Matt Ferguson's Linkedin Analytics

Let's have some fun on a Friday. Every leader says things that annoy their teams. Of the 5 I mention below, I have said them all, especially early in my career. The truth is, they hurt more than they help. Watch what you say- Words can build or break your culture. I think my friend Christine Rogers will love #4! Add more you have said or heard in the comments. Have a good long weekend!

Most sales managers need to micromanage more. Yep, I said it. Here’s the definition: “To manage with excessive control or attention to detail.” The control part I can do without. But the part I like is "Attention to detail." Most managers lack this. Here’s the real issue: They assume everyone knows what to do. Most don’t. When I dig into expectations with a new client, I usually hear: “Isn’t that micromanaging?” I ask: Have you actually shown and coached them what to do to hit their number? Every time we get clear on that, something funny happens. Like last week, a client told me: “Most of my team appreciated the direction.” People want a clear path to success, not guesswork. Don’t skip the details and leave your team in the dark. Most managers aren’t over-managing. They’re under-explaining. If that’s micromanaging, maybe we need more of it.

Your boss is wrong all the time—here’s how to prove it. Opinions make people emotional and frustrated. Lead to arguments and stalemates. I hear sales leaders complain every day about something their boss said. My response is always the same: "Whats that mean?" It’s my way of saying: Show me the real story. Data = Facts = Less Emotion. Example from yesterday: Manager wants to promote a rep. Boss says: “They’re not consistent.” Consistency is one of the most misunderstood words in sales. People confuse normal ups and downs with being inconsistent. This company tracks weekly. That means even more swings. Here’s the rep’s last 6 weeks: 7-1-7-6-3-11. Could there be an argument for that being inconsistent? I guess but here is how we saw it. That’s an average of 5.8/week. National average: 4. It put the rep in the tier right below the top performers. Bonus: This rep hasn’t missed a single day of work- something rare at the company. Your averages over time matter. They show the real trend and help understand what is consistent. They also keep you from overreacting, and keep your boss off your back. If you want to win more arguments, Ditch the opinions. Stick to the facts.

I’ve never been a “last-day-of-the-month” person. But when I have a bad month, I focus on one thing: How do I get headed in the right direction? AKA—Momentum. -What can I do differently? -What can spark some excitement? -What can I do to get headed in the right direction Here’s the trap we all fall into: Trying to fix everything at once. When you fix everything, you fix nothing. Pick one thing. Get specific. Set a target. Hit it. Then do it again. You’ll be surprised how fast momentum builds. Small wins = Big wins.

For me, starting or finishing isnt the hardest part- its the middle. A couple weeks ago I started running again. On Sundays I always take the kids to Mcdonalds. The route I take is about 2 miles. We start going down hill for about a mile. Then we turn and come back- uphill. It sucks and I want to quit from mile 1 until about 1.75. Then I see the golden arches and finish strong. When its tough in the middle I always think about one thing. How do I want to feel sitting at Mcdonalds. If I quit I wont feel as good as if I finish. Thats what keeps me going. Its the same thing with work- how do you feel on Friday afternoon around 4:00. Ask yourself what you want to accomplish this week and whats gonna keep you going in the middle. You will thank yourself at 4:00 on Friday. Just like I am sitting here right now.

Your best people won't complain. They’ll just leave. And when they do, it’ll feel like it came out of nowhere. About half my clients pay me out of pocket because they feel no support from above. The text exchange below is one of them. He hired me to help boost his team’s revenue—so he could make enough money to quit by year-end. A first for me. A month ago, he asked if he should tell his boss he was unhappy. They were heading to dinner and had a decent relationship. I encouraged him to do so. Since that conversation, everything changed. He now feels valued, supported—and is on track for a promotion. It works both ways: If you're a leader: Don’t assume your best people are fine just because they're not loud. If you’re an employee: Don’t assume your boss knows you’re struggling. Speak up. Listen up. Don’t wait until it’s too late.

When I saw the play below, I recorded it and sent it to my nephews, who all play sports. Imagine being one of the best 200 basketball players in the world and missing an easy shot that bad. My message- Hey Boys everyone has a: - Bad Swing - Bad Pitch - Bad Shot Just like in Sales- Everyone has a  - Bad Day - Bad Demo - Bad Cold Call Shake it off Onto the next Sales and Sports are full of ups and downs. Sometimes it feels like there are a lot more downs than ups. Your perspective is everything. You either let them keep you down Or learn from them and get better. My dad always reminds us. It's ok to be down. Just don't be down for too long. Even the best have bad plays and calls. Use them to get better!

