This week, I had to change the faucet cartridge in my shower.  Now, I’m a pretty skilled amateur mechanic, and I have more tools than most non-professional mechanics.  But I’m not a plumber and I had no idea how to do this.  Heck, I didn’t even know that a single handle faucet HAD a cartridge, and that’s what caused the drip I was seeing.  But, I knew what I didn’t know, so I did what people do nowadays.  I went to YouTube.  And I searched “how to fix leaky Delta shower faucet.”

I learned about the cartridge.  I learned that Delta faucets have the most expensive cartridges, and by far the most expensive cartridge removal tools (a tool I didn’t know existed).  And a couple of videos in, I learned a method to pull the cartridge even when you don’t have the tool.  So, I tackled the job, and about 45 minutes later, I had a leak-free faucet.  I was pretty happy – but then, the next day, I had a conversation that really irritated me.

This salesperson was a guy who was fairly new into our profession.  By his own admission, there was a lot that he didn’t know about selling, and those things that he didn’t know were causing him a lot of challenges.  Fair enough – many of us have that issue.  So I asked him one of my favorite questions that I ask of salespeople:

“What’s the best sales book you’ve ever read?”

Here’s the thing – there’s no wrong answer to that question. I’m not fishing for compliments.  Yeah, I like it if they’ve read my book, Sell Like You Mean it.  But more than that, I’m looking for insight into how they develop their skills, and perhaps a window into their sales philosophy.  All too often, the answer I get is the answer this guy gave me:

“I haven’t read any sales books.”

Wow.  I’m in disbelief about how many professional salespeople have never dropped $20 on a book to teach them how to develop the skills to make a living.  I’ve told this story before, but when I started my sales career at Laird Noller Ford in 1990, I read books on how to sell – and I wasn’t the only one.  There were a few of us (probably about half of the new car sales staff) that bought and read books on how to sell, passed them around, and talked about them.  Some of those books might have been awful (I still remember a couple of the car sales books that made me feel like I needed a shower), but we tried.  We were interested in building our skills and getting better, and we worked at doing that.

In fact, one of those books that I bought 35 years ago, Carl Sewell’s Customers For Life, is on my bookshelf to this very day.  It’s still a damn good book.  Some of it might be dated, but you have a hard time driving more than a few miles in Dallas without seeing a Sewell dealership, so it must have worked pretty well for Carl.  In fact, I just Googled him, and he’s still around (82 years old).

But understand this.  In 1990, there was no Google.  There was no YouTube.  There weren’t hundreds of blogs with thousands upon thousands of sales articles, and God knows how many thousands of videos on how to sell (I have over a hundred on my own YouTube channel, and frankly, I’m a slacker compared with a lot of people).  And all of that knowledge is available for free.

And yet, all too many salespeople don’t take advantage of it.  I’m not just talking about newbies – veterans need to keep polishing their skills, because buyers are changing and so are their demands upon salespeople.  Sales has changed more in the last five years than in the previous hundred.  You have to keep up.

I’ll be honest.  It’s almost offensive to me when salespeople don’t keep learning their profession.  I’ve been in sales for 35 years now.  27 years ago, I got my first job as a sales manager.  And I’m coming up on my 21^st anniversary as The Sales Navigator.  And you know what?  I’m still learning.  I’m an avid reader, video watcher, and conference attendee.  Back in April, I attended a conference for Speakers called “The Game Changers,” and one of the programs was an absolutely brilliant 45-minute session on LinkedIn by a guy named Richard Bliss. In two and a half weeks, I’ll hop on a plane for Vegas to spend two days in a LinkedIn program that he’s putting on.  Why?

Because there are things I don’t know that I want to know.  And those things could be crucial to my success.

If you’re not spending at least an hour a week on professional development, you’re falling behind.  You’re cheating yourself, your customers, and your employer.  Yeah, sometimes it’s hard to find that hour.  I get it.  But it’s harder to make up lost ground.

And the tools to learn are more prevalent than ever.  You’re reading one of those tools, and there are over 500 more articles on this blog that are designed to help.  Read me, read other people.  See what works for you.  And don’t be afraid to try new things.

I watched some videos, I tried something new, and now my faucet doesn’t leak.  Don’t let your career become a leaky faucet that never stops dripping.

“We need to do more prospecting.” That’s what the sales manager said in the Monday morning meeting. This was one of my coaching clients, and I was watching online as three of the salespeople nodded in agreement. Two others looked confused. And one salesperson spent the rest of the week making calls to existing customers, thinking he was “prospecting.”

Sound familiar? It should, because this scenario plays out in sales organizations every single day. We have a language problem in sales, and it’s costing us deals, wasting time, and creating confusion that could easily be avoided.  You can’t succeed at selling without a common language. Period. And yet, most sales teams operate like the Tower of Babel – everyone speaking their own version of “sales speak” and wondering why nothing gets done effectively. Your team might be one of them.

THE INTERVIEW QUESTION THAT ILLUSTRATES THIS

I’ve been interviewing salespeople for clients for years, and there’s one question I always ask: “Tell me about the most recent new customer you sold.” It’s one of my favorite questions, and I ask it to get an understanding of the salesperson’s prospecting habits (you should ask this one too).  You’d think this would be straightforward, right? Wrong.

