SALES with ASLAN

Sales is measured by results. But should sellers and managers measure sales effectiveness by results? In Truth #22 of Sales with ASLAN's 30 Truths for 30 Years series, Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris explain why revenue, quota attainment, and activity alone don't tell you whether a seller is actually effective. Markets change. Territories differ. Some sellers inherit stronger products or great...

Not every opportunity deserves the same amount of your time. In Truth #21 of Sales with ASLAN’s 30 Truths for 30 Years series, Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris unpack one of the most important disciplines in sales opportunity management: deciding which deals are actually worth pursuing. Salespeople need optimism to succeed. But that same optimism can keep sellers chasing opportunities that are not real...

What makes a benefit actually valuable to a buyer? In the latest episode of Sales with ASLAN , Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris unpack Truth #20 from ASLAN’s 30 Truths for 30 Years series: the most powerful two words in building value are “Because You.” Salespeople are trained to know their benefits, differentiators, case studies, and ROI. But if they cannot connect those things directly to what the cu...

Should sales managers coach every rep who needs to improve? At ASLAN, we believe the answer is no. In Truth #19 of Sales with ASLAN’s 30 Truths for 30 Years series, Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris unpack one of ASLAN’s most distinctive sales coaching principles: desire determines development. Developing a sales capability requires practice. A manager can provide feedback, create a development plan, sc...

What if being “helpful” is actually keeping your sales team from serving customers well? In this episode of Sales with ASLAN , Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris unpack Truth #18 from ASLAN’s 30 Truths for 30 Years series: To Serve the Customer, You Must Lead. This episode is especially relevant for inbound sales reps, account managers, contact center teams, channel sellers, retail sales teams, and anyon...

Most sellers think influence starts when they make their case. It doesn’t. In this episode of Sales with ASLAN , Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris unpack Truth #17 from ASLAN’s 30 Truths for 30 Years series: Influence Begins With Validation. When a buyer strongly disagrees with your recommendation, the instinct is often to explain harder, present more evidence, or make a stronger argument. But that usua...

What if the objection you’re trying to handle isn’t actually an objection at all? In this episode of Sales with ASLAN , Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris break down the difference between a real objection and a false objection , and why treating them the same can create even more buyer resistance. A real objection means the buyer is engaged and wants an answer. A false objection is often something else...

What makes a buyer trust one seller over another, even when the solutions look similar? In this episode of Sales with ASLAN , Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris unpack one of ASLAN’s foundational sales truths: people buy you before they buy your recommendation. They explore why trust, motive, expertise, confidence, and an Other-Centered® approach shape how buyers interpret everything a seller says. You’l...

Why do buyers agree with your business case but still hesitate to act? Understanding the benefits isn’t always enough. They also need to care about what the change will mean for them. In this episode of Sales with ASLAN, Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris explore Truth #14: Emotion + Logic = Action. They unpack how emotions drive decision-making in sales and how sellers can connect credible evidence to t...

In Truth #13 of Sales with ASLAN , Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris tackle one of the biggest challenges sellers face: handling tough objections. The answer isn’t a better rebuttal or a more polished script. It’s the truth. Tom and Tab explain why the best sellers validate the customer’s point of view, isolate the real objection, and share what is genuinely in the buyer’s best interest. They also unpac...

In Truth #12 of ASLAN’s 30 Truths for 30 Years series, Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris unpack one of ASLAN’s most practical and counterintuitive principles: Drop the Rope® When a customer, colleague, or family member becomes resistant, our instinct is often to push harder, defend our position, and prove why we are right. But the more pressure people feel, the more likely they are to pull back. Tom and...

Your words are only part of what people hear. In Truth #11 of ASLAN’s 30 Truths for 30 Years series, Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris explore the power of the metamessage, the meaning communicated through your tone, expression, attention, body language, and motive. They discuss how a technically correct question can still sound accusatory, why customers can sense when a seller is focused on the deal in...

