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Why You’re Not Closing Sales #211 In this solo episode Pat talks about the Sideways deal and why you’re not closing sales.  The reasons for this is not at all what you think. In fact, it’s not so much you can’t close a deal. It’s more a case of you’ve not fully qualified the prospect. If you had properly discovered the prospects situation (their pains and desires), you would have noticed the following: They have more pressing issues. Now they may like what you have,  but they don’t HAVE to have it. They may have more pressing issues at this moment. It’s not time to close The seller (YOU) hasn’t fully explained the benefits. If you don’t frame your product or service in the context of the buyer, you don’t have a chance of closing. Focus on the buyers motivations. Buyer Motivations Although it changes from business to business, on the whole buyers are motivated by: Higher Profit Higher Revenue Lower Cost Higher Quality Lower Frustration Faster If you’ve NOT explained your product or service in this context

Never Hire a Bad Salesperson Again with Chris Croner #210 In this episode we meet Dr. Chris Croner  author of the book, Never Hire a Bad Salesperson Again.  In his book Chris shares his psychological research and practice in identifying the non-teachable personality traits common to top producing salespeople. Chris has  identified this problem by focusing on personality traits. He found that the most important factor for success in sales is a person’s Drive – the inner fire that ultimately determines if he or she will thrive or fail. Chris and I discuss his system for identifying salespeople with the Drive to success, helping businesses improve their sales teams while avoid underperformers. Have a Structure When You Hire It’s important to be process driven in your hiring procedure.Too often hiring managers go with their gut vs a methodical process.  The interviewer should be the one to take over the conversation. To make sure you never hire a bad salesperson again, do the following: Effective assessment – F

Stop Guessing How to Sell and Use Market Research with Corey Hammer #208 Many companies fail to understand the drivers that motivate customers to buy. Through luck and pluck these companies have found a level of success. Yet they know they’re leaving money on the table. Now if there was only a way to know for certain our prospects are thinking. In this episode guest Corey Hammer shows how companies can stop guessing how to sell and instead use market research to know for FACT,  the drivers for selling success. Corey Hammer has 15+ years as an insights professional across multiple industries. This includes CPG, education, hospitality, pharmaceuticals, and consumer services. He holds a PhD in Experimental Psychology and is a longtime Boy Scout and Scouter (Be Prepared). Market Research Process Companies looking to roll out a new product or service should thoroughly investigate the new market. According to Corey, there is a methodical market research process. This process will provide insight into the drivers f

The Key to Authentic Selling with Jeff Davis #207 In this episode we meet long time Sales Babble listener Jeff Davis and author of the new book The Power of Authentic Leadership.  Jeff and I discuss the importance of sellers embracing a leadership role, and apply their personal value system  to build trust in prospective clients. Jeff gives the key to authentic selling with a 3 step process for authentic leadership. Sales Credibility Every day sales professionals  put themselves and their products and services into the world. Success is dependent on effectively connecting with prospects. To do that you must have absolute buy-in to what you’re selling. People sabotage themselves by not fulling committing to the product/service.  Customers can read that and not trust. Three Step Authentic Selling Process The key to authentic selling is knowing yourself, your product and aligning the two when selling: Know your personal VALUES – it’s not what you know, it’s what you apply Make sure your VALUES are applied to

How to Generate Referrals Without Asking with Stacey Brown Randall #206 Leveraging business referrals is a powerful way to grow your business. Unfortunately the process is poorly understood and followed. The majority of the people are uncomfortable asking clients to do something that would help their business. They’ve been told to just get over their shyness and ask for a referral or reference. Since there are few alternatives, most  people just skip it all together. In this episode Stacey Brown Randall preaches against outright asking for a referral.  She shows an alternative process on how to generate referrals without asking. Build a Referral Network Stay Top of Mind If you have a business reflect on your loyal and happy clients. Place them in your referral network. If you’re working for a startup, it will require old school networking. Work with people you know from you past. Ask them to keep you top of mind. Adhere to a process (see below) and overtime, referrals will happen. Five Step Referral Process

