Of the many things that can help drive sales for your business, perhaps few could be more important than customer service. While your core products or services may get most of your attention during business planning, customer service deserves to be front and center in your operations, no matter what kind of business you run or what type of clients you serve. Quality customer service will influence the overall experience of your customers, directly impacting their satisfaction and retention rates.

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, the ability to adapt is not just an advantage, it’s a necessity. As buyer behaviors and expectations shift, sales operations leaders must collaborate closely with sales enablement to ensure that seller behaviors evolve in tandem. By systematically capturing and categorizing seller behaviors as either adaptive or static, organizations can pinpoint gaps where seller actions fail to align with changing buyer needs.

When your shareholders have decided that it is the right time to put your business up for sale, it is very easy to say, "Great, let's sell it to the buyer with the highest valuation." But that would be a mistake. There are several other factors that go into finding the "right" buyer for your business and your specific situation. This article will help you think through those various consideration points and provide some warnings

Almost a decade ago, I had an experience that really stuck with me. I was advising a newly hired chief financial officer with oversight over a $3.1 billion budget and over 300 people reporting into her division. I had asked her to prepare a nine-minute speech that would really rally people behind her. And there they were, all 300 souls gathered wide-eyed in the ballroom at their all-hands meeting.

Having worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs, I’ve seen how deeply the leader’s personal habits shape a company’s day-to-day environment. While some owners unintentionally undermine morale by being erratic or micromanaging, others foster a sense of trust, empowerment, and collaboration. The difference often comes down to purposeful culture-building. For example, one client of mine ran a family-owned manufacturing firm. She was highly respected for her technical know-how, but her erratic communication style created anxiety among her employees.

Everyone discusses the positive traits of leadership, such as strong communication, empathy, adaptability and vision. But leadership isn’t just about what you do well—it’s also about recognizing what’s holding you back. Negative behaviors, even subtle ones, create friction. These behaviors may not seem harmful at first glance, but over time, they suffocate morale and create a toxic work environment.

I have had countless counseling clients over the years present to me emotionally laden reactions to feeling triggered by the comments of others. You’re in a conversation, and suddenly, something the other person says makes your heart race and your muscles tense. Maybe it’s a comment from a family member, a passive-aggressive remark from a coworker, or an old friend bringing up a painful past. Instead of reacting in anger or shutting down, there’s one phrase that can help you stay in control: “That’s interesting. Tell me more.”

Your day as an Account Executive is a constant balancing act. You’re prospecting, managing your pipeline, following up, closing deals, and trying to stay calm under pressure. It’s easy to feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day. But success in this role isn’t about working harder. It’s about working smarter. By focusing on what matters most and cutting out what doesn’t, you can save time, reduce stress, and win more deals.

Getting ghosted is an unfortunate fact of sales life nowadays. Every once in a while, the conversation with a prospect is going to die down and never pick back up — but you don't have to take those fizzle-outs lying down. There are some strategies you can leverage to give yourself a fighting chance at re-engaging a prospect who seems like a lost cause.

How a business handles customer service interactions increasingly defines its online reputation, yet, according to our recent survey that gives a list of the best and worst customer service brands, many are still getting it wrong. Brand reputation and online image can draw new customers or deter them, therefore we all need to be asking, “how do we get customer service right?”

As we head into the first quarter of this new year, it’s important to kick off with a strong foundation. For me, that means taking stock of my leadership influence—specifically, how am I developing myself to this high calling of leadership? While most people evaluate their leadership based on their management skills, leadership requires more than just being a proficient manager.

I read an article recently about how more than sixty percent of people that are promoted into a position of leadership—leading people, teams, groups—have never had any type of leadership training.

A glance at the day’s headlines reveals a universal truth: Leadership matters. Whether uplifting and ethical or toxic and abusive, leaders profoundly shape our lives. And this is especially true on the job. Research consistently shows that leadership influences employees’ attitudes, behaviors and emotions, driving key organizational outcomes such as creativity, employee engagement, well-being and financial performance.

A friend reached out to me last week with a problem. He took on a new job a few months ago, but he’s also building his own business on the side and will likely leave in time—something he was clear about with his employer from the beginning. Here’s where things get tricky: He wants to start posting more content about his business on LinkedIn, but he doesn’t want to upset his employer, who may see his posts.

Empathy has become a cornerstone of effective leadership. Leaders are expected to be emotionally intelligent, actively listen to their teams and create inclusive work environments. However, this increased emotional labor comes at a cost: empathy burnout. Unlike traditional burnout, which stems from excessive workload, empathy burnout is an emotional exhaustion that results from prolonged exposure to the struggles, emotions and challenges of others.

Not long ago, two colleagues and I found ourselves in an online meeting, cornered by three wildly overzealous sales professionals. They were selling a tool my company was evaluating, and their pitch behavior was so bizarrely unhinged, I half-expected Lorne Michaels to walk in and yell, "Cut! Great rehearsal, everyone!"
Imagine two colleagues and me, being bombarded with obvious, leading questions delivered with over-the-top enthusiasm from a group of aggressive salespeople.

Do you understand your customer?
If you’re running a sales organization worth its salt, we know you do. And are you well-informed on the challenges your buyers are facing? We bet you’re doing your best to keep up.
But is your sales organization equipped to keep up with these client changes—which we know are making the sales cycle longer, more complicated, and more transactional for most businesses?

How a business handles customer service interactions increasingly defines its online reputation, yet, according to our recent survey that gives a list of the best and worst customer service brands, many are still getting it wrong. Brand reputation and online image can draw new customers or deter them, therefore we all need to be asking, “how do we get customer service right?”

For many small business owners, the word “sales” can make you cringe. If that’s you, it’s time for a mindset shift. Too many business owners, especially women, view selling as something pushy, awkward, and even sleazy. But the truth is that sales is the lifeblood of your business. Without sales there is no revenue, and without revenue there is no business. Millionaire entrepreneurs embrace sales.

“I’ve hired a team of stars, but I really need them to work like a constellation,” a CEO once said to me. It’s a great line and captures a frustration I’ve heard so often over the last 20 years of coaching the world’s top teams. This particular CEO did what most leaders think impossible: he was chasing down a moonshot 10x growth goal while freeing up 30% of his time. The breakthrough came when he realized that despite hiring exceptional talent, his hub-and-spoke leadership style was creating a bottleneck.

How good are you at decisions? Here’s how to up your game. Making decisions is a key function of leadership. Leaders must make complex decisions that affect the lives of their teams, businesses, and communities. Expertise in the fine art of making decisions can empower you to make good ones while creating a culture that fosters collaboration and innovation.