More than half of the time, the candidate launches into a story about selling additional products or services to an existing customer. When I point out that wasn’t a new customer, they look at me like I’ve grown a second head. “But it was a new sale,” they protest.

No, it wasn’t. It was an upsell, a cross-sell, or an expansion – all valuable activities, but not new customer acquisition. The fact that experienced salespeople can’t distinguish between acquiring a new customer and selling more to an existing one tells you everything you need to know about our language problem.

The same confusion happens with “prospecting.” I ask salespeople about their prospecting activities, and they tell me about calling existing customers to check in or following up on quotes. That’s not prospecting – that’s account management or sales follow-up. Again, vitally important, but not prospecting.  Prospecting means finding and reaching out to potential new customers. The distinction matters because these activities require different skills, different messaging, and different metrics.

IT’S NOT JUST SALESPEOPLE, YOU’RE PROBABLY DOING IT TOO.

This language confusion isn’t limited to salespeople – it extends to sales management and even HR. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen job postings that confuse “job description” with “job advertisement.”

A job description is an internal HR document that outlines duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and reporting relationships. It’s a legal document used for performance management, compensation decisions, and compliance purposes. A job advertisement is an external marketing document designed to attract candidates and sell them on the opportunity.

When you use these terms interchangeably, you end up with job ads that read like compliance documents – dry, uninspiring, and focused on what the company wants rather than what the candidate gets – which, by the way, are most of the job ads I see. No wonder good salespeople don’t respond to your postings.

THE REAL COST OF LANGUAGE CONFUSION

This isn’t just semantic nitpicking. Language confusion has real business consequences:

Wasted effort. When your team doesn’t have clear definitions, people spend time on the wrong activities. The salesperson who thinks prospecting means calling existing customers isn’t actually prospecting – and your new customer acquisition suffers as a result.

Misaligned expectations. When managers and salespeople use different definitions for the same terms, performance discussions become exercises in frustration. How can you hold someone accountable for “more prospecting” if you define prospecting differently?

Poor measurement. You can’t effectively measure what you can’t clearly define. If half your team considers upselling to be “new sales” and half doesn’t, your metrics are meaningless.

Customer confusion. When salespeople use industry jargon without ensuring mutual understanding, they create confusion that can derail deals. I’ve seen deals lost because the salesperson assumed the customer understood terms like “implementation timeline” or “service level agreement” the same way they did.

THE INTERNAL SOLUTION

Step one is getting your own house in order. Sales teams need what I call a “common language charter” – a document that clearly defines key terms and ensures everyone uses them consistently.

Start with the basics. What exactly do you mean by:

• Prospect vs. lead vs. opportunity
• New customer vs. existing customer
• Prospecting vs. account management
• Sales cycle vs. buying process
• Close vs. commitment

Don’t assume these definitions are obvious. I’ve worked with teams where “qualified lead” meant something different to marketing than it did to sales, creating friction and finger-pointing when leads didn’t convert.

Make this a living document. Review it in team meetings. When someone uses a term differently than your agreed-upon definition, address it immediately. Consistency requires constant reinforcement.

And please, for the love of all that’s holy, stop using euphemisms. A rejection isn’t “feedback.” A discount isn’t an “investment in the relationship.” A desperate end-of-quarter push isn’t “creating urgency.” Call things what they are.

THE CUSTOMER LANGUAGE BARRIER

The internal language challenge is nothing compared to the external one. Every industry has its jargon, acronyms, and specialized terminology. Your customers use these terms, but they might define them differently than you do.

Here’s what great salespeople do: They confirm definitions, and get on the same page with their customers. When a prospect mentions their “procurement process,” don’t assume you know what that means. Ask. “When you say procurement process, walk me through what that typically looks like at your company.”

This isn’t about appearing ignorant – it’s about ensuring alignment. I’ve seen salespeople lose deals because they assumed “budget approved” meant what they thought it meant, only to discover the customer meant something entirely different.

The same applies to your own jargon. When you mention “implementation,” “onboarding,” or “service delivery,” make sure your customer understands what you mean. Better yet, adopt their language when possible. If they call it “rollout” instead of “implementation,” use their term.

Don’t lose a deal because you and your customer didn’t have a common understanding of the meanings of the words being used.

MAKING THE CHANGE

Fixing your language problem isn’t complicated, but it does require discipline:

Document your definitions. Create that common language charter I mentioned. Get everyone’s input, reach consensus, and put it in writing.

Train consistently. Don’t just hand out the document and hope for the best. Role-play scenarios where language confusion could occur. Practice confirming definitions with prospects.

Monitor and correct. In team meetings, coaching sessions, and deal reviews, listen for language inconsistencies and address them immediately.

Lead by example. If you’re a sales manager, your language needs to be impeccable. Your team will mirror your communication habits, good or bad.

Remember, words mean things and language shapes thinking. When your team has clear, consistent definitions, they think more clearly about their activities and objectives. When they confirm language with customers, they build better relationships and avoid costly misunderstandings.

