Adam Kipnes coaches his clients through a focused strategic planning exercise that engages all stakeholders, and develops innovative plans by asking better questions. This approach makes the plan a living document, with some contingency planning built in. In our conversation, we talked about the challenges of making a long-term plan during periods of rapid, extreme change -- specifically a global pandemic. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 27, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Steve Melanson helps clients distill their differentiation down into a single, simple concept. Then, he helps them align everything in their business to that simple, clean brand promise: their graphic/media presence, marketing, operations, service...everything. He and I are kindred spirits in that regard. I really enjoyed our conversation, and of course (egotistically), how much we agree. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 23, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Joe Swinger confesses that he used to be the "manager from hell" until he received a wake-up call from his management after the results of employee surveys. He quickly figured out that getting results from your team actually gets easier when you motivate and coach them. This revelation led him on his own journey of coaching and helping mid-career professionals figure out how they can live lives of "Vibrancy, Impact, and Purpose"...I can think of no better charter for anyone in any management/lea...
Jul 20, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 38
VAluClarity goes global: Alessandro Duringon joined me from his home just outside of Milan, Italy. Alessandro is a sales leader with experience in a variety of technology product companies. We talked about selling value, and how small-seeming differentiation can lead to selling success, even earning a price premium. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 16, 2020•30 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Tim Rethlake is leads sales team training for the world's largest fireplace and hearth company. He shares his wisdom extensively on social media, in clever, pithy posts. Tim and I talked about differentiation, value, and how sales organizations adapt to change. I always enjoy spending time with Tim, and hope enjoy this conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 13, 2020•35 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Bob Pizzini enlisted in the navy, ultimately becoming an Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) specialist. Upon leaving the service, he had to learn to lead young people who had not benefitted from the US military's extensive leadership training infrastructure. Through some trying times, he's developed his own style of leadership that starts with a heavy dose of self-management, then goes on to team management. I love what he has to say about all of it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megap...
Jul 09, 2020•38 min•Season 1Ep. 35
I often coach my clients that sometimes you can achieve high-value uniqueness by being the only one to combine two familiar (not-well-differentiated) ones. Aneesh Chaudry has created a business that differentiates by Integrating two well-known disciplines into a unique new one: A creative differentiation method. By integrating eastern and western healing traditions, a high-value, different service was created. While I am personally interested in integrative medicine, there are some value and dif...
Jul 06, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Mike Skrypnek found himself at a crossroads after the crash of 2008, and took advantage of an opportunity to reimagine his business, his life, and his career. He dove into hundreds of hours of self-examination, guided by experts in the field, and developed his own "Grow, Get, Give" ethos, where companies grow through customer value focus, and share that success philanthropically. We talk about it in a great interview which has some powerful parallels to any business or sales person. Learn more a...
Jul 02, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 33
George Brontén: is a thought leader, author, and the CEO of a CRM company who finds that CRMs often don't do what they should. We talk about what sales leaders should be getting their teams to do instead of logging activities, about the importance of coaching (not managing) and his book, which helps sales people -- and the coaches coaching them -- avoid those simple mistakes that are high-frequency deal-killers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 29, 2020•35 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Tricia Benn, Executive VP with the C-Suite Network serves as the guest host for this episode. She interviews Mark Boundy as the guest. We talk about the vision of a value-focused organization, and some of the tools we use with clients to help simplify and clarify that process. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 25, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Bryan Wright is a video master, who has run state-of-the-art video production departments for major silicon valley firms, and now does it as his business. Video has become a key tool for companies to communicate their value...and like any tool, can be used expertly or incompetently (and anywhere in between). We discuss how to communicate value, brand, etc. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 22, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Dr. Rachel MK Headly -- author, scientist, and speaker and I talk about leading change, including an introduction to her approach to understanding how the people on your team want to work with each other. Knowing this allows a team to figure out why they drive each other crazy even though they know why they need each other....and how to break the cycle of dysfunctional teams. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 18, 2020•31 min•Season 1Ep. 29
I met Steve Sundberg when he was a global sales leader of over 150 customer-facing professionals...the most value-conscious sales force I've ever encountered. Since then, he's led or owned several small-to-medium sized contract manufacturers, and has grown them by making sure that the entire company knows how their role contributes to customer value. He's living proof that de-siloing by putting customer value (not simply "the customer") in everyone's sights makes everyone more successful. Learn ...
