“Hi, Troy,” the email began. “I’ve just purchased [the name of the company that does my Web work], and I just wanted to introduce myself.”  This type of email, starting with this type of sentence, strikes fear into many customers’ hearts.  The company that handles a critical service – one you depend on daily – has just changed hands.  What’s going to happen now?  Are they going to raise prices?  Cut my service?  Screw up my world?

I’ve been through numerous company takeovers, and even sales territory takeovers, and it’s always a turbulent time, both for the service providers and for the customers.  What always amazes me is the level of unforced errors – moments where the company doing the buyout has an opportunity to smooth the transition, but for whatever reason, chooses not to do so.

Here’s my maxim:  Comfortable Customers Buy.  When you’re making a transition of ownership or salesperson, the thing your customers want most is a sense of comfort – that a steady, smart hand is on the rudder of your company and that you’re going to continue to take care of them.

Your enemy here is FEAR.  The customer’s fear that they need to make a move.  The fear that their apple cart will be overturned.  And the employees’ fear of losing their jobs.  All of these fears are in play during a transition of this type, and these fears can cost you big money.  Would it surprise you to know that in many company takeovers, particularly in the small-to-medium sized business space that makes up most of this readership, as much as 50% of the book of business being taken over can go away in a year or less?

That’s exactly what I experienced during one takeover years ago.  To set the stage, I was the new sales manager for a managed-service provider in Kansas.  We had bought out a smaller competitor whose owner had decided it was time for retirement.  So far, so good.  We had a strategy meeting to discuss the takeover and how to do it.  We knew that, for the standards of our industry, the customer wasn’t receiving great service.  Their product quality wasn’t up to our standards, their route drivers and trucks weren’t as well-polished as ours, the service training wasn’t up to snuff.  The sales department was nonexistent – but the previous owner was willing to stay on for six months to help in the transition.

Some within my company felt that we should go full-bore on rebranding the new operation and absorbing it into our company.  Get the drivers in our uniforms, paint or replace the trucks, give them as much “us” as humanly possible, with the route drivers (remember they weren’t well trained) as our main ambassadors, and let them revel in the glories of our company.

I was the contrarian.  I said to change as little as possible early on.  Same drivers, same uniforms (keep in mind, in buying the company, we’d bought the rights to their name, logo, etc.), even the same billing address.  Assume that the customers were happy; many had a personal relationship with the owner of the company, and the company had low customer churn.  Make investments in our product and service quality behind the scenes, so they could see that their service was taking an uptick.  After a month or two of this, let the former owner meet with the customers individually – with our service manager in tow – to explain the changeover and shepherd the transition.

I lost.  We rebranded as quickly as possible, with the route drivers (in their sparkling new uniforms) explaining the buyout in their own words.

And WE lost.  Nearly 50% of the customers left in the first year.  The way we did it sparked fear in the customer base and they bailed.

I can’t fault them; I’ve bailed too during a transition.  I scheduled a meeting with the new owners of my Web provider (they were local to me).  In the meeting, it became obvious that they hadn’t even looked at the very website they were hosting for me, and cared little about my business.  Fear sparked, I looked for and found other options.  I’m guessing I’m far from the only one.

I’ve told you these two long stories for a very good reason.  There seems to be a ‘standard’ way to handle transitions in ownership or salespeople, and they universally spark fear and make you easy prey for your competition.  Since the pace of consolidation in this industry won’t be likely to change – to say nothing of sales turnover – here are some guidelines for handling this transition.

1. Assume the customers are happy until you know otherwise. Too many transitions are based on ego; on the idea that ‘we’re so much better than they’ve had.’  Maybe that’s true, but you will have to prove it to the existing customer base.
2. Keep the transition gradual, and have as much of the ‘old’ interspersed with the ‘new’ as possible. If the former owner or managers can assist, let them; in the case of a sales transition, have the sales manager on board for the calls from the new person.
3. Respect the old while introducing the new. One of the biggest unforced errors is when the new people put down the old people, without knowing what the relationship was.
4. Keep the customers CLOSE, at sales, service, and management level. Overpay them attention.  Customers are less likely to have fears and look for new vendors if they’re being communicated with, openly and honestly.
5. Do NOT go for a quick upsell; make sure your relationship is strong and the customer is mentally bonded to your company before trying to raise their level of business.

