Tina is a long-time therapist who helps clients in all fields master their stress levels to perform at their highest. We all have a level of stress we can handle and perform well under. We also each have an overload level of stress, at which we start shutting down, and no longer perform well. Tina helps clients raise their "overload level". We talked about that, mindset, and more during this great episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 25, 2022•36 min•Season 4Ep. 9
Every once in a while, someone shares their skepticism that everyone in a company can be made to understand how their job connects to customer value creation or realization. I wanted to share my experience, which states that it can in fact, be done. In fact, achieving this goal means that you can achieve something even more important: an entire sales force who is expected to sell at an elite level of value selling, and that nothing less is acceptable. This flies in the face of normal management ...
Apr 18, 2022•17 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Mediocrity isn't bad...it just isn't good either. It' good enough...for some. I have become a student of mediocrity in the workplace, and will be shepherding a book on sales leadership mediocrity to the market at some point. In this episode, I tackle four major areas where I see mediocrity in sales and sales leadership. Training, use of scripts, "show up and throw up" demos...and discounting. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 04, 2022•31 min•Season 4Ep. 7
Denise Meridith led the Bureau of Land Management as the first black woman the Bureau had hired back in the day. Her journey has given her a unique perspective on leadership. In addition, she used her job as an opportunity to build Arizona's economy by using public lands as resources for tourism. Her expertise in managing diversity has been sought by companies like Hewlett Packard. Listen to her perspective on the future -- heck, the new reality -- of leadership. Learn more about your ad choices...
Mar 28, 2022•36 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Cristina DiGiacomo, philosopher, and I spent some time talking about mediocrity in the world an workplace. There is no area of human endeavor safe from the corrosive effects of "doing just enough", or being satisfied with average...or even someone else's strategy which we label "best practice". Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 14, 2022•40 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Eric Mulvin owns and operates Pac-Biz, a provider of outsourced customer care services. That means he operates a call center in the Phillipines with customer service agents for a couple of industries. He helped me see that his business model helps elevate his clients (he has a heavy concentration of taxi companies around the world) customer service by bringing CX domain expertise into an industry where customer service isn't often viewed as a differentiator. Eric shared how he's structured his s...
Mar 07, 2022•24 min•Season 4Ep. 4
David Buchanan is the CEO of Voith Paper in the US. His company is a full-spectrum supplier for paper makers, making complete paper mill machines, parts, services, engineering, supplies, wear parts, etc. This a tight-knit industry with a stable universe of customers, but one that is capital-intensive, and very technologically intense. Voith is a premium supplier that supplies more reliable, efficient paper mills. Hear how Voith turns that differentiation into a way of doing business. Learn more ...
Feb 28, 2022•33 min•Season 4Ep. 30
Ken Flood looks at sales like a change management engagement, which is true...when the customer is buying something they feel is new, risky, or complex. Thus, we end up agreeing about a lot of things, but coming at them from different directions, which I find refreshing. I hope you agree. This conversation went almost 50 minutes, so I cut it into two episodes. Here's part two. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 21, 2022•26 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Ken Flood combines sales expertise with change management consulting experience. He looks at sales like a change management engagement, which is true...when the customer is buying something they feel is new, risky, or complex. Luckily, that's my world too, so we end up agreeing about a lot of things, but coming at them from different directions, which I find refreshing. I hope you agree. This conversation went almost 50 minutes, so I cut it into two episodes. We had a convenient break right in t...
Feb 14, 2022•25 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Jose Palomino consults with sales and marketing clients, helping them focus on their differentiation. Because his approach is so similar to mine, I wanted to share his thoughts on differentiation and value. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 07, 2022•39 min•Season 3Ep. 40
Richard Steinau leads all customer-facing everything for Bellwether, a major events house. He's been in the business for decades, but came to Bellwether, because they were one of his favorite companies to work with before, and he's learning why. WE talked about how his company positions itself as trusted experts -- really only taking business with customers who value what they do best. We also talked about his new primary KPI: employee morale. Think about it: the leader of Sales, Marketing, Bran...