All Sales Start With a Why with Michael Manzur #205 Michael Manzur is founder and CEO of Flood Me Social LLC, a social media marketing agency. He helps companies find qualified leads and convert them into prospects. Michael is an unofficial LinkedIn Influencer and Host of LinkedIn Local Aventura in south Florida. Today we discuss common mistakes sellers make in social media and the process to turn leads into conversations. Ineffective  Social Media Too often companies have no idea why or what they’re doing on social media. All they know, is that they’re supposed to do it. The word Why is the driving force for selling according to Michael Too often businesses fail to base objectives around their Why Social media is merely a tool, doesn’t supplant effective communication People can see a marketing campaign a mile away Without a clear Why, campaigns fall flat Your Why comes from your Value Proposition. First define that. Effective Social Media Now that you have your Why, do the following: Set a business obje

What’s Not Working In Sales Today with Brandon Bruce #204 Brandon Bruce grew up in a tiny California town of 800 people where he only had one classmate at a school with outhouses as their bathroom. He went from these humble beginnings to now Cofounding and growing Cirrus Insight to $12 million in revenue and #41 on the Inc. 500 list (after a six-year rollercoaster of sales success and setbacks). Today Brandon and I discuss what’s not working in sales today. Times Have Changed for Sales Cold emailing and cold calling still work, but not as well as in the past. The internet is changing consumers behavior.  They are spending more time alone shopping and comparing before calling the sales line. It used to be that growing a big email lists was the path to success. But it doesn’t work as well as it did in the past. People can smell a pitch a mile away. A small list of targeted prospects is better. Sales Solutions That May Work Be eminently reachable – post your calendar online and let people find a spot that works

The Purpose of Sales with May McCarthy The purpose of this episode is to talk about purpose! Our guest May McCarthy discusses the value of aligning our day-to-day decisions towards some greater purpose. May walks us through a discovery process used by sales people and business owners alike. The purpose of sales is unique for each of us. In this episode let’s reveal what you want, how to achieve it and lastly how does your company help or hinder your success. Lack of Purpose Companies know what they do, but not why. Even if they do, large organizations fail to share it up and down the organization. A purposeless organization will experience: lack of innovation disengaged employees listless shareholders fickle customers lower profits A clear shared purpose can address these concerns and provide you your unique purpose of sales. Personal Purpose, Company Purpose Ask three questions to reveal the purpose of sales in your life: What did you do when young that you truly loved? Ask people who you know and respec

Time To Sell Mindset with Chris Spurvey #202 In this episode Chris Spurvey shares his uncomfortable sales journey. When he started in sales, he didn’t find instant success. It took time, but he discovered the right mindset that would allow him to connect with prospects, and convert them into loyal clients. He calls it Chris Spurvey 5.0.  In his new book It’s Time to Sell he explains his process for reinvention, self discovery and the right time to sell mindset. Achievement Demands a Vision Without a direction, you can’t reach a destination. Chris believes a compelling vision motivates you to go out and act. It’s all about mindset. By celebrating smalls win, successes will compile. Create a vision with a time to sell mindset Set aside time each day executing this vision What is your sales vision? Consider framing sales as a problem solver, not a pusher. If you can give your clients a good night sleep you’re doing it right. Create relationships with your clients and gain their trust with “Questions of Unders

Three Step Process to Narrow Your Sales Focus with Phil Boissiere #201 Phil Boissiere is a Silicon Valley tech startup and executive coach. He works with founders, entrepreneurs and sales people who struggle with attention fatigue. In this episode Phil gives us practical advice on how to boost your selling productivity.  His 3×3 method is a quick way to tune up your sales brain, vanquish stress and narrow your sales focus. Your brain is the most important tool you have in your bag. Use it! Sales = Stress The sales profession attracts people who are willing to put themselves on the line. Sales people are  evaluated on: performance factors – e.g. closed sales, advanced deals, prospecting, etc.. social factors – e.g. likeability, relationship building, etc… When stress goes up, performance goes down. When people are stressed, they make the wrong decision. Quick fixes have limits. Discover the root cause within you and what’s going on in your brain. for example, with dehydration your cognition drops! Tedious c

