The Sales Fix Podcast

It’s very easy to get our ropes all tangled up when making cold calls. If you frame it correctly, you can establish the proper mindset and free yourself from all the ickyness and pressure of prospecting.

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I’m a huge believer in understanding human and leveraging neuroscience andpsychology to have better conversations with our clients and prospects. As muchas we like to believe our brains operate based on the safe and civilizedsociety of today (on a good day), the reality is that in many ways, our brainsare still driven by stone age defense mechanisms and danger signals.

Dr. Rebecca Heiss is an evolutionary biologist and stress physiologist. Shehas spent years researching and teaching others how the brain and body respondsto perceived danger and stress. She specializes in helping people leverage sciencebased insights to transform fear, stress and anxiety into rocket fuel forpersonal growth and success.

Order Dr Heiss’ book at the links below

AI means different things to different people, and to many, it means nothing at all. It’s confusing and scary. If you’re a sales professional, who like me, didn’t grow up with all this tech and social media stuff, this episode is for you.

Steven Werley has that rare mix of a sales and tech mind, and walks us through how to start leveraging AI for effectiveness and efficiency in the sales world.

Steven an “unconventional marketer” and the owner of Dekopon Solutions, a performance bases sales and marketing agency specializing in helping orgs scale up effectively. He’s also a former US Army Ranger and has several degrees incomputer science and digital marketing.

Sales techniques and sales tactics are great, but often WHAT we say is not asimportant as HOW we say it. There is a part of sales (and life) that isperformance. Not performance in a dramatic or deceptive way, but in the senseof leveraging tonality, body language and cadence to create the full scene and picturethat connects the prospect to the message we want them to receive. People findcomfort in the song and dance of human interaction.

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After knowing Haley as a colleague and then as a client, we recruited her on to the Sales Fix team last summer. Haley has been a top performer, an A list front line manager and an accomplished sales leader, guiding team through growth and change, and building up and mentoring leaders on her teams. We discuss her sales origin story, and the perspective and outlook she has gained from her experience at all levels of the sales ladder.

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Understanding why prospects stay frozen in indecision comes down tounderstanding the baseline conflict in the brain when we make decisions. Thatcomes down to what psychology calls the pain/pleasure index. Avoiding pain andseeking pleasure (gain) drives all human decisions, including the decision tobuy.

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They say a picture is worth 1000 words. But why is that? Pictures tell stories, and for thousands of years humans have communicated concepts through stories while sitting by the campfire. Stories create emotions and emotions create connection to data. Leverage stories to emotionally connect prospects to buying your solution

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Success leaves clues, and a big one of those is the concept of pattern recognition. Spotting patterns allows us to lead instead of reacting all the time. It allows the calculated risks that pay off big. I peek back to early influences in my sales career to illustrate how we can leverage this concept to sale success

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It's a new year, and everyone is making plans. Plans are great, but to plan effectively, you need to know the data and the numbers.

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Hamish Knox is the founder and owner of Sales4 Training and Consulting Inc, out of Calgary, Canada. An accomplished and award winning speaker, mentor, coach and consultant, his focus is on helping entrepreneurs sustainably scale their sales so they can exit for their number, not the number they're told to take. He is also the host of the Full Funnel Freedom Podcast and serves as an advisor for STS Capital partners. I've personally heard him speak numerous times over the past decade, and I invited him on the podcast to cover some of his favorite sales coaching topics.

Follow him on Linkedin = https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamishknox/

Find Sales4 Training online =

https://www.hamish.sandler.com/howtosandler

Book him as a speaker =

http://www.hamish.sandler.com/speaker

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No one likes to travel with a lot of luggage. Are you going on sales calls with luggage, specifically other people's luggage? It's important to understand what kind of baggage we drag into sales conversations and how to avoid allowing other people to give us beliefs or thoughts that we carry like luggage into the next conversation

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We are often told of the power of persistence. The idea that continued effort in the face of failure breeds success. It is often a misunderstood concept though, because persisting in doing the wrong thing creates frustration, not success. Keep cold calling the prospect who says no, and you quickly become a stalker. How do we address that balance?

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There's a thinking problem out there. It's pervasive. It's potent. When you identify a thinking problem, you better start talking to a great thinker. That's what Mike is. I've seen Mike speak several times over the last decade. Mike heads up a Sandler training center in Oklahoma City. He always manages to lock down on the core elements of things and provides great clarity on them. Tim and I managed to get an hour of his time and we cover a range of sales thinking topics. Grab a notebook, prepare to write a bunch of good stuff down.