The sales profession faces enough challenges without adding unnecessary confusion through sloppy language. We can’t control market conditions, but we can control how clearly we communicate.

Start today. Pick three terms your team uses regularly and make sure everyone defines them the same way. Then expand from there. Your results – and your sanity – will thank you.

After all, if we can’t even agree on what we’re talking about, how can we expect to succeed at selling it?

The rules of customer relationships have changed, and most salespeople are still playing by the old playbook. I’ve been watching this evolution for years, and frankly, it’s been fascinating – and a little painful – to see so many professionals struggle with what should be a fundamental part of their business.

Here’s the thing: having customers and having customer relationships are two entirely different animals. Just because someone buys from you doesn’t mean you have a relationship with them. They might be what I call a “Transactional Buyer” – they purchase based purely on price or convenience. Or maybe they’re a “Habitual Buyer” – they buy from you simply because changing vendors feels like too much work. Neither of these scenarios represents a real relationship, and both leave you vulnerable to being replaced the moment a competitor makes a better offer.

But first, let’s talk about the elephant in the room – the generational shift that’s fundamentally changing how relationships are built in business today.

The Great Generational Flip

Here’s something that will change how you think about customer relationships: Millennials and Gen-Z – who now make up the largest portion of the workforce and decision-makers – build relationships completely opposite to how Boomers and Gen-X did it. And I mean 180 degrees opposite.

Boomers and X’ers? They built personal connections first, then moved into business. Think golf outings, long lunches, family photos on the desk, and “How about them Chiefs?” before getting down to brass tacks. The relationship was personal first, business second.

Millennials and Z’s flip this entirely. They’re business-first, then personal. They want to see your competence, your value, your results. They want to know you can deliver before they care about your weekend plans or your kid’s soccer game. Once you’ve proven yourself in business, then – and only then – will they open the door to personal connection.

This isn’t because they’re cold or antisocial. It’s because they’re efficient, skeptical of traditional sales approaches, and frankly, they’ve been sold to their entire lives. They want substance before relationship, proof before promises.

Understanding this shift is crucial because it changes how you approach every one of the five signals below. Let’s dive in.

1. You can make mistakes and still keep the business

There’s really no larger indicator that you have a real customer relationship than this one. Mistakes happen. That’s because people are imperfect – yes, even your humble author. In fact, I had such a meeting years ago where a particular service offering hadn’t gone as well as it could have. In the midst of the meeting, my client gave me the highest compliment they could: “Troy, regardless, we want you to continue to be involved here. You’ve been good for us and to us.”

Here’s the generational twist: With Millennials and Gen-Z, earning this forgiveness requires a different approach. Instead of relying on personal rapport to smooth things over, you need to lead with accountability and solutions. Own the mistake completely, present a concrete plan to fix it, and demonstrate how you’ll prevent it from happening again. The personal relationship that allows for forgiveness comes after you’ve proven you can handle problems professionally.

Mistakes happen. If one mistake costs you the business, you didn’t have a real relationship – regardless of which generation you’re dealing with.

2. They buy most of what they need from you

This is actually a bit of a revision from my contention of the past. I used to say that you have a maximized customer relationship if they bought everything from you that they could buy. I’ve backed off that to a certain extent. Today, I like to see at least a 75% wallet share as a maximized relationship, simply because customers like to diversify – few buyers these days are willing to put all their eggs in one basket, no matter how good you are.

With younger decision-makers, achieving this 75% share requires consistently demonstrating value and innovation. They’re not buying from you out of loyalty or because they like you personally – they’re buying because you consistently deliver results that matter to their business. This generation is quick to pivot if someone else can deliver better outcomes.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t always be shooting for 100% wallet share – you should – but it does recognize that sometimes it just isn’t possible, especially with buyers who prioritize diversification as a risk management strategy.

3. You have multiple contacts

This is more important now than ever, and the generational shift makes it even more critical. Good customer relationships require multiple contacts. The reason is simple – employees are more mobile than ever, and stints at jobs get shorter and shorter. If you put all your relationship eggs in one basket by having a single contact, that means when your contact changes jobs, you’re back to square one.

Here’s what’s different with Millennials and Gen-Z: Building multiple contacts requires proving your value to each person individually. You can’t rely on one champion to vouch for you personally with their colleagues. Each contact wants to see direct evidence of your competence and results.

In building your relationships, go High, Wide, and Deep. “High” means as high on the company organization chart as you can get. “Wide” means many contacts. And “Deep” means that your contacts understand the concrete value you bring to their business – not just that they like you as a person.

4. They give you referrals

Referrals are one of the greatest indicators of a maximized customer relationship. A referral is an expression of trust. When your customer refers you, they are saying that they trust you so much that they are willing to place their other relationships in your hands.

With the business-first generations, referrals come when you’ve consistently delivered measurable results. They’re not referring you because you’re a great person to grab drinks with – they’re referring you because you’ve made them look good to their boss, helped them hit their numbers, or solved problems that mattered to their business.

