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On-Demand Courses
Selling to Hospitals: Big Fish Sales in a High-Rules Environment
Hospitals buy a ton of print, signage, and promo—yet they can be notoriously hard to break into because decisions run through committees, compliance, vendor approval, and long budget cycles. This course teaches you how to research healthcare trends, identify revenue-driving opportunities, find the right stakeholders, and frame your offering in the language hospitals care about: safety, outcomes, efficiency, and patient experience.
Selling to Banks: Cracking the Code of Financial Institution Sales
Banks and credit unions buy plenty of print, signage, and promo—but profitable work comes from understanding how they make money, what’s changing in the industry, and what priorities your target institution is pushing right now. This course shows you how to build value-driven pitches, research like a pro, and walk into the conversation sounding like a partner—not another vendor begging to be put on the bid list.
Selling to Colleges: Win the Big Fish Without Becoming Bait
Colleges and universities are a massive, price-sensitive market with scattered buying circles—which means real opportunity… and real complexity. In this 6-lesson course, Bill breaks down what colleges buy, why they buy it, and who’s doing the buying, then shows you how to sell beyond “submit a bid” by tying print, signage, and promo to what schools are trying to accomplish right now.
Sustainable Productivity
Busy isn’t the same as productive. This course gives experienced reps a simple, repeatable system to plan their week, protect their best sales activities, and end every day with tomorrow ready to go. Learn how to stack appointments, manage opportunities, and sell more in less time—without burning out.
Landing the Big Fish
Big accounts don’t get “won.” They get pursued, mapped, and earned—over time, with patience, creativity, and a strategy that goes way beyond “just checking in.” This course gives you the mindset, structure, and contact tactics to break into large organizations, stay relevant during long sales cycles, and build a repeatable Big Fish pipeline.
Taming the Nuisance Customer
Learn how to identify, manage, and—when necessary—fire time-sucking, profit-draining clients. Learn practical strategies for dealing with bullies, slow payers, price-checkers, and chronic complainers so you can protect your time, your team, and your best customers.
Getting to YOUR Next Level
Explore this practical, no-drama framework to figure out where you are, where you want to go, and exactly what has to change in your mindset, skills, and activity to get there. This isn’t motivational fluff. It’s a working blueprint you’ll use to evaluate, review, plan, and execute your way to real growth.
A Sustainable Productivity Plan for New Sales Reps
Build consistency and focus with a repeatable productivity system for sales reps. Learn how to plan smarter, execute better, and stay on track — every day, every week.
Objection Mastery: Turning Resistance into Revenue
Master the art of handling objections. Learn to recognize, reframe, and respond to resistance with strategies that convert hesitation into opportunity.
Effective Sales Presentations
Turn your next meeting into a masterclass in preparation, presentation, and persuasion. In this course, Bill Farquharson walks you through every step of an effective sales presentation — from preparation to delivery to securing the next meeting. You’ll learn how to research your client, structure your message, and communicate with clarity and confidence.
Making Contact with Decision Makers
This course is about mastering one of the hardest parts of selling: gaining access to the person with the power to say “yes.” You’ll learn why diligence beats talent, how to craft powerful conversations, and how to reset your mindset so you stop feeling like a pest and start acting like a trusted advisor.
Marketing is the New Sales
Marketing is the New Sales helps you stand out in a crowded market, generate steady leads, and strengthen client relationships. By the end, you’ll have practical strategies to drive growth and keep your pipeline full—without relying on old-school sales tactics.
Lead Generation for Legacy Sales Reps: Sharpening Your Edge
Sharpen your edge and win better business. This advanced course helps seasoned sales reps refine their Ideal Customer Criteria, apply smarter prospecting strategies, and leverage AI to save time and uncover high-value opportunities. Stop chasing volume and start focusing on the clients who deliver the most profit and loyalty.
Lead Generation for New Sales Reps: Build Your Funnel, Build Your Future
Build your funnel, build your future. This course gives new sales reps the confidence and tools to find their first great customers. Learn how to combine traditional prospecting methods with modern AI strategies so you can keep your pipeline full and your sales career growing strong.