Life and sales lessons from a 4-year-old soccer practice that will make you better today. Every week, I go to my daughter's soccer practice. It's the best 35 minutes of the week. It's the worst display of sports you could watch. And also my favorite. Yesterday, as practice concluded, I heard one of the kids say he didn't get to play in the scrimmage. The coach responded: "That's because you weren't Listening or Paying Aattention." Listening and Paying Attention. Two things that seem so easy, but with all the distractions we have today, make it so hard. I catch my eyes wandering all the time. - Phone - Email/ Slack - Second screen - Someone walking past my office I also see others doing it to me; it's almost become second nature. If we just "Listened and Paid Attention" to the person we were talking to, it makes us better: -Leaders -Sellers -Friends -Parents Join me today as I turn my phone face down and turn off my second screen during calls. 2 good steps to "Listening and Paying Attention" to the person I am talking to, which I know will make me better.

The longer you wait, the worse it gets. Conquering Crisis has a common theme that we could all get better at when handling problems. HANDLING THEM EARLIER Which always reminds me of the story of buffalo and cows. Buffalos- charge towards the storm, Cows- Run away. As I leader, I have been both. Ask yourself are you: ✅ Proactive ✅ Play offense ✅ Stay ahead of issues ✅ Use problems to grow Or: ❌ Reactive ❌ Playing defense ❌ Can never catch up ❌ Let problems break you We all have problems, how you handle them is everything. The longer you put them off, the worse they get. If you have been putting off a problem. Get started on it today. Your future self will thank you for it. PS- Highly reccomend this book.

With all the responsibilities a Sales Manager has, it's easy to lose track of the two most important ones. Best-selling Sales Management Author Mike Weinberg defines them as: 1. Your most important job is ensuring people do their job (Accountability). 2. Your second most important job is helping people do their job better (Coaching). After 3+ years of coaching sales managers, these are the two areas I see sales managers need help with most. Why? Because no one ever showed them how. Most just teach the way they used to sell, or do everyone's job for them. We will share our best practices, along with: - Why most 1-on-1s are a waste of time - Biggest challenges we see developing new business - Bonus- Our top 5 Favorite Golf Courses we have ever played We will go live on LinkedIn on May 27th at 11:00am PT/ 2:00pm ET. Click attend below, we will see you there!

The biggest thing salespeople battle isn’t what most people think. It’s not: - Competitors - Budget - Timing It’s the Status Quo. Doing nothing is easier. Finding problems isn’t hard; everyone has them. The hard part is finding the right ones: *The ones that cause real pain. *The ones that actually matter. If you can’t help them see that And agree with you— They’ll stick with what they know. Most people hate change. They won’t move until the pain of now Feels worse than the fear of change.

I recently shared 8 things I shifted as a manager—these two had the biggest impact. My boss told me I was too subjective. I nodded—had no clue what he meant. Subjective = Opinion. And my opinion of my team? - They sucked. - Most should be fired. - Why can’t they just do what I did? I never thought anyone booked enough meetings. Which led to not selling enough AKA- as much as I did. Then came the moment that opened my eyes. An Objective (factual) Exercise We pulled 4 years of meeting data of over 50 reps. The average- 5 meetings a week. That fact stopped me in my tracks. Most of my current team was above average. The exercise did two important things: 1. Showed me how important the "Facts" were 2. Helped me understand what "Good" was That moment flipped a switch: Subjective (opinion) → Objective (fact). The facts tell everyone where they stand. The more you can define "Good" the easier it is. I created a scoring system to help people understand how they are really doing versus aiming for a number and either hitting it or not. Sales isn't just Pass or Fail. If you're frustrated with your team, ask yourself: Are you managing facts—or just your feelings?

What do golf, momentum, and sales slumps have in common? More than you'd think. My college football coach used to say: "Life is like a golf shot; it's never as good or as bad as you think." After years of playing golf, I catch myself saying: "Oh, it's not that bad." "I thought I was closer than that." Sales works the same way. Most people think sales is a roller coaster. The truth? It’s a pattern. You're more consistent than you give yourself credit for. When it feels like nothing's going right, ask: Is it really that bad? Then: -Do the next right thing -Get the next small win -Stack another -Build momentum The way out isn’t some big heroic moment. It’s small wins, stacked daily. Small wins=Big wins

Recruiting is to Sales Managers what Prospecting is to Account Executives. It’s: - Critical to success - Time-consuming - Full of rejection - Easy to avoid And let’s be honest—who loves onboarding reps. That’s why so many managers hang onto bottom performers. Not because it’s smart—because it’s easier. But what’s it costing you? For most- Shaq and Kobe aren't knocking on our doors. My old CEO used to ask: "Who’s on your bench?" Just like reps need a pipeline, so do you. Build your network. A little a day goes a long way. You never know when you’ll need it. Or what it’s costing you if you don’t.