It’s also an expression that your customer cares about your continued prosperity, but this caring is earned through performance, not personal connection. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – your best customers want you to prosper, but with Millennials and Gen-Z, they want you to prosper because your success drives their success.

5. They evangelize for you

What I mean by “evangelize” is that they are willing to give testimonials and serve as a reference when necessary. One of the toughest parts of selling a new customer is offering proof that your promises aren’t just empty words. Testimonials do this – they allow new customers to see you through the eyes of happy current customers.

The generational difference here is significant. Millennials and Gen-Z will evangelize for you, but their testimonials focus on specific, measurable outcomes rather than personal attributes. They’ll say, “Troy helped us increase efficiency by 23% and reduce costs by $50K annually” rather than “Troy is a great guy who really cares about our business.”

This is actually more powerful for your sales efforts because it gives prospects concrete evidence of the value you deliver.

The Strategic Approach

When you evaluate your customer relationships, think of the above five touchpoints while keeping the generational shift in mind. Chances are that most of your relationships won’t measure up – and that’s okay. It gives you something to work toward.

Get strategic. With each of your key customers, identify which generation they belong to and adjust your approach accordingly. For Millennial and Gen-Z customers, pick one of the above signals where you are deficient and work toward improving it by focusing on business value first. Demonstrate competence, deliver results, solve problems – and then let the personal connection develop naturally.

For each call, have a clear business objective that moves you toward one of these signals. When one signal is achieved, work on the next. You’ll likely find that one signal leads to another – the customer who will give you a results-based testimonial will also likely give referrals and tolerate mistakes because they trust your ability to deliver.

Make no mistake – a Maximized customer relationship is money, regardless of which generation you’re building it with. The path to get there has just evolved with the times.

I was in a furniture store last week, and I experienced a perfect example of what I call “back-loaded selling.” The salesperson approached me within thirty seconds of my arrival and immediately launched into his pitch. “This is our best-selling sofa! It’s on sale this week only! The leather is top-grain, the frame is hardwood, and we can get you zero percent financing!”

I just stared at him. The truth is that I wasn’t shopping for a sofa. I was looking for a coffee table.

That salesperson had just demonstrated the fundamental flaw in back-loaded selling – he put all his energy into pitching and closing before he understood what I actually needed. And predictably, when we told him we weren’t interested in a sofa, he launched into objection-handling mode: “But you haven’t even sat on it! What if I could get you an even better price?”

I walked out.  Defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory.

Here’s the thing: there are essentially two models of selling in the world, and most salespeople are using the wrong one.

THERE ARE TWO MODELS OF SELLING

The first model is what I call “front-loaded selling.” In this approach, the salesperson invests the majority of their time and energy upfront – asking specific, thoughtful discovery questions, truly understanding the customer’s needs, challenges, and decision-making process, and making sure they’re moving at the buyer’s pace throughout the Buyer’s Journey.

The second model is “back-loaded selling.” This is where the salesperson rushes through discovery (often asking only a handful of leading questions), delivers a generic, rehearsed pitch, and then spends most of their effort trying to close and overcome objections.  You close the customer until they bleed from the ears and hope you get the deal.  And I’ll be transparent – the first sales training I ever had was in exactly this model in the car business.  Even then, the more I moved away from that model (even though I didn’t know what “front-loaded” and “back-loaded” were at that time), the more successful I became.

Guess which one actually works?

WHY FRONT-LOADED SELLING WINS EVERY TIME

When you front-load your sales process, something important happens: there are far fewer objections. Why? Because when you truly understand your customer’s needs, when you’ve identified their dissatisfaction, decision criteria, and Desired Future State, when you know who else is involved in the buying process and what their timeline looks like – your recommendation becomes obvious and logical.  The close becomes a natural part of the conversation, rather than an event in itself.

Think about it this way. If I spend forty-five minutes asking you detailed questions about your business challenges, your current solutions, what’s working and what isn’t, what success looks like to you, what your budget parameters are, and what your company’s decision-making process is – by the time I make my recommendation, you’re probably nodding along thinking, “Yes, that makes perfect sense.”  It’s slowing down to go fast.

Compare that to the back-loaded approach, where I ask three or four surface-level questions and then launch into my standard presentation. Now I’m guessing at what you need. I’m talking about features that might not matter to you. I’m presenting solutions to problems you might not even have. And when you raise objections – which you will, because I haven’t earned the right to make recommendations yet – I have to fight for every inch of ground.  Do you enjoy the fight, or do you enjoy helping people and truly winning business and relationships?

THE BUYER’S JOURNEY DEMANDS RESPECT

Here’s what too many salespeople forget: your customers aren’t just sitting around waiting for you to sell them something. They’re on their own journey. They’ve identified a problem or opportunity. They’re researching solutions. They’re evaluating options. They have internal discussions, budget considerations, and approval processes.

When you back-load your selling process, you’re essentially telling the customer, “I don’t care where you are in your journey. I’m going to drag you to where I want you to be – which is ready to buy right now.”

That’s not selling. That’s being pushy. And pushy doesn’t work anymore, if it ever really did.  I’ve said for years that you MIGHT be able to pressure, manipulate, and cajole someone into buying once.  But you’ll never be able to sell that person something again.

