Our podcast series “Lessons Learned in Sales” continues this week as John Kaplan talks with Force Management Facilitator Dale Monnin. They discuss: When Dale learned just how critical it is to always be audible-ready. What led him to dramatically pivot the way he sold and the success he drove because of that shifted approach. An incident where fire dancing went awry. Here are some additional resources based on the conversations with Dale: Meet the Facilitator: Dale Monnin https://bit.ly/3E0s8ew ...
Oct 19, 2021•25 min
Get back to the basic sales fundamentals that help ensure great sales conversations and improved win rates. John Kaplan provides five things to execute after your next prospect call to own and improve your next steps. Here are some additional resources: 5 Things to Do Before Your Next Sales Conversation https://apple.co/3ajqZB8 Overcoming Sales Challenges: A Buyer Focus on Seller Deficit Disorder https://bit.ly/3n7SjKf Align with the Buying Process: The Power of the Mantra https://bit.ly/2X1ARvS...
Oct 12, 2021•15 min
Get back to the basic sales fundamentals that help ensure great sales conversations. John Kaplan provides five things you can practice before you jump into that next prospect call. Here are some additional resources: Purpose Process Payoff [Article] https://bit.ly/3spMjgA Improve Your Active Listening Skills [Podcast] https://apple.co/3md3HUO Maximize the Effectiveness of Proof Points [Podcast] https://apple.co/2XAxEE5 Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podca...
Oct 05, 2021•11 min
Our podcast series “Lessons Learned in Sales” continues this week as John Kaplan talks with Force Management Senior Director of Facilitation Brian Walsh. They discuss: One experience that showed Brian how to effectively drive urgency in his deals. What the best sales leaders he worked with did How to recruit A-players and secure them from their existing organizations. The time his client was ready to sign a major deal and the one thing he forgot that almost cost him that deal. Here are some addi...
Sep 28, 2021•32 min
If you’re finding yourself new to a selling role and trying to sell to more experienced executives and professionals - this is a podcast for you. If you’re leading a team of greener reps, share this one with them. John Kaplan shares how to prepare for conversations with experienced buyers in a way that will drive success and help you feel less intimidated going in. Great selling, is great selling, no matter your experience or background. Tune into this episode to hear tips and actions you can ta...
Sep 21, 2021•19 min
Discover the mantra you can use to successfully navigate opportunities that require you to move up and down in organizations. Hear John Kaplan’s tips for continually building a business case that maps the technical capabilities of your solution to the required capabilities for different decision makers in an organization. He explains what the mantra is, how you can build it through customer conversations, and leverage it to get champions to sell on your behalf. Here are some additional resources...
Sep 14, 2021•15 min
Sales kickoffs can take many different forms -- the good, the bad, and the game changers. The Force Management team has helped countless sales leaders execute meaningful Sales Kickoffs that launch organizational change and impactful results. What separates the best from the rest? What are the steps leaders can take to make their SKOs a game changer? Facilitators Brian Walsh and Antonella O'Day share what they've seen work best and key mistakes to avoid. Here are some additional resources on SKOs...
Sep 07, 2021•30 min
For those of you planning your next Sales Kickoff, use our resources, everything you need all in one place: Sales Kickoff Resource Guide https://www.forcemanagement .com/sales-kickoff-resources
Sep 03, 2021•1 min
If you want to be "the top 2%", become an elite seller in your organization, and propel your career to the next level — take spirit from Brandon Burlsworth's UnCommon story. Sales leaders, share it with your sales reps and managers. Told in the movie Greater, Brandon's life was one of grit, dedication and hard work. But, he didn't start out that way. He started out as a young player, with a big goal, not unlike most sales athletes. Brandon went from a walk-on freshman football player at the Univ...
Aug 31, 2021•45 min
If you’re looking for quick tips to improve your ability to execute the fundamentals of elite selling — this is the episode for you. Force Management Facilitator and Director, Dale Monnin joins us to chat about helping salespeople move from good, to great to elite in their sales careers. He covers a variety of tips you can apply immediately to your sales process and approach including: - What areas of your skill set to improve if you want to be elite - What indicators to look for to know when yo...
Aug 24, 2021•26 min•Ep. 80
Our podcast series “Lessons Learned in Sales”, continues as John Kaplan talks with Force Management Senior Partner Tim Caito. As always, Tim shares valuable insights, including: - How to stay connected to your customer’s projects post-sale to ensure their success - The time a customer left him and his colleagues in the middle of an oil field - The common characteristics of the best sales managers he’s worked with - A motto he uses to differentiate his sales approach Tim’s passion for sales and c...
