Top Sales Speaker
A parking space in New York City just sold for $250,000. Yes, you heard that right. Imagine realtors now selling standalone parking spaces and garages for the price of a house. What’s next? Open houses for parking spots? “Welcome to Spot 7B: exposed concrete, partial wall view, plenty of character.” But here’s the kicker—that $250,000…
Welcome to part three of the $200,000,000, 10-year deal—the moment we had to go around the system and head straight to the economic buyer. We had already done a great needs assessment. We were innovative. And our client’s customer’s bid was written based on our client’s specs and innovative ideas. That gave their customer the…
This is part two of breaking down the magical moments that led to a $200,000,000, 10-year deal. In part one, we talked about asking the right questions to uncover the right outcomes—shifting from chasing a low-bid win to securing a long-term strategic agreement. Now for magical moment number two. During a review meeting, the client’s…
When I say most people aren’t going after the right outcome, I usually get the same response: “That doesn’t apply to me. I know what I want.” But in 90% of the turnarounds I’ve led as a top sales leadership consultant and keynote speaker, the first breakthrough didn’t come from doing more. It came from…
Stop! The world feels out of control—economically, emotionally—and the instinct is to hit the brakes. AI is rewriting the rules. Global chaos is draining us. The pandemic shifted everything. It’s no wonder that people feel like they have no control over their lives or businesses. And when that happens, we freeze—or we scramble. We grab…
Let’s be honest, the world feels a little uncertain right now. Markets are shifting. Customers are hesitating. Wars are breaking out all over. But here’s the truth: uncertainty isn’t the problem—indecision is. As a top sales leadership consultant and keynote speaker, I talk to sales leaders and executives every day. They say, “We are waiting for clarity.…
One of the core tenets of the Velocity Mindset® that leaders and sales executives struggle with is this: start with the end in mind—but make sure it is the right end. As a top sales leadership consultant and keynote speaker, I have seen these three mistakes leaders and sales executives make that derail even the…
You know, one of the core ideas behind the Velocity Mindset® is simple: start with the end in sight—not just a to-do list, but the real outcome you want to achieve. But here’s the thing most people miss: they don’t aim high enough. They shoot for something small, something safe, and then wonder why nothing…
You know what most people confuse velocity with? Speed—just speed. They think, “If I’m moving fast, I must be making progress.” But let me ask you this: Have you ever sprinted through a day, hammered out emails, checked 47 things off your to-do list, and still felt like nothing really moved the needle? That’s not…
Do you ever find yourself in a situation where people are losing it, and you’re the one expected to stay calm? Let me take you back to a story from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Great Customer Service, which I co-wrote with Don Blohowiak. A few years ago, an American Airlines gate agent received the worst…
Years ago, I got tired of watching salespeople walk into customer conversations and immediately start talking. Features. Benefits. Capabilities. Credentials. Everything they knew about their company and their solution. I started calling it PUKE: People Who Utter Knowledge About Everything. It gets a laugh, but the problem behind it is very real. When you spend…
The results we create often begin with the conversations we choose to have. That includes conversations with customers. Conversations with teams. Conversations between leaders. And perhaps most importantly, the conversations we have with ourselves. I recently joined Gerhard Gschwandtner of Selling Power for a discussion about my career in sales, leadership and professional speaking. Looking…
There’s something I learned years ago about standing in front of an audience that has stayed with me throughout my career. Stop thinking about yourself. Even after years of speaking, there are still moments when the nerves show up before I walk onstage. You wonder how the audience will respond. You think about whether the…
I recently received an honor that caused me to reflect on an entire career. I was inducted into the 2026 Legends of the Speaking Profession. For someone who has spent decades speaking professionally, you might assume that communication always came naturally to me. It didn’t. As a teenager, I had a speech impediment that prevented…
There are people who become successful. There are people who become famous. And then there are those rare individuals who become something much greater. Dolly Parton became an icon. Her story didn’t begin with wealth, connections or opportunity. She grew up as one of 12 children in a one-room cabin in the mountains of Tennessee.…
Vince Lombardi famously said: “Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work.” I agree. Leadership requires effort. It requires discipline, repetition, resilience and a willingness to keep improving. But there’s another piece we cannot afford to overlook: Hard work only creates meaningful progress when it is…
I recently received a sales message that opened by telling me the sender and I were in the same business. There was only one problem. We weren’t. The sender had my name. He had a template. But he clearly hadn’t taken the time to understand what I actually do, who I serve, or whether what…
Some of the biggest breakthroughs in business don’t begin with a brilliant answer. They begin with a different question. I recently came across the story of an industry built around companies purchasing life insurance policies from policyholders. Traditionally, everyone viewed life insurance through essentially the same lens: Buy the policy. Pay the premiums. Eventually, the…
Most communication problems are not caused by what we say. They happen because of what the other person believes they heard. People do not listen to words in isolation. They listen through filters shaped by past experiences, assumptions, emotions, expectations, and beliefs. Those filters can completely change the meaning of a message. I might say:…
In today’s business environment, leaders and sales teams are being pushed to move faster, produce more, adopt new tools, and deliver immediate results. But moving faster does not automatically mean moving forward. One of the most important principles of the Velocity Mindset® is to start with the end in mind, but first, you must make…