Mike can be found on Linkedin - www.linkedin.com/in/mikecrandall/

Company Website = www.customgrowth.sandler.com/

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Fellow Sales Consultant and Trainer Rich Austin from Elite Sales Training and I hit the record button on one of our catch up calls. We talk about current market conditions, how to sell in them, and even hit a few prickly topics like voicemail and calendar links etiquette.

Rich can be found on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/riaustin1/

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The very nature of the role of a sales person is to cause change. We call on clients to change the way they feel about what they are and are not doing currently. Change is uncomfortable for most people. Humans create anchors and habits really fast, and often not through clear thinking.

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Sometimes prospects act disinterested in the discovery and/or presentation meeting. They have no energy, show no interest, no enthusiasm and barely respond. I call these Eeyores. It has nothing to do with them being extroverts or introverts, and it is something you cannot ignore and must address if it lasts more than a minute or two. I discuss the psychology at work and different approaches to use to address the Eeyores in your sales demos.

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Too often we are told that "Buyer are liars" but is this really true? And if it is, whose fault is it that buyers don't feel they can tell us the truth. Let's discuss the tactics to get buyers to tell the truth.

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Everyone claims they have value, and because everyone claims it, many customers are suspicious of value claims. Enter the power of ROI, understanding our value as it compares to the investment needed to unlock it. The confidence from understanding that, and the power of communicating that effectively is astounding. Sales Fix partner Tim Wasman comes back on the podcast to discuss and expand on this concept.

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Jamie Crosbie is the founder and CEO of Proactivate, a company using a well thought out process to help companies secure all star talent to power their revenue achievement. She's a gifted speaker, trainer, and leader. I first saw Jamie train in 2017, and I was immediately impressed with her presence and knowledge. She recruited and placed a friend of mine into a sales leadership position and her process caught my eye as being imaginative, outside the box, and highly effective at getting results, which is a big challenge in the world of sales hiring.

Sofia Rodriguez is a gifted executive coach and and trainer, with Miami Absolute Sales Development. I've sat in training seminars with her as a colleague and witnessed her train online and in person, and her energy and passion powers up people's performance in a compelling way. We spend some time discussing how to control our focus, and how to own and be accountable to ourselves and others in managing our sales efforts. I always enjoy speaking with people who have the right sales mindset, and from A to Z, Sofia is one of those people. Just like me, she applies a performance and communications background towards her sales efforts, and just like me, she did it wrong just long enough to learn the value of doing it right. 

Follow her on Linkedin for more great content. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofiamrodriguez/

Absolute can be found on line - https://www.absolute.sandler.com/

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Most organizations spend a lot of time on product training, but no time or not enough time on the actual sales skills or approaching people, relating to them, being good listeners and being skilled at getting customers to share. As a result, many sales people speak too much and listen too little, leading to sales killing cases of TMI. 

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Many sales people think that sharing information is the key to sales success. The reality is that prospects often resist or suspect information that is pushed on them. If you can get them to ask though, the information you convey comes as a response to their question(s) and hence they are far more likely to be open to it.

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There is no such thing as a process neutral, or no process sales call. You are either in your process, or you are in the client's process.

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Heather Hakes is a mindset coach, author, speaker and podcaster. After a corporate career, she made a sharp turn and built a business around her passionate pursuit of better understanding of the human mindset. I've always believed that all achievement and success starts with getting the mind right. Heather's Linkedin posts are truly inspirational and thought provoking, so I finally reached out and invited her to come on the podcast and chat with me.

Mindset can be a tricky thing, and Heather is a personal trainer for the mind. The biggest mindset challenge I see in sales people comes down to how we think of money. It's a subject rife with difficulty for most people. Heather offers some great insights and tactics to reset your mind around the subject of money, and how we communicate about it. I have to admit that she caused me to seriously re-evaluate my beliefs around what was possible. I attempted an exercise she suggests towards the end of our time, about visualizing an amount of money coming to you, and I was really shocked at how effective it was. I hope you find this as interesting of a conversation as I did.

Heather on Linkedin = www.linkedin.com/in/heather-hakes-64ba0914/

Danny Leonard co founded the company ramped, a "job skilling platform for early career professionals". I knew him as a top 1% sales performer in a company of over 1000 sales people. Danny was willing to try any approach, chase any client, and his track record proves him to be a top sales mind.

We discuss his company ramped, as well as developing the proper sales mindset, in yourself and in your people. 

Danny on Linkedin = www.linkedin.com/in/danielpleonard/

Ramped website = https://www.rampedcareers.com/

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There is an undeniable element of showmanship in great sales professionals. "Performing" or acting comes into play when we deliver a great presentation and even when we prospect. Sales is about connecting people, and nothing connects people like proper communications leveraging elements of acting and improv. 