Pre-Call Research
Learn how to uncover what matters most to your prospects before you ever pick up the phone. This course teaches you to research smarter, find the right decision-makers, and transform generic sales calls into meaningful, solution-focused conversations.
The Prospecting Playbook
Turn cold calls into opportunities with a proven prospecting system. This course shows you how to build a pipeline, stay organized, and consistently generate new business.
Diligence
Build consistency, stay motivated, and outwork your competition with Bill Farquharson’s 6-part video course on the sales skill that beats talent every time. Perfect for print, promo, packaging, labels, and signage professionals who want lasting success.
New to Sales in the Graphic Arts?
Build confidence, avoid costly mistakes, and hit the ground running with Bill Farquharson’s 8-part video course for sales newcomers in print, promo, packaging, labels, and signage.
Time Management for Salespeople in the Graphic Arts: Do More, Stress Less, Sell Smarter
Master your day, reduce stress, and sell smarter: This course teaches salespeople in the graphic arts how to prioritize, plan, and build time habits that actually stick.
Workshop Replays
Recap & Replay: Prospecting Without Cold Calling
Tired of cold calls that lead nowhere? Replay this Sales Vault workshop to discover proven alternatives—AI research, warm introductions, white papers, LinkedIn, referrals, and more—to generate real opportunities without dialing strangers.
Recap & Replay: Marketing to a Niche Without Getting Stuck in a Rut
Niche markets can open doors—but they can also box you in. In this replay, learn how to gain credibility, land high-value accounts, and avoid the dangers of over-specialization.
Recap & Replay: Selling to Colleges
Colleges are a unique and lucrative vertical—but breaking in requires insight. In this replay, Bill Farquharson and higher ed veteran Eric Nystrom reveal the buying cycles, key decision-makers, and practical sales strategies you need to grow your presence on campus.
Recap & Replay: How to Follow Up Without Being Annoying
The line between persistence and pestering is thin. In this workshop, Bill Farquharson and Vault members share strategies, stories, and scripts for following up on quotes and sales calls without crossing the line.
Recap & Replay: Content Creation for Non-Creatives
Content is critical for visibility, but most salespeople aren’t writers or designers. This workshop shares simple tools, AI tricks, and shortcuts to create posts, emails, and campaigns that get noticed without taking all day.
Recap & Replay: What Makes You Different
Discover how to define and communicate your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). Watch the Sales Vault replay with Bill Farquharson and sales pros.
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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Short Attention Span Sales Tips
Differentiation
“Sure, I’ll buy from you. But you have to tell me what’s different about you first?” Multiple answers to that question…are found in this week’s Short Attention Span Sales Tip.
Your Digital Story
Everyone has a story to tell. But, we also have stories told about us…stories that affect our sales. In this week’s Short Attention Span Sales Tip, Bill Farquharson challenges you to take charge of your online persona so your customers see you in the best possible light.
Quit Running That Play
If a football team ran the same play over and over, the defense would probably figure it out, right? And if you don’t change your ways, you, too, will be tackled to the ground. Check out Bill Farquharson’s Short Attention Span Sales Tip for more.
Recalculating: Your Route Around the Price Objection
You quote, you lose. You quote, you lose. You quote, you lose. Are we having fun yet? In this week’s Short Attention Span Sales Tip, Bill Farquharson offers up a different approach.
The Wimbledon Difference
You’ve probably never noticed this key differentiator before, but once you look for it and compare, nothing comes close. Even non-tennis fans will get something out of Bill Farquharson’s Short Attention Sales Tip this week.
One Less Thing
AI offers some amazing capabilities, but because it takes time to learn and master each agent, you might want to take the advice Bill Farquharson shares in this week’s Short Attention Span Sales Tip before going down every AI rabbit hole.
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.
Short Attention Span Sales Blog
Name-Dropping Danger
“Who are some of your other clients?” is a common question for a prospect to ask. How you respond can make or break the opportunity. Learn the right way in Bill Farquharson’s blog.