We all have blind spots, habits, strengths, and limitations that other people can see more clearly than we can. In Truth #10 of ASLAN's 30 Truths for 30 Years series, Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris explore why feedback is one of the most important tools for growth in sales, coaching, and leadership. They discuss why even successful people need outside perspective, how feedback can reveal strengths as...

Discipline beats talent in sales because talent may create early momentum, but discipline creates repeatable results. That is the simple truth behind the latest episode of Sales with ASLAN . Tom and Tab unpack an idea that isn't the flashiest idea in the series, and it is not new to most leaders. But it may be one of the most important reminders for sales organizations trying to improve perfor...

In a crowded market, attention is harder to earn than ever. Buyers are overwhelmed by emails, messages, meetings, AI-generated outreach, and competing priorities, so generic sales messaging gets filtered out quickly. In this episode of Sales with ASLAN , Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris continue the “30 Truths for 30 Years” series with a simple but critical idea: attention follows need and novelty. The...

Most salespeople stumble at the finish line because they focus too much on closing rather than uncovering the real barriers that prevent deals from closing. What if the secret to more sales isn’t about closing harder, but about understanding what’s genuinely stopping potential clients in their tracks? In this eye-opening episode, sales experts Tom and Tab reveal how top sellers don’t focus on clos...

In the latest episode of Sales with ASLAN , Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris unpack new research from nearly 500 buyers and 500 sellers. New buyer-seller research shows buyers are less dependent on sales reps for information. Learn why sellers need to become trusted partners, not product representatives. The headline is simple, but uncomfortable: buyers don’t need sellers for information the way they u...

What if your expertise is actually making you less curious? In this episode of Sales with ASLAN , Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris are joined by bestselling author and sales engineering expert Chris White to unpack the idea of “clearing your cache.” They explore why sellers often rely on assumptions instead of truly listening, how paraphrasing builds trust, and why customers need to feel uniquely under...

Many sellers believe the key to winning more deals is learning how to close better. But the real problem is not closing. It is failing to advance the opportunity. In this episode of Sales with ASLAN , Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris unpack one of the most practical truths from ASLAN’s 30 Truths for 30 Years series: To sell more, focus on the buyer process, not your commission. When sellers focus on th...

In complex B2B sales, deals rarely fall apart because the solution is weak. More often, they stall because sellers are working through the wrong people. In out latest episode of Sales with ASLAN , Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris unpack a critical truth from our 30 truths for 30 years series: rank does not equal influence. The highest title in the room is not always the person driving the decision, and...

Motive is ultimately transparent, and it can make or break your influence in sales and in life. In Truth #2 of ASLAN’s “30 Truths” anniversary series, Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris unpack why people can sense your intent, even when your words sound right. From “commission breath” to the subtle facial cues that give you away, they explore how motives show up through posture, questions, listening, and...

This episode kicks off a special year for Sales with ASLAN as we celebrate 30 years in business by revisiting the most important truths we have learned along the way. Tom and Tab start with the most foundational and most counterintuitive insight of all: the customer’s willingness to listen matters more than your ability to communicate. From early days making cold calls to conversations with Fortun...

Only a day after training, most teams forget half of what they learned. By the end of the week, nearly all of it is gone. Not because the content was bad, but because the human brain is wired to forget. That is the Forgetting Curve, and it exposes a deeper issue in sales enablement. Too many organizations measure success by recall instead of change. Memory is easy to test. Behavior is harder. But...

In this episode, Tom, John, and Tab explore how an abundance mindset shapes performance, relationships, and results, especially under pressure. They unpack the difference between scarcity and abundance, why fear quietly sabotages peak performance, and how gratitude creates the psychological safety needed to operate in a state of flow. John explains how survival instincts and outcome attachment lim...

Year-end pressure, big presentations, quota conversations, it all amplifies one thing: fear. In our latest Sales with ASLAN, long-time friend and team member of ASLAN, John Cequeria, unpacks how survival instincts hijack performance, and how gratitude, service, and abundance can bring you back to your best self. After his life-altering experience in the Twin Towers on 9/11 and 15 years in sales tr...