Front-loaded selling, on the other hand, respects the buyer’s journey. It says, “Tell me where you are in your process. Help me understand what you’re trying to accomplish. Let me see if and how I can help.” You’re walking alongside your customer instead of trying to push them forward.

THE HARD TRUTH ABOUT BACK-LOADED SELLING

I know why salespeople gravitate toward back-loaded selling. It feels more active. It feels like you’re “doing something.” Asking questions can feel passive, like you’re not really selling.

But here’s the hard truth: back-loaded selling is actually the lazy approach. It’s easier to deliver the same pitch to everyone than it is to craft thoughtful, specific questions for each prospect. It’s easier to rely on closing techniques than it is to do the hard work of truly understanding your customer’s world.  As I tell my clients – mental agility is one of the best characteristics of the modern salesperson.

And yes, back-loaded selling sometimes works – usually when you get lucky and stumble onto a customer who happens to need exactly what you’re pitching, exactly when you’re pitching it. But that’s not a strategy. That’s hoping.

WHERE YOU WANT TO BE

When you front-load your sales process, you’re not just more effective – you’re more professional. You’re positioning yourself as a consultant and advisor, not just someone trying to make a quick sale. Your customers trust you more because you’ve demonstrated that you actually care about solving their problems, not just moving your inventory.

And here’s the bonus: front-loaded selling makes your job easier. When you truly understand your customer’s needs, presenting solutions becomes straightforward. Closing becomes a natural next step rather than a battle. Objections become rare because you’ve already addressed the real concerns during discovery.  And it’s a hell of a lot more fun, too.

The furniture salesperson from my story? If he had asked what I was looking for, he would have learned I needed a coffee table. He could have shown me coffee tables. I might have bought one. Instead, he wasted my time and his.

Don’t be that salesperson. Front-load your process. Respect your Buyer’s Journey. Ask better questions. Your close rate – and your customers – will thank you for it.

I was sitting in on a critical negotiation between one of my distribution clients and their largest potential customer. The procurement director looked at my client’s sales VP and said, “We need a 45-day payment term instead of your standard 30 days to make this work with our cash flow.” Without hesitation, the VP responded, “We can’t do that. Company policy.” I watched as months of relationship building evaporated in an instant. The room temperature seemed to drop ten degrees.

A week later, I coached another sales executive in nearly the identical situation. When faced with the same request, he leaned forward and said, “While our standard terms are 30 days, we can offer 45-day terms on your first three orders to help establish the relationship and smooth your cash flow transition. Then we can implement a volume-based discount on subsequent orders to offset the standard terms.” Same limitation, completely different approach – and this one closed a seven-figure deal that continues today.

The Costly “Can’t” Default

When salespeople default to “can’t” language, several things happen simultaneously – none of them good.

First, you create an immediate barrier between yourself and your customer. You’ve essentially said, “I’m not on your side in solving this problem.” That’s relationship poison, and in our current sales environment, relationships are often the only sustainable advantage you have.  Remember – whatever you sell can probably be purchased online, without your intervention.  Your customer literally has an abundance of options at his or her fingertips.

Second, you train your brain to stop looking for solutions. Once you say “can’t,” your problem-solving machinery shuts down. After all, why look for a solution when you’ve already decided one doesn’t exist?  It’s impossible to overstate the importance of training your brain correctly.  Our job is to adapt, improvise, and overcome.  That’s what salespeople do.

Third, and perhaps most damaging, you train your customers to go elsewhere first. They learn that bringing problems to you is an exercise in frustration rather than problem-solving.  And who needs that?

I watched this play out last month when a manufacturing client won a major account. What happened? The competitor’s salesperson responded to a rush order request with, “We can’t meet that timeline with our current production schedule.” My client responded with, “We can expedite 60% of your order to meet your immediate needs, then deliver the remainder within ten days. Would that work?” Guess who got the business – not just for that order, but moving forward?

Shifting from “Can’t” to “Can”

This isn’t about semantics or word games. It’s about fundamentally reframing how you approach customer requests and problems. Here’s how to make the shift:

1. Ban “can’t” from your vocabulary. This doesn’t mean you’ll never have to decline a request, but it forces you to find a more solution-oriented response. Instead of “We can’t deliver by Friday,” try “Here’s what we can do…” Even when the ultimate answer is no, how you communicate that makes all the difference.
2. Train yourself to pause before responding. When faced with a challenging request, many salespeople panic and default to “no” simply because they haven’t taken time to think through alternatives. Make it a habit to pause, even briefly, to consider other possibilities.
3. Focus on partial solutions. Perfect solutions are rare, but partial solutions often work just fine. “We can’t provide the full 500 units, but we can deliver 300 immediately and the remainder next week” keeps the conversation moving toward resolution rather than shutting it down.
4. Ask clarifying questions. Often, what the customer really needs isn’t exactly what they’re asking for. “What are you trying to accomplish with this timeline?” might reveal flexibility you didn’t know existed.

