Takeaways Change Your Mindset : It is my strong belief that the next generation of great sellers will be subject matter experts that have been taught how to sell, rather than salespeople who learn about a portfolio of products. With information being readily accessible and buyers expecting more every day, you owe it to yourself to become an industry expert. Not in sales, but in the industry you’re selling to. You need to know your buyers' world just as well as they do to be able to communicate w...
Nov 13, 2018•26 min
Takeaways Figure Out the Why First: Nearly everyone you come across knows ‘what’ to do, but do they know ‘why’ to do it? If they know, do you? As you work through building a hook that resonates with your target audience, it’s critical you understand their why. Then, and only then, you can deliver your what in a bite-sized manner they can understand. Your goal is to get them to hear it and say, “hmmm… that’s interesting, tell me more” or “hmmm… how do you do that?” Numbers Only Support a Decision...
Nov 06, 2018•39 min
Takeaways Think Big Even If You Start Small : Anyone who’s either lived it before or is living it now knows the truth about being a sales development representative: it’s tough. SDRs are pushed hard, work long hours and go into work every single day knowing they’re going to get rejected over and over again. But, if you can master the art of opening up new opportunities, your career will open up in ways you may never have imagined. The mental toughness of those who persevere, those who thrive, th...
Nov 01, 2018•44 min
Takeaways Become an Advocate: As a seller, you will never benefit if a prospect goes down a path that isn’t going to benefit them. We’ve talked a lot on this show about the need to truly listen to your buyer, and it’s true — you have to understand what factors they’re facing internally and externally, what deadlines they're up against, and what investments they may have already made. Once you’ve done that, then you can align your resources from content to people to offer the best solution that’s...
Oct 23, 2018•38 min
Takeaways Relationships Begin With Intent: You don’t need me to tell you this, but buyers can sniff a hard sell coming from a mile away. The long-term relationship you’ll build begins with the first conversation you have. Find a way to align your goals with their needs. And no, that does not mean you have to sell them something. Steven Covey said it best, “Seek First to Understand.” I know you have a quota, but if your first intention is to better understand your buyer's world, you may actually ...
Oct 16, 2018•36 min
Takeaways Prove the Concept: If you’re rolling out a new product or service you know can solve a problem, but no one can vouch for it, consider giving it away to seed the market. Think about the last time you were in the food court at a mall. Several of the restaurants had a person standing outside their area handing out free samples. After trying a small nibble of something good, you proceed to pay full price for the product. The same is true with pilots and limited engagements of your service....
Oct 09, 2018•36 min
Takeaways Never Assume: You’ve likely heard the saying about that when you assume, all you do is make an ass out of you and me. Well, it’s true, especially in sales. Wes talked about what he saw selling mobile homes — where his colleagues would see someone show up in a Mercedes and they’d jump all over the chance to sell that person. But, when “Bubba” showed up in an old pickup truck, dirty boots, and lip full of Copenhagen, they had no interest. They were assuming that person didn’t have any mo...
Oct 02, 2018•34 min
Takeaways Act as a Resource: With more information than ever readily available for prospects, we need to become good stewards of context. What are your prospects likely not thinking about? What are the real challenges they should be worried about? Figure out how to get ahead of their search patterns and provide them real-time resources. This could be upcoming changes in the industry, it could be potential competitive information, or it could just be research you’ve done into the problems facing ...
Sep 25, 2018•25 min
Takeaways It All Starts With Data (But It Doesn’t End There) : Data is the list of people you’re going to call and the industry or demographics of companies you’re looking at. Taking those numbers to the next level focuses on the people behind the numbers. What are their common needs? How can you help meet them? When you consider the current marketplace, and the ins and outs of each organization, part of being a successful salesperson is understanding and meeting clients where they are at. Make ...
Sep 18, 2018•41 min
Takeaways Build Connections: Careers are long. If you start thinking about the sales you’re going to make over the next 20-30 years, it will become apparent just how important your network is. Both internally and externally, you need to be able to call upon people when you need help but to do so, not only do you have to build the connections in the first place, you have to give first before you can expect to receive. Become a Trusted Advisor: We’ve all heard the mantra, “people buy from people t...
