Force Management has launched our new product: Ascender. It is a platform solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content nearly every day on that platform that helps you operate at an elite level. Subscribers also have access to a community and a curriculum where they can earn selling credentials, including a MEDDICC certification. Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender / As you try to se...
Nov 29, 2022•24 min•Ep. 195
Force Management has launched our new product: Ascender. It is a platform solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content of a similar nature every day with insights that will help you to level up in your sales career. Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender / As a seller, you need to communicate effectively with people throughout an organization - both on the economic and technical levels....
Nov 22, 2022•15 min•Ep. 194
Force Management has launched our new product: Ascender. It is a platform solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content of a similar nature every day with insights that will help you to level up in your sales career. Check out the platform here: https://my.ascender.co/Ascender / As the end of the year approaches, sellers are preoccupied with many things—their deals, their bonuses, maxing out their accelerator...
Nov 15, 2022•15 min•Ep. 193
Force Management has launched our new product: Ascender. It is a platform solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content of a similar nature every day with insights that will help you to level up in your sales career. Join our Founders Circle here: https://www.ascender.co / With cold calling, your aim is to turn strangers into paying customers. Outbound Squad CEO and founder Jason Bay joins us to explain how t...
Nov 08, 2022•30 min•Ep. 192
Force Management has launched our new product: Ascender. It is a platform solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content of a similar nature every day with insights that will help you to level up in your sales career. Join our Founders Circle here: https://www.ascender.co/ Sellers often find themselves trapped in conversation with one member of the buying company, typically someone involved with technical pain...
Nov 01, 2022•14 min•Ep. 191
Force Management has launched our new product: Ascender. It is a platform solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content of a similar nature every day with insights that will help you to level up in your sales career. Join our Founders Circle here: https://www.ascender.co/ We often speak about MEDDICC on this show, and for good reason. It’s used by several different sales companies, and if you’re selling softw...
Oct 25, 2022•18 min•Ep. 141
Who couldn't use more qualified leads in the pipeline? John Kaplan joins Jason Bay, CEO of Outbound Squad for a discussion on How to turn Account Executives into prospecting machines (backed by 3+ decades of experience) THIS WEDNESDAY - October 26th | 1pm ET | 10am PT Register Here: https://forc.mx/3VXCLrp
Oct 24, 2022•1 min•Ep. 189
Force Management has launched our new product: Ascender. It is a platform solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content of a similar nature every day with insights that will help you to level up in your sales career. Join our Founders Circle here: https://www.ascender.co/ Outbound sales is in a state of rapid change. Many companies and reps struggle to keep up with the whirlwind of technological advancements ...
Oct 18, 2022•32 min•Ep. 188
Force Management has launched our new product: Ascender. It is a platform solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content of a similar nature every day with insights that will help you to level up in your sales career. Join our Founders Circle here: https://www.ascender.co/ Reps like you are always looking for ways to break into a new account. Trying to get into a new account can be stressful for many, but in t...
Oct 11, 2022•18 min
Force Management has launched our new product: Ascender. It is a platform solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content of a similar nature every day with insights that will help you to level up in your sales career. Join our Founders Circle here: https://www.ascender.co/ How do you prepare for your next role, be it in your current sales organization or a different one? This is a question that sales professio...
Oct 04, 2022•18 min
No one can be everywhere at once and sometimes you can’t be in the room where decisions are being made. That’s why it’s so important that your buyer understands the benefits of your solution. In today’s episode, John Kaplan explains how to empower your buyer to be the hero of your sales story. This episode touches on a number of topics, including: Starting your sales story with the end in mind so your buyer is excited for the desired outcome. Attaching the sale to the issue you’re trying to solv...
Sep 27, 2022•10 min
Force Management has launched our new product: Ascender. It is a platform solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content of a similar nature every day with insights that will help you to level up in your sales career. Join our Founders Circle here: https://www.ascender.co/ People with confidence and conviction truly believe that what they do matters, no matter their line of work. For that confidence to transla...
