Purchase order numbers. I wonder how many invoices I’ve added PO numbers to in my years as a freelance business reporter. That number may be in the thousands. I’ve seen just as many POs as an online shopper. And, I’ve benefited. Having the correct PO number on my invoice means I get paid a lot…
I still remember the first time I tried to “build a funnel.” I had just joined a new company, and I wanted to prove myself. I mapped out buyer personas, stacked automation tools, drafted clever messaging sequences, and organized a color-coded CRM that looked like a sales manager’s dream. It was clean, sharp, and complete.…
Most reps aren’t prepared to sell to C-level executives. Here’s my honest take: Most salespeople are overprepared for objections and underprepared for business conversations. They rehearse demos instead of researching pressure points. They come armed with product knowledge, but not enough market insight. And they try to impress executives when they should be enabling decisions.…
Last year, I hit a wall trying to scale sales as a solo consultant. I was doing strategy calls, sending follow-ups, chasing proposals — basically playing rep, manager, and ops lead all at once. Hiring wasn’t an option, and most tools I tried just added dashboards, not real help. So I started experimenting with AI…
I still remember the first time I froze on a sales call. I had no script, no structure. I just had a vague idea of what I was selling and a whole lot of nerves. The executive on the other end waited in silence after my clumsy pitch, and all I could think was, “I’m…
Insurance gives you an extra layer of coverage when life throws an emergency your way — whether that be a run to the doctor, the mechanic, or the dentist. If you own a business, you can tap into that extra protection with a business owner’s policy. In my years reporting on business and finance, I’ve…
When I first started consulting for B2B SaaS companies, I made the mistake of thinking the buyer journey and the customer journey were basically the same thing — just two sides of the same funnel. They aren’t. I learned the hard way when a client’s churn rate quietly climbed even as new deals kept coming…
Most sales pros think their job ends when the deal is signed. But if you don’t understand how those deals affect your company’s bottom line, you’re selling blind. When I studied accounting in college, I didn’t realize how useful it would be later on as a solopreneur. But now? It’s helped me price projects more…
I’ve adopted AI into many parts of my business, particularly in marketing and operations. Yet, I wasn’t making the most of what AI could bring to my business. I hadn’t considered AI’s role in business analytics. I spoke to business founders, marketers, and data analysts to learn more about how AI business analytics allows for…
Before starting my career in marketing, I was a business development admin for a relatively large local college. Part of my role was to generate sign-ups for apprenticeships and short courses from local businesses across different sectors. I did this by cold calling (oh, the humanity!), good ol’-fashioned mailouts, face-to-face visits, and email outreach. Like…