Tips & Interviews
Todd’s Videos
Transparent Leadership Equals Employee Happiness
The trait in leaders that most correlates to employee happiness, which most correlates to employee performance, low turnover and high advocacy? That's right...it's TRANSPARENCY. Transparent leadership equals employee happiness. And there's a decent book to show you...
Your Grandpa was better than you at forecasting.
Your Grandpa was better than you at forecasting. Todd Caponi, sales historian and author of "The Transparency Sale" explains why modern sales forecasting isn't as good as it used to be - and what we can learn from our sales ancestors. Spoiler alert: It's all about...
The Cost of the Price Increase
The cost of the price increase. Considering a price increase for your current customers? Why wouldn't you? Inflation is rampant. It may be an easy way to grab a couple of point increase in revenue. But, have you thought through the costs? The cost of selling the...
The Sales Profession: It’s original design through three sales history quotes
What was the original design of the modern sales profession? It's easy - and with these three quotes from before 1920, we can easily figure out everything we need to know about: a) What the modern sales profession was designed to do b) How the sales profession has...
Sales Technology – Using It For Good (Not Evil!)
I got a new phone. Not really new. It’s over 100 years old. I think about it as a symbol of what’s wrong with sales tech investments today, and the dial-dial-dial mindset. As the new sales tech revolution is upon us, how we think about our tech investments can be...
Sales Forecasting – What History Got Right, (and We Get Wrong)
Sales forecasting - the bane of the existence of every sales leader. I have yet to talk to a sales leader that has it nailed. Then it hit me… What is a struggle today does not appear to have been a struggle for early 1900s sales leaders; back when there was no CRM...
In times of uncertainty, what your sales team doesn’t know WILL hurt you
https://youtu.be/cWyaxM2Ryzg In Japan, death row inmates aren't told what day their execution will take place...until the morning of! They sued, calling it "inhumane". Right now, many orgs are treating their teams like those inmates. "Will today be the day I'm...
The Future of Sales – Sales is Service
"Buyers know more nowadays" - that's a quote not only from today, but also from Thomas Herbert Russell's 1912 book, Salesmanship. Why has sales flourished, with 110+ years of worry about the proliferation damaging the profession? Because more info hasn't made it...
When Did Cold Calling Begin – A New Discovery
A recent find has provided a new perspective on the beginning of telephone cold calling. When you Google it - one article has it beginning...before the telephone was even invented (duh!), and most others point to the 1950s. However, there was a company trying it in...
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Podcast
Bringing the incredible (and sometimes strange) brains from the profession of sales’ past to the 2020’s – Todd Caponi’s “The Sales History Podcast”
Blog Posts / Articles
When I am not speaking, doing virtual events, or teaching a workshop… I love to blog or write articles.