Sep 11, 2018•31 min
Takeaways Lock in on the Verbs: If you’ve ever been anxious on a sales call, thinking too far ahead or worrying about what your next question is going to be, stop! Your prospect will lay out the entire roadmap if you let them. As you listen to them, focus on the verbs they use. For instance, “we’re trying,” “we’re evaluating,” or “we’re thinking about.” When they use these verbs, seek clarity as to what they mean. Ms. Prospect, you mentioned you were thinking about X, what did you mean by that? ...
Sep 04, 2018•35 min
Takeaways Give Your Prospect What they Need: Notice, I did not say “give your prospect what they want,” there is a difference. No longer are salespeople the gatekeeper to information. It is our job to facilitate the best buying experience we can for prospects. In that mutual exchange, it’s important to listen to your buyer and decipher the difference between what they need and what they want. Are they asking to see certain features? Guess what? They’ve probably done their homework and need to se...
Aug 28, 2018•25 min
Takeaways Remind Prospects of Their Priorities: When you’re talking with a prospect and seem to be slipping or losing ground, it’s your responsibility to remind them of why they’re even in the conversation to begin with. Ask them questions that harken back to the pains they’ve divulged, the goals they’ve shared, and try to dig into the emotional side of their brain. Remember, they are the ones that have the problem, not you. Email Should Not Look Automated: With nearly everyone trying to use som...
Aug 21, 2018•31 min
Takeaways Use Social for Call Prep: While doing research on prospects, it’s obvious you need to look at the company website and blog to see what their initiatives are, but it’s just as important to look at social channels like LinkedIn and Twitter to see what’s important to the person your going to be speaking with beyond their work life. Use this information to connect with them on a human level. Set Aside Time for Social Prospecting: It can be distracting to always have social platforms presen...
Aug 14, 2018•28 min
Takeaways Prospecting : By simply picking up the phone you open up a world of new opportunities. Prospecting helps solves a lot of problems while developing you faster. Time : Time is the most valuable asset any of us have. When reaching out to a prospect be clear on the value by doing research, asking good questions, sharing insights, and testing out different approaches. Goals : Goal setting is one of the most important things any sales rep can do in their career, whether it’s daily weekly, mo...
Aug 07, 2018•55 min
Full Notes https://www.salestuners.com/permission/ Book Recommendations The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin Barking Up the Wrong Tree by Eric Barker Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t by Jim Collins First Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation by ...
Jul 31, 2018•13 min
Takeaways Be Real: Sales calls should be mutually beneficial. If you’re just talking at prospects, naturally their guard is going to be up. Yes, I know you have required fields and boxes you have to check on each call, but what would happen if you worked with the prospect and said “hey, I understand what you’re trying to accomplish, here are the couple of things I need to be able to get out of the call as well.” If you’re real with them, they’ll understand you have a job to do as well and this t...
Jul 24, 2018•34 min
Takeaways Don’t Be Afraid to Work Hard: Just like the quote at the beginning said, winners embrace the need to work hard, where losers see it as punishment. If you want to be great at something, you have to be willing to sacrifice. Just showing up and running through the motions is not going to make you better. Sure, you may have some short-term success, but it’s one of those things where in 10 years, you won’t have 10 years of experience; you’ll have one year of experience 10 times. It’s Okay t...
Jul 17, 2018•32 min
Takeaways Set Daily Goals: I know most of you listening to this are the type that set a really big vision for your year. Unfortunately, it’s too hard to see that far into the future. Break down that annual goal and know exactly what goes into it. What do you have to accomplish this quarter? What about this month? What about this week? What about today? The more incremental your goal is, the better chance you have of iterating on what works and achieving the overarching metrics. The last thing yo...
Jul 10, 2018•37 min
Takeaways Manufacture Urgency: Pushing a prospect across the finish line is one of the biggest questions I get day to day. That said, without fully understanding what a company has to gain or lose with any decision will leave you standing alone at the finish line. Let me be very clear, I am not a fan of end of the month or end of the quarter discounts; however, Sean’s notion of “exploding offers” really intrigued me. If you know you’re in a competitive situation and you can get a prospect to sho...
