The Sales Management Expert

How to Help Your Prospect Make a Decision

Alex Cole-Murphy — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:04:13 GMT

One of the competencies of top salespeople is the ability to get to the decision-maker. When this is a strength, producers find a way to reach the person responsible for deciding to purchase the products or services offered, even at the risk of seeming pushy. Of course, it is key to be in front of the decision maker before you can begin to help your prospect make a decision.

We have come to recognize how essential it is to understand the buyer’s journey and how a prospect recognizes that they have a problem, how they search for a solution, and how they evaluate those solutions to make a resource choice and a decision. Salespeople have a great deal of influence on this entire process, and they must be adept at helping their prospect make a decision, whether it means they gain the business or not.

The Importance of 1-on-1 Sales Coaching

Tony Cole — Fri, 29 May 2026 13:13:14 GMT

It is difficult to create and maintain a competitive edge in financial services sales. It requires continuous improvement and the refinement of skills. Group training sessions offer many advantages, but the transformative potential of personalized 1-on-1 sales coaching from a skilled manager is key to sustaining and implementing what is learned.

With decades of experience in the financial services sector, we have discovered that tailored, individualized coaching can be the catalyst for unlocking your producers’ full potential.

Why Many Salespeople Avoid Financial Conversations, and Pay the Price

Objective Management Group — Fri, 22 May 2026 13:10:30 GMT

This article was originally published by Objective Management Group and written by Staci Matt. It is shared here with permission. Anthony Cole Training Group is a Certified OMG Partner, helping organizations hire and develop high-performing sales teams using OMG’s industry-leading assessments and insights.

Financial conversations are central to every sale, yet many salespeople avoid them or handle them too late. Objective Management Group data shows an average score of 67% in comfort discussing money, with 59% of salespeople considered comfortable. On the surface, this appears to be a strength. In practice, it reveals a gap. A meaningful portion of salespeople still struggle with money conversations, and even those who are “comfortable” often handle them inconsistently or too late in the process. Research shows that buyers increasingly expect pricing discussions early, while many sellers hesitate or defer. This misalignment creates friction, stalls deals, and reduces win rates.

What Are the Top 5 Behaviors of Effective Sales Leadership?

Tony Cole — Fri, 15 May 2026 13:37:30 GMT

The sales management activities we are performing today are creating the results we are achieving today. Many or few, consistent or irregular, planned or impromptu, the behaviors and activities that we, as sales managers and leaders, use to motivate, train, and hold our producers and relationship managers accountable are at least partly responsible for the success of those we manage.

Now is a good time to assess which activities may be contributing to our current results, especially if those results are unsatisfactory.

8 Ways to Make Sales Training Stick in Financial Services

Alex Cole-Murphy — Thu, 07 May 2026 15:52:19 GMT

In the past 30+ years, we have learned a great deal from working with our clients. After we deliver a sales training program, we want to know what successful financial sales organizations do to make sales training live on after the sales trainer has left the building.

The most important component is what we call the “Shadow of the Leader.” For a sales culture to exist and survive, a company must make certain that leaders are involved, engaged, and focused on supporting sales as a priority. Growth strategies must be part of daily activities, tracked, measured, and rewarded. That is our observation from working with hundreds of companies to make sales training stick and be effective. It starts at the top.

The Truth About Sales Prospecting Today

Mark Trinkle — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:55:44 GMT

In today’s world of selling, it is increasingly difficult to get the attention of a prospective buyer after only a few outreach attempts.

We know prospects are busy, but let’s face it, we’re all busy. The real question is this: how do you stay consistent and persistent in your outreach while remaining sensitive to your prospect’s time, priorities, and daily distractions?

How to Qualify Prospects Using a Scorecard

jack@anthonycoletraining.com (Jack Kasel) — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 17:45:26 GMT

We all know that selling can be an emotional activity both for you and your prospect. For your prospect, it’s because they need to put their faith and trust in you to help them grow their business or make a significant investment. If they make the wrong choice, bad things could happen to their company. For you, the salesperson, it’s your livelihood.

With all those things coming together, understanding how to qualify prospects using a scorecard can help take some of the emotion out of the process.

Banking Sales Strategies: Give Your Lenders the Courage to Succeed

Mark Trinkle — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:50:09 GMT

In a recent national broadcast,Mark Trinkle, Chief Growth Officer atAnthony Cole Training Group, sat down withKevin Brewer, Chief Sales Officer atCitizens National Bank, to talk about a challenge many banks face today: how to give lenders the courage to succeed in a competitive environment.

AsCommunity Banking Monthhighlights the vital role community banks play in their local economies, conversations like this one reinforce what drives that impact: strong lenders who know how to build trust, create value, and consistently perform.

Mark opened the conversation by setting the stage. Top lenders, he explained, can drive nearly 10 times as much revenue as lower-performing lenders. They’re also four times more likely to exceed expectations. But despite that impact, they’re rare — making up only about 16% of lenders.

Kevin agreed. “They are rare to find,” he said, “and to get one on your team is a blessing.”

Steps to Reach Your Sales Goals in 2026: Act Now!

Tony Cole — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 14:42:25 GMT

As you get deeper into 2026, how are you and your team tracking against your business goals? It has been a chaotic first quarter in the financial sector, but business continues. Now is the right time to make sure you catch up or stay on track to meet those agreed-upon goals. Here are the action steps to help you reach your sales goals this year.

The first step is to make sure your team’s small, big, and important personal goals roll up into a business work plan that contributes to achieving those sales goals. Why start there? Salespeople are motivated by life achievements such as funding a college education, building a deck, or saving for a travel-filled retirement. Selling and achieving sales goals is simply the means to that end. They are not motivated by share price or quarterly financial estimates.

Spring Clean Your Pipeline to Increase Sales

jack@anthonycoletraining.com (Jack Kasel) — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 21:13:41 GMT

Sales pipelines are like the fairytale Goldilocks and The Three Bears. This one is too fat, this one is too skinny, and the rarest one of all, this one’s just right!

Why does this happen with pipelines, and as a sales coach, what can you do about it? Let’s discuss developing better pipelines by improving your coaching skills, which will increase sales within your organization and build better habits for today and the future.