Do these guidelines mean that you won’t have fear on the part of your customers? Probably not – but those guidelines will help you alleviate the fear and keep your customers comfortable as soon and as well as possible – and then you won’t lose a substantial portion of the business you just paid for.

A while back, I was doing some initial consultations with a client that does custom machined parts for industry.  The salesperson is the outside relationship manager, and they have an internal sales team that handles the order process.  When I was doing my discovery, I found that they were having huge problems getting orders and quotes through the system, and that it was taking up an inordinate amount of time.  The reason was that they weren’t good at getting the information needed to process quotes and orders.

I checked, and they had a quote form that had spots for all critical quoting information, and a supplementary form that included other needed data to actually make the parts.  The problem was that they were struggling to get accurate quote information (things like material, dimensions, tolerances, etc.), and that was flowing through to order fulfillment.  Meanwhile, sales was screaming at the inside salespeople to get them their quotes FAST – but the inside sales was screaming back that they didn’t have all the information needed.  What a mess!  But the problem was cleared up when I talked to a senior salesperson.  He told me something that left bruises from my jaw hitting the table.

“Well,” he said, “once we get the request for the quote, we don’t ask any more questions.  We’re trained not to.  We get out of there before the customer can change his mind.”

By my stunned, open-mouthed silence, he surmised that I was shocked by this.

“So, explain to me,” I said, “You leave with a request for a quote, but not knowing what it is that you’re quoting?”

“Yeah,” he said, “We find out later.  Don’t you know that you’re not supposed to talk past the sale?”  The conversation got worse from there.  But upon further reflection, I’ve seen this sales method before.  I should point out that these salespeople were NOT trained by me.

One of the old sayings of sales – which is still a good one, when you interpret it correctly – is, “Don’t talk past the sale.”  What this means is that, after the customer says “yes,” (either to a quote or to an order), don’t keep babbling and re-selling.  But it doesn’t mean that you have to get the hell out of the customer’s sight immediately.

What your customer is expecting is that you will now become their caretaker and facilitator.  That doesn’t mean that you won’t rely on internal staff to assist in their functions, but it does mean that you’ll be a professional and do what you can.

In this case, what customers were likely expecting is that the salesperson would shift gears, express an appreciation for the opportunity, and then begin acquiring the info that the inside salespeople would need in order to generate an accurate quote.  Instead, the salesperson was going back in and telling the inside sales staff that he needed a quote on, say, an aluminum pulley, approximately 4 inches in diameter and 1 inch wide, with a  V-belt groove.  Trust me when I say that there are MANY more pieces of information needed to generate a quote that’s accurate (to make sure that the product functions), competitive (to assist in getting the business), and profitable for the company.

Instead, it was a Chinese fire drill getting quotes out, with significant wasted time for everyone and heated tempers involved.  That’s dumb.

So, why do salespeople sell this way?  I can think of three reasons:

1. The salesperson is scared to death that, if they ask the questions that I like to call “Order taking questions,” the customer will rethink the deal and take it back.  That’s nonsense.  Asking the right order taking questions is just basic professionalism, and actually reassures your customers that you know what the hell is going on and that they are in good hands.  Ultimately, this fear is that you haven’t properly sold your customer – and that’s on you.
2. Sometimes, salespeople want to do the absolute minimum of effort before moving on to the next deal (or to Happy Hour).  So they do a half-assed job of getting the details down, and usually end up with significant errors in the quoting process (bad) or the production process (way worse).
3. Bad training. As I noted above, the salespeople didn’t come up with this approach on their own – they just didn’t let their common sense override their sales training (which probably indicates some level of #1 or #2 above).