Jan 31, 2022•33 min•Season 3Ep. 39
Tom Williams is a published co-author of two great sales books, is a successful sales consultant, and has held positions including CEO of a hospital. He's been on the selling and the buying side of major B2B transactions, and when Tom talks about purchasing/procurement...make some time to listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 24, 2022•30 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Marcus Cauchi (Pronounced COW-key) is an irreverent expert in sales and marketing. He and I always have great conversations about marketing, sales, and here...selling value. I hope you enjoy this talk as much as I did. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 17, 2022•38 min•Season 3Ep. 37
Mike Groeger is Vice President, Group Commercial & Specialty Sales at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona. While employee healthcare benefits may seem like a pretty standard commodity, I learned that small differences can drive big differences in customer outcomes. During "the great resignation", benefits can impact employee retention, a huge concern for companies, helping customers make that connection can be a huge value mechanism. I so appreciated Mike articulating that for us. Learn more a...
Jan 10, 2022•28 min•Season 3Ep. 36
John Morgan is the Dan of the School of Career and Technical Education for Yavapai College, a community college in rural Arizona. They have programs for 3D printing...houses. They have cutting edge virtual education to keep some of the country's best educators working from where they want to live, to where Yavapai's students are living. They have implemented new curricula for employer needs in a matter of weeks. I was blown away by what's possible in higher ed, and even more, because it all come...
Jan 03, 2022•36 min•Season 3Ep. 35
Craig Jackman Is the CEO of Paragon IT professionals, who is a tech recruiting and contract outsourcing firm. That means Craig is in the middle of the great resignation, and all of the tech employee issues in today's market. We talked a lot about Paragon's differentiation, which is interesting, but we talked about something every company leader needs to be aware of: the many hidden costs of replacing an employee, and all of the "thousand cuts" inflicted by poor leadership. What a great episode i...
Dec 27, 2021•35 min•Season 3Ep. 34
Julie Cane is the CEO of a young financial company, Democracy Investments ( www.democracyinvestments.com) offers the Democracy Fund (Symbol: DMCY.). In a mind-numbingly crowded universe of Global Index funds, DMCY has done something different: They have taken the vanilla global fund, but have weighted investments in the fund by how democratic the home country of a company is. Think of taking a vanilla global fund, then removing the "authoritarianism risk" from it. There could be patriotic reason...
Dec 20, 2021•23 min•Season 3Ep. 33
Webcheck Security helps clients protect themselves, and in some cases, win new clients. Greg Johnson, the CEO, focuses his company on translating tech speak like "penetration testing" into customer outcomes. We talked about the importance of that kind of translation for the success of even the most technically advanced business. I was impressed with how well his company does at that, and am thrilled that we could share that with you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 13, 2021•28 min•Season 3Ep. 32
Krister Ungerbock was the CEO of a successful technology company, but after leaving the company, realized that while he successfully articulated a vision, he didn't successfully attract followers. He's learned that what leaders do to be effective is centered on what leaders say, and the questions they ask. We talked about his Talk Shift principles and applied them to leadership, sales...and life Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 06, 2021•34 min•Season 3Ep. 31
Doug Gordon is an experienced executive in the financial services industry. In our discussion, Doug shared some of the lessons he learned over a career of building businesses. While he shares some sales tactics, he has a lot to say about leading an organization make sure that everyone is focused on delivering great outcomes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 29, 2021•36 min•Season 3Ep. 30
Barry Neal owns and runs the House of Flavors Restaurant/Ice Cream Parlor in Ludington, Michigan, a beautiful town on the shores of Lake Michigan. House of Flavors isn't just a local ice cream parlor. It's a multi-generational family relationship with a loving community of friends/customers. You can't fake the love that people have for HOF, and the relationships built over generations. Barry believes in selling an authentic relationship disguised as an ice cream cone. Listen to Barry's approach ...
