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Sharon Drew Morgen on Buying Facilitation® – Episode 34

Jun 23rd, 2010
by Jerry Kennedy.
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Sharon Drew Morgen, Creator of Buying Facilitation

Sharon Drew Morgen, Creator of Buying Facilitation®

If you’ve ever wondered what happened to those customers who said they would buy from you but never did, Sharon Drew Morgen may hold the key to solving your frustration.

Sharon Drew (don’t you dare call her just plain “Sharon”!) is the visionary and thought leader behind Buying Facilitation®, the new sales paradigm that focuses on helping buyers manage their buying decisions. She is the author of the NYTimes Business Bestseller Selling with Integrity as well as 5 other books and hundreds of articles that explain different aspects of the decision facilitation model that teaches buyers how to buy.

Her latest book, Dirty Little Secrets: Why Buyers Can’t Buy and Sellers Can’t Sell and What You Can Do About, is destined to be a game-changer…for those salespeople who are ready for it.  Sharon Drew contends that salespeople spend all of their time working out a solution to the potential customers need, but little to know time considering the system that the need developed in.  Without that understanding, she says, there is no possible way for the salesperson to influence the final decision.

Rather than focus on problem-solving or “solutions” selling, Sharon Drew encourages salespeople to learn about the subtle (and not-so-subtle) issues that are occurring in the background on the prospect’s end of things.  Politics, rules, assumptions, values, relationships…all come into play in every decision that gets made in a company, and salespeople ignore these issues at their peril.

Sharon Drew says that the average success rate of salespeople, which currently hovers around 7% across all industries, is abysmal, and that if sellers would learn to not only understand what is happening for the buyers they encounter but learn to help those same buyers navigate their buying decisions, that success rate would jump to nearly 40%.  That’s an increase in effectiveness that the sales profession can no longer ignore!

Make no mistake: Buying Facilitation® is not sales training.  Rather, it’s a revolutionary approach to relating to your customers and guiding them through the sometimes treacherous waters of making a buying decision.  Grab a copy of the book, read it with an open mind, and be prepared for an eye-opening look into the world of the buyers you deal with every day!

Thanks for listening,

Brad and Jerry

 
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Posted in: Authors, Communication, Relationships, Uncategorized.
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Alex Rogers on Why It Pays To Be Different – Episode 33

May 25th, 2010
by Jerry Kennedy.
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Jerry and Alex Rogers, owner of ARRC Technology and Chartec, Inc.

Alex Rogers is one of those guys who tells it like it is.  He’s the owner of ARCC Technology and Chartec, Inc. in Bakersfield, CA, and his goal is to be supplier of choice for IT consultants around the country.  It’s a pretty ambitious goal for a guy who started with a $300 investment, and he’s well on his way to achieving it.  So what is it that sets Alex and his team apart?  Alex says it all comes down to one word: differentiation.

And Alex isn’t just talking about product differentiation, either; he believes that everything about you needs to be different, from the way your sales people sell to the process they follow to get new clients.  If you can truly set yourself apart from the pack, you can focus on what really matter in sales: finding out what your prospects want to buy!

If you can be the salesperson who takes the time to ask the right questions and really dig down to find your prospects’ hot buttons, you have a much better chance of building rapport.  That rapport is the foundation of a successful sales process.  You can learn so much about what a potential client wants to buy if you take the time to listen.  Listening is just one of the qualities that will make you different from your competition, who are too busy pitching and closing to have a conversation with their clients.

How does Alex make this message clear to his team?  Practice, practice, practice!  Alex shared that one thing he feels truly sets his sales team apart is the fact that they are constantly rehearsing customer interactions until they have them down pat!  And for those of you thinking that excessive practice and rehearsal makes you sound like a robot, think again.  This kind of preparation makes you better able to handle any questions or potential roadblocks that might get thrown at you during your presentation.  Better to prepare now than fumble later!

We really enjoyed our conversation with Alex, and we’re sure you will, too.  Have a listen, take a few notes, and be sure to leave your feedback in the comments section.