The Confidence Myth
When it comes to selling with confidence, we have it all wrong…so says Bill Farquharson in this week’s Sales Blog.
How Sales Entrepreneurs Think Differently
Can you name three things top sales reps do differently? You will after reading Bill Farquharson’s blog this week.
Best Case Assumptions
Ever talk yourself out of picking up the phone to make a sales call? They’re probably busy. Or gone. Never mind. In this week’s 1 minute read blog, Bill Farquharson changes those thoughts.
Git ‘er Done: How to Avoid Distractions
Got distractions? Here’s some thoughts on how to carve out a little quiet time. Read Bill Farquharson’s blog.
An Odd Sales Compliment
When a prospective client rewards your diligent sales efforts with these words, it is high praise indeed. Read more in Bill Farquharson’s 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.
Downloadable Tools & Templates
Learn by Sales Challenge
Whitepapers
Articles
10 Tips and Tricks for Printing Industry Sales Reps Who Are Now Selling From Their Homes
Two weeks after graduating college in 1982, I went to work selling business forms from a one-bedroom apartment in Worcester, Massachusetts. I had a bed, a kitchen table with two chairs, a small TV, and a couch. Without any other space available, my desk sat in the middle of the living room and from there […]
Best Ways for Salespeople to Get Their Point Across When Selling Printing
It is remarkable just how many salespeople I know and work with have ADD. Attention Deficit Disorder is typically a diagnosis associated with middle school-aged kids who, like me, were once called dreamers, class-disrupters, and unfocused. Are those with ADD deficient of paying attention? Yes, we are. Is it a disorder? Not in my experience. […]
Five Tips I Can’t Teach You When It Comes to Selling More Printing
There are fundamental lessons to sales. These are the basics — the building blocks — if you will. Follow them and you will find some level of success in sales. As a sales trainer and coach, I can walk you through them: Make a high-value, well researched sales call to the right target market by […]
Five Odd Pieces of Sales Advice
When I joined the local golf club, it was only the old guys who played in the Saturday morning pickup games. We called them “golf in slow motion.” Now, I’m that guy. When I started in sales in 1982, we scoffed at the legacy reps who lumbered in and out of the office, drove old […]
Sales Challenges: ‘Houston, We’ve Had a Problem’
Apollo 13 astronaut Jack Swigert’s oft-misquoted words informing mission control something had gone very, very badly on their way to the moon, was easily the greatest understatement of the 20th century. Perhaps had he known the full extent of the damage done to the capsule — not to mention the odds he and the rest […]
10 Sales Questions for Summer
Ah, summertime. Lemonade in a hammock. That novel you’ve been meaning to read. And, finally, a chance to pull the proverbial train into the station, exhale, and think things through. We spend most of the year with our heads down; too busy selling to wonder if we are heading in the right direction. Finding answers […]
Cleaning Out the Sales Closet
A dozen Printing Impressions columns. Fifty-one Short Attention Span Sales Tips. Fifty-one blogs. That is the amount of content I generate on an annual basis. Add to that the occasional white paper, training course, and the various material generated for The Sales Vault, and it makes for a busy and hungry literary machine. Scattered around my desk, […]
Hit the COVID Reset Button
I have AFib, a common heart condition that can cause both arrhythmia and a heart rate that can go from 65 bpm to a sustained rate of 165 in, well, a heartbeat. A few years back, I had an ablation in order to deal with those irritating and dangerous symptoms. For the most part, it […]
Print Sales Lessons I Learned From My Job in College
Here in the Northeast, liquor stores are called “Package Stores,” or “Packies” for short. During my tenure at the University of Massachusetts/Amherst, I worked at Russell Liquors in the center of town, earning $2.05 an hour, thankyouverymuch. Everybody needs a lousy job like this one in their past. You can’t see it in the moment, […]
Your End-of-the-Week Checklist
Finally, it’s Friday afternoon. Another long week of sales challenges is now behind you. Your task list is a mass of scribbles, arrows, and check marks. Sure, there are some bullet points not completed, but when is that not the case? The only thing between this moment and you heading home is that Sales Challenges […]
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