Nov 22, 2021•31 min•Season 3Ep. 28
JIm Dickie is the co-leader of Sales Mastery a research and advisory firm serving companies who sell business-to-business (B2B). Sales Mastery just introduced their survey of B2B buying behavior. We shared some of the insights his firm uncovered, and what that means to selling...now and in the future. Some highlights: Salespeople are not viewed favorably by customers, and that decreases the quality of 1) selling and 2) more importantly the quality of buying decisions. Jim also stays close to dev...
Nov 15, 2021•35 min•Season 3Ep. 29
Garry Ridge is the CEO of WD-40, and has turned "oil in a can" into "Creating positive customer memories". That's not a marketing tagline, it's a visionary mantra. Thus, it creates a lot of virtuous cycles. Everyone in the company understands how their role creates those memories. Every decision is filtered through that standard, and if an idea doesn't create those memories, it gets jettisoned. The company is one tribe, one purpose, not a collection of departments/silos/sub-tribes engaged in int...
Nov 08, 2021•30 min•Season 3Ep. 27
Chris Kneeland is the CEO of Cult Collective (https://cultideas.com). His company has studied what makes a brand a cult, and why consumers become so dedicated to some brands that they become unpaid salespeople. He talks about marketing engagement in ways far different than most marketing departments have turned into practice. I love his focus on his clients' customers, and what it takes to make them evangelize for you. Great conversation, Chris. Thanks!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit m...
Nov 01, 2021•39 min•Season 3Ep. 26
Ian Bower leads Graphic Rhythm (https://www.graphicrhythm.com), a graphic design agency that serves as a resource for companies without sophisticated graphic departments of their own. He has built a company on the premise, that "The way your company appears visually -- in website, social media, content, etc. -- is like dressing for a job interview." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 25, 2021•27 min•Season 3Ep. 25
Eric Miller Is a Managing Partner at PADT, who serves mechanical engineers with sophisticated tools and service to help them build THEIR businesses. We talked about how engineers hate to be sold to, and trust fairly slowly. Those characteristics of his primary customers forced PADT into a business model of becoming a trusted resource and co-creation partner for his customers. It's something many organizations aspire to do, and I was excited to have him share those exceptional value-focused behav...
Oct 18, 2021•35 min•Season 3Ep. 24
Adrian Walker and his wife Natalya founded Boataffair to fill a gap in the boat rental/charter market. Boataffair provides a highly personalized rental/charter experience between regular mass boat rentals and super yacht charters. Boataffair differentiates their customer experience by paying attention to all of the details. When that's your business model, you need to develop skills in listening and getting feedback to constantly improve. Adrian provides some great guidance for others to follow....
Oct 11, 2021•29 min•Season 3Ep. 23
Scott Jordan started SCOTTeVEST for the purpose of simplifying a traveler's life through more and better pockets. This sounds almost amusingly simple, but like any simple-at-first idea, true expertise is a hard-won prize that takes a long time. SCOTTeVEST is the pre-eminent travel convenience garment company, and Scott has become a pocket scientist. But it isn't about pocket features: Scott personally reviews his customer interactions to take more lessons and continuously improve. It's simple, b...
Oct 04, 2021•30 min•Season 3Ep. 22
Dr. Amy Czyz (pronounced "Chez") is an eye doctor turned consumer product entrepreneur. We discussed how she operated her medical practice with patients at the core...and how that became a great foundation for her newest venture: Intent, a vehicle for helping people be their best throughout the day...that looks like a set of beverages engineered for balancing the wake/sleep cycle. Amy doesn't call her business a circadian rhythm beverage -- she knows it's about that customer outcome. It's brilli...
Sep 27, 2021•35 min•Season 3Ep. 21
Tyler Hayzlett is the Chief Marketing Officer of the C Suite Network (www.c-suitenetwork.com), where he is in charge of marketing strategy and execution for a the world's largest B2B media network, and for a membership organization devoted to growing members' businesses. We talked about making sure that marketing focuses on customer outcomes, and on building a tribe of followers to close loops in customer feedback, innovation, service and more. He also teased his organization's new e-book (https...
Sep 20, 2021•35 min•Season 3Ep. 20
