Grant Stanley Consulting

Sales leaders are obsessed with closing. Even movies elevate closing to a mythical status. We’ve all heard the line, and maybe even implored our salespeople to, “Always be closing” (Alec Baldwin in “Glengarry Glen Ross”). The “State of Inbound 2018” report, which compiled the responses of more than 6,200 leaders from around the world, identified “closing more deals” as the No. 1 priority of sales leaders. Nothing else was even close! It’s no wonder that everyone would like a quick fix. Google the term “sales closing” and you will find: “How To Close A Sale: 7 Closing Techniques And Why They Work”, “20 Modern Sales Closing Techniques That Will Help You Win More Sales” and a host of other closing miracles. However, despite all the fanfare, focusing on closing alone does not work. Here is why. The data from nearly 2 million evaluations and assessments of salespeople conducted by Objective Management Group, shows that fewer than 6 percent of all salespeople are stron...

10 Reasons Why your Boss shouldn’t be Your Friend Is it ever OK for a manager to be friends with their employees? Believe me, this isn’t just a question brand new manager’s struggle with (and most of them do). It’s an issue a lot of experienced managers are questioned about as well, and many of them don’t think it’s a problem at all. The issue of “buddy to boss” might not be as black and white as you might think. Conventional management and HR 101 wisdom would tell you it’s absolutely not OK. In fact, some companies might even try to outlaw it through “cronyism” policies. However, in the real world of work, emotions and relationships can’t be governed by policy. Workplace relationships are can be extremely tricky, just as personal or family relationships can be. Managers are not robots – they have feelings and emotions. Sometimes you can’t help but like one employee more than another. Sometimes workplace romances blossom between managers and employees (that’s a whol...