By the way, I’m lumping a sale and a quote into the same process, because many times, it is the same process – and even when it’s not, a similar dynamic happens in the sales conversation.

So, how should you handle this situation?  First of all, understand that by either requesting a proposal, or placing an order, your customer has made a significant commitment to you in advancing the Buyer’s Journey.  It’s your job to navigate the customer through this process.  Here are three strategies for how to handle this moment.

1. Get the info right then. Your customer’s motivation to give you the right information to help you get the quote, or fulfill the sale, is highest at the moment that they say “yes.”  Just have a checklist, pull it out, and use it.
2. Set a time for the information to get to you. Sometimes, the customer will need to gather the information.  That’s fine.  Set a deadline, and let the customer know what your turnaround time will be from the moment you receive the info.  That’s being a good guide and advisor.
3. “I’ll have my people call your people.” It’s common that the decision make isn’t necessarily the person who will handle the technical details of fulfillment – they may have support staff to do it, just as you do.  At this moment, you can either ask your customer to connect you with the support staff, or you can connect your support staff with their staff.  Again, a timeline is important, and it’s vital that you communicate – in advance – what that timeline will be.

Ultimately, your best strategy for handling this moment is this:  Act like you’ve been there before.  The “get outta there” approach speaks to a lack of confidence and expertise on your part, and makes the customer think that you’re inexperienced and/or incapable of handling their needs.  This can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, as well as wasting a lot of time, effort, and relationship capital with your own people.  Be a professional, and you’ll sell more and everyone will be much happier.

I’m going to give you a quick peek behind the curtain of sales training.  Here’s what (smart) sales trainers do:  They attempt to predict buyer behavior patterns, and then create techniques designed to work with those buyer behavior patterns in order to move the buyer toward a positive buying decision.  They then teach salespeople how to use these techniques.

But – what if buyer behavior patterns change?  This is the problem facing many people in the sales profession right now.  I’ve been saying it for a while, and it bears repeating.  Today’s buyers are getting younger, they’re more empowered and informed, and they have different wants and needs from salespeople than the buyers of years past had.  That’s changing the foundational assumptions upon which many sales techniques are built – which makes those techniques obsolete.  I heard a story a few days ago that positively blew up one of the oldest and most foundational assumptions of sales, and we’ll unpack it here and talk about what it means.

I was talking to a production manager for a manufacturing company.  He sees salespeople all the time, of course, and he was telling me about one particular visit that he’d had.  He’s 37 years old, which becomes very germane to the story.  A salesman came in for his first visit with the production manager.  As he did, the salesman took a quick look around the office.  As we’ll see, he was doing a quick scan for pictures, mounted fish on the wall, trophies, or anything else that would give an indication of the buyer’s personal interests.

In other words, he was revving up to do some old, hackneyed, fish on the wall selling.

He introduced yourself and spotted a picture of the buyer’s 13 year old son on his desk, about to run track.

The salesman said, “Is that your son?”  Again, common.  You’ve either seen it done or done it yourself.  This was his opening rapport-building gambit.

The buyer said, “Uh, we just met.  Don’t you think it’s a little creepy to ask about my kids?”

The salesman’s jaw dropped and he didn’t know what to say.  After some stammering, he picked up his jaw and said, “Well, I had a son who ran track, too, and I was just asking because I’ve been there.”

The buyer said, “I didn’t have you in here to talk about my kids.  Get to business.”

I should point something out here.  The buyer wasn’t playing games and he wasn’t trying to be rude.  He’s a good dude and a friendly sort.  BUT – he’s also not going to divulge a bunch of personal information when he first meets someone.  And he’s particularly not going to tell you all about his kids and family upon first meeting.  He had 30 minutes reserved on his schedule to talk about what the salesman had to sell – which was, in fact, something he very much needed to buy.  But the salesman’s old rapport-building technique actually did the opposite, and put up the buyer’s defenses.

