One of the most basic things you can do as a sales organization is ensure that your executive team and entire company is aligned on the key value and differentiation of your solution. When you have consistent answers to the essential questions, you have the framework to equip sales to articulate your solution’s business value and differentiation in a way that drives bottom-line impact. John Kaplan joins us to discuss how companies generate consistent, cross-functional agreement on the four essen...
Apr 06, 2021•10 min•Ep. 59
Selling too low in an organization is a common challenge for many salespeople. Brian Walsh shares best practices from salespeople and company leaders who have enabled their teams to sell higher, aligning to bigger business problems. He covers: - How sales leaders and managers can look inward to improve their ability to equip sellers to sell higher and drive accountability around pursuing high-level opportunities - The framework and point of view salespeople need to get in front of decision maker...
Mar 30, 2021•27 min•Ep. 58
Improve your ability to navigate your buyer's decision process and win deals that involve multiple decision makers. John Kaplan walks through key tips for getting multithreaded in your deals and to ensure you’re communicating effectively with the key players in the buying organization, including: - What actions you can take early on in the sales process to effectively influence a customer’s decision process - How to get higher, wider, and deeper in your organization to determine key decision mak...
Mar 23, 2021•12 min•Ep. 57
Selling to an economic buyer is always challenging and often different from one deal to the next. Improve your ability to make economic buyers and decision makers stand in their moment of pain and demand an urgent solution to their business challenges. John Kaplan breaks down three key questions you need to answer for your economic buyer in order to propel a deal forward. Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website. Here are some addi...
Mar 16, 2021•7 min•Ep. 56
Gearing up to launch a strategic initiative or are you in the middle of creating an adoption plan? Kathleen Schindler, Force Management Managing Director of Customer Success shares current best practices sales leaders are using to make changed behaviors stick. Kathleen supports some of our most successful customers and sales teams as they work to roll out new sales capabilities and make them stick. She shares: - How sales leaders and managers are leveraging the remote environment to drive adopti...
Mar 09, 2021•18 min•Ep. 55
In this episode, we’re sharing key insights on getting your buyer to come to their own conclusions. Remember, people rarely argue with their own conclusions. The more you can help buyers define business problems on their own, in a way that favors your solution’s value and differentiation, the more successful you will be. John Kaplan covers three types of questions you can use to help buyers articulate their business challenges. Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Ap...
Mar 01, 2021•14 min•Ep. 54
After elite athletes win champions and gold medals they don’t stop practicing. They continue the work that’s necessary to repeat success and beat their competition. Elite salespeople follow the same playbook. Whether you're at the top of your game or just starting, we break down our best tips to prepare and practice for your sales calls. John Kaplan shares the prepping and practicing tactics he uses and teaches to accomplish critical meeting goals and achieve success in his deals. Check out this...
Feb 23, 2021•23 min•Ep. 53
If you’re coming off the high of making a great number last year or last quarter, you may be struggling with how to repeat your success. If you’re coming off a year that didn’t pan out as you hoped, how can you clean slate and make this year your best yet? John Kaplan covers the two mindsets he used when coming off either a good year or a year riddled with challenges. He shares tips salespeople can apply immediately to get prepared and plan for a successful quarter, sales cycle or year. Check ou...
Feb 22, 2021•8 min•Ep. 52
Making the shift from selling smaller deals to enterprise solutions that require multiple decision-makers is a common career progression path. This change may require you to change your selling approach. John Kaplan talks through specific things you want to pay attention to if you’re making this shift in your career. He covers: - How to identify economic buyers in a complex account and leverage them to progress your deals faster and at a higher value - A successful process for working with an ec...
Feb 09, 2021•19 min•Ep. 51
Today we are marking our 50th episode! We rebranded the Force Management podcast last March and launched right before the Pandemic hit. To celebrate and share our appreciation for hitting record numbers of listeners, we’re sharing some of our most popular and albeit most valuable episodes. If you're a faithful listener, this episode can serve as a reminder of the episodes you may want to revisit. If you’ve missed some episodes, this is a great way to catch up on some valuable insights. Check out...
