Account managers are not friends with prospects "Hey, how are you? How are the kids? Are you still working out?" That's not sales. And yet I see it happen all the time: account managers who think they have to be friends with their clients. Those who call for a friendly chat. Those who stop by without an agenda. Those who think a nice smile and an interest in someone's private life are enough. But I am adamant about this: account managers are not friends. Are you allowed to be

All stakeholders agreed. My team was perfect. And yet, the deal went to the competitor. Back in time: Peru. I'm happily backpacking. Carefree. Because that mega deal? It's in. All stakeholders agree. My team agrees, everything's perfectly arranged. Or not? Back at the office, my program manager is waiting for me. He's never stressed. Now whiter than a tablecloth. He comes to sit at my table. It's about a lot of money. "Frits, I have to tell you something." My heart sinks into

Showing slides or a long intro in the first 10 minutes of a sales call is an accelerated conversion killer. Yet most tech (sales) professionals still think: "I explain my solution and what benefits it has for the customer." The higher the rank, the greater the belief that prospects want to listen to you. Wrong. This makes you EXACTLY the classic salesperson you DON'T want to be. Pitching instead of listening. Yesterday I was at a software company. Their top architect had an i

Qualifying is different from cross-examination. "When do you want to start?" "Are you the decision maker?" "What is the budget?" That's not a qualification. That's a cross-examination. Real qualification works differently. But before you start qualifying, you've obviously first asked your prospect about their ambitions. After all, prospects are just like people. They love to share their dreams and plans. And certainly not pain points after they've known you for five minutes.

Most consultants think clients are interested in their services. But I tell you: Not the case! Customers are interested in their own problems. So, to align your potential customers, you should NEVER start by explaining your service. You become more valuable when you can explain your service starting from your customer's perspective! 4 steps: → Step 1: Start with the customer question Not: “We do data analysis and have done it many times.” But: "How important is your data to y

Last week I spoke to a director who had spent €15,000 on sales coaching. The result? Lots of insights. Great conversations. Improved self-image. But zero change in results. And by results, I don't mean euros, but four concrete things: 1) Take your customer seriously. So, be truly willing to think "in reverse." Look at your questions and offering from the customer's perspective: would I buy this myself? This requires a confrontational yet inspiring coaching style to shake you

Not doing sales because you are technical is the biggest misconception in service delivery. In more and more industries, the difference between competitors is virtually zero. That is exactly why you MUST sell. There are 3 reasons why this just works even if you're the “technical” one: 1) Customers want to trust you They want to talk to the people who really know. Not with a smooth salesman who says "yes" to everything. With the specialist who honestly tells you what is and is

Photos from sailboats. Expensive watches. Happy faces. "That's how I built my million-dollar empire in 3 years!" And my posts? It's simply about my experiences and insights from years of sales. Ups and, yes, plenty of downs. And yes, you do sometimes start to doubt yourself if you can't use these feats as a headline. Yeah, I am just going to keep it real. It's THEIR truth. Their path. Their context. Their happiness. But they don't tell you everything. They idealize entreprene

"A good salesperson is a bad manager" I hear it all the time. Only the opposite is true. I actually say: A good salesperson is the best sales leader. “Huh. Why?” I hear you thinking. Well, because he understands what a salesperson goes through. In good times and bad. He's not an office worker, hidden away in an Excel spreadsheet. He goes with you to clients. He knows what you need to perform. The first time, he demonstrates the conversation. The second time, he intervenes alo

Oh, unfortunately I can't reach my target for this year..." I hear it often. Rarely true. And many professionals experience it as unpleasant, a means of pressure My view? You can ALWAYS reach your target. If you plan it right. And...a target contributes to your success! It makes you happy. How can a target make you happy? → It gives focus and therefore peace → Satisfaction when you make it → Increasingly more insight into where your value is purchased because you manage your

Roger Federer has won barely more points than any of his opponents in his entire career. Still, I consider him the best tennis player of all time. What made him so special? He always stayed in the moment. Completely focused on the ball. Lost a point? On to the next one. Won a point? On to the next one. Moral of the story? Every point counts for him. And he treats it as the "one and only point." In my opinion, this is exactly where many salespeople and consultants fail. They c

Anyone can learn sales. But who does the customer trust most? The professional. Not the salesperson. I see this happen over and over again. The technician is asked, "How exactly does this work?" Answer: Detailed, accurate, credible. The salesperson is asked the same question. The answer is: "I'll get back to you," or vague chitchat. Guess who the client trusts? This is precisely why I don't work with random salespeople. I look for professionals who already understand that sal

The distinction between new business and existing business is complete nonsense. So, as far as I'm concerned… Stop that. "I only do new business acquisition." "I am an account manager for existing customers." Wrong. Every customer is new business. Every day again. New department you're not in yet? New business. New problem you haven't solved yet? New business. New manager you don't know yet? New business. A good account manager is constantly selling. Not managing. The service

Don Draper (Mad Men) pulled off the most powerful sales move I've ever seen. What did he do? He threw the deal away… Don Draper, the protagonist of Mad Men, is the creative director of an agency. He had a customer who had doubts. And instead of fighting? He said this: "Guys, we're quitting. You don't believe in your own story. How can we ever do good advertising if you don't believe in it yourselves? Don't believe in what your customers can bring to the forefront?" The custom

"Sir, can I wash your car for three guilders?" My voice trembled slightly when I first rang the doorbell at the age of twelve. The neighbor raised his eyebrows. He looked from me to my bucket, to his dusty Opel Kadett, and back to me. "And will I actually get it clean?" he asked with a mischievous smile. I nodded resolutely. "The rims too, sir." That Sunday afternoon in 1978, I washed my first car. Five more followed on the same street. Before sunset, I'd earned more than an

It's no wonder you don't want to be "that salesperson" when your inbox is flooded with pushy salespeople. But aren't you leaving money on the table? I get it all too well. Your inbox is full of pushy salespeople. Your LinkedIn is flooded with AI-generated messages. This is absolutely not how you want to be. Only in the tech sector do I see the opposite problem: professionals who are so afraid of being pushy that they become passive and miss opportunities. So isn't your fear o

"What's your value proposition?" I asked the sales team at a tech scaleup. And they all pointed to the same slide in their presentation. You won't get away with that with me. "And how do you use that in your sales conversations?" Silence. Confusion. Shuffling feet. Here's the problem: most companies see their value proposition as a statement, not as the DNA of their sales process. A working value proposition isn't just marketing copy. It's the essence of why customers choose

In sales training sessions, I sometimes like to compare rock-solid sales with one of my football icons, Marco van Basten… I was fortunate enough to see him play in his heyday. One of the few truly world-class players the Netherlands has ever produced. What made him so special? Two things that I translate directly into my sales philosophy: Being available when it matters. Van Basten had that rare gift of being in the right place at the right time. It wasn't a coincidence. It w

Everyone's saying these days that AI is going to take over all sales and marketing jobs, but consider this: Would you ever buy a €20K+ solution from a chatbot? Of course not. That's not how we humans are wired at all. In recent years, the B2B world has been flooded with new tools and technologies, all supposedly helping you sell faster and more. CRM systems that collect data, but are they really getting the most out of your customers? AI applications that send impersonal mess

In my opinion, technical professionals and consultants have incredible potential that they don't see themselves. The reason: In practice, you still associate 'selling' with being pushy. With manipulation. With anything that goes against your integrity and professionalism. As a result, you abandon sales activities and trust that sales will come your way. After all, you are good at your job, right? EXACTLY. And that's exactly why you can become the perfect trusted advisor. Your