Master Your Cold Calling Fear With This 4 Step Script One of the most difficult steps in sales is cold calling. It’s a task dripping with anxiety, dread and reluctance. People want to be loved and respected. Inserting ourselves into a place that yields rejection is scary. But this is the problem.  Prospects rarely seek out vendors and buy. Waiting around for the phone to ring is a bad plan. So it falls on the seller to make the first move. That first move is often on the telephone.  You need to master your cold calling fear.  My definition of a cold call is when you reach out to prospect and they’re not expecting the call. You only have a few seconds to elicit interest making it tricky work. The trick is to have a service mindset focused on learning about the client, understanding their situation, then ascertaining if you can help. To make this lesson real, we’ll use an example of a real phone call. This call contains a series of steps. Each step has a reason and builds on the previous step. Do you stink at

How to Find Sales Leads with Twitter with Madalyn Sklar #199 Sales Babble listeners are always asking about social selling and using social media of discover new leads. Sales people are ALWAYS looking for new leads.  We know that LinkedIn can be alot of help, but what about Twitter, what about Instagram or Facebook? Is Snapchat worth your time?Today we ask AND answer those very questions. My guest Madalyn Sklar and I review each of the social media platforms and Madalyn shares advice  on how to find sales leads with Twitter and common do’s and don’ts for Social Selling. Social Media Social Selling Sales is sales. Just like finding leads at a networking event or referrals, social selling is no different except for the venue! You can find leads in all social media! Your ability to find leads depends on two things: Knowing who you’re selling to Understanding the social media venue How to Find Leads with Twitter Be consistent Tweet everyday Tweet 5 times a day Check notifications people who respond Check D

The Birth of a Salesman One consistent message I get from the Sales Babble audience is they love that Sales Babble makes sales simple by sharing practical advice and selling stories. Well today we’re going to knock that out of the park. Our guest is sales professional and author Carson Heady and he’s the author of the book series,  Birth of a Salesman. Carson spins a sales adventures of fictional Vincent Scott as a vehicle to describe what makes for great sales. Superman With a Briefcase The protagonist of the book is Vincent Scott. The story starts with him entering sales right out of college. His is young, brash and soon finds he’s good at it. He appreciates being well paid and is soon promoted and promoted again.  Vincent represents all of us. We are all tested in our careers and personal lives. Like him, we make mistakes and have wins. In Carson’s mind, Vincent is a Superman with a Briefcase.  Vincent’s not afraid to take risks. Yes he sometimes fails but in the end he is a success in his profession.   T

Never Be Closing – Key To Better Sales with Tim Hurson #197 The second most difficult task of a sale is to ask for the business. Closing a prospect is a monumental challenge for many sales professionals. But maybe we’re looking at this all wrong. Tim Hurson is the author of the book “Never Be Closing”. In this episode Tim shares a process where prospects close themselves without arm twisting or sketchy wordplay trickery. Take your closing skills to the mastery level! Have a Don’t Close Mindset Tim recommends going into a sales conversation with the idea of learning something. Set aside the  expectation of closing quickly. People will close themselves if you do the process right.  It takes time to build a relationship. People fear purchasing from a stranger, but they do appreciate purchasing from those they trust. Purpose of a Sales Call What is the purpose of a sales call?  It’s not to make the sale, it’s to make the sale, AFTER the sale. Sales calls are measured on a binary scale: You closed or NOT closed.

