#63: Mid Year Gut Check

#63: Mid Year Gut Check

From Online People Talking with Jen Barkan by Jen Barkan

June 9, 2026 · 32 min

About this episode

Jen Barkan and Coach Melissa Fort discuss strategies for online sales specialists to thrive during the slower summer market.

Host Jen Barkan is joined by the one and only Coach Melissa Fort to discuss strategies for online sales specialists to make the most of a historically slower summer market. The conversation centers on focus areas to maintain momentum and level up skills during downtime. Housekeeping 2026 Online Sales and Marketing Summit - October 1-2, 2026 in Austin, TX - The biggest party for online sales and marketing and it’s already over 60% sold out! TITO Shoutout We want YOU to send in your nominations to onlinesales@doyouconvert.com! Key Takeaways - 5 things that you can focus on right now Mid year Gut Check: Revisit goals set at the start of the year, assess what's working and what isn't, celebrate wins, and recalibrate for the second half. This includes checking in with sales leadership to see if company goals have shifted and working backwards to understand how OSCs can contribute. Learn AI: Take some AI courses and lean into tools like Claude - think about how you can use it in your role to analyze call transcripts, identify objection patterns, draft prospecting emails, and build presentations. Lean into prospecting (with a fresh approach): Get creative with your outreach. And make…

People in this episode

Host: Jen Barkan

Guest: Coach Melissa Fort

Topics covered

  • online sales
  • summer market strategies
  • goal assessment
  • AI in sales
  • prospecting techniques
  • follow-up strategies

Keywords

  • online sales
  • summer market
  • goal setting
  • AI tools
  • prospecting
  • follow-up

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: 2026 Online Sales and Marketing Summit

Places: Austin, TX

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