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Making Feedback a Habit: The Power of Regular Feedback Sessions
Feedback shouldn’t be an event that happens during a review cycle. It should be a regular part of how sales teams operate. Consistent feedback helps individuals grow, strengthens team dynamics, and ensures that small issues don’t turn into major problems. But for Carefrontation to work, feedback needs to be a two-way…
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Join Me This Friday: Unseating an Incumbent
Hey everyone, Pouli here! If you’ve ever faced the challenge of selling into an account that already has a solution in place, you know how tough it can be to break through. That’s exactly what we’re tackling in this week’s webinar: "Unseating an Incumbent." When: Friday, April 4 at 12:30 PM ET Register here One of the key…
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Persuasion vs. Resistance: The Power of Leading with Questions
In sales, pushing too hard to convince a prospect often creates resistance. Instead, guiding the conversation with insightful questions allows them to uncover their own needs, leading to stronger engagement and buy-in. The key isn’t persuasion; it’s alignment. When you lead a prospect toward self-discovery rather than…
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Creating a Safe Space for Feedback in Sales
In sales, where performance is constantly measured and pressure runs high, team members need to feel safe sharing their thoughts without fear of backlash. Carefrontation thrives in an environment where feedback is welcomed, not avoided. If people hesitate to speak up, valuable insights are lost, and growth stalls. Creating…
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Creating a Feedback-First Culture: Lead by Example
Building a team that embraces open, honest feedback doesn’t happen by accident. It starts with leadership. Carefrontation is about balancing directness with genuine care, and the best way to make it part of your team’s culture is to model it yourself. When sales professionals at all levels see feedback as a tool for growth…
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Join me for our webinar on Friday!
Hey everyone, I'm really excited to lead our Ascender Insights Webinar this Friday, March 14 at 12:30 pm Eastern time. I'll be talking about the age-old sales question of "When to walk away". Register here. We'll cover: Red Flags & Warning Signs Strategic Disengagement Asking the Right Questions If you have questions for…
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Creating a Culture Where Feedback Thrives
One of the biggest challenges in Carefrontation isn’t just delivering feedback. It’s creating an environment where open, honest conversations are welcomed and encouraged. If people feel hesitant to speak up, even the best feedback strategies will fall flat. In this next part of our series, we’ll explore ways to foster a…
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Wrapping Up: Common Pitfalls in Carefrontation
Over the past several weeks, I’ve explored some of the most common pitfalls that can derail Carefrontation. While the goal is to balance honesty with care, it’s easy to unintentionally slip into habits that make feedback less effective, or worse, delivering feedback that becomes harmful. Recognizing these challenges is the…
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Carefrontation Requires Cultural Awareness
I've been talking about pitfalls, and one common mistake (one that often goes unnoticed) is ignoring cultural differences. Feedback isn’t one-size-fits-all. I've talked about that a lot. What feels direct and helpful in one culture might come across as rude or even disrespectful in another. If we don’t take cultural…
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Success Isn’t Given. It’s Owned.
If you want to win consistently, you have to take full ownership of your knowledge, your skills, and your character. Knowledge is where it starts. Your company owes you clarity on the problems you solve and how you’re different from the competition. If you don’t fully understand that, ask? Dig in. Make it your mission to…
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Keep It About the Actions, Not the Person
One of the key principles of Carefrontation is delivering honest, constructive feedback while showing that you genuinely care. But there’s a common mistake that can quickly derail this approach, and that's focusing on personal traits instead of behaviors. When feedback feels like a critique of who someone is rather than…
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Carefrontation Doesn’t End with One Conversation
One of the more overlooked aspects of Carefrontation is what can happen after the initial conversation. Giving direct, thoughtful feedback is a great first step, but without follow-up, even the best feedback can lose its impact. A single conversation won't lead to lasting change. Consistent support and accountability do.…
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The Power of Leaning Into Difficult Conversations
One of the biggest challenges in Carefrontation is embracing the tough conversations we’d rather avoid. Whether it’s giving constructive feedback to a struggling team member, addressing misalignment on expectations, or having a performance discussion, these moments can feel uncomfortable. But avoiding them doesn’t make the…
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The Importance of Consistency in Carefrontation
When we talk about Carefrontation, one of its key principles is delivering honest, direct feedback in a way that shows empathy and care. However, for feedback to be truly effective, it needs to be consistent. Inconsistent feedback can undermine even the best intentions, leaving your team feeling uncertain about where they…
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Navigating the Balance of Carefrontation
When it comes to Carefrontation, the magic lies in balancing honesty with empathy. It’s not just about giving direct feedback or holding people accountable. It’s about doing so while showing genuine care for the person you’re addressing. Neglecting the “care personally” aspect can quickly turn well-intentioned feedback…
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Mastering Carefrontation: Avoiding the Pitfall of Brutal Honesty
When it comes to Carefrontation, being honest and direct is essential, but there’s a fine line between candor and cruelty. One of the most common pitfalls sales professionals encounter is mistaking Carefrontation for brutal honesty. In the rush to provide feedback or challenge ideas, it can be easy to come off as overly…
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Driving Value in a Selective Market
Navigating today’s cautious spending environment requires a sharp focus on cost efficiency and clear value delivery. While some budgets are set to grow, decision-makers are prioritizing ROI from prior investments, making every deal more scrutinized. This puts added pressure on us to highlight not only how our solutions…
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What exactly is Carefrontation?
