The Competitive Advantage

May 26, 2026

The Biggest Mistake Most Sales Meetings Make (and How to Fix It)

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of being invited to sit in on a number of my clients’ sales meetings. These were all small-to-midsize firms with a team of 3 to 15 seller-doers (and in some cases, full-time salespeople). All of these meetings were very similar… and all of them made the same mistake!

In every case, the person responsible for managing sales would spend most of the time going around the room (or the zoom) and asking each seller-doer for a recap of their current sales activity and pipeline.

WHY?!

May 5, 2026

2026 Is 33% Over! Are You on Track to Hit Your Sales Goals?

As of last Thursday (April 30^th), the year is already 33% gone! Hard to believe. But it’s also a chance to reflect on and assess what’s happened so far… and maybe to make some tweaks to your plans for the rest of the year.

March 24, 2026

Don’t Waste Another Minute! 3 Proven Ways to Protect and Grow Your Key Accounts.

All clients matter… but BIG clients matter more. They just do. Big clients are your business’ foundation. They are what allow you to make payroll and keep your lights on.

But there’s a problem with big clients. For most firms, there are 3, 4 or 5 clients that account for 40, 50 or 60% (or more) of your revenue. Which is great… until you lose one. You never want to lose any clients, but the loss of one of your big clients can be catastrophic!

March 9, 2026

You Can’t Manage What You Don’t See

Great sales management happens IRL (in real life), not on a spreadsheet.

Here’s a fairly common scenario… one of your seller-doers is not hitting her sales goals. But it’s not a question of activity level levels, she’s doing all the right things… and plenty of them. But she’s still falling short.

So, if it’s not the choice of her activities or the quantity of them, it must be the quality – how well she’s doing them.

February 24, 2026

The Fastest Way to Improve Sales Performance? Model What Already Works.

We’ve all heard the phrase that, “You learn more when you fail than when you succeed.” Well, that may not be exactly true when it comes to selling, especially inside of research agencies. Maybe your salespeople can learn to be better at selling when they model their sales behavior after the most successful performer(s) on your team.

February 17, 2026

“Trust” Isn’t the New Currency. It’s Always Been the Price of Admission.

I’ve read a number of articles recently with a title like, “Trust is the new currency.” There’s even a book by that name. And every time I see an article like that, I laugh! Since when is ‘trust’ a new concept in business… and especially for salespeople?

OK, I’ll admit that with AI becoming more prominent – and all of the things it can do that might be hard to describe as ‘authentic’ – trust may be more important now than it ever has been.

But a new idea? Since when was trust not a factor in sales?

February 10, 2026

The Biggest Mistake Seller-Doers Make on the First Sales Call

Stop showing up and throwing up!

OK, I hate that phrase – throwing up – but that’s exactly what happens during most initial sales calls. And everyone who’s been selling for more than a few months has been down this road…

After weeks of swapping emails and LinkedIn messages, a potential client finally agrees to their first ‘sales meeting’ with you. And you couldn’t be more excited! The sales prospect is a high-profile target for your firm, representing a significant amount of revenue opportunity.

You get the initial call scheduled (likely in Zoom or Teams), you prepare properly, and you’re ready to go. The call starts, you say “hello” to each other, then the buyer says to you, “So, tell me about your firm.” And you can’t wait to tell him about all the things you do… and your great team… and how awesome you are!

But here’s the thing… DON’T DO IT!

January 16, 2026

Are Your Seller-Doers Ready for 2026?

Here are 9 questions to ask to be sure.

We are off and running… 2026 is underway. Are you ready? More importantly, are your seller-doers ready?

If you’re responsible for managing your firm’s seller-doers, does a sales system exist that provides a foundation for driving their success? If not, ask yourself the following questions to help you uncover key management elements that should be part of your 2026 sales program…