Feb 02, 2021•18 min•Ep. 50
What are you doing to ensure you’re creating value for your sales team? It’s hard to be steady as a sales leader or front-line manager when you’re carrying the number. If you’re in an organization that’s struggling or might not have the best leadership above you, this is a must-listen episode. Brian Walsh shares insights on how to overcome organizational challenges and lead your teams in a way that has a positive impact. He covers examples of what to do and what not to do as a leader at the end ...
Jan 26, 2021•19 min•Ep. 49
While you’re working your current deals, there are key steps you should take to start the negotiation process early and drive better outcomes for you and your buyers. In this episode, Senior Partner Tim Caito shares how you can set yourself up for success before price conversations begin — and in the end, close for a premium. Tim’s perspective is helpful for anyone who wants to improve their negotiation process and put a stop to closing for a discount. Share with your teams to ensure they’re usi...
Jan 19, 2021•13 min•Ep. 48
We’ve all worked with prospects who drag their feet on making a final decision. You may even have some of these deals in your pipeline right now. If you do, this episode is for you. John Kaplan shares how to reignite your stalled deals and differentiate yourself from other competition that may still have a foot in the door (including a do nothing or do it internally option). Hear how you can differentiate your solutions from all other outcomes to close your current and future deals faster. Check...
Jan 12, 2021•13 min•Ep. 47
Turning over a potential deal from an SDR/BDR to an AE is a critical step in the sales process. We often say there’s as much differentiation in what you sell as there is in how you sell. When you create a good customer experience for the buyer, before and throughout the handoff process, you can separate your organization early on from competition, including “do nothings”. Patrick McLoughlin joins us to share what SDRs and AEs can do to establish a handoff process that ensures your buyers feel he...
Jan 05, 2021•15 min•Ep. 46
Plan for a successful year and understand why some companies were able to turn the corner faster than others during the pandemic. One thing we often emphasize at the end of each year is coming up with a plan to make the plan. This year, that planning process may look a little different. What are you going to change next year? John Kaplan joins us to share spirit around how your entire sales organization can keep the focus on your buyer’s evolving business problems and drive great results because...
Dec 29, 2020•17 min•Ep. 45
You may have had to sell virtually before the pandemic, but now it’s perhaps the only way you can connect with a prospect. Now more than ever, you want to make sure you’re bringing your “A” game, accounting for the challenges remote selling brings (does video fatigue ring a bell?). Marty Mercer, Force Management Facilitator, joins us for the first time to share insights and tips for differentiating yourself from the competition in the remote environment. - How to adjust your own preparation cade...
Dec 22, 2020•33 min•Ep. 44
As part 2 to last week’s episode “Leveraging the technical mind”... we’re covering how to conduct demos in a way that is value-based and improves your ability to win. All too often, companies push for a demo too early and this can take away from key value-based conversations and discovery that leads to higher margins at close. John Kaplan joins us to explain why timing is everything. He shares the process their sales teams used at PTC to execute great discovery and ensure they had the right peop...
Dec 15, 2020•19 min
Being able to align the technical capabilities of a solution with the business outcomes that solution can provide is a key attribute of elite sellers. Conversations around technical requirements and decision criteria can either propel a deal forward or cause big problems that are difficult to overcome. John Kaplan covers the ways elite sellers leverage the technical mind. He’ll share: - Where the technical and business worlds intersect - How elite sellers leverage the technical mind to progress ...
Dec 08, 2020•15 min
Frank Azzolino, Force Management Senior Partner, has sold for years. He’s been there - done that. He also is a great teacher. He makes his first appearance on the show and talks about how he ensures he has an elite selling motion. His tips will help you make an immediate impact on your critical deals (in all stages of the sales process). He covers it all, making this a must-listen episode for any salesperson or manager out there. Plus, he shares his favorite discovery question, and the one quest...
Dec 01, 2020•37 min
Are you considering a new opportunity? Do you feel good about the company you’re working for? Are you working for a company that’s set up for growth or are you on a sinking ship? John Kaplan goes through key things to look for in your company that will determine the likelihood it will be successful. Are there things in place that indicate future success (for you and the company), or an unavoidable iceberg ahead (aka. don’t hop on that ship…) Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready...
