Happy February!
Welcome to your February edition of the “Infrequent Flyer!” We share carefully-curated insights for you here, all with the goal of empowering you to win more (and enjoy some life along the way).
Here are a few things we’re sharing with you in this month’s edition to help you bolster your selling efforts as we enter 2025, and enjoy a bit of life, too.
Our favorite Slattery Sales Tip for the month (you hear it first!)
A heartwarming story to warm up your February.
The best worst
proposalsales scene everA sneak peek at our new Program launching soon!
May you be encouraged to keep selling well at high value and high margins. Cheers to your prosperity!
1. Our favorite Slattery Sales Tip for the month
Five Signs Fiction May be Creeping into Your Forecast:
We love to help clients sift the fiction out of their forecast. Here are five things we look for when determining whether or not the forecast holds any fiction:
Outreach behaviors have been displaced by opportunities in progress. January may have started strong – but once conversations start, is there enough outreach happening to keep the top of your funnel fresh? (Shameless plug: We built “Your Sales Growth Matrix” to solve this exact problem.) When outreach behaviors slacken, we find ourselves pressured to inflate what is left in the pipeline.
“This prospect is really interested in what we offer” and that’s why they’re on forecast. Interest is a red flag, NOT admission to the forecast.
We don’t know what they’ll do next. If the last conversation was left without clear mutually-agreed-upon next steps, then we’re at Wimp Junction®, and the deal should be taken off the forecast. (And “They’ll think it over” is the death knell, not the next action.)
Your salesperson assures you they’re talking to the “real decision maker”. This means the salesperson hasn’t adequately expanded the cast of characters (there’s never one decision-maker), and the sale is at extremely high risk of stalling and dying.
We didn’t write the specs for the RFP we’re responding to. If we didn’t write the specs, then a competitor did, and they already have the business. Save your time, money, and margins – move on to winnable opportunities instead.
2. A heartwarming story to warm up your February.
"A Better Kind of Glory"
In 1955, after a glorious hard-earned winning streak, the Hillsdale College football team from Hillsdale, Michigan made it all the way to the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, Florida. It was the highest game possible, and the pinnacle of their college football careers.
But then… they got the ultimatum: leave your four African-American players behind, or leave the Bowl.
This mini-documentary on YouTube below (34 minutes) tells the story of the team's remarkable -- and remarkably unanimous -- decision to stay home together, rather than leave a single teammate behind. It’s a story I and my fellow Hillsdale College alumni love to tell, and I’m incredibly honored to share it with you here.
Enjoy the sportsmanship, teamwork, and integrity that went into not playing the game.
Go Chargers!
3. The best worst proposal sales scene ever here
In honor of Valentine's Day on February 14, I share with you the most accurately-depicted sales scene in the world.
Jane Austen didn't know she was crafting The Quintessential Sales Pitch when she had the flat Mr. Collins proposing to the independent Elizabeth Bennet, but ooooooh, she nailed it.
Watch the first two minutes of this clip (turn your subtitles on and catch every word!), and tell me if Mr. Collins' factual recitation of his "why" feels like any pitch you've ever heard from a salesperson who's ready to just finally close this deal.
And... how'd it work out?
4. A sneak peek at our new Program launching soon!
We’re putting the finishing touches on our new sales training program, “The Slattery Sales Program”!
You can be the FIRST to read about it here.
This program has been thoughtfully, intentionally designed from the ground up to maximize our clients' access to world-class sales training and support, with minimal claims on their calendar. We’re so excited to be launching it soon; you’ll be the first to get all the details here.
If you’ve been looking for a way to dive into Slattery Sales training AND get access to support from us for as long a complex sales cycle, then keep an eye on your inbox for our upcoming release. We can’t wait to share it with you!
Wishing you a cozy February and great success.
Enjoy!
Have a wonderful month, and we wish you continued success!
Thank you for being part of the Slattery circle. It's a privilege to have you here.
Cheers,
Terry & Jennica
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✨ Thank you for stopping by! Glad to have you here. ✨
At Slattery Sales Group, we empower great companies and sellers to win more business in less time.
Our clients tell us we help them raise revenues, bolster margins, shorten sales cycles, and compete more effectively in the marketplace. We'd love to help you do that, too.
To expedite your progress:
🔷 Grab our book HERE to get that important sale moving again.
🔷 Get quick-start training to shorten your sales cycle and avoid being commoditized here.
🔷 Boost your own skills (and earning potential) in our advanced program here.
If you want to learn more about how we've helped over 2,400 enterprises enhance their sales processes, contact us through phone: 952-832-5436, or email: info@slatterysales.com. We'd love to connect.