Aug 17, 2021•32 min•Ep. 79
In-person customer conversations have dwindled over the past year. While we are getting back to face-to-face meetings, many sales conversations are happening virtually. How do you get your customers to open up in a remote conversation? How do you gain that trusted advisor status over a video call? John Kaplan shares his best tips. Here are some additional resources” - Purpose Process Payoff - https://forc.mx/3B4liDx - Finding the Business Pain Podcast - https://forc.mx/36F2YCE Check out this and...
Aug 10, 2021•11 min
Your buyers have likely experienced a lot of bad QBRs — so differentiate your company by making them truly valuable for you and your buyer. Tim Caito joins us to talk about how sales leaders can equip their account teams to flip the script on negative buyer perceptions and get customers to see value in a QBR. He covers the pre-sale, during-sale and post-sales steps sales reps need to take to improve QBR execution, long-term account monetization and most importantly, customer outcomes. Here are s...
Aug 03, 2021•27 min•Ep. 77
Part 2 of our conversation with Author and Sales Leader Veteran John McMahon. He joins John Kaplan to discuss themes in McMahon's new book, “The Qualified Sales Leader”. McMahon has been the Chief Revenue Officer at five public, enterprise software companies – PTC, Geo-Tel, Ariba, BladeLogic and BMC. Now he sits on the board at several public software companies including Snowflake and MongoDB. More Information: - BUY THE BOOK: The Qualified Sales Leader - https://amzn.to/3zOwQt9 - How to Ensure ...
Jul 28, 2021•21 min•Ep. 76
Author and Sales Leader Veteran John McMahon joins John Kaplan to discuss themes in his new book, “The Qualified Sales Leader”. McMahon has been the Chief Revenue Officer at five public, enterprise software companies – PTC, Geo-Tel, Ariba, BladeLogic and BMC. Now he sits on the board at several public software companies including Snowflake and MongoDB. More Information: - BUY THE BOOK: The Qualified Sales Leader - https://amzn.to /3lflri3 - How to Ensure You’re Selling for a Great Company - http...
Jul 27, 2021•34 min•Ep. 75
Our podcast series “Lessons Learned in Sales” continues this week as John Kaplan talks with Force Management Facilitator Marty Mercer. Marty shares some great stories, including: - How he became a seller and he didn’t even know it - A beneficial lesson in patience that he learned that drastically shifted his sales career - Why he didn’t sell anything in the first nine months of his career - How a colleague nearly broke their computer fifteen minutes before a presentation This episode is packed w...
Jul 20, 2021•20 min•Ep. 74
Our final episode in our “Skill/Will” series (link to the diagram below), takes a deep dive on your people with low will, level 1s and 2s. Low-will people aren’t who you want on your teams, but you may be dealing with some of these people right now. Hear how you can manage low-will people to the best of your ability and avoid people losing will while they’re on your teams. Here are some additional resources on Skill/Will: - The Skill/Will Model Infographic [Diagram] - https://bit.ly/3ftMTDS - Th...
Jul 13, 2021•13 min•Ep. 73
Continuing our series on the “Skill/Will” Model (link to the diagram below), this episode covers people with high will, level 3s and 4s. High-will talent are the people you want to have on your team, they’ll improve your ability to succeed and maintain competitive advantage in your market. This episode shares what you can do to keep and leverage your level 4s (high will, high skill) and how you can help your level 3s (high will, low skill) become top performers as well. Here are some additional ...
Jul 06, 2021•12 min•Ep. 72
Sales leaders can achieve great success when they take ownership of their talent and coaching process. Maximize your talent efforts and coach your people in a way that takes into account their skill level and motivation. This episode kicks off our three-part series on coaching the “Skill/Will” model (link to the diagram below). In this episode, John Kaplan covers how sales leaders and managers can use this model to adjust their coaching cadence and tailor it to the individuals on their sales tea...
Jun 29, 2021•8 min
Unlock the full potential of your Customer Success teams by building alignment with your sales teams and your buyers. Kathleen Schindler, Force Management Managing Director of Customer Success, takes a deep dive on how sales and company leaders are equipping post-sale teams to execute on critical buyer outcomes. Tune in to hear real-world examples of how these leaders enable their entire customer-facing organization to have value-based conversations that drive company-wide impacts. Check out thi...
Jun 22, 2021•13 min•Ep. 70
Our second episode of our podcast series “Lessons Learned in Sales”, John Kaplan talks with Force Management Facilitator Antonella O’Day about her sales career including: - How she got a deal done in 8 minutes - A mistake she was grateful to have happen early in her career - How she found Force Management by looking for the top sales training companies - One piece of advice that has helped to elevate her career You won’t want to miss the lessons that made an astronomical impact on her sales care...
Jun 15, 2021•22 min•Ep. 66
Attaching to a big business problem gets you access, funding and urgency. How do you find the pain and then how do you attach your solution to it? John Kaplan covers: - How salespeople can get credit for helping buyers solve big business problems. - How to attach decision makers and champions to their company’s big business pains in a way that supports your success. - How to align your differentiation to solving business pains to improve your ability to beat competition and win. Here are some ad...
Jun 08, 2021•11 min•Ep. 68
In this episode, we wrap up our conversation with Coach John Mosley Jr, from East Los Angeles College and featured on Netflix’s Last Chance U: Basketball. John Kaplan pulls out some of the top takeaways for sales leaders — and how they can use some of these coaching techniques to create value for their sales team. If you haven’t listened to parts 1 and 2, tune into those first, then come back here. More on the conversation and how to support the ELAC’s Men’s Basketball Program: Links to Support ...
Jun 01, 2021•21 min•Ep. 67
Don’t miss — part 2 of our conversation with Coach John Mosley Jr, from East Los Angeles College and featured on Netflix’s Last Chance U: Basketball. Coach Mosley shares more insights on coaching a team to success in another energetic episode. If you haven’t listened to part 1, you may want to listen to that episode first! You can support Coach Mosley and ELAC Student Athletes here: - Donate to the ELAC Men’s Basketball Program - https://org.eteamsponsor.com/ETS/supportUs/311056148 - Donate to t...
May 25, 2021•34 min•Ep. 66
From the Last Chance U: Basketball series, and East Los Angeles College, Coach John Mosley Jr joins John Kaplan for a conversation on—you guessed it—coaching. While they operate in different courts, this is an episode you don’t want to miss. Support Coach Mosley and ELAC Student Athletes: - Donate to the ELAC Men’s Basketball Program - https://org.eteamsponsor.com/ETS/supportUs/311056148 - Donate to the ELAC Student Athlete Fund - https://elacfoundation.com/elac-student-athletes-fund/ Check out ...
May 18, 2021•36 min•Ep. 65
Have you ever caught yourself babbling in a sales conversation? John Kaplan has, and he shares some spirit around asking yourself the question - “Why are you talking?” Show your customer you’re focused on them and want to genuinely understand their business pain. John Kaplan joins us to walk through some small tricks he uses to make sure he keeps sales conversations focused on the customer. Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website....
May 11, 2021•9 min•Ep. 64
How do you ensure you’re selling for a great company or moving to a great company? Part of believing that what you do matters, means loving what you do. Companies make great promises when looking to hire top sales talent or retain top performers. Be confident you’re in the right spot and making the right moves in your sales career. John Kaplan shares his opinion on how elite sellers ensure that they’re selling for great companies, including: - What evidence to look for - How companies enable sal...
May 04, 2021•14 min•Ep. 63
Great conversations only happen when salespeople aren’t afraid to be uncomfortable. Being elite often comes down to being the person who can ask great discovery questions with patience, empathy and confidence. Force Management Facilitator Antonella O’Day shares how to dig deep in discovery conversations in a way that creates a healthy tension in the conversation, including: - The biggest misconceptions when adding positive tension to sales conversations - How to prepare to drive interest from bu...
Apr 27, 2021•19 min•Ep. 62
This episode is the first in our new podcast series “Lessons Learned in Sales”, John Kaplan talks with Senior Director of Consulting and Facilitation Patrick McLoughlin about his own career including: - The lessons he’s learned from some great managers and the mantra he uses today - The worst mistake he ever made - The time a colleague stole a prospect’s glasses This is a conversation you don’t want to miss! Here are some additional podcasts featuring PaddyMac: How to Move Yourself Beyond Medioc...
Apr 20, 2021•24 min•Ep. 61
Competitors catch up to your solutions. When they do, your “unique” differentiators won’t hold up. Marty Mercer stops by the podcast to provide tips on steering a buyer’s solution requirements away from your competition (including an impending “do nothing” or “no decision”). He teaches how to effectively prepare for conversations around decision criteria, so you can build out a list of buyer solution requirements that will validate a premium price. He also covers what to do when a customer share...
Apr 13, 2021•21 min•Ep. 60
