What a Cranky Competitor Taught Me About Sales (and Why You Need a CRM Yesterday)
Three years ago, a man touched my hair and told me I’d never make it in sales. Cool. I took that moment, turned it into motivation, and built a company that helps others thrive by cleaning up their sales process and ditching their dusty spreadsheets. This blog breaks down the tools you need (hi, HubSpot!)...
Let me paint you a picture
It’s 2022. I’ve just decided to start a sales consulting business, and I’m deep into my research phase—aka, “operation coffee shop chat with competitors.” One such meeting still lives rent-free in my head.
Picture this: gray-haired gentleman. Think “sales dinosaur,” but not the cute kind. He sits down, lets me talk for two minutes, then proceeds to monologue at me for almost half an hour. Then—get this—he leaves. No warning, no transition, just “gotta meeting!” and out the door he goes.
Ten minutes later? He’s back. Apparently, his meeting was canceled and, lucky me, he had “nothing better to do” than to continue explaining why I wasn’t going to make it in the world of sales consulting.
Awesome.
The cherry on top? He reached across the table, touched my hair, and said:
Businesses aren’t looking for your color hair. They’re looking for mine.
You’re too inexperienced. You’ll struggle to get clients.
And in that moment, I knew—I was absolutely going to crush this.
Why Experience Alone Doesn’t Cut It Anymore
Listen, I’ve got a deep respect for 20 years in the game. But Millennials like myself bring something powerful to the table too: we’ve lived through the analog-to-digital sales evolution. We know what to keep (deep, meaningful relationships, anyone?), what to toss (fax machines and cold drop-ins, thank you next), and what to adopt (hello, sales tech stack!).
If you're still managing your pipeline with a spreadsheet and cold calling off outdated company directories… babe. It’s time for a spring cleaning.
The Must-Have Tools to Modernize Your Sales Strategy
Ready to take your sales process from dusty to dynamic? Here’s your refresh checklist:
1. A Cloud-Based CRM (Customer Relationship Management Software)
If your “CRM” lives in Excel, we need to talk. You’re wasting precious hours tracking leads manually, and honestly? You’re flying blind. I recommend HubSpot. It’s user-friendly, powerful, and integrates beautifully with everything else you should be using.
Bonus: setting up HubSpot is one of my favorite things to do with clients. Yes, I’m a nerd about this stuff. Yes, I’m proud of it.
Toss this: That spreadsheet you swear “isn’t that bad.”
2. A Lead Generation Tool That Doesn’t Suck
Let’s talk about Apollo. It’s accurate, affordable (free for your first 100 contacts!), and plays nice with HubSpot. If you’ve been burned by clunky tools like ZoomInfo or RocketReach, you’re going to love Apollo. It actually makes prospecting feel efficient, which is wild, I know.
Toss this: Paying a fortune for out-of-date leads or manually scraping LinkedIn. We’re better than that now.
3. LinkedIn Sales Navigator
This one is a no-brainer. You want to be where your buyers are? They’re on LinkedIn. Sales Navigator keeps your outreach sharp and strategic—and your follow-up game strong.
Toss this: Calling receptionists who do not have time for your pitch. Also, walking in unannounced? Please stop.
So, Does Your Sales Process Need a Spring Cleaning?
If your current setup feels like that dusty file cabinet in the back of your office that no one opens (but everyone’s scared of), it’s time to declutter.
And if that crusty competitor from three years ago taught me anything, it’s that we don’t need to fit the old-school mold. In fact, breaking the mold is the whole damn point.
Let’s get your process tight, your tools in place, and your pipeline humming.
Think your sales setup could use a glow-up?
Let’s audit your current process and build you something sustainable. Because let’s be real—sales is hard enough. Your tools shouldn’t make it harder.
About Lisa Proeber
Lisa Proeber is the force behind The Middle Six®. With more than 20 years of high-performing sales experience, she brings a breadth and depth of knowledge to her solo venture. The Middle Six® is not a gatekeeper; it opens the gates for anybody to learn how to succeed at sales. Sales is not a dirty word; it's equal parts art and science, starting from the bottom up. Ready to become a salesperson with a roadmap in hand? Join us, and let's make waves together.