Nov 24, 2020•12 min
How well do you prepare to listen? We know how important asking great questions is to uncovering business pain. However, having great questions will only get you so far, if you don’t know how to listen to the answers. Patrick McLoughlin talks through the concept of active listening and the fundamentals elite sellers execute flawlessly. Skills like: - How to prepare for the answers you’ll get from customers in a way that enables you to dig deeper or pivot decisively - What you need to listen for ...
Nov 17, 2020•15 min
We often find ourselves explaining how our sales messaging initiatives intersect with our sales qualification initiatives. When wondering what should come first, sales leaders often have to critically analyze their organization’s sales challenges and prioritize next steps accordingly. Easier said than done ... Brian Walsh covers how you can assess gaps in your sales messaging and qualification processes to chart an efficient path to scalable, revenue growth. He covers: - Key questions to conside...
Nov 10, 2020•24 min
We say these phrases so often, we decided to make a whole podcast about them. Today, we explore what they really mean and why we encourage every salesperson to remember them. Put them on your mirror, write them down in your journal, Instagram them… we recite them over and over. Take a listen and use them to motivate you to sell more. Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website. Here are some additional resources related to John’s top ...
Nov 03, 2020•13 min
When it comes to launching strategic change initiatives, big or small, how can you ensure that they not only stick but don't become yet another compliance exercise? In this podcast, Brian Walsh talks through how sales leaders and managers can make sure their strategic initiatives provide value for their sales organization, including: - Key ways to get sales teams to put strategic changes to work in a way that drives repeatable execution and results - How to articulate the value behind the specif...
Oct 27, 2020•20 min
If your pipeline deals are at risk because your buyers choose to “do nothing” rather than move forward, this is the podcast episode for you. “Do Nothing” is often a key competitor as we maneuver through the sales process and there are key things salespeople can do to win against this option. In this episode, John Kaplan breaks down three fundamentals elite salespeople use to sell and win against a “do nothing” buyer mindset. Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple...
Oct 20, 2020•8 min
How do you work with procurement to ensure you close a great deal? How can you make that conversation easier on yourself and the professional buyers you’re working with? Tim Caito, Force Management Senior Partner and resident negotiation expert, joins us to chat through what your sales teams can do to win more when they’re up against professional buyers. He’ll cover: - How to help procurement minimize the risk of choosing your solutions - How getting to procurement early can help differentiate y...
Oct 13, 2020•22 min
Deals are won or lost in discovery. The more your sales teams can carry out discovery in a way that builds prospect interest and opens doors to high-level business stakeholders, the more they’ll be able to hit their numbers repeatedly. In this episode, Brian Walsh shares personal experiences and tips on the art of great discovery and how your sales teams can earn the right to ask the hard questions and move opportunities forward. He’ll cover: - The three things your sales teams should have prepa...
Oct 06, 2020•31 min
We’re diving into the one area of negotiation that many companies fail to pay attention to — the internal process behind every sales negotiation. In this episode, Force Management Senior Partner, Tim Caito explains how refining the internal process can enable your sales organization to increase deal velocity and achieve better outcomes. He’ll cover: - Internal bottlenecks that hinder healthy pipelines, and how to course correct - How to make negotiation and company-wide competency to ensure sale...
Sep 29, 2020•21 min
Sometimes inspiration can hit you at the most unexpected times. For Senior Director of Consulting and Facilitation Patrick McLoughlin, it was during a Command of the Message training when he noticed the difference between two basketballs in his office. What are the key differences between mediocrity and greatness? What separates the best salespeople from the rest? Patrick shares his thoughts while running through Kobe Bryant’s ten rules for achieving greatness. It’s a great listen especially for...
Sep 22, 2020•13 min
Are you struggling with motivation? Especially in our current environment, finding motivation in a foggy sales environment can be a constant battle. We sat down with John Kaplan to discuss ways to improve productivity and keep yourself and/or your sales teams motivated by being uncommon in what you do. Here are a few topics we’ll cover: - What to do when the opportunities in your territory seem limited - How managers can work with reps to continuously build healthy pipelines - How to be uncommon...
Sep 15, 2020•11 min