Top 10 Sales and Marketing Tools for 2018 #196 In this episode Neil Kristianson from Email Splat visits Sales Babble in the international podcast studio. As we gather around the fire,  Neil and I drink homebrews, sample salsa, mustards, various cheeses and crackers. But this is not and end-of-year sendoff. Throughout this bacchanalia, Neil and I share the top 10 sales and marketing tools, we feel Sales Babble listeners should adopt in 2018. Below are links to each of the tools mentioned in this episode. Neils Sales and Marketing Tools Rescuetime – A personal analytics service that shows you how you spend your time and provides tools to help you be more productive. Web Merge – An online platform that allows you to easily collect data, populate a document and send it to any contact automatically. We provide you with flexible document types, dynamic content, and delivery options that fit to your business needs. Stepshot Guides – A unique software to create training manuals, technical blog reviews, software wor

Sales Jokes That Don’t Fall Flat with Jon Selig #195 There  are parallels between sales, improv and stand up comedy. Unfortunately sales jokes can fall flat and jeopardize a deal. In this episode Jon Selig shares advice on how to employ comedy to connect, build relationships and win deals. Sales and Comedy Each sales call has elements of standup. Open strong, close strong, probe the audience for their pain. display confidence. First you need to sell them on you. A simple  self deprecating joke is safe. Craft jokes specifically for a prospect’s pains and challenges within their industry. It is very easy to offend and alienate your prospect.  You only need to offend one person on a team to lose a deal. Don’t push anyone down Don’t marginalize anyone Don’t mock popular sentiments Be as politically correct as you can Have empathy and put yourself in your customer’s shoes. If you do that you won’t cross the line and have your sales jokes fall flat. Improv in Sales Frame your message within the problems and desi

How to Make Sales with Voicemail with Dave Moravec #194 Sales Babble listener Dave Moravec visits the podcast to share telephone and voicemail prospecting tips. I  was a guest speaker at his CEO Sales Summit at the Integrity Data offices. I gave a talk on focused listening and qualifying. After the talk,  I fired up the digital recorder and had Dave share how he make sales with voicemail and email to solicit interest and earn an appointment. Sales Voicemail Challenge Do you return your voicemails?  Probably not. The common etiquette is to ask permission BEFORE calling. This is what we do with friends and family. But this wasn’t true in the past. Back in the day, you could call without permission. given there was no caller ID to screen your calls. This idea of permission is flowing into the B2B space. In fact only 4.8% voicemails get returned.  That’s a ration of  1:20.  This is the challenge. Your challenge is to leave a good and pertinent voicemail that will solicit the prospect to take your call OR return

Why Commissioned-Based Sales Plans Fail to Work with Justin Clark Justin Clark is the Director of Sales for a janitorial and packaging products distributor. Over time, Justin’s company found sales reps spending more time auditing their paychecks than selling.  They also found the commission-based sales plans failed to motivate reps to do the best for their customers. To overcome this challenge they moved their sales staff to a pure performance review based salary plan.  In this interview, Justin shares the story of how they were able to make this extraordinary change in their compensation plan. Challenges Faced Money is emotional. 100% commissioned sales people would spend as much time making sure they’re paid what they earned vs selling. Reps pushed products that brought the most money. There were SPIFs (Sales Performance Incentive Fund) for products that were not good for the customer. Wanted to promote consultative sales and stop sellers pushing products and instead finding solutions. Commission-based sa

How To Learn The Secret Lingo of Your Customer with Jeffrey Shaw #192 Author Jeffrey Shaw visits Sales Babble to talk about his book Lingo – Discover Your ideal Customers’s Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible.   Jeffrey believes that far too often people sell the wrong thing to the wrong people. Unfortunately too few people understand for whom they are for. Your ideal client has a secret lingo that mirrors your traits and values.  Once you learn their lingo, you can quickly discern and serve this market. Five Step Process In his book Jeffery outlines a five step process for discovering your prospects secret lingo. Understand your ideal clients perspective Create familiarity and comfort Style – build one that matches your target Pricing – Use whole numbers for high-end customers Words – use language they speak How To Connect with Jeffrey Shaw To find Jeffrey Shaw, his book,  and the free secret lingo giveaways go here: Lingo mediate kit Inforgraphic Free Chapter of his book Audio version o