The Sales Management Expert

Emotional Selling: Sell the Sizzle, Not the Steak

Tony Cole — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 19:33:40 GMT

“Sell the sizzle, not the steak.” I am confident that at some point in your sales or sales management career, you have heard this expression about emotional selling. As I read Seth Godin's post “In the Mood,” it reminded me of this fundamental sales principle. The short version: Music doesn't teach us how to fall in love; it just creates the emotion of falling in love, being in love, or looking for love. In other words, music, books, theater and movies sell emotion, or the “sizzle.”

The Dirty Dozen of Sales Success

Tony Cole — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 12:14:17 GMT

Most sales leaders do not have the training or background to know specifically what makes their best salespeople so good at what they do and vice versa with their lower producers. A sales force evaluation goes beyond a simple skills assessment. It gives you measurable insights into the strengths, weaknesses, and hidden potential of your sales team.

At Anthony Cole Training Group, we help banks, insurance agencies, and financial institutions identify the factors that drive performance so you can make smarter decisions about coaching, training, and hiring. Here are the dirty dozen of sales success gleaned over 30+ years:

The Purple Cow Approach to Differentiating in Sales

Tony Cole — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 12:56:36 GMT

How different are your salespeople in the marketplace? Are they unique enough to break through a very crowded marketplace?

As a sales leader, part of your role is helping your salespeople create a selling approach that stands out. Differentiating in sales is not just about having a better product or knowing more about your business. It is about giving people a reason to stop, listen and want to know more.

7 Sales Tips from an American Icon

Tony Cole — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 14:19:22 GMT

A Tribute to Stephen Covey

Stephen Covey had a significant impact on my life and millions of other lives as well. I have read many of his books:

And this book, written by his son, Stephen M.R. Covey:

The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything

4 Tips on Qualifying Prospects

Tony Cole — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 13:44:29 GMT

Quoting is not qualifying. We often must remind salespeople that "You are not a Quote Jockey. You don't make commissions on quotes. You don't need the practice of quoting. You don't need to help the current vendor by supplying the buyer with your information. You don't need to make the buyer smarter. And you don't need to waste your time, your effort or the resources of your company quoting on something that you have less than a good chance of selling."

So, stop quoting and start qualifying prospects who fit the profile of your ideal client. Start qualifying these prospects for "severe mental anguish" - the motivation to buy your product or service. Start qualifying them for their motivation to leave their current vendor relationship. Start qualifying them for their sense of urgency and ability to invest the resources required to buy.

Cooking Up a High-Performance Sales Team

Tony Cole — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 14:00:00 GMT

Building a high-performance sales team is a lot like preparing a great meal. You need the right ingredients, a reliable process, and someone who knows how to bring everything together. In sales, the science comes from measurable activities, data, and systems, while the art comes from how well your team communicates, connects with prospects, and executes. When sales leaders understand how to balance both, they are better equipped to coach their people, improve performance, and create sustainable growth.

What’s Motivating Your Sales Team?

Objective Management Group — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 15:55:46 GMT

This article was originally published by Objective Management Group and written by Kate Barsby. 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.

Sales organizations spend heavily on commission structures and contests, assuming money is what drives their salespeople. Objective Management Group’s assessment data tells a different story: only 27% of salespeople are primarily extrinsically motivated, while 52% are driven intrinsically, and just 5% are motivated by a sense of purpose or altruism. Only 17% show a balanced mix across these motivation types, meaning most salespeople depend on a single source of drive rather than several reinforcing ones. This matters because third-party research shows intrinsic motivation is a stronger predictor of sales performance than extrinsic reward, which means the lever most companies pull may not be the one moving the number they care about. The article examines what OMG’s motivation data reveals about how salespeople are actually wired, and what that means for how organizations should structure compensation, coaching, and recognition.

6 Sales Strategies for Summer: Keep Your Pipeline Moving

Tony Cole — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 20:45:24 GMT

Summer is a time for family adventures, some outdoor fun and perhaps even some downtime and relaxation for both salespeople and their prospects and clients. But there are plenty of sales strategies that you and your team can still focus on and implement. Here are six that we recommend:

Is Selling Your Passion?

Tony Cole — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 16:30:47 GMT

"To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do these every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. Number three: you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be joy or sorrow. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week; you're going to have something special."

- Jimmy Valvano, March 4, 1993, Acceptance Speech at the ESPY Awards for the Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award

So, here you are mid-year 2026. Are you having fun? Do you find yourself in a position to laugh on a regular basis, or do you take this business so seriously that you've lost your passion in sales and forgotten why you decided to get into professional selling? I've said this often over the years: "If you aren't having fun, get out and do something else." Life is too short not to have fun doing what you spend over 25% of your day doing.

What Do Customers Want from Their Financial Institution?

Mark Trinkle — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 14:16:24 GMT

Evolving technology, digital banking, and the rapid rise of AI have pushed one question to the top of every financial institution's list: what do customers actually want?

How individuals and companies find and access their banking and insurance solutions is shifting fast, making it harder than ever for FIs to keep pace. According to Maze Research, six trends are shaping customer experience in banking right now: