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Sales Resources
Learn by Sales Challenge
Get yourself unstuck
Feeling stuck? In this post, Bill has outlined specific Sales Vault resources (Workshop Replays, Video Courses, Sales Tips & Blogs) to help you find the motivation and inspiration you are currently lacking.
Dealing with Voicemail…Solved
You probably don’t put much thought into it, but your outgoing voicemail message is a selling tool in itself. Find Sales Vault resources to sharpen your voicemail message to get that elusive call back, and if the call back never comes; what to do next.
How to Get Your Price…Solved
When you expect the “price” objection, you can prepare for it. Bill has compiled Sales Vault resources in the form of Tips, Blogs, Workshops and more that address this very issue.
Land the Big Fish Accounts…Solved
Top sales people have at least one major account. Most have several. Here are some ideas and tips for landing a big fish of your own and links to Sales Vault Resources that further explore the topic.
Find High-Quality Leads…Solved
Consult these Sales Vault resources Bill has selected to help you find new strategies and ideas for sourcing high quality leads.
Secure More Appointments…Solved
Once upon a time, it was fairly easy to get face time with a client. Today, you’ll be lucky if you get to FaceTime (or Zoom). Here are some ideas for facing these new sales challenges using specific Sales Vault resources Bill has selected for you.
Selling through LinkedIn…Solved
With customer contact more rare and difficult than ever, knowing how to harness the marketing power of online tools like LinkedIn will grease the skids for your selling efforts and get the phone ringing. Find actionable strategies to leverage the power of LinkedIn using these Sales Vault Resources.
Sell More in Less Time…Solved
Time management is a HUGE subject, especially as it relates to sales. I could write on the subject all day, but here I’ve outlined specific Sales Vault resources (Workshop Replays, Video Courses, Sales Tips & Blogs) to get you thinking differently about how you manage your time as it relates to sales success.
Workshop Replays
Recap & Replay: AI RX: Automating Access & Accelerating Sales in Hospitals
Use AI to prospect smarter, personalize outreach, and gain access to hospital buyers. In this Sales Vault workshop, Bill walks through real prompts, research strategies, and side-door tactics that make AI your new best sales assistant.
Recap & Replay: What Buyers Are Thinking (But Won’t Tell You)
Buyers may smile, nod, and say all the right things—while secretly planning to ghost your proposal. In this Sales Vault workshop replay, you’ll learn how to recognize invisible objections, reduce fear of change, and make your prospects feel safe saying “yes.”
Recap & Replay: Selling to Hospitals Webinar with special guest Peter Holden
Hospitals are complex—but lucrative—prospects for print, promo, and signage sales. In this Sales Vault webinar, former hospital CEO Peter Holden joins Bill Farquharson to pull back the curtain on the healthcare buying process. Watch the replay and get your prescription for sales success.
Recap & Replay: Tell Me About Your Business: Turning Conversations into Sales Gold
Too many sales calls start with a pitch and end with a polite no. In this workshop, Bill Farquharson shows how to flip the script—starting with a simple “Tell me about your business” and ending with a goldmine of sales insight.
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Recap & Replay: From Dead Leads to Warm Starts: Resurrecting Cold Accounts with AI
Your old leads aren’t dead—they’re just dormant. In this tactical workshop, Sales Vault members shared their methods (and frustrations) for reigniting interest in long-cold accounts. Learn how AI can simplify your follow-up process, craft smarter messaging, and bring lost opportunities back into play.
Recap & Replay: Run the Room, Run the Deal
The first sales call can make or break your deal. In this Sales Vault workshop, learn how to enter the room prepared, lead the conversation, ask smart questions, and walk away with a clear next step. If you’ve ever been ghosted after a great meeting, this one’s for you.
Recap & Replay: Your Website, Email Signature, and LinkedIn Profile Walk into a Bar…
What does your website, LinkedIn, and email say about you? Learn how to boost trust, professionalism, and impact in this Sales Vault replay focused on your digital first impression.
Recap & Replay: Selling the Value, Not the Product
Buyers see print and promo as a commodity—how do you stand out? Watch this powerful session on shifting the sales conversation to value, results, and creative solutions.
Recap & Replay: Sales and Marketing for Customer Retention (Not Just Acquisition)
Retaining customers is more profitable than finding new ones. In this Sales Vault session, we explore how to use print, promo, and personalized outreach to keep current clients loyal—and buying.
Recap & Replay: From Cold to Warm, How to Open More Doors
Cold calls don’t work like they used to—this session breaks down what does. Hear how Vault members are using LinkedIn, ChatGPT, handwritten notes, and custom GPTs to prospect smarter, connect faster, and win better business.
Short Attention Span Sales Tips
Hitting the Content Bullseye
You know you need to post on LinkedIn but don’t have any idea what to write. In this week’s Short Attention Span Sales Tip, Bill Farquharson shares his thought process.
Sell Past the Close: The New Rule That Works
Bill Farquharson broke the “never sell past the close” rule—and it worked. This quick tip explains why closing isn’t the end, but the start of the next sale.
LinkedIn Anomalies: Why Some Posts Go Viral
Bill’s LinkedIn post about overlooked top sales reps struck a nerve—and hit 250,000+ views. This tip dives into why it resonated, and what it means for you as a leader.
5 AI Lessons From the 6 Months of 2025
Halfway through 2025, are you where you should be—with sales and AI? Bill Farquharson shares 5 fast lessons that will get you caught up and ahead before the year ends.
Get Better, Sell More
In the front row of one Bill Farquharson’s very first presentations ever sat a man who was already the top rep in the building. He could easily have skipped the presentation and sailed along as a multi-million dollar salesman, but there he was, trying to get better. Ideas to help YOU get better are in Bill’s Short Attention Span Sales Tip this week.
Trust, Sales, and Time
Bill Farquharson’s granddaughter appears to have the stranger-danger gene. Unfortunately, she demonstrates it any time he is around. His best tactic for winning her trust is akin to yours when it comes to a new account, and that is this week’s Short Attention Span Sales Tip.
Your Sales Swing Thought
Just as a golfer needs to clear his head of all bad thoughts before hitting the ball, you can come up with your own “sales swing thought” or you can use the example Bill Farquharson gives in this week’s Short Attention Span Sales Tip.
The Non-Sales Sales Factor
“I’m no sales person” said the selling owner. But Bill Farquharson showed how 38 five-star Google Reviews reveal a different story. Learn an important part of sales you haven’t thought twice about until now. See Bill’s Short Attention Span Sales Tip.
Why Your Great Idea Didn’t Sell
What just happened? You are walking out of a meeting where you presented the perfect solution to the client’s need…but no sales was made. Don’t you wish you’d seen Bill Farquharson’s Short Attention Span Sales Tip ahead of time.
The Positive of Negative Feedback
Haters gonna hate. The good news, you can use the anger to your advantage. And Bill Farquharson hopes you like this week’s Short Attention Span Sales Tip.
Short Attention Span Sales Blog
A New Sales Rep’s Journey
Do you remember when you first started out? Remember the fear? The anxiety? The rejection? In this week’s blog, take a walk down Memory Lane with Bill Farquharson.
Selling by Their Rules
A post-golf conversation over a beer planted a thought in Bill Farquharson’s head: Whose rules are we following when we sell? Get it right and you have a client for life. Read more in this week’s blog.
Prospect Small, Sell Big
Bill Farquharson bristles at the common belief, sales is a numbers game. In this week’s blog, he presents an alternate approach.
Differentiate Your Next Email Appointment Request
You are emailing a prospect looking for an appointment. If your efforts aren’t working, perhaps you could use the advice in Bill Farquharson’s blog.
Marchand-Like Anticipation
With the Stanley Cup Finals now over, Bill Farquharson examines the play of Brad Marchand and writes in this week’s blog how you can score your next selling opportunity.
Solution Now, Anger Later
An order has gone wrong and the client is furious. They say it’s your fault but you know it’s not. Before you solve that mystery, there is something even more important to get to and Bill Farquharson writes about it in his blog this week.
Making a Good Post Great
When you bake a cake and want to make sure it is fully cooked, you are taught to stick a knife or toothpick in it. A clean instrument means done. When you are creating content to post, Bill Farquharson has a tip for you to know when it is not just good, but great.
How to Get Your Point Across in Written Form
Are your customers excited to hear from you? When an email pops up in their inbox, do they rush to open it or roll their eyes? You’ll do a better job at getting your point across in writing after reading Bill Farquharson’s blog (which you are hopefully excited to read).
Two Things to Say About Sales Objections
Why use 250 words when 50 will get your point across just fine? In this week’s blog, Bill Farquharson goes with brevity to make two important points about sales objections.
Never Close a Sale
If you have a lot of quotes out there, you need to do two things. The first is to close, close, close. The second is to learn how to sell so you DON’T need to close, close, close. Find out more in Bill Farquharson’s blog.
On-Demand Courses
Downloadable Tools & Templates
Whitepapers
Articles
Managers: Don’t Expect Your Sales Reps to Try to Make 25 Sales Calls Per Day
I received an email from a reader and, by the time I got done with my response, a column had written itself … Dear Bill: In your October Printing Impressions article, “How to Improve Your Productivity,” you mention making 10 or more calls per day and that very few people have the time or patience […]
Persistence: How Long Should I Keep Calling on a Sales Prospect Before Giving Up?
Consider this scenario: You bang on the door of a prospect. The door opens and, before you can say anything, the prospect throws a glass of water in your face. The next day, you bang on the door of the same prospect. Again, the door opens and, again, the prospect drenches you. Would you go […]
Sales Challenges: Preparation Powers Persuasion
In his book, What They Don’t Teach You At Harvard Business School, Mark McCormack wrote about how everyone is in sales. Kids, for example, try to sell their parents on the idea that ice cream at 4 o’clock won’t ruin their dinner. Those who grow up to become sales people are the ones who don’t […]
How to Improve Your Productivity When Selling Printing
“I did it! I finally caught up on all my work!” Said no one. Ever. The concept of time management fills books, seminar venues, and Printing Impressions columns every now and then. Time is finite and a big part of success in sales comes down to selling more in less time. You can be busy but not productive. You […]
Sales Challenges: How to Differentiate Yourself
When we were younger, no one wanted to stand out. Grade school, junior high (as it was once called), and high school was survivable so long as you weren’t different in any way. Once you become an adult, of course, being different becomes the goal. We strive to set ourselves apart with the same gusto […]
Sell Away Your Problems
It’s as if you were in a coma, isn’t it? There you were cruising along and the next thing you know your book of business is a pamphlet. You can rub your eyes and pinch yourself all you want. Nothing is going to change. Thanks to COVID-19, your sales life is in crisis. You are […]
Sales Challenges: Are You Like a Gallon of Milk?
Heading down aisle after aisle of your local supermarket, you fill your cart with the items from the shopping list while trying not to faint at the sharp uptick in prices across the board. Arriving in the dairy section, you examine the choices for milk. $4.39 for one brand and $4.99 for another. Thanks to […]
Sales Challenges: It’s Time for Your Midyear Checkup
Are you feeling sad at all?” When my primary physician asked me that question during a recent med-check appointment, I shot back an inquisitive look. She continued, “The pandemic has changed much of our daily lives and we like to check in with our patients regarding their mental health and overall well-being.” Having worked from […]
Keys for Printing Industry Salespeople to Develop Good Time Management Skills
How is it that the people who sell the most work the least? That sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it? You would think someone selling millions of dollars of print or signage would have no family, few friends, a 25 handicap, an un-mowed lawn, and bags under their eyes from lining up back-to-back-to-back 14-hour workdays. But the […]
Sales Challenges: ‘Inventing Anna,’ a Jedi Print Sales Rep
Have you seen the Netflix sensation, “Inventing Anna”? It’s a fascinating true story (except for the parts that were made up) about a young woman who weaved her way into the highest levels of New York City’s high society armed with a believable story, 1,000cc of chutzpah, and a dream of creating something big. By […]
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