Sep 20, 2022•11 min
Force Management has launched our new product: Ascender. It is a platform solely for salespeople who own a quota. If you enjoy the Audible-Ready Sales Podcast, Ascender is perfect for you! We put out content of a similar nature every day with insights that will help you to level up in your sales career. Join our Founders Circle here: https://www.ascender.co/ When it comes to sales planning, we encourage reps to take on what we call the sales franchise mindset. You have to view your territory as ...
Sep 13, 2022•7 min
Solution requirements are a critical component of every deal you sell. These are things that must be in place in order for a buyer to achieve their desired outcomes, and they exist with or without your solution. In today’s episode, John Kaplan explains the importance of recognizing your customer’s solution requirements and what to do with that knowledge. You will learn how to: Bridge the customer’s current state to their desired future state. Position your value in a way that influences the cust...
Sep 06, 2022•15 min
We’ve done a number of episodes about what to do in a tightening economy and how to overcome economic headwinds. In this episode, we focus specifically on the need to position value early on in the sales process and how doing so can help you in more challenging sales cycles where companies are increasingly reluctant to spend. Force Management Senior Partner Tim Caito gives several helpful pointers on how to reframe your value, particularly during periods of economic turbulence. Tim’s advice cove...
Aug 30, 2022•30 min
With the distractions present in today’s world, making an effort to maintain buyer focus is more important than ever. Keeping your customers engaged is particularly crucial during economic downturns, when businesses and individuals alike are hesitant to spend the way they normally would. In this episode, John Kaplan sheds light on how to keep your customers focused when they may be wavering. John shares insight about: The importance of having an outside-in mentality Articulating your solution’s ...
Aug 23, 2022•12 min
There is a motor that all great salespeople possess. It comes down to the tenacity they have to do the job well, a focus on their customer’s success and an overall accountability. The great thing about sales is it’s something you can work at. With sales as a profession, we’re often only limited by the amount of work we are able to put in. That’s why Force Management is launching our new product - a platform solely for salespeople who own a quota. Anyone can subscribe. In this episode, John Kapla...
Aug 16, 2022•10 min
Maybe you’ve hit a bit of a slump. Perhaps you’ve been down on your luck lately. You are not alone—as sellers, it’s disheartening when nothing seems to be going our way. It comes with the territory. How do you counteract a slide in fortune? John Kaplan shares some spirit and insight regarding steps to take to get out of a slump. Here are some additional resources How to Determine Where Your Sales Team is Struggling the Most Overcoming Sales Challenges: Change the Decision Criteria Check out this...
Aug 08, 2022•11 min
There is always the possibility of a recession or financial downturn. During such times, companies are inclined to tighten their budgets, which may make salespeople like you nervous, to say the least. How do you sell effectively when your customers are focused on minimizing unnecessary costs and reevaluating their current budget line items? Get customer focused. People buy for three reasons: your solution will increase revenue, decrease cost, or mitigate risks. In this episode, John Kaplan share...
Aug 02, 2022•10 min
Sellers must understand the more detail-oriented technical pains as well as the wider-ranging business pains of a customer’s organization. Elite salespeople are able to balance both worlds. You should be able to speak with those involved with the operational aspects of a company, learn their pain through effective discovery, and then move up and tie those technical pains with business issues that will catch the attention of C-level executives. In this episode, John Kaplan explains in depth the d...
Jul 26, 2022•9 min
All sellers occasionally go through rough periods. Maybe you’ve had some bad breaks or customer shake-ups. John Kaplan explains why you might be losing and offers suggestions for how to move forward after low periods, including attaching to the prospect’s biggest business issues, influencing decision criteria with your differentiation, and having reliable Champions and Coaches to support your opportunities. Here are some additional resources Enable Managers to Make an Impact on Future Deals Usin...