I invited Dan Jessup on to the show to discuss how he uses his actor side to teach and train people in business on better communications. Dan is a skilled improv guy and actor, having spent 15 years honing improv and sketch comedy skills in Chicago (The Second City, The Annoyance, iO) and also carries 10+ years of live event hosting and interviewing. You've seen him on Chicago Fire and you've also seen him in countless commercials and other works. Some of us lucky ones have seen him train recruiters, sales people, and HR employees on taking their communications to the next level. You'll love the energy he brings to this conversation.

All of your prospects fall into on of three buckets. Understanding what those are, and what to do with each bucket is key to not wasting your time and frustrating yourself as a professional sales person. A's, B's and C's are the labels I use on these buckets, inspired by the great Stephen Schiffman's writings on prospects.  Find the A's. Help the B's buy. Identify the C's and move on!

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I've known Matthew for almost a decade, and outside of being a great guy and a ton of fun, he is always someone who's insight and take on things is valuable. I've learned a lot from getting exposed to how he thinks about things, but he's also constantly finding new tools and new ways to leverage the old tools. 

We talk about the correct mindset and approach in sales, bringing the fun to the sales world, and about the people who've impacted how we do things and how we look at the world. Conveniently, we also confirm the alive and well status of Dan Jessup, Bill Bartlett, Jenny Floros, Kevin Petry and several others. :-)

Yaymaker.com is the website to get more info on the great virtual events they can provide.

Rochelle Carrington is an accomplished sales professional and entrepreneur. For well over a decade she's been at the very top of the sales training and consulting game, working with companies across many industries. I first met her in 2014 when she spoke at a sales conference and blew me away with her perspective on controlling self talk. Her influence on me has gone well beyond just that subject though. There are over a dozen techniques and processes that I use every week that came directly from her talks and mentoring. 

We discuss the power of self talk, and how to take control of our inner voice, which is often negative and destructive to our goals, and Rochelle also shares some wonderful ideas on how to make journaling a habit (something I have struggled with for years) and how to use journaling to master our thoughts. Rochelle currently runs Bulletproof management, a smart lead sourcing solution for getting qualified appointments and skipping all the noise. She can be reached at rochelle@rochellecarrington.com. 

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Every human being has rules, or "scripts" that govern their lives. We choose some of them, but many are handed down to us by our parents, and most of the baseline scripts come from our moms. That's a good thing. I love my mom and I know she had my best interests in mind when she was setting up my scripts. That said, choosing a career in sales necessitates deleting a couple of key scripts most of us got from our moms. 

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You've often heard sales managers tell reps they need to "ask for the order". There is actually something really wrong with that wording, because it can cost you precious leverage. Clients don't buy because you ask for it. They buy because you've moved them to a point where they trust you enough to follow a suggestion to buy, not as a favor to you, but as a response to a consultative recommendation based on their need.

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Tom Rowe, VP of Sales at Caroo, comes on to discuss how his experience as a high performing sales person and as a sales leader has affected his vision of the sales profession. We also briefly debate the offensiveness of Packers and Bears logos to fans of the other side of the rivalry and share a few sales war stories. It's a nice casual chat about the sales world. 

More info on Caroo can be found at www.caroo.com

Info on the book Tom recommends can be found at https://hbr.org/books/watkins

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The dreaded cold call. Maligned and hated by sales people all over the world. There is actually great value we get from making cold calls. I defend the cold call and explain why we should all be doing them.

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Steve the Producer and I address some questions submitted by the audience. If you'd like to submit questions for future episodes, info@salesfixx.com or our CO linkedin page is the best way to do that.

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Brian Bar is a talented sales leader and entrepreneur. His current company, Victory Lap, based in Chicago has set a new bar for setting up entry level sales people for success (78% of Victory Lap graduates stay in their sales job past one year). I've worked with Brian as a both a colleague within a large corporation and in partnership with Victory Lap on sales training projects. Brian and I discuss his vision of professional sales education and the current status of the sales profession. He is a thoughtful and meticulous professional who brings some very interesting ideas to the table.

Victory Lap can be found online at www.VictoryLap.io  

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Perspective is often the culprit to feeling stuck. Like a rock climber that has hit a point where they can neither move forward or go back. A different perspective can often be found by taking one step back (figuratively) and that can often unlock the door. I share some personal experiences on the subject, and how it applies to dealing with clients and prospects.