Why did this happen?

Well, one of the most foundational assumptions of selling – one I hear constantly to this day – is:

“People buy from people they like.”  Because of this foundational assumption, salespeople the world over have accepted the duty of being liked by the buyer first before being eligible to talk business.  Hence, rapport-building techniques have centered on personal likeability, rather than business needs.

I’m not sure that’s as true now as it used to be.  Different generations have different expectations of how their time is to be used by salespeople, and they also have different personal boundaries.  Past generations (in many cases) were more protective of their business needs and information, and much more open with their personal information.  What past generations thought of as a good opening conversation, younger generations think of as phony (because it usually is) and even creepy.  Say what you will about the tech immersion of Millennials and Gen-Z’s, they tend to have a good BS detector when it comes to their business dealings.

The Millennial and Gen-Z generations tend to be much more private about their personal lives in a business setting, and much more open to getting right down to business.  In fact, they demand that you get to business quickly.  The biggest change we see in younger buyers is that, as opposed to forming relationships with salespeople based first on personal connections and then moving to business needs, they form relationships based on your ability to solve their business problems first, and then they are more open to discussion of personal lives and forming a personal bond.

In addition, Millennials and Z’s tend to be more protective of their time and want salespeople to be efficient and productive with it.  I think there are a couple of reasons behind this.  First, work/life balance is more important to these generations, and their mindset is that the more work they can get done in the allotted work time, the more they can focus on enjoying their personal time.

The second is what I call the “Amazon effect.”  These generations are used to being able to buy things quickly and efficiently.  Amazon doesn’t ask if you fish, or what sports your kids play, or how you liked the game last Sunday.  It just gives you the info you need to buy and tells you the price.  That’s efficient, and this mindset translates into their sales interactions.

What this means to us is that, with Millennial and Z buyers, it can often be much more important to be seen as valuable than it is to be overly likeable.  Being a person of business value is your gateway to them liking you – which is a complete flipping of the script from the past. This doesn’t mean that you should be a jerk and make your buyer dislike you, but it’s more likely to get the first order if they feel neutral to you on a personal basis and value you on a business basis these days.

So, your task is easy, right?  Walk in, look at the buyer, figure out what his or her age is, and base your selling style accordingly.

Not so fast.

An interesting phenomenon I’ve seen is that some older buyers – Gen-X (who already had some of the business-first traits of the generations that followed) – and even Boomers are learning from their younger counterparts.  They too want to be more efficient with their time, and some of them are moving toward a business-first paradigm.  Now it’s getting harder, isn’t it?  That’s why sales is a job for those who are smart and mentally agile.

Here’s my advice.  First of all, it’s hard to go wrong with a business-first approach these days.  My opening question to buyers has always been, “So, tell me, how did you come to be in this job?”  This allows them to tell their story.  You build rapport just by listening, and because it’s a business-first question, it doesn’t cross any bad boundaries.  Within their answer, they’ll tell you if they like to talk about personal issues or to stick to business.

Second, the key is to remain mentally agile.  As I said, a business-first approach is the safest, but in those instances where a buyer wants to build a personal bond first, they’ll pump the brakes a bit, and then you can switch to a personal-first approach.  With that said, I do think that the personal-first approach is becoming obsolescent, and may be obsolete in another 10 years or so.

And that’s okay.  One thing to remember – time efficiency for the buyer is also time efficiency for you.  You may find that you’re able to make more sales calls and have more quality interactions than before.  And that’s a win, isn’t it?

Lately, it’s seemed fashionable for a lot of sales trainers to write articles about “why sales training doesn’t work,” which of course allows them to slyly inject why THEIR sales training is the only sales training that could have a possibility of working, in this and all other imaginable worlds.  I think I’ll stay away from that.

