I’m aware of the struggles sales managers face, especially those leading hunter teams. For years, I’ve been thinking about how to make strategic account conversations between sales reps and managers more productive. The seed for this project was planted early in my career by a supervisor who taught me a valuable lesson: to truly enjoy […]
Category: Business Development
Finding Your Way Back: Jumpstarting Stalled Weekdays
It happens without warning. One moment you’re in full stride—phone calls flowing, emails handled with precision, opportunities captured. You’re the professional equivalent of a well-oiled machine. Then suddenly, inexplicably, you hit a wall. Not fatigue exactly, but something more insidious: a complete loss of direction. The daily flow vanishes, and the work that energized you […]
Business Stage Selling: Tailoring Sales to Fit the Business Evolution
A holistic sales approach is now enhanced with a business evolution perspective. Embrace it. Traditional sales playbooks tell you to define the buyer persona, map their pains, and pitch your solution. But in complex B2B sales, that approach fails. Companies don’t buy in isolation. Their decisions are shaped by where they are in their business […]
How Sales Methodology Has Evolved Over the Past 25 Years – for me
From Funnel Techniques to Business Understanding: What Really Drives Sales Success The sales profession has undergone dramatic changes over the past few decades. Each shift in buyer behavior has triggered new methodologies, training programs, and “breakthrough” techniques. But looking at this evolution reveals something interesting about what actually works—and what it demands from today’s sales […]
New Market Entry for SMEs: Go-to-Market & Operations Design for the AI Era
New Market Entry for SMEs: Go-to-Market & Operations Design for the AI Era is a practical field guide for founders and commercial leaders who are done guessing their way into new countries. Drawing on battle-tested frameworks—and today’s AI capabilities—it turns expansion from a chaotic gamble into a repeatable, evidence-driven system. Most SME expansions fail not […]
Business Development After AI
The AI revolution isn’t replacing business development professionals—it’s revealing what human excellence actually looks like. While AI handles research, analysis, and routine communications, the most successful BD professionals are discovering unprecedented opportunities. They’re positioning themselves as strategic consultants, commanding premium compensation, and creating competitive advantages that no AI system can replicate. This book shows you […]
AI in Sales: Beyond the Hype – My Perspective
As someone who has been deeply immersed in AI research and implementation for years, both as a practitioner and as a doctoral student, I’ve witnessed firsthand the dramatic shift in how artificial intelligence is perceived in the business world. Those who follow my work know I’m a strong advocate for AI adoption—I use it extensively […]
Why Emotional Intelligence Is Sabotaging Your B2B Sales Success
The Uncomfortable Truth About Empathy in Sales After years of research into social intelligence in sales, culminating in my recently published book on the subject: “Social Intelligence in Sales”, I’ve arrived at a controversial conclusion that challenges one of the most sacred beliefs in modern sales training: emotional intelligence and empathy are not just overrated […]
The Hidden Sales Skill: Beyond Active Listening
When I first started interviewing salespeople, I had a go-to question that I believed would separate the truly exceptional candidates from the merely competent ones. I would ask: “What do you think is the most important soft skill in sales?” The answers were predictable. Communication skills. Building rapport. Persistence. Confidence. These are all valid answers, […]
The MBA Advantage: Why Business Developers Are the Doctors of the Corporate World
My MBA journey fundamentally changed how I see business. It wasn’t just about learning frameworks or memorizing case studies—it gave me something far more valuable: a holistic perspective on the intricate web of entities that make up the business ecosystem and, crucially, my role as a business developer within it. But here’s where it gets […]