Jul 19, 2022•12 min
Both sellers and buyers today recognize the power of testimonials when it comes to influencing customers to purchase a product or service—it’s ingrained in our society. However, it may be difficult for reps to determine where exactly they fit in when it comes to testimonials. What is your role? John Kaplan explains how to effectively leverage testimonials in a sales process to maximize the success and size of your deals. Here are some additional resources Four Ways to Use Customer Testimonials i...
Jul 12, 2022•13 min
We’ve all worked for someone who we didn’t think was that great as a manager. How do you, a seller, handle the scenario in which you’re working for a bad manager but aren’t quite ready to leave? John Kaplan shares some advice on how to improve your work experience when in such a situation and what to look for in your next company. Here are some additional resources How to Ensure You're Selling For A Great Company Signs You're Working for a Company That's Staged for Growth Check out this and othe...
Jul 05, 2022•23 min
Hear the practices that the most elite salespeople exhibit. John Kaplan joins us to highlight must-execute action steps for sellers including: expanding your referral networks, defining buyer metrics, influencing decision criteria, getting multi-threaded in your sales approach, and asking for help. Take your sales career to the next level. Use these action steps. Here are some additional resources Why Sales Reps Struggle with Metrics in the Sales Conversation Your Most Critical Accounts: 4 Quest...
Jun 28, 2022•20 min
When you work for someone else, much of your day to day can be out of your control and power. So, how do you take ownership of that which you can control? In this episode, John Kaplan explains the importance of owning your success and shares tips on how to put yourself in a position to succeed as a sales rep. Plus, as promised, here is the definition of a floppy disk for our younger listeners: a thin plastic disk coated with magnetic material on which data for a computer can be stored (Merriam-W...
Jun 21, 2022•22 min
Changes in leadership commonly take place during the sales process. Although disruptive, they are an occurrence for which preparation is key. How do you ensure that new leadership recognizes the value of your solution and gets behind it? John Kaplan shares how to respond to changes in leadership depending on where you are in the sales process. Here are some additional resources: Articulating Differentiation: 5 Ways to Trap the Competition Aligning Differentiation to Your Buyer | Podcast Check ou...
Jun 14, 2022•15 min
Everybody knows about the need to build their referral network, but very few people talk specifically about how best to do so. Many sellers are uncomfortable asking for referrals. How do you request a referral without coming off as pushy, or even desperate? Force Management Facilitator Antonella O’Day joins us to share tips for building your referral network, including how and when to ask for referrals. Here are some additional resources: Don’t Forget These Key Steps to a Value-Based Sales Conve...
Jun 07, 2022•12 min
As a seller, it’s not uncommon to feel overwhelmed by the numerous methodologies, tactics and processes that you are given to follow. How do you pull everything together fluidly without feeling as though you’re mindlessly piling on process after process? John Kaplan breaks down how to simplify all of these tools into a single, swift selling motion. Here are some additional resources: The Audible-Ready Sales Podcast: How to Make Sure You're Working for Great Companies w/ John Kaplan on Apple Podc...
May 31, 2022•12 min
We often focus on asking two-sided, open-ended discovery questions to learn about prospective customers. However, there is little value in asking these questions if you are unable to listen effectively. How can you improve your listening in sales conversations? Force Management Facilitator Marty Mercer joins us to share insight on how to follow up great questions with active listening. Here are some additional resources: 3 Skills to Improve Your Sales Conversations Effective Sales Communication:...
May 24, 2022•20 min
When selling a solution, you want to align with wide-ranging corporate initiatives and not just departmental one-offs. Many reps struggle to not only identify, but also align with company-wide initiatives that buyers are navigating with inside of their organization. John Kaplan explains how to recognize a corporate buyer and align your business outcomes with their pain points and other business issues. Here are some additional resources: Three Common Sales Challenges and What to Do About Them Ho...
May 17, 2022•11 min