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The two Steves and I discuss sales persistence, the right approach to looking for sales jobs right now, and I get a really bad charlie horse

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Many sales people see prospecting as a huge negative. It feels awkward and intrusive and involves lots of harsh rejection and conflict. Prospecting doesn't have to be that way, and if you avoid these common mistakes, you can make prospecting an experience that isn't painful, for you or the prospect.

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2020 caused a lot of changes, many of which are not likely to change back, but instead become permanent new realities. That said, some aspects of prospecting are fundamental and must be considered when adapting to new times. David Kreiger is the founder and president of Sales Roads, a pipeline creation service for companies seeking a simple but effective solution. He joins me on the podcast to discuss prospecting fundamentals and share insights of the new selling reality.

Check out Sales Roads at SalesRoads.com

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Like anyone who teaches, I am often asked what the "one thing" is that ensures success. I have a love/hate relationship with that question, but waht Dr J, Mozart, Bill Gates, Tom Brady and many others have taught me is that there is an ingredient that influences success above all others, even if it isn't a silver bullet. 

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Sales  tools like automated calendar links, email campaigns and lead  generation messaging services are a subject of great controversy in the  sales world. The two Steves and I discuss the ups and downs of these  tools and how to use them, as well as how to NOT use them.

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Sales is a science, with a touch of art. All science is based on data, and how that data is interpreted to draw valid conclusions. I know what I know but I also like to know WHY what I know is right. 

Richard Smith has a blend of technical and sales expertise and experience, and he comes on the Sales Fix Podcast to share insights from his work at Refract and to promote his new book, Problem Prospecting, co-authored with two of his colleagues. I've been a fan and promoter of Refract for a while, mainly because of the easily used data interface they provide that gives phenomenal insights into conversions, trends, and tactical success across a sales organization. Highly recommend reading this book and if you're a sales leader, you need to take a look at Refract as a tool to help you and your team win.

Book info online - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56127618-problem-prospecting

Link to Refract - https://www.refract.ai/benefits-features

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The two Steves and I kick off 2021 talking about some of worst bad beats and best lucky wins sales stories, reviewing why those things happen and how we navigated them. I also get their sales "origin" stories. Nice mellow chat to kick of 2021.

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Mark Twain had a great saying around what you think you know and what you know you know that ain't so. There are 4 very dangerous assumptions to avoid in sales, and understanding them is key to not wasting time chasing wild geese. 

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Ever told someone you are in sales, only to see that look of pity and sorrow on their face? Sales, and what it takes to be good at it often suffers a bad brand image, but sales professionals know that good sales people are leaders. They influence the world in a positive way, based on understanding that pushing for a decision not the same thing as pushing for a yes, and that "intent" matters.

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You can't sell someone something without agreeing on a few core concepts. Qualified prospects need to be in agreement on a few key premises or they are not qualified prospects and represent a huge waste of time and effort. Identify the main beliefs you need to be aligned with your prospects on, and start the conversations by making those exist.

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In today's world, the written word is doubly important. As more and more sales efforts rely on online connection through email or social media platforms, the unintended consequences of bad writing habits have never been higher. Corda and I invited Bryan Grobstein, sales enablement and operations professional to discuss some really bad examples of the written pitch, and identify the best practices of emailing or prospecting on Linkedin.

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It's easy to think you are selling against the competition, but your greatest competitor isn't another company. It is the fear of making a change. Your prospect live in their status quo for a reason, and most of the time you are not competing against doing something else, you are competing against doing nothing. Understanding that and knowing how to address it is a powerful tool when dealing with prospects hesitant to embrace change.

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I've worked directly for Darren Schwartz and seen him create and recreate the most amazing sales culture across all levels of management that fueled the fastest growth to a billion dollar valuation in US history.  He's a master at leading and inspiring people. His ability to connect with subordinates on a personal level and leverage that connection to get people working at their best is second to none that I have witnessed. He understands both sales and operations, and how to bridge the gap between them, and his genuine love of people, energy, sense of humor, approachability and ability to learn, master and then teach complex concepts generated tremendous loyalty and results from people across all departments. We catch up leadership approaches and how he does what he does.

Jenny Foss is an accomplished recruiter and career coach. I've known her for almost 20 years and she's my go to expert for all matters relating to interviewing, job hunting, resume writing and the best way to use Linkedin. Jenny has built her business on helping people maximize their job searching efforts and coaching people in a direct, effective way. She's a true professional who gets to the point, executes and gets results. There could not be a more opportune time for me to get her sharing her insights into the world of job searching.

www.jobjenny.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennyfoss/

Check out Jenny's Books - https://www.jobjenny.com/products-books

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