I prefer to stay on the positive side, so let’s talk about how to make sales training work.  Will that generate a bit of ROI for your time in reading this article?  Hopefully, it will.  Full disclosure; this article was inspired by a lunch that I had recently with a client who commented on how effective my training was.  In retrospect, I have to say that part of what made it so effective was how the client handled it – and that’s what I propose to pass along today.  First, however, let me pass along the Dirty Little Secret of sales training:

Almost any sales trainer can, and will, generate ROI for your company.  That’s a big statement, I know, and there are certainly exceptions.  But the reality is this:  The economies of sales training are such that even the most expensive sales trainers can pay for themselves if just one person in the class takes what he learns and uses it to significantly up his or her performance.  And I’ve taught very few classes where at least a few people didn’t take the teachings and run with them.  Again, there are exceptions; there are people out there teaching techniques that will actually generate negative ROI because the techniques, when implemented, actually make the customer uncomfortable and less likely to buy – but let’s assume that we’re talking about trainers who at least understand customer friendliness.

So, now that the Big Secret is out there (and I’ll follow up on it at the end by giving you some guidelines on how to pick your trainer), let’s talk about what YOU (whether you are manager or salesperson) can do to make training work for you.

Preparation is key.  I wish I could tell you how many times I’ve walked into a room, looked around, and discovered that the salespeople have no real idea of why I’m there or what I’m there to do; they just know to show up at a certain place at a certain time.  Don’t be that guy. If you’re a manager, prep your people on what will happen and what the expectations are.  Much time gets wasted in these sessions just crossing the “Oh, this is training” hump.  If you’re a salesperson, don’t just settle for a scheduled meeting; ask what will be happening and what the expectations are.  It’s your time, after all.  Good trainers will inform you as to the program outline and plan when they are selling the business; make use of that.

Professionalism is the most basic expectation.  When I was a sales manager and I sent my reps to training, I always did so with the expectation that they be on their most professional behavior; unprofessionalism was a reflection on me, after all.  However, too many training programs (again, of any type) end up looking more like Romper Room than a business environment.  Want to maximize the value of your money?  Make sure your people are on their game when they’re in the room, and that they are punctual when returning from lunches, breaks, etc.  If you’re the trainee, be the leader.  Look at it this way:  You’re going to be there regardless, so if others’ conduct is keeping you from learning, it’s your right to call them on it.  Is it the speaker’s job to ‘control the room?’  To an extent – but I tell all my clients that I am a trainer and not a babysitter.  If your staff requires a babysitter, that reflects on YOU.

One other aspect of professionalism that is worth talking about is what I call “the debaters.”  It doesn’t happen often – thankfully – but from time to time, I’ll encounter a group where one or more members feels that their job in training is to show how much THEY know, and they do it by debating as many points that the trainer makes as possible.  I have no problem with good discussion and differences of opinion.  In fact, my motto is, “If it works for you, and it’s not illegal, immoral, or unethical, do it.”  With that said, when it becomes obvious that some members are arguing just to argue, what you (whether you are a trainee or the manager) need to understand is this:  Their ego trip is taking time away from others’ potential to learn.  Don’t be afraid to call the debaters out.

Focus on the “nuggets” – profitable behavior modifications.  As the training is going on, you will find elements that you have heard before.  That’s going to happen with any experienced worker going through any type of training.  Training becomes unsuccessful when attendees focus in on those commonalities and stop looking for the differences.  Virtually any training of any type, however, will have what I call “nuggets,” or ways to modify behavior that can be very profitable.  I went to a training session for speakers a couple of months ago; 98% of it was stuff that I had heard and knew; I’ve been working the 2% for the last two weeks with some excellent results.

Learn and reinforce.  There’s no substitute for management that participates in the sessions and learns right along with their people; there’s no substitute for when that management, having learned the lessons, continually reinforces that message when the trainer has left.  My client the other day said, “Our profit per stop is up significantly because of your training.”  That’s great, and I appreciate it – but reality is that it’s up partially because of what I taught, and partially because the company has adopted those teachings as part of the culture, and has reinforced those teachings in the months since I was there.