The Role of Leadership

If you’re a sales manager (or for that matter, any manager), you need to remember your role in this. Your team will model your behavior, for better or worse.

When your salesperson comes to you with a challenging customer request, how do you respond? If you immediately say, “No, we can’t do that,” you’re teaching them to do the same with customers. If instead, you say, “Here’s what we can offer,” you model the exact behavior that builds customer loyalty.

I saw two managers respond differently to the same situation last quarter. A customer requested specialized packaging for a rush shipment. The first manager said, “Tell them no, we don’t have time for special requests right now.” The second said, “Let’s see what we can do. We can’t change the packaging for the entire order, but we could do it for the first 100 units. Would that help them?” Same company, same capabilities, drastically different approaches.

Sales is rarely about having perfect solutions that check every box. It’s about finding workable alternatives that solve real problems.

The Bottom Line Impact

This isn’t just about making customers feel good (though that matters). It’s about your bottom line. Companies known for problem-solving win more business, and retain customers longer than their competitors. Why? Because customers know they’ll get real solutions, not roadblocks.

Remember that procurement director I mentioned at the beginning? What if instead of a single order, that customer had represented potential lifetime value of millions? The cost of “can’t” language gets exponentially more expensive as the stakes rise.

So challenge yourself and your team: For one week, eliminate “can’t” from your customer conversations. Instead, focus exclusively on what you can do. You’ll be amazed at how many more problems get solved, how many more relationships strengthen, and ultimately, how many more sales you make.

After all, in sales, finding the win rather than defaulting to the loss isn’t just good communication – it’s good business.

In today’s hyper-connected business world, it’s shocking to me how many salespeople still treat LinkedIn as optional—or worse, avoid it entirely. I was talking with a sales manager recently who mentioned that several of his team members “don’t do LinkedIn.” My response: “Then they don’t do professional selling.” That might sound harsh, but let’s be real. If you’re selling B2B in 2025 without utilizing the world’s premier business networking platform, you’re essentially committing sales malpractice.

Think I’m exaggerating? Consider this: When a prospect receives your email or picks up your call, what’s the first thing they do? They Google you—and your LinkedIn profile is likely the first result they’ll see. If your profile is non-existent, incomplete, or unprofessional, you’ve already damaged your credibility before saying a word. First impressions happen digitally now, not when you walk through the door.

LinkedIn isn’t just another social media platform. It’s a business tool—perhaps the most powerful one in a salesperson’s arsenal that doesn’t require a subscription fee. Yet many salespeople approach it with either indifference (“I’m too busy selling to mess with that”) or outdated tactics (sending spam-like direct messages to cold prospects). Both approaches miss the mark entirely.

The real power of LinkedIn lies in its ability to build your professional brand, expand your network strategically, and create multiple touchpoints with prospects—all without being pushy or sales-y. But this requires a methodical approach, not random activity.

Here’s what a professional LinkedIn presence demands:

A complete, client-focused profile. Your profile shouldn’t read like a job application. Nobody cares that you “exceeded quota by 127%” or were “salesperson of the month.” Instead, focus on problems you solve and value you deliver. Your headline shouldn’t be your job title—it should be a value statement. “Helping manufacturing companies reduce downtime through innovative maintenance solutions” tells prospects what you actually do for them.

A professional headshot. Not a vacation photo, not a group picture cropped to show just you, and certainly not a blank avatar. A professional headshot is table stakes. It doesn’t need to be expensive—many smartphones can capture a suitable image—but it needs to look professional.

Recommendations and endorsements. These serve as social proof. Don’t be shy about asking satisfied clients for recommendations. They’re like testimonials that follow you everywhere.

Regular, thoughtful engagement. This is where many salespeople fail. They create a profile and then abandon it, or they only log in when they’re looking for information on a prospect. LinkedIn’s algorithm rewards consistent engagement—and punishes sporadic use.

The good news? Effective LinkedIn use doesn’t require hours of your day. Twenty minutes, used strategically, can yield significant results. Here’s my recipe for LinkedIn success:

1. Post original content once or twice weekly. More than one post per day risks the algorithm flagging you as a spammer. Make your posts thoughtful and useful—not thinly-veiled sales pitches. Share insights, ask thought-provoking questions, or offer genuine value.
2. Engage meaningfully with your network’s content daily. Don’t just hit “like” and move on. Leave substantive comments that add to the conversation. Remember, your comments appear in your connections’ feeds, increasing your visibility exponentially.
3. Strategically expand your network. Send personalized connection requests to second-degree connections where there’s logical opportunity for business relationship. Mention the mutual connection or shared interest—never use the default connection message.
4. Monitor and respond to engagement on your profile. When someone views your profile or engages with your content, that’s an opportunity to start a conversation. Not a sales pitch—a conversation.

The beauty of this approach is that it can easily replace time wasted doom-scrolling other social media platforms. Take those 15 minutes you’d spend scrolling through political arguments on Facebook and redirect them to LinkedIn instead.