Thanks for listening!

Brad and Jerry

 
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Posted in: Coaching, Education, Management, Sales Strategy, Training.
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Dave Crenshaw On Becoming Invaluable – Episode 32

May 18th, 2010
by Jerry Kennedy.
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Dave Crenshaw, author of "Invaluable: The Secret to Becoming Irreplaceable"

Dave Crenshaw, author of "Invaluable: The Secret to Becoming Irreplaceable"

This week was a special treat: we got to talk to Dave Crenshaw, author of The Myth of Multi-Tasking and Invaluable: The Secret to Becoming Irreplaceable, which was just released yesterday.  Dave was a great guest, and he had a lot of insights to offer to listeners.

Of course, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to chat with Dave about multi-tasking, a favorite topic on this podcast and on Jerry’s blog.  Dave shared the term “switch-tasking” to describe what takes place when a person tries to toggle back and forth between different tasks simultaneously, what we normally refer to as multi-tasking.  Dave calls it switch-tasking because that’s what our brains actually do: they switch back and forth between the different tasks, and every time they do that, there is a switching cost.  That switching cost is what gets us into trouble.

Every time your brain has to switch between tasks, there is a reassignment of resources that takes place, similar to what takes place in a computer processor; one task is put on hold while the brain works on the other, then has to shift back when we switch our attention to the other task.  It may not seem like much is involved, but the cumulative cost of switch-tasking could literally be costing you hours a day.  It’s no wonder that Dave recommends total focus on a single task until it’s complete before moving on to the next task.

We also had an opportunity to talk to Dave about his latest book, Invaluable.  Invaluable is a business parable, the story of a young man named Jason who is dissatisfied with his position at work.  He seeks advice from his grandfather, a World War II Veteran who helps him to appreciate what it takes to become an irreplaceable employee in an organization.

Dave’s strategy for becoming invaluable is simple: focus on the task you’ve been assigned, become the master of the system you’re in charge of, and expand your sphere of influence.  If you’re the person that everyone asks about a certain system, the chances of you being let go are pretty slim; if, on the other hand, you never exert yourself to develop your abilities as a great employee, you’ll never get the chance to become a leader.

We really appreciated having Dave as a guest, and we hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did.  Please leave your comments and feedback in the comments section, and we’ll see you next week!

Brad and Jerry

P.S.  Be sure to go to www.beinvaluable.com to register for the bonuses on the book the Dave mentioned in the podcast.

 
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Posted in: Leadership, Management, Sales Skills.
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Daniel Waldschmidt on Dealing With the Pain – Episode 31

May 4th, 2010
by Jerry Kennedy.
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Dan Waldschmidt, Entrepreneur Extraordinairre
Since birth, Dan Waldschmidt has been refusing to accept business as usual.  Sure, he had a paper route, but he turned his into a money-making machine (though he opted not to tell his mom about his increased profits).

He ran track like plenty of other kids, but he pushed himself to break his high school’s mile record. He got the usual entry-level job right of college, but then he changed the sales process, earned millions of dollars for the company, and became CEO by the time he was 25.

These days, Dan is partner in a private equity technology accelerator and a former technology CEO. He is an early-early-early adopter of game-changing technology. He blogs regularly on his motivational selling blog Edge of Explosion. He is husband to a cute gal named Sara and father to two energetic boys.

He’s just an ordinary dude who happens to have an outrageous vision: he wants to change the world…

That’s Dan Waldschmidt for you: a rock-star entrepreneur with an infectious attitude of positivity and a lust for life you won’t find in many people.  We first got acquainted with Dan through his participation in the Sales Bloggers Union.  He writes some pretty powerful stuff, including an article we came across on his blog called “How To Succeed When Your Life Life Kicks the @$%*# Out of Your Sales Life”.  With a title like that, how could we not ask him to join us on the podcast?

Dan had a lot to share, not the least of which were his thoughts on the subject of pain as it relates to business.  Dan believes that many business owners fail in the final stretch because they just can’t push through the pain, and that you sometimes have to dig really deep to find the strength and courage to go on in spite of overwhelming odds.

