Posts by Mercer Smith-Looper

I have worked in software for over a decade, and still, every time I try to describe what I do to my father, he asks, “Is that something that you do with the TV?” Unlike tangible products, software can be challenging to explain.  Many SaaS products can feel like a far off concept since many…

The world is changing, and the world of sales is changing along with it. Two years ago, the average number of people involved in a deal was 5.4. Now, it’s 6.8, and the players come from every team imaginable. With so many people involved, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get an agreement on anything other…

Harvard Business Review ran a study where they asked 182 senior managers how they felt about meetings. Of those managers, 72% said that meetings were inefficient and a waste of time; 65% said that meetings stop them from completing their work, and 62% said meetings miss the opportunity to bring the team closer together. Something…

Times they are a-changin’. Inside sales and sales development roles are on the rise. More teams are tracking customer satisfaction than whether they meet their quotas. New technologies come out every day that make it easier to understand precisely what your customers want. Now is the time to make moves. Even if your sales team…

Everyone loves surprises. Well, everyone loves surprises until they’re totally sidelining the sales process and pushing you away from your quota. Fortunately, while some things in the sales process are uncontrollable, those nasty little surprises that delay closing aren’t one of them. Many top reps cite closing as the most challenging aspect of sales. Beyond…

Sales is a relationship. You put in the time and effort, you get to know them, find out their quirks, what they like and don’t like…and just like other relationships, sometimes the sales process needs to end.  While it may not be as immediately devastating as the end of a friendship or partnership, realizing you…

Have you ever wished you could read your pet’s mind? I know I have. How much easier would that make life?  Since our communication is limited, we have to try and infer their needs from different cues. Over time, you tend to get pretty in-tune with what different signals mean. Maybe they scratch at the door,…

We all love data. And lately, it feels like there’s an app to track everything. As humans, we are continually seeking opportunities to know how we are doing and how we could be doing better. It’s no different in sales. Creating a sales scorecard for your team gives them the performance information and feedback they…

When you think about it, interviewing for a job is kind of like making a sale. You go through the same steps you would when trying to convince a prospect to buy your product…except the product is you.  When you talk about each of your qualifications for a role, it’s the same as when you…

Have you ever gone to the grocery store hungry? If you have, you know exactly how bad an idea it is. You get caught up in the moment, and, all of a sudden, your cart is filled with five different types of chips, 10 boxes of cereal, and who knows what else.  However, if you…

Everyone knows the pain of getting to the end of a long sales process, feeling like you’re going to close the deal, only to be told by your prospect that they’ll have to get the final say from their boss, or someone in accounting. Turns out, you didn’t have the decision-maker.   A decision-maker is someone…

How often do you spend a ton of time working on a new lead… only for them to ghost and never become a client? There are many reasons why your prospects might disappear, and one of them is that you didn’t do enough discovery. Generating insights about your prospects’ needs can help you customize your…

Have you ever played golf? Convention would lead you to believe it should be simple. All you’re doing is hitting a ball that’s sitting in place, right? However, there are a few details about golf that make it more difficult than one might think.  First, it’s not a very big ball. Second, people are watching…

Once upon a time, sales was predictable. You had a product — it might have been the only one on the market — and you sold it to the people that needed or wanted it. But times have changed.  Now, your product probably has at least two major competitors and a ton of others offering something…

When you think of a salesperson, what do you see? You might imagine a Dwight Schrute-style car salesman in an ugly yellow shirt. Maybe, to keep The Office metaphor rolling, you see a Ryan: Bluetooth earbud in, suit on, talking loud and smiling smugly.  No matter what you envisioned, it was probably someone male-presenting. Most…

Picture this: you’re on a roll. You’ve got a great prospect, and everything seems like it’s on track to close. Your customer is excited. You’re fired up. Your manager is eager. Then, all of a sudden, they put on the brakes and start asking about discounts. Womp womp. It can feel like a total trainwreck…

When I worked at Apple as one of their lead salespeople, the first thing they taught me was that, in order to sell anything, you had to get to know the customer and let the customer know you. That’s part of the delight in going into an Apple Store, right? Friendly people in brightly colored…