Jun 15, 2020•44 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Martyn Lewis focuses his client engagements around their customers' journey. He helps sales forces design their process around a customer buying, which ultimately results in more revenue. His book, "How Customers Buy...and Why they Don't" distills what he does nicely. We talk about what it means to help customers buy...a great conversation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 11, 2020•43 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Cristina DiGiacomo helps business leaders seek greater wisdom. Using the thoughts of history's greatest thinkers, she brings fresh, brilliant perspectives to the most modern problems, but using the world's giant minds to help ask the right questions. I love talking with Cristina, and thought I'd have a conversation with her in front of a microphone. I think you'll enjoy it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 08, 2020•1 hr 29 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Arjun Sen has consulted with a who's who of consumer brands, and continues to advise executives at major brands on strategy. We talk about value in the consumer space, some of the differences vis-a-vis business-to-business marketing and sales...and the even stronger parallels. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 04, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Greg Williams, the Master Negotiator, is a noted speaker and trainer on body language and negotiation. We agreed that tough negotiations in sales often means that the selling organization failed to build sufficient value early in the customer's buying process...but that negotiation skills, including an understanding of your counterpart's body language, is often a key skillset. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 01, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 24
David Newman is the Author of "Do It! Marketing" and more recently "Do It! Speaking". He helps professional speakers (independents and executives who speak as part of their jobs) grow in all aspects of the business, especially marketing and selling this very intangible service. We talk about the process of building personal credibility and brand to build value that deserves the prices you need. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 18, 2020•9 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Christine Gilroy has been a sales leader selling sales performance technology for many years. She's sold CRM and bought all kinds of sales training and technology. Through it all, she's seen that the differentiator isn't more/cooler tech, it's selling customer outcomes...She is adamant that tools that help sellers do that are what sales leaders really need, now more than ever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 14, 2020•35 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Lee Smith, founder and CEO of SalesFuel talks about his specialties: hiring great people, coaching them well, and dealing with the different toxic employee types. His book "Hire Smarter, Sell More" captures his learning and his company's special sauce in helping their clients become more successful in selling. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 11, 2020•36 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Kak Varley is a highly experienced sales professional and sales leader. We talk about the essence of sales and value: The company's value to the salesperson, the salesperson's value to the company, the value of the company's products/services to customers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 08, 2020•38 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Rich Blakeman is the sales leader's leader. He's personally grown and led sales forces, and has helped clients transform their sales forces. His experience with sellers covers a broad range of industries, and he's successfully gone deep into sales organizations to build sales excellence. We talk about how nothing moves without great discovery: understanding the customer, their world, and their aspirations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
May 04, 2020•38 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Holly Duckworth is an accomplished speaker and mindfulness practitioner. Her most recent book, "Sell More, Stress Less" is a guidebook with 52 weekly affirmations on mindfulness in sales. We talk about mindfulness and intention to be of value to your customer/client is foundational to performing discovery in a truly customer-centric way. THAT enables sellers to uncover value gaps and to co-create innovative solutions with clients. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Apr 27, 2020•38 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Valerie Bertrand consults on wealth and investments, but that's the tip of the iceberg that is her offer. She dives deep into clients' motivations, desires, and mental blocks to help them realize true wealth. What she does feels like so much more than your run-of-the-mill investment advisor, and also much more than a counselor....by combining a unique blend of two pretty standard professions, she has developed a highly differentiated, highly valuable service. We talk about that, and how signific...
Apr 23, 2020•30 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Tricia Benn of the C-Suite Network talks about her work with the C-Suite Network and that organizations Hero Club. Tricia is in charge of building strong communities of business leaders. We talk about "the 5 Keeps for right now": Keep customers engaged , Keep employees focused keep cash flowing , Keep showing Continuity, Keep your spirits up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 20, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Steve Lishansky and I are kindred spirits. Like me, he helps organizations transition from sales forces to teams of trusted business consultants. We talk about understanding the outcomes beyond what a customer knows to ask for. Steve says that "the ability to facilitate [customer] clarity about what is most important to them is the ultimate differentiator". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 16, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 15
David Veech knows leadership, from his time in the armed forces, to being a leadership coach, trainer, and facilitator. We talk about his work, about creating meaning for people, about aligning everyone in the organization around customer value. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 13, 2020•38 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Tina Greenbaum is a psychotherapist with a "performance under pressure" practice. Her clients include top athletes and executives. She comes onto the ValuClarity Podcast to discuss how every sales professional in the world could stand to increase their window of stress tolerance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 06, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Kerri Salls, best-selling author of Multiply Your Business Value in 3 Steps, specializes in helping clients grow the value of their businesses. She starts with internal value: people, process and values that operationalize best practices into a business. This results in increased external value: value to a buyer of the business. We also discussed what this means in the context of the current COVID-19 (at least when we recorded this episode), and how the lockdown exposes the truly important in ou...
Apr 02, 2020•28 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Darrell Amy, Author of the upcoming book, "Revenue Growth Engine" and I talk about putting customer value at the center of Sales and Marketing Alignment. Rather than settling inter-department disputes in favor of either sales or marketing, the "winner" should always be customer value focus. Darrell believes that value (and articulating it in the form of messaging and then dialogue) is the fuel of the sales and marketing engine. Your technology stack, processes, playbooks might be great engine co...
Mar 30, 2020•39 min•Season 1Ep. 11