Too many managers look at training – of any type – as a self-contained fix-all solution.  It’s not.  Good training programs are incorporated into the culture of the company or department, and then reinforced consistently and when opportunity comes up.  Training is designed to show the benefits of behavioral change; however, true behavioral change does not happen within a one-day or two-day window.  It’s consistency of management and follow up that really spikes the ROI.

How do you pick a trainer?  So, I promised earlier that I would circle back and talk about how to pick a trainer.  I’ll do so now.  To pick the right person for your needs, just follow these simple guidelines:

• Pick someone who is expert. There are a lot of ‘seminar’ companies out there who provide general-purpose speakers with prewritten courses to present.  The training breaks down when the first person asks a question that starts with “Why?”  Make sure your trainer can answer those questions through personal expertise.
• Pick someone who is current. There’s a lot of training out there – in every discipline and genre – that hasn’t been revised or rewritten in decades.  The on-the-ground realities in every phase of business have changed. Does the proposed training take those changes into account? If not, perhaps you should look for a different trainer.
• Pick someone who is willing to learn. Too many trainers come in with a ‘program in a box’ and end up not speaking your language.  Good trainers build in pre-training time to learn the specific challenges and needs of your business.
• Pick someone who fits your culture, or the culture you would like to have. Training of any kind should set the tone for how things are done at your company; if the trainer is training a method counter to your culture, it won’t be effective.  When it comes to sales training, I always tell my clients that sales training dictates how you want your customers to be treated; is the curriculum and approach a fit?  Even in other departments, you should always remember that the way you treat your employees is reflected in the way your employees treat each other, as well as your customers. Training has a BIG impact on culture.
• Finally, pick someone who is available post session. I’ve heard horror stories about trainers who came in, did an outrageously expensive session, then when the manager or trainees have a question, he wants to bill a big amount just for answering.  Make sure your trainer doesn’t mind getting the occasional call or email post-session.  I always tell my clients that they are free to call or email with questions, and if it gets to a point where I will need to bill for time, I’ll let them know well in advance.

A well designed, planned, executed, and followed training session can be the best thing for you and your staff.  A bad one can be a time waster.  By following these simple steps, you can make sure that your training is effective.

Have you ever run a marathon?  Yeah, me neither.  But when it comes to sales, I’ve run a number of them – the long sales cycle.  In our profession, we love quick win – that satisfying moment when a prospect becomes a customer in a matter of days or weeks. But what about those industries where the sales cycle stretches into months or even years? How do we keep our sales teams motivated, strategic, and successful when the finish line seems so far away?

Long sales cycles present unique challenges. They test a salesperson’s patience, strategic thinking, and ability to maintain momentum over extended periods. They can also tempt even the most disciplined sales professionals to neglect prospecting, as the gratification of a closed deal feels perpetually out of reach.  But here’s the truth: mastering the long sales cycle is not just a skill – it’s an art form. And like any art, it requires dedication, practice, and a specific set of techniques. Let’s explore four key strategies that can help you and your team excel in the marathon of long-cycle sales.

1. Never Stop Prospecting

Imagine you’re a farmer (no, not the old, outdated “hunter/farmer” sales term). You know it takes months for your crops to grow, but you also know that if you don’t plant seeds regularly, you’ll eventually have nothing to harvest. The same principle applies to long-cycle sales.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking, “Why start new conversations when I won’t close them for years?” But remember this: you can’t finish a sale unless you start one. Prospecting is the lifeblood of your sales pipeline, regardless of how long it takes to close a deal.

Make prospecting a non-negotiable part of your daily routine. Set aside dedicated time each day to reach out to new potential clients. Use a mix of cold calls, emails, social media outreach, and networking events to keep your pipeline full. Remember, the seeds you plant today are the deals you’ll close tomorrow – or next year.