Carefrontation isn’t just about how we communicate. It’s about the mindset we bring to every interaction. At its core, it’s a commitment to balance honesty with care, challenge with support, and results with relationships. This approach isn’t confined to leadership roles; it’s a shared responsibility for everyone in an…
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Leading with Empathy
Empathy isn’t just a buzzword. It’s the foundation for building a strong, successful sales culture. At every level of a business, leading with empathy creates an environment where trust, collaboration, and growth thrive. It’s about understanding the pressures and challenges that others face, whether it’s your team juggling…
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MEDDICC Pipeline Diagnostic
Hi Folks, Great to connect with you all. I’m seeking your expertise in locating articles or content related to the MEDDICC Pipeline Diagnostic. I recall coming across something on this topic previously, but unfortunately, I can’t seem to find it now. If anyone has suggestions or can point me in the right direction, I’d…
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The Key to Confidence Under Pressure
As the saying goes, “The difference between stress and pressure is preparedness.” Stress can be paralyzing. It comes when you’re caught off guard or scrambling to react. On the other hand, pressure can be energizing when you’re ready for it, like the comforting weight of a well-placed challenge. Think of it as a weighted…
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Personalization at Scale: Meeting Rising Customer Expectations
I’ve seen firsthand how much personalization influences the buying journey. Today’s customers expect tailored experiences that align with their specific needs, goals, and pain points. With advanced data integration and analytics, we have the tools to meet these expectations, but leveraging them effectively is key. By…
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Encouraging a Growth Mindset
It’s easy to get caught up in chasing results and forget the journey that gets us there. But when we focus only on outcomes, we miss a crucial opportunity to foster growth, both in ourselves and in those around us. Encouraging a growth mindset means embracing challenges, learning from mistakes, and constantly seeking…
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Delivering clear and constructive feedback
The most important part to get right with Carefrontation is creating a feedback loop that actually has an impact. There are two really big issues with feedback delivery that occur in most organizations. It either, A, gets delivered too harsh where it’s impossible to hear where growth can be achieved because it just sounds…
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Close the Excuse Department Door and Open the Door to Growth
Here’s the thing—excuses might make you feel better in the moment, but they won’t get you anywhere. When things aren’t going well, it’s tempting to lean on reasons why: the market is tough, the lead list wasn’t great, timing didn’t work out. I get it. But I’ve been in sales long enough to know that real growth starts when…
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Build trust through authenticity
If you want people to be vulnerable and share the hard truths, you’ll likely have to lead the way. This is easier when your manager has set the standard, but you can still impact team culture as an individual contributor. Here are three ways that you can help create a culture of better communication, no matter what level…
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Buyer Alignment is Non-Negotiable
Aligning with your buyers isn’t just a best practice - it’s essential. I recently read this article here on Ascender and had to jump in and reiterate the importance of this for Q4. We’re in the final quarter of the year, our buyers are facing pressures to justify every investment, and they need partners who understand…
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Embracing Radical Candor (or Carefrontation)
I have spent a lot of time recently thinking about Radical Candor, the concept popularized by Kim Scott. If you’re not familiar, it’s about caring personally while challenging directly, creating an environment where feedback is both kind and straightforward. There’s a real balancing act that we need to consider when…
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The Power of Practice
Staying at the top of our sales game requires the same level of dedication as elite athletes. Just like the pro players hit the gym after hours or run extra drills when the stands are empty, we have to commit to practicing our craft when no one is watching. It’s the work you put in after the workday that separates the good…
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Good questions to ask
I just saw this on LinkedIn and thought it was worth sharing.