That’s easy to say, but sometimes not so easy to do, right?  We’re reminded of Wesley’s comeback to Buttercup: “Life is pain…Anyone who tries to tell you differently is trying to sell you something.”  In other words, you’re going to have to learn to deal with it at some point; why not start now?

Dan shared some strategies for listeners to use when the going gets tough, and we outlined some of the basic components of the proper mindset.  This really was a great episode, and we covered a lot of ground.  Of course, no episode is complete until we have your feedback, so please leave a comment and share this one with your friends.

Thanks for listening!

Brad and Jerry

 
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Posted in: Motivation, Sales Analysis, Sales Ethics.

“Go For No!” With Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz – Episode 30

Apr 13th, 2010
by Jerry Kennedy.
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Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz of Go For No!

Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz, The Courage Crafters

Meet Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz, the authors of an amazing little book called “Go For No!” and the proponents of a powerful philosophy that could change your sales career for the better!

Richard and Andrea are no strangers to the struggles of the salesperson; they’ve been sales pros and sales trainers for many years and they have a deep appreciation for the importance of successful salespeople to a thriving economy.

As Richard and Andrea shared the “Go For No!” message with us, we realized that what they were saying could be life-changing for many of our listeners.  They encourage salespeople to set “No” goals for their week, focusing them on activity instead of results.  At first blush, that might sound counter-intuitive, but stick around for the explanation and we’re sure you’ll agree that counting your “Nos” is far more powerful than keeping track of your wins.

If after listening you find yourself wanting to learn more about how to apply the “Go For No!” philosophy to your sales career, be sure to check out Richard and Andrea’s blog, as well as the DVD they created called “Yes Is the Destination, No Is How You Get There”.  The DVD features the likes of Jack Canfield, Dr. Tony Alessandra and “Rudy” Ruettiger, and it’s packed with stories of how going for no has affected the live of these wildly successful people.

And for even more on the power of pursuing No, check out Jerry’s series on Getting to No over at the Motivation 101 Blog.

Thanks again for listening,

Brad and Jerry

 
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Episode 29 – Writing Winning Sales Letters with Ralph Allora

Apr 6th, 2010
by Jerry Kennedy.
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Ralph Allora of Allora Communications, Author of "Winning Sales Letters"

Ralph Allora, author of "Winning Sales Letters - From Prospect to Close"

Think verbal communication skills are the only ones you need as a salesperson?  This week’s guest, Ralph Allora, says to think again.

Ralph is a passionate advocate for better written communication skills in the sales profession.  Ralph’s company, Allora Communications, has been serving clients as a consulting resource specializing in marketing strategy, promotions and creative services.  Ralph is the author of “Winning Sales Letters – From Prospect to Close” and a proponent of “social change marketing”.

Ralph joined us to discuss the importance of good writing skills to a successful sales career.  The value of being able to craft a great sales letter can’t be overemphasized, according to Ralph.  He says that the letters you write convey a lot about you to the person you’re writing too, and we agree wholeheartedly.

When you write a bad sales letter, think of the impression you make: here is a piece of communication, documented for posterity, that in many cases looks like it was written by a fifth grader.  Wait, scratch that: most fifth graders are better writers because they have to be in order to become sixth graders.

Salespeople do a lot of damage to themselves and their credibility by writing poorly.  Ralph shares several suggestions for improving the quality of your sales writing, such as taking the time to double-check your grammar and to run a spell check before you hit the send button on your emails.

Taking the time to learn to write well can have a huge impact on your level of success as a salesperson.  Give this episode a listen with a notebook and pencil handy.  Make notes of the suggestions, and apply them the next time you need to write a winning sales letter.  You’ll be glad you did!

Brad and Jerry

 
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Posted in: Communication, Follow Up, Sales Skills.
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Brad and Jerry Discuss the Myth of Multi-Tasking – Episode 28

Mar 30th, 2010
by Jerry Kennedy.
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After a  brief hiatus (OK, 139 days…but who’s counting?!), the Sales Management 2.0 Podcast is back!  We’ve missed the podcast, and we’re committed to getting it back on track with the best content about sales and sales management we can dig up, and this week is no exception.