2. Think Strategically, Act Consistently

Once you’ve initiated a conversation with a prospect, it’s time to shift into strategic mode. This is where the real art of long-cycle sales comes into play.

Start by estimating a realistic timeline for the deal. Is it six months? A year? Two years? This timeline becomes your roadmap, guiding your interactions and helping you set milestones along the way.

With each contact, your goal should be to move the sale forward, even if it’s just by inches. This is particularly crucial when you’re up against an incumbent vendor with an existing contract. You’re playing the long game, so every interaction should add value and strengthen your position.

Maybe it’s sharing a relevant industry report, offering a fresh perspective on a challenge they’re facing, or simply checking in to maintain the relationship. The key is consistency. Regular, value-added touchpoints keep you top of mind and position you as a trusted advisor, not just another vendor.

3. Keep Your Contacts Current

In the span of a long sales cycle, a lot can change. Decision-makers move on, new stakeholders emerge, and organizational priorities shift. Your job is to stay on top of these changes and adapt your strategy accordingly.

Make it a habit to regularly verify and update your contact information. But don’t stop there – strive to expand your network within the organization. The more contacts you have, the more resilient your opportunity becomes to personnel changes.  “High, wide, and deep” should be your watchword.  Get as high on the corporate food chain as you can.  Get as many contacts (a wide base of influence) in the target company as you can.  And make sure that they genuinely know you and the value you bring. This approach not only provides you with a more comprehensive understanding of the organization but also helps safeguard your opportunity if your main contact leaves.

4. Be Ready When the Stars Align

Here’s a fundamental truth about sales: a deal happens when need, solution, and timing intersect, and the Buyer’s Journey completes. In a long sales cycle, your job is to be ready when that moment arrives.

Think of yourself as a constant gardener, tending to the relationship, nurturing it, and watching for signs of readiness. Maybe the incumbent vendor slips up, budget suddenly becomes available, or a new initiative aligns perfectly with your offering. Your consistent presence and value-added interactions have positioned you to capitalize on these moments.

Stay alert to industry trends, organizational changes, and any shifts in your prospect’s business that might create an opening. When that window of opportunity appears, be ready to act swiftly and decisively.

Remember, managing long sales cycles is not about passive waiting – it’s about active preparation. It’s about building relationships, demonstrating value, and positioning yourself as the obvious choice when the time is right.  As Dave Ramsey likes to say, “There are no shortcuts to anyplace worth going.”

In conclusion, succeeding in long-cycle sales requires a unique blend of patience, persistence, and strategic thinking. It demands that we resist getting demoralized due to the lack of quick wins and instead focus on building lasting relationships and delivering consistent value. By maintaining a steady prospecting rhythm, thinking strategically, keeping our contacts current, and staying ready for opportunity, we can master the marathon of long sales cycles.

The road may be long, but with the right approach, the destination is well worth the journey. After all, in sales as in life, it’s often the challenges that take the longest to overcome that yield the sweetest rewards.

Nothing stays the same, and that includes sales.  After all, I’ve been writing and making videos for the past two years on how much our profession is changing.  But I get it – change is hard.  I think that the pace of change has intimidated some professionals, who find themselves clinging to past successes rather than adapting to current market demands. These individuals, whom we’ll call “Legacy Performers,” once excelled but now struggle to maintain their edge. This article will help you identify Legacy Performers and offer strategies for reinvigoration.

First, let’s define our term.  A Legacy Performer is a salesperson who once had “it” but has lost their competitive edge. They’re not novices; their past successes are real and documented. When they tell you how they used the sharp-angle close to take a guy who wanted to buy a used ’74 Maverick and sell them a brand new Lincoln, that story was REAL.  However, the traits that once drove their success have faded. It’s crucial to note that being a Legacy Performer isn’t about age – it’s about mindset and adaptability.

