From Dead Last to #1 in 9 Months

Your sales problems aren't skill problems. They're system problems.

Years ago, I took over the worst-performing sales team at Cintas Corporation. They hadn't hit quota in years. Zero Presidents Club winners. The running joke was "nobody succeeds in Portland."

Fast forward: #1 team in the region. Multiple Presidents Club winners. 113% to quota in the first quarter.

What changed? Not the reps. The systems.

Here's what I discovered during that turnaround that most revenue leaders get completely wrong:

You can't manage your way to greatness from your office. While other managers were "armchair quarterbacking," I was in the bullpen at 8 AM making calls with my reps. Showing them what good looks like. Leading from the front.

Feedback without trust is just criticism. I developed the Triple T framework (Tact, Tone, Timing) that eliminates defensive responses and actually changes behavior. Most managers destroy trust trying to give feedback they've never earned the right to deliver.

Your qualification framework serves you, not your buyers. BANT and MEDIC tell you what you want to hear, not what buyers actually do. I created the ADVANCED progression system that tracks real buyer behavior and predicts outcomes with 95% accuracy.

Most sales transformations fail because leaders try to fix symptoms instead of systems. They add more training, hire more reps, or blame the market. Meanwhile, the real issues (poor management structure, broken feedback loops, seller-centric processes) go untouched.

Check out my interview with John Barrows on the Make it Happen Podcast and let’s grow together!