In this episode, we discuss (and debunk) the myth of multi-tasking.  The idea from the episode came from a blog post Jerry wrote called “Chasing the M-Myth”, which in turn was born from a discussion over beers with a couple of really smart guys (see that post for more details).  The gist of the discussion was basically this: there is no such thing as multi-tasking!

No matter how gifted you may be, it’s literally impossible for your conscious mind (the part that handles all your thinking) to do more than one thing at a time.  Don’t believe us?  Just try grocery shopping while you’re on the phone; we guarantee it’ll take twice as long as it would otherwise.  Why?  Because you can’t simultaneously carry out both functions at once.  You have to stop doing one in order to do the other, because both require the participation of your conscious mind.

So why the emphasis lately about the importance of one’s ability to multi-task?  Why is it listed in some companies as a job requirement?  We think it’s due to a fundamental lack of understanding of the damage that multi-tasking can do to your interactions with your customers.

Think about it for a minute: do you recall the last time you were “multi-tasked”?  You probably do, and chances are pretty good that you didn’t enjoy the experience.  Why?  Because you want to feel like you’re getting the full attention of the person you’re talking to, especially in a customer service setting, and you feel slighted when you don’t get it.  Why would you ever want to make your customers feel that way?

So what’s the answer?  We say do one thing at a time and do it well.  Forget about multi-tasking, and instead concern yourself with learning to focus like a laser.  You’ll be more effective, and your customers will appreciate the change.

It’s good to be back in the saddle, and if you have any suggestions or would like to participate in a future episode, please use the comments section or the contact form.

Thanks for listening!

Brad and Jerry

 
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Posted in: Coaching, Sales, Training.
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Sales 2.0 and the Changing Face of Sales With Christian Maurer – Episode 27

Nov 11th, 2009
by Jerry Kennedy.
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So, what’s the deal with Sales 2.0? Is it enough to have a Facebook or Twitter account, or to use LinkedIn to connect with prospects?  How about using new software applications to track your CRM data?

Well, according to this week’s guest, Christian Maurer, Sales 2.0 is much, much more than that.  You might recognize Christian’s distinctive accent, as he is a returning guest to the SM 2.0 Podcast.  We were certainly glad to have him back.

So what is Sales 2.0?  Christian says (and we agree) that Sales 2.0 is primarily an attitude.  As we wrote in the What Is Sales 2.0? (2366) e-book (click that link to download the full e-book for free), approaching your clients with what is of interest to them is the essential ingredient.  As Christian says, you’ll never get any benefit from social media and Web 2.0 applications if you don’t put your customers first.  In other words, it’s all about them.

One of the biggest challenges in adopting Sales 2.0 for many traditional organizations is the handing over of the brand to the customer.  Many companies are hesitant to lose control of their marketing message, and they fear that entering the social media space will cause that to happen.  Well, we hate to be the ones to break it to them, but the truth is that social media has already created a world where the customer owns the brand.  The only thing companies avoid by staying out of social media is the opportunity to participate in the conversation their customers are already having about them!

Christian also touched on an incredibly important topic: the “frenemy” relationship between marketing and sales.  Traditionally, sales departments have been kept in the dark and not allowed to participate in the marketing process until marketing is ready to hand over the leads they’ve created.  This is another place where Sales 2.0 is causing traditional systems to break down and be replaced by new, more effective ways of getting things done.

For example, what happens when a prospect finds your company’s website using Google?  Does your company have an effective way for your sales department to get in touch with that prospect while they are still thinking about what they saw on your website, maybe even while they’re still on the website?  If not, you may be missing out on a golden opportunity to strike while the proverbial iron is hot!

Sales 2.0 is changing the way business gets done. Are you keeping up? If not, it’s time to start paying attention.  Give this episode a listen, and leave a comment below to share what you’re doing to put the tools of Sales 2.0 to work!