Spotting Legacy Performers

1. Aversion to Prospecting: This is the uppermost characteristic of this type of salesperson. The best salespeople know that, no matter how good you are or how much you are selling, current customers will leave (sometimes through no one’s fault – perhaps they just go out of business or retire), and new prospects will show up. Legacy Performers don’t worry about that.  Prospecting is a difficult and time-consuming process (more so now than ever), so they figure they’ll “just work on referrals.”  Over time, their customer base dwindles and they never refill the sales funnel with new prospects.

1. Resistance to Change: While not all change is positive, Legacy Performers tend to fight against any modifications to their routine. They fear increased oversight and potential exposure of their shortcomings.  This also applies to sales tech, like CRM, and other ways that salespeople must adapt to new methods and tools.
2. Avoidance of Customer Interaction: Legacy Performers may shy away from direct customer contact, particularly with new prospects. They often find excuses to be elsewhere when fresh opportunities arise.
3. Constant Complaints About Customers: Instead of analyzing lost sales for improvement, Legacy Performers blame customers for failures. They have an excuse for every setback rather than seeking solutions.  There’s an old saying:  If one customer tells you “no,” they might be wrong.  If 100 customers tell you “no,” you might be wrong.
4. Living on Past Glories: Legacy Performers frequently recount stories of their former triumphs without demonstrating current value or results. A Legacy Performer is a salesperson who used to have “it,” but doesn’t have “it” anymore.  A Legacy Performer is not someone who never had “it.”  When a Legacy Performer tells you stories about former successes, don’t mistake – those stories are real and provable, and that’s what makes the L.P. so dangerous from a company’s perspective.  The track record is there.  The traits that made it happen aren’t.  I should also make it clear that being a Legacy Performer doesn’t have anything to do with age – I’ve seen salespeople in their 20s who have been Legacy Performers.  I’ve seen salespeople in their 70s with more energy than you could contain in a room.

Turning the Legacy into the Right-Now

If you recognize these traits in yourself or your team members, it’s time for action. Here are strategies to reinvigorate your sales performance:

1. Embrace Modern Prospecting Techniques: Leverage social media, LinkedIn, and other digital platforms to connect with potential clients. Attend industry events and webinars to expand your network.
2. Invest in Continuous Learning: Stay updated on industry trends, new sales methodologies, and technology. Consider online courses, sales workshops, or even pursuing relevant certifications.
3. Adopt a Growth Mindset: View challenges as opportunities for growth rather than insurmountable obstacles. Celebrate small wins and learn from setbacks.
4. Reconnect with Your Passion: Remember why you chose sales as a career. Find aspects of the job that excite you and focus on those to reignite your enthusiasm.  If you don’t love this job, as I’ve said many times before, it’s one hell of a hard way to make a living.  If you love it, well, it can still be a hell of a hard way to make a living at times, but it’s a lot more fun.
5. Buddy Up: If you’re not getting it done, it’s likely that someone else on your team is.  Humble yourself.  Forget the old war stories, take that person out to lunch, and ask to pick his or her brain.  Good salespeople help other salespeople, and it’s perfectly OK to seek help.
6. Embrace Technology: Utilize CRM systems, sales analytics tools, and other technologies to streamline your processes and gain valuable insights.
7. Set New Goals: Establish clear, achievable objectives for yourself. Break these down into daily and weekly targets to maintain focus and motivation.

Adaptation is Vital.

Our profession is changing, and what worked ten years ago won’t work now.  In fact, what works now might not work in ten more years! Successful salespeople adapt their strategies to meet changing customer needs and market conditions. By recognizing the signs of stagnation and taking proactive steps to improve, Legacy Performers can transform into dynamic, results-driven professionals once again.

For sales managers and business owners, it’s crucial to identify Legacy Performers within your team. Provide them with the support and resources needed to regain their competitive edge. Sometimes, this may involve difficult conversations or decisions about role fit.

Remember, the key to long-term success in sales is to find something to love about the profession every day. Stay curious, remain open to new ideas, and never stop growing. By doing so, you’ll ensure that your sales career remains vibrant and rewarding for years to come.