You walk into the meeting room and everyone's already talking. But the actual conversation hasn't started yet. It's happening in the crossed arms, the tapping feet, the quick glances at phones. Most people miss these signals completely. They focus on words when body language screams the truth.

You’ve sat through thousands of meetings. Pitched to prospects who seemed to give the go ahead while their bodies said no way. Negotiated with collaborators whose words promised partnership while their posture hinted at problems. You don’t need to become a mind reader. You need to become a pattern spotter.

As a founder, you start your business with a bold vision, a breakthrough product, and tremendous industry expertise — but most founders don't have a background in sales. Yet, selling is the lifeblood of any startup or small business. So, how do you go from avoiding sales conversations to confidently closing deals and driving growth? This article will provide a practical, no-fluff guide for founders who need to sell but don't see themselves as "salespeople." It will introduce strategies founders can use to build stronger client relationships, better sales outcomes and increased productivity.

In sales, we often focus on performance metrics — pipeline, quota, close rates. But what if the secret to long-term success isn’t just in the numbers? 

What if it’s in the quality of your relationships? 

For more than 85 years, the Harvard Study of Adult Development— the world’s longest-running study on happiness — has found a consistent truth: Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period. Not wealth. Not achievement. Not status. Just deep, authentic human connection. 

Exceptional salespeople don't separate themselves from the pack by doing what everyone else is doing and hoping for the best. They go above and beyond, and you can't do that if you lean exclusively on conventional sales skills.

No, the best reps demonstrate advanced sales skills — ones that can help frame you as an authoritative, helpful, empathetic guide with expertise relevant to your prospect's circumstances. Here, we'll review some of those skills and go over the techniques you need to know to demonstrate them.

You’ve probably tried many different ways to improve the performance of your sales teams, with varying success. But there’s one way that has been proven to work and yet is often ignored by sales leaders—improving your sales team’s culture.

Culture is hard to characterize, hard to measure, and hard to change. So it gets ignored on the list of levers to pull when transforming a sales organization plan. What does a high-performance sales team culture look like?

In today's fast-moving business landscape, sticking to old sales tactics can hold companies back from meaningful growth. Outdated practices like generic cold outreach and activity-based success metrics often fail to resonate with modern buyers.

To stay competitive, businesses must embrace personalization, data-driven insights and authentic relationship building. Below, 20 members of Forbes Business Development Council share outdated business development practices they still see too often and what leading companies should be doing instead.

This article sounds like a beast, but it’s one of the shortest I’ve ever written. My backup title was Adventures in Account Management, but I didn’t want to get too cute. Here we go! I was at the optometrist’s office, waiting for my broken glasses to be fixed, when SHE walked in. She approached the receptionist and said, “I’m the new rep for [an eyeglass frame company], and I stopped by to introduce myself.” She handed over her business card and bolted out the door.

As a founder, you start your business with a bold vision, a breakthrough product, and tremendous industry expertise — but most founders don't have a background in sales. Yet, selling is the lifeblood of any startup or small business. So, how do you go from avoiding sales conversations to confidently closing deals and driving growth? This article will provide a practical, no-fluff guide for founders who need to sell but don't see themselves as "salespeople." It will introduce strategies founders can use to build stronger client relationships, better sales outcomes, and increased productivity.

Economic uncertainty, supply chain issues and changing customer expectations have had a significant impact on sales teams, making it more difficult for reps to meet their quotas. In fact, studies show that the majority of sales reps have struggled to meet or completely missed their quotas in recent years. To meet the needs of today’s market, training professionals are utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to train, coach and enable their sales teams.

I met a guy on the plane who was an area director for a major shoe store chain. “Suppose I went into your store and the shoe I wanted was out of stock in my size – what would happen,” I queried.

“Well, that shoe store has the capability of finding those shoes in our other stores — and then asks (tells) the customer to go to the other store to pick them up.” “Can’t you just ship them to my home?” I wondered. “No,” he said matter of factly. “We’re not set up to do it that way.”

You probably have heard of those special dates on the business calendar. Think National Fun at Work Day, Employee Appreciation Day, National Bike to Work Day, or even National Salesperson Day. While you’re unlikely to get a day off on these dates, unless you dip into your vacation leave, at least you won’t have to buy anyone a present. There’s a new day that you should consider putting on your work calendar, and it’s fast approaching: Customer Experience Day.

It's one thing to have an idea of who your customers are. But it's quite another to actually know them. The more companies learn about their target audience — whether through purchase data, reviews, focus groups or other methods — the better they'll be positioned to unlock growth. Thanks to AI adoption in marketing and the availability of more industry and consumer-level data than ever before, companies have never been in a better position to know their customers in a way that drives smarter growth and higher profits.

As a youngster who grew up poor, on the streets, and in scarcity, I used to think winning a deal meant “winner take all.” The goal was to end up with the most money and walk away with the best terms. If I didn’t crush someone and make them a loser, then I wasn’t a winner. Crushing people in deals made me happy—for a while. Until the people I beat in deals wouldn’t work with me again. That’s the zero-sum-game trap. And wow, did I fall into it.

It is common knowledge that delivering superior digital customer experience and maximizing customer lifetime value of customers’ needs to be the primary goal for any business that wants to grow in a digital age. Today, the vast majority (90%) of business leaders are making CX a primary focus. There are almost three million customer service representatives working in the US according to the Department of Labor, and almost every (95%) technology and Software as a Service (SaaS) firm has a Customer Success function according to Gainsight research.

Need More Wins? Try a Culture Shift in Your Sales Team. You’ve probably tried many different ways to improve the performance of your sales teams, with varying success. But there’s one way that has been proven to work and yet is often ignored by sales leaders—improving your sales team’s culture. Culture is hard to characterize, hard to measure, and hard to change. So it gets ignored on the list of levers to pull when transforming a sales organization plan.

Today’s top-performing teams blend proven strategies with innovative approaches and stay ahead by keeping an eye on emerging trends. The B2B sales landscape of 2025 demands that teams be on their toes to stand out from the competition and convert prospects into loyal customers. Let's explore some ways to excel in this environment.

Proven Sales Methodologies In 2025. Establishing a strong foundation is essential for successful B2B sales. These sales methodologies can help teams improve win rates, boost efficiency, ensure consistency and offer a clear framework to track and analyze sales performance.

While the value of technology built to manage customer service and support interactions is undeniable, customer service and support leaders often experience systemic and cultural disconnects that hinder their ability to make informed technology decisions. Combined with the allure of vendor-led sales presentations, it’s all too easy to lose sight of what matters most: how the technology contributes to business objectives.

Sales cycles are longer, more influencers are involved, and buyer paralysis is the new status quo. Yet some sales teams are smashing their revenue plans by 118%, almost doubling the quota attainment of their less successful peers and halving potential no-decision rates.

What are they doing differently? They’re combining talent, skill set, mindset, methodology, coaching, and technology in their sales strategy.

In everyday life, it’s not the person with the highest IQ who gets the deal done, it’s the person with the highest EQ—the most emotional intelligence—and the resources to get the deal done. Good deal making is more than dollars, cents, contract terms, and deadlines. It’s about knowing people and developing your EQ. I used to think making deals was only about the bottom line. I thought I was so good at deal making that I knew what was best for everybody.

An elevator pitch, also known as an elevator speech, is a concise summary of you and your product or service. It’s a prime opportunity to capture attention and convey the unique value of your big idea in a short space of time using this type of pitch. Crafting an excellent elevator pitch is an art. You need to be able to convey your message in an easy-to-understand way, and you need to be able to do it quickly to keep your audience engaged.