Make It Happen Mondays - B2B Sales Talk with John Barrows

Lisa Catto caught John’s attention with her self proclaimed title on Linkedin as the Queen of Automation. John has been saying for years that automation is turning sales reps into robots so he had to have her on to discuss where automation can help and hurt throughout the sales process. Lisa says digital selling tools can be effective as long as they are “being valuable, not being creepy.” From finding leads to engaging prospects, online outreach can save time and resources and pave the way for more meaningful personal connections. “We have lost the art of building rapport and conversation,” she says, and automating mundane tasks like scheduling and exchanging basic information allows for better person-to-person communication. The London-based consultant and business coach warns, though, that abusing automation tools on LinkedIn and Facebook can lead to being banned on the platforms. … John challenges Lisa about the “fake personalization” sometimes found in digital outreach campaigns; she responds that good salespeople don’t try to fool potential customers and notes that standardized scripts have long been part of selling.Connect with Lisa on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/lcatto/

Shelton Banks is someone who embodies the “Make it Happen” mentality. He was a high school dropout who lived in a tough neighborhood growing up but didn’t want that to define him. He found a job on Craigslist that didn’t need a high school diploma and worked her way up to then get himself into finance and now runs two non-profit organizations focused on improving diversity in the workforce and “empowering untapped talent.” In this episode we talk about his journey and what he learned along the way. We also talked about the work he is doing now with organizations and why diversity isn’t just a good thing to do from a social standpoint, it actually helps companies become more successful and profitable!Connect with Shelton on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheltonbanks/Find out more about Re:Work Training:https://reworktraining.org/home

People looking for answers need to ask questