Large and Complex Clients," presents a how-to approach for using the sales skills and techniques he's developed over the past 25 years in the IT industry. Tom: There are so many books on selling on the market, Nick… why did you decide to add another to the pil […]

Ninety Five 5 client BlueGranite, thanks in part to a creative CRM integration of our Sales Success System (S3), was named Microsoft's "Exceptional Sales Management Partner of the Year" for 2011. The prestigious award will be presented during Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference this week in Los Angeles.The Kalamazoo, Michigan-based business intelligence firm gives clients easy access to complex reporting and analysis of their business performance via intuitive […]

Last month Ninety Five 5 announced that Player Map is now integrated into our Sales Success System (S3) as a core module. It's available at no additional cost to subscribers -- all Ninety Five 5 clients now have access to it. This includes a subscription to Player Map X-Ray. But for the folks just joining the conversation, what is Player Map? Meet its creator, Scott Leland. I sat down with him the other day and the following are the highlights of our conversation. Tom: Scott, I […]

Sales leader Sam Lorimer has had his career ups and downs, but one area remains constant: Three emails for specific situations that always work. Always.Those three emails have also proved successful with everyone he's shared them with over the years. So much so, if fact, that he finally decided to share them with the rest of the selling world in his new ebook, "Click 'Send' and Sell! Three Unconventional Emails with Extraordinary Sales Results." (See the end of […]

My "Take 5" series of blog interviews are all about getting to know the good folks here at Ninety Five 5. Meet sales guide Craig McQueen. The questions below are meant to be taken lightly but by all means add to the questions because they certainly don't end here. Tom: What is one of your career highlights that you'll look back on fondly one day?Craig: Well joining NF5 of course. Really. Prior to that I am most proud of successfully helping grow an IT se […]

Here's the latest in my continuing series featuring Ninety Five 5 team members. The interviews consist of light questions for the most part, and are meant to be fun -- but also allow readers to get to know the good folks here at Ninety Five 5. Meet sales guide Chris Doggett! Tom: Hi Chris, what are one or two career highlights you’d like to share?Chris: I have spent my entire career in sales or sales leadership. I suppose one of my proudest moments was at the age of 3 […]

Here's the latest in my continuing series featuring Ninety Five 5 team members. The interviews consist of light questions for the most part, and are meant to be fun -- but also allow readers to get to know the good folks here at Ninety Five 5. Meet sales guide Bill Rust! Tom: You've traveled, lived and worked extensively overseas -- what are some of those highlights? Bill: Living overseas in several countries allowed me to assimilate into society, getting to know the peo […]

Every other week or so I'll be interviewing a Ninety Five 5 team member. They'll be light questions for the most part; meant to be fun, but also allow readers to get to know the good folks here at Ninety Five 5. Meet sales guide Dennis Susa. By all means add to the questions in the comments sections -- because they certainly don't end here! Tom: Dennis, this interview technically counts towards your 15 minutes of fame, so make every minute count!  Starti […]

Chris and Lisa are both sales representatives at a large B2B company.  Lisa is a seasoned and very successful rep, while Chris is a rookie. Chris is stalled in trying to get one of his clients to make a decision on a deal and asks Lisa for some advice.  She uses the G.R.O.W. coaching model during an impromptu brainstorming session. She begins by asking Chris for: G:  A "goal" to their discussion... R:  Afterward they identify and share […]

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