Jul 03, 2018•37 min
Takeaways Understand How Your Prospect Makes Money: You already know how your company makes money and you already know how you make money once your company makes money. During the sales process, if you really dig in and figure out how your prospects make money, then you can sync your offering with their real incentives. It truly doesn’t matter what you sell if you can figure out how your offering impacts their revenue engine. That’s the key. Put Yourself Out There: Your network is not just going...
Jun 26, 2018•35 min
Takeaways Accomplish More With a System: I liked Bob’s personal definition of a system as simply the process of predictably achieving a goal based on a logical and specific set of how-to principles with the key being predictability. What I’ve seen is that pretty much anything we want to do has likely already been done. So, if we will put in the work and do the research to find the processes that worked for those that came before us, we can attain our desired results in less time. Don’t Have Mone...
Jun 19, 2018•37 min
Takeaways Executives are Like Everyone Else: Having senior level conversations is no different than conversations with anyone else, they just want you to get to the point a bit quicker. They want to know specifically why what you’re bringing them is important to them and what value it will add. The best way to show this value is to start with the why behind it. Research Matters in the Enterprise: We’ve talked a lot on this show about how much you should research before you start an outbound init...
Jun 12, 2018•32 min
Takeaways Sell From a Place of Pain: There’s been a lot of debate lately, even on this show, about whether pain based selling still works. I’ll forever be in the pain camp as the way to go because basically, human psychology sees us trying to move away from pain more often, and with greater rigor than we do toward gain. That said, I like how Paige tied the pain concept to the greater “why.” Regardless of your opinion, digging deep enough to understand why a prospect wants to make a change will a...
Jun 05, 2018•30 min
Takeaways Increase Your Failure Rate: If you’re the person being rejected or constantly being told “no,” it may be hard to hear that you need to increase the amount of times you should actually hear it. But, the real question for you is what opportunities are you leaving on the table simply by not asking the question? What deals could you have kept alive if you had just asked the question? What other products could you have bundled in the sale if you had just asked the question? What referrals c...
May 29, 2018•35 min
AskJB: “Is it better to research your prospect before cold calling or just pick up the phone and dial?” [2:35-3:22] “What does one do when a promising lead turns cold or goes dark?” [3:37-5:26] “I have a deal in my pipeline that has hit a wall, how can I go over their head to the person who is likely more interested in the solution we can provide?” [3:52-5:26] “When a prospect was very engaged in the sales process but then goes cold, what do you recommend to do to re engage them?” [4:10-5:26] “T...
May 22, 2018•14 min
Takeaways Run an Attraction Campaign: From primary research to brainstorming sessions and even success stories, these tactics can at least get you a first meeting. From there, it’s up to you to educate your buyer with new ideas and perspectives while simultaneously weaving in your capabilities and offerings. Shake Up the Complacency Mindset: Your biggest competitor in a sales cycle is status quo. You have to help prospects see that where they are is not nearly as good as where they want to be. N...
May 15, 2018•29 min
Takeaways Be Responsive and Get Shit Done: When you’re working at a company that is really going somewhere, everybody has a hundred things on their plate and constantly shifting priorities. If you want to stand out, be the person that volunteers for new projects and make sure to follow through. Once you say you’ve got it, don’t be the person that someone else has to follow-up with or check-in on. This exposure is what will make you great in the future. Hone in on Your Top Segments: The simplest ...
May 08, 2018•37 min
Takeaways Stick With What Works: Once you find a system that works, stick with it. As obvious as it may sound, too often we want to tinker with things out of boredom. Your goal should be to strip everything down to the smallest set of choices you can possibly have and then run those plays consistently. Lean Into Objections: The buyer knows every objection they’re going to come up with before they ever decided to talk to you. And unfortunately, they’re not just going to go away. That said, don’t ...
May 01, 2018•35 min
Takeaways Words are Powerful: Your mastery of language and results driven communication is paramount to your success in sales. It’s one thing to be good, but becoming a student of linguistics and really understanding the nuance between conscious and subconscious states can take you to an entirely different level. Think about the notion of associated and dissociated language — such as using the royal “we” when you really mean “I.” Learning different communication styles can help you not only infl...
Apr 24, 2018•55 min