Brad and Jerry

 
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Posted in: Pipeline Management, Prospecting, Relationships, Sales, Sales Strategy, Sales Tools.

Terri Levine and “Sell Without Selling” – Episode 26

Nov 4th, 2009
by Jerry Kennedy.
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This was a special episode for us, as it marked the return of sales coach and author Terri Levine.  Terri was here to discuss her book “Sell Without Selling: Lessons From the Jungle for Sales Success” and to raise awareness about Reflexive Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), a devastating disease that causes excruciating pain in its victims.  Not only is Terri donating all the proceeds from the sale of her latest book to support a child suffering from RSD, she’s matching the sales, dollar for dollar, out of her own pocket.  Talk about a HERO!

Terri struck a chord with us by talking about learning how to be “in rapport” with prospects and clients, in other words, taking into account their human side and really connecting with them.  As we’ve discussed many times in the past, this means being genuine, authentic and in integrity at all times.  The most important question you should be asking yourself is “How can I be of service?”, NOT, “How can I make the sale?”

According to Terri, the lack of trust on the part of consumers toward salespeople is rooted in the fact that many salespeople have forgotten this fundmental principle.  The whole point of Terri’s book is to encourage salespeople to stop using traditional selling techniques that are manipulative and pushy.  Consumers no longer want to be talked down to; buyers want to be an active part of the decision-making process, not be told by a salesperson what they should do.

The key word Terri wants people to get is “authentic”.  Letting people into your life can seem scary at the beginning, but it is well worth the reward.  Being human is a skill we seem to have forgotten, but if we focus on building relationships with other people, we’ll get everything we want.

Be sure to get your copy of “Sell Without Selling” today, and remember that your total purchase goes to help children with RSD, and that Terri is making matching donations.  Go to http://www.terrilevine.com/orderinformation.htm to get your copy.

Brad and Jerry

 
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Randy Illig and “Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play” – Episode 25

Oct 21st, 2009
by Jerry Kennedy.
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This was a great episode for us, as we had the chance to catch up with a true thought leader in the sales profession: Randy Illig.  Randy has over 25 years experience in business, ranging from accomplished salesperson and general manager to successful entrepreneur (CEO) and board member.  He is currently CEO of ninety five 5 and is a member of the leadership team at The Sales Perfomance Group, a division of FranklinCovey.  Randy has received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the Ernst & Young “CEO under 40″ award for innovative management philosophy and leadership, and the Arthur Andersen Strategic Leadership Award.  Randy is a sales practitioner, not an academic.

Randy is the co-author (with Mahan Khalsa) of the new book “Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play: Transforming the Buyer/Seller Relationship”, and our discussion focused on the main idea presented in the book: creating true “win/win” buying situations by helping your customers find an exact match for their need.  Randy is a true believer in the philosophy that selling is nothing more than helping clients succeed.

Randy states that intent is far more important than technique in a sales situation.  In other words, when a seller’s intent is anything other than creating an ideal solution for the customer, the customer’s defenses go up and the presentation is basically over.  We all have a built-in “salesperson radar” that warns us when the person across the table is pursuing their own ends instead of ours, and we shut down the minute we sense it.

On the other hand, when a salesperson is truly looking out for the best interest of the prospective client or customer they’re dealing with, the game fundamentally changes.  Creating high-trust/high-integrity relationships is based on understanding the client’s needs, and the only way to understand a client’s needs is to ask questions and engage in conversations with them.  One of the best ways to get other people talking is to demonstrate a little humility.  Only when we do this can we expect to get to a solution that exactly meets the clients need.

Randy was an inspiring guest.  If you haven’t read it yet, get your copy of “Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play” today.  You’ll find a practical, step-by-step “how-to” guide to creating winning relationships with your clients.  Enjoy!

Brad and Jerry

P.S.  We’re getting our schedule ready for 2010.  If you’d like to be a guest on the Sales Management 2.0 Podcast (or if you know someone who’d be a great guest) please use the contact form on this site so we can set up a time to chat about your topic.  Thanks!

 
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