What you should NOT do on LinkedIn is equally important. Avoid:

• Mass-sending connection requests without personalization
• Immediately pitching your product after someone accepts your connection
• Posting content that has nothing to do with your professional brand
• Sharing controversial political or religious views (unless that’s part of your brand strategy)
• Complaining about clients, prospects, or your company

LinkedIn works because it allows you to be present in your prospects’ digital world without being intrusive. It creates multiple touchpoints that keep you on their radar. When used correctly, it ensures that when a need arises that you can address, you’re the person they think of.

The younger generations of buyers I’ve written about extensively? They’re ALL on LinkedIn. And they’re researching you there before deciding whether to respond to your outreach. If you’re not there—or if your presence projects unprofessionalism—you’re already behind competitors who understand this reality.

So, are you still treating LinkedIn as optional? If so, it’s time to ask yourself: Can you really afford to commit this kind of sales malpractice in today’s market?

“Hi, Troy,” the email began. “I’ve just purchased [the name of the company that does my Web work], and I just wanted to introduce myself.”  This type of email, starting with this type of sentence, strikes fear into many customers’ hearts.  The company that handles a critical service – one you depend on daily – has just changed hands.  What’s going to happen now?  Are they going to raise prices?  Cut my service?  Screw up my world?

I’ve been through numerous company takeovers, and even sales territory takeovers, and it’s always a turbulent time, both for the service providers and for the customers.  What always amazes me is the level of unforced errors – moments where the company doing the buyout has an opportunity to smooth the transition, but for whatever reason, chooses not to do so.

Here’s my maxim:  Comfortable Customers Buy.  When you’re making a transition of ownership or salesperson, the thing your customers want most is a sense of comfort – that a steady, smart hand is on the rudder of your company and that you’re going to continue to take care of them.

Your enemy here is FEAR.  The customer’s fear that they need to make a move.  The fear that their apple cart will be overturned.  And the employees’ fear of losing their jobs.  All of these fears are in play during a transition of this type, and these fears can cost you big money.  Would it surprise you to know that in many company takeovers, particularly in the small-to-medium sized business space that makes up most of this readership, as much as 50% of the book of business being taken over can go away in a year or less?

That’s exactly what I experienced during one takeover years ago.  To set the stage, I was the new sales manager for a managed-service provider in Kansas.  We had bought out a smaller competitor whose owner had decided it was time for retirement.  So far, so good.  We had a strategy meeting to discuss the takeover and how to do it.  We knew that, for the standards of our industry, the customer wasn’t receiving great service.  Their product quality wasn’t up to our standards, their route drivers and trucks weren’t as well-polished as ours, the service training wasn’t up to snuff.  The sales department was nonexistent – but the previous owner was willing to stay on for six months to help in the transition.

Some within my company felt that we should go full-bore on rebranding the new operation and absorbing it into our company.  Get the drivers in our uniforms, paint or replace the trucks, give them as much “us” as humanly possible, with the route drivers (remember they weren’t well trained) as our main ambassadors, and let them revel in the glories of our company.

I was the contrarian.  I said to change as little as possible early on.  Same drivers, same uniforms (keep in mind, in buying the company, we’d bought the rights to their name, logo, etc.), even the same billing address.  Assume that the customers were happy; many had a personal relationship with the owner of the company, and the company had low customer churn.  Make investments in our product and service quality behind the scenes, so they could see that their service was taking an uptick.  After a month or two of this, let the former owner meet with the customers individually – with our service manager in tow – to explain the changeover and shepherd the transition.

I lost.  We rebranded as quickly as possible, with the route drivers (in their sparkling new uniforms) explaining the buyout in their own words.

And WE lost.  Nearly 50% of the customers left in the first year.  The way we did it sparked fear in the customer base and they bailed.

I can’t fault them; I’ve bailed too during a transition.  I scheduled a meeting with the new owners of my Web provider (they were local to me).  In the meeting, it became obvious that they hadn’t even looked at the very website they were hosting for me, and cared little about my business.  Fear sparked, I looked for and found other options.  I’m guessing I’m far from the only one.

I’ve told you these two long stories for a very good reason.  There seems to be a ‘standard’ way to handle transitions in ownership or salespeople, and they universally spark fear and make you easy prey for your competition.  Since the pace of consolidation in this industry won’t be likely to change – to say nothing of sales turnover – here are some guidelines for handling this transition.

1. Assume the customers are happy until you know otherwise. Too many transitions are based on ego; on the idea that ‘we’re so much better than they’ve had.’  Maybe that’s true, but you will have to prove it to the existing customer base.
2. Keep the transition gradual, and have as much of the ‘old’ interspersed with the ‘new’ as possible. If the former owner or managers can assist, let them; in the case of a sales transition, have the sales manager on board for the calls from the new person.
3. Respect the old while introducing the new. One of the biggest unforced errors is when the new people put down the old people, without knowing what the relationship was.
4. Keep the customers CLOSE, at sales, service, and management level. Overpay them attention.  Customers are less likely to have fears and look for new vendors if they’re being communicated with, openly and honestly.
5. Do NOT go for a quick upsell; make sure your relationship is strong and the customer is mentally bonded to your company before trying to raise their level of business.