Who knew I would find the best company culture I have seen in a while before 7:00am on Saturday. My kids were both up before 6:00 am. So I put them in the stroller. Murphy wanted a muffin, so we walked down to Sprouts. The only problem was that they don't open until 7:00 am. We got there a little early. I figured on a Saturday, if anything, they would open a little late. To my surprise, at 6:57am, the door popped open. As we walked in, we were greeted with smiles and hellos. As we walked around, I noticed everyone was in a good mood, interacting with each other and having a good time. Let me remind you- it's 7:00 am on a Saturday, not Friday afternoon. Not really a time fake culture would come up. You can tell a lot about the culture you are building by the mood people are in all the time. Its a lot easier to perform better when you are in a - Good mood - Like where you work - Like what you do Vs the opposite Take a lesson from Sprouts Farmers Market. What type of mood are your people in? It usually follows the leader.

They say the days are long and the years are short. I couldn't agree more. It feels like yesterday—but it was two years ago—I dropped Murphy off for her first day of school. I will never forget that morning. - Trying to get lunch ready  - Getting her dressed - Putting on sunscreen My wife and I almost killed each other, haha. New things and routines can be hard. Some of you reading this may be onboarding someone new today and feel overwhelmed. Take a breath and enjoy it, because before you know it, it will feel normal. Just like it was for us this morning. I know in the blink of an eye, I will be dropping her off at college. I am very thankful that it isn't today.

I have been posting on Linkedin consistently for over 3 years. Yesterday, I had my worst-performing post ever. Was it LinkedIn's Fault? No Was it my fault? Maybe Did it ruin my day?  No, I have too many other things going on. Here are some of those things: *New LI Live show next week with a record number of signups featuring best-selling author Mike Weinberg. *Finalizing a new E-book to help managers and sales reps have better one-on-ones. *Working on a project with a sales coach to align our coaching programs to work with leaders and teams. *Seeing TikTok engagement more than double from new video content. *Oh—and I’ve got two kids under 5. Most people dwell on a lost deal or bad call because it’s the only thing they have going on. The key to having things going on is getting a bunch of small wins. Everything above started with a: - Phone call - Writing a couple words - An open mind - Recording 1 video - A blind date The key is consistency over time. It adds up. Don't let 1 small loss get you headed in the wrong direction. A loss is just a different way to learn. Take action and keep going. Small Wins=Big Wins Links in the comments if you are interested in what I mentioned above.

What could cause Mike Weinberg to have that reaction below? It's our alignment on a topic that everyone is always trying to figure out. The common characteristic that top performers share. Here is what it wasn't: - Closing - Discovery - Negotiating - Coachable - Curious It's their Target list: Top performers can tell you who they are targeting. And they don't waste time with bad accounts. What we also agree on is that leadership's job is to point people in the right direction. I like to say that if you're going to micromanage anything, micromanage your lists! We went for an hour and also covered: - Selling today vs back in the day - Why sales is a noble profession - Accountability vs Coaching- Don't do them together - 1 on 1's- Effective vs a waste of time Links are in the comments for replay. Thanks for coming on Mike- I always enjoy our conversations.

Feeling sluggish after the long weekend? Join me and Mike Weinberg today—we’ll help you shake off the rust and get back into work mode. We’re going live on LinkedIn to talk about the stuff that actually moves the needle in Sales Management: -Driving new business -Accountability -Coaching -Better 1-on-1s Not sure what else matters. And who better to talk shop with than a guy who's written multiple best-sellers on this exact stuff? We kick off at 11:00am PT / 2:00 ET. Link’s in the comments—see you there.

I turn 45 today. Here are 4 things about sales and 5 about leadership that I wish I had known sooner. Sales 1. Target the right accounts 2. Understand your sales math 3. Focus on the small wins every day 4. Be the solution for your boss, not the problem Leadership 1. Don’t clone yourself—help people become their best 2. Nobody cares as much as you, and that's ok 3. Every problem is a chance to get better 4. Focus on strengths over weaknesses 5. Listen to your team At age 10- I wanted to be in the NBA 20- I wanted to be on the PGA tour 30- I was teaching people how to play golf 40- I was leading sales teams 45- I am coaching sales leaders Life is long and short all at the same time. It could all end tomorrow. I am doing what I love to do. I encourage everyone to do the same. Here’s to 45 more. I feel like I'm just getting started!