The Competitive Advantage

September 22, 2026

Having a Tough Year? STOP Doing These Five Things to Your Sales & Marketing.

2026 has been a challenging year for a lot of firms. Often, the finger of blame is pointed at the buyers because they’re delaying or canceling projects. That’s fair. In some cases, firms cut back on sales and marketing to save money, but that kills whatever momentum they’ve built in the marketplace

There’s a third culprit… one that’s rarely talked about… but one that can severely and negatively impact a firm’s growth efforts.  And that’s investing in the wrong sales and marketing efforts. Here are five examples where that often shows up…

September 15, 2026

Referrals Aren’t a Sales Strategy

What to do when the referrals stop…

Let’s start with a definition… a ‘referral’ is a cold sales prospect that reaches out to you at the recommendation of or introduction from an existing client or ‘industry friendly.’

And it’s awesome. Who doesn’t love a referral? It’s a real stroke to your ego, knowing that someone is out there saying nice things about you and recommending you to others. And it could be a nice addition to the top line if that referral becomes a client. In fact, many MR firms rely on referrals as a major source of revenue.

But there’s a problem with referrals.

August 10, 2026

How Top Sellers Turn Lost Opportunities into Future Wins

Selling is hard work. And more often than not – in fact, way more often than not – a sales opportunity doesn’t work out. Most sales conversations don’t result in a request for a capabilities presentation… a large percentage of your presentations don’t result in an RFP… and, based on my research, your chance to win a proposal you’ve submitted hovers in the 30-40% range.

So, what do you do when a sales opportunity doesn’t work out?

July 14, 2026

What Happens When Seller-Doers Miss Their Sales Goals?

There’s an accountability gap that’s hurting your firm’s growth.

Here’s the scenario… as a leader in your firm, part of your job is to manage your firm’s small team of seller-doers. And you’ve set them up for success! They’ve been through sales training, you’ve established a generous commission plan and there’s a well-thought-out sales plan to guide them. You hold weekly sales team meetings, and coach each of them individually on a regular basis.

But even with all the support and resources you’re committing to sales, one of your seller-doers is failing. Falling short of their goal… by a lot.

June 23, 2026

Why In-Person Meetings Still Win in B2B Sales

I’m old… and I’m old school. I started my career in the 80s as industrial sales rep for the Dupont company. I had a territory and would drive around from city to city, visiting clients and prospects and (hopefully) making some sales. And what was true then is just as true now – and maybe more so – that nothing enhances client relationships or advances the buy-sell conversation faster, or better, than spending time with buyers in-person.

June 16, 2026

If You Win on Price… You’ll Lose on Price

Since the first Neanderthal was going cave-to-cave with his “luxury animal skins,” selling on price (that is, lowering the price when the buyer objects to the cost) has been a standard M.O. for the vast majority of “untrained” sales people.

And, to be fair, there is an understandable logic to doing it… often, it will win you the sale. But doing that also brings with it a number of problems… and why you should never sell on price:

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.