Do these guidelines mean that you won’t have fear on the part of your customers? Probably not – but those guidelines will help you alleviate the fear and keep your customers comfortable as soon and as well as possible – and then you won’t lose a substantial portion of the business you just paid for.

A while back, I was doing some initial consultations with a client that does custom machined parts for industry.  The salesperson is the outside relationship manager, and they have an internal sales team that handles the order process.  When I was doing my discovery, I found that they were having huge problems getting orders and quotes through the system, and that it was taking up an inordinate amount of time.  The reason was that they weren’t good at getting the information needed to process quotes and orders.

I checked, and they had a quote form that had spots for all critical quoting information, and a supplementary form that included other needed data to actually make the parts.  The problem was that they were struggling to get accurate quote information (things like material, dimensions, tolerances, etc.), and that was flowing through to order fulfillment.  Meanwhile, sales was screaming at the inside salespeople to get them their quotes FAST – but the inside sales was screaming back that they didn’t have all the information needed.  What a mess!  But the problem was cleared up when I talked to a senior salesperson.  He told me something that left bruises from my jaw hitting the table.

“Well,” he said, “once we get the request for the quote, we don’t ask any more questions.  We’re trained not to.  We get out of there before the customer can change his mind.”

By my stunned, open-mouthed silence, he surmised that I was shocked by this.

“So, explain to me,” I said, “You leave with a request for a quote, but not knowing what it is that you’re quoting?”

“Yeah,” he said, “We find out later.  Don’t you know that you’re not supposed to talk past the sale?”  The conversation got worse from there.  But upon further reflection, I’ve seen this sales method before.  I should point out that these salespeople were NOT trained by me.

One of the old sayings of sales – which is still a good one, when you interpret it correctly – is, “Don’t talk past the sale.”  What this means is that, after the customer says “yes,” (either to a quote or to an order), don’t keep babbling and re-selling.  But it doesn’t mean that you have to get the hell out of the customer’s sight immediately.

What your customer is expecting is that you will now become their caretaker and facilitator.  That doesn’t mean that you won’t rely on internal staff to assist in their functions, but it does mean that you’ll be a professional and do what you can.

In this case, what customers were likely expecting is that the salesperson would shift gears, express an appreciation for the opportunity, and then begin acquiring the info that the inside salespeople would need in order to generate an accurate quote.  Instead, the salesperson was going back in and telling the inside sales staff that he needed a quote on, say, an aluminum pulley, approximately 4 inches in diameter and 1 inch wide, with a  V-belt groove.  Trust me when I say that there are MANY more pieces of information needed to generate a quote that’s accurate (to make sure that the product functions), competitive (to assist in getting the business), and profitable for the company.

Instead, it was a Chinese fire drill getting quotes out, with significant wasted time for everyone and heated tempers involved.  That’s dumb.

So, why do salespeople sell this way?  I can think of three reasons:

1. The salesperson is scared to death that, if they ask the questions that I like to call “Order taking questions,” the customer will rethink the deal and take it back.  That’s nonsense.  Asking the right order taking questions is just basic professionalism, and actually reassures your customers that you know what the hell is going on and that they are in good hands.  Ultimately, this fear is that you haven’t properly sold your customer – and that’s on you.
2. Sometimes, salespeople want to do the absolute minimum of effort before moving on to the next deal (or to Happy Hour).  So they do a half-assed job of getting the details down, and usually end up with significant errors in the quoting process (bad) or the production process (way worse).
3. Bad training. As I noted above, the salespeople didn’t come up with this approach on their own – they just didn’t let their common sense override their sales training (which probably indicates some level of #1 or #2 above).

By the way, I’m lumping a sale and a quote into the same process, because many times, it is the same process – and even when it’s not, a similar dynamic happens in the sales conversation.

So, how should you handle this situation?  First of all, understand that by either requesting a proposal, or placing an order, your customer has made a significant commitment to you in advancing the Buyer’s Journey.  It’s your job to navigate the customer through this process.  Here are three strategies for how to handle this moment.

1. Get the info right then. Your customer’s motivation to give you the right information to help you get the quote, or fulfill the sale, is highest at the moment that they say “yes.”  Just have a checklist, pull it out, and use it.
2. Set a time for the information to get to you. Sometimes, the customer will need to gather the information.  That’s fine.  Set a deadline, and let the customer know what your turnaround time will be from the moment you receive the info.  That’s being a good guide and advisor.
3. “I’ll have my people call your people.” It’s common that the decision make isn’t necessarily the person who will handle the technical details of fulfillment – they may have support staff to do it, just as you do.  At this moment, you can either ask your customer to connect you with the support staff, or you can connect your support staff with their staff.  Again, a timeline is important, and it’s vital that you communicate – in advance – what that timeline will be.

Ultimately, your best strategy for handling this moment is this:  Act like you’ve been there before.  The “get outta there” approach speaks to a lack of confidence and expertise on your part, and makes the customer think that you’re inexperienced and/or incapable of handling their needs.  This can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, as well as wasting a lot of time, effort, and relationship capital with your own people.  Be a professional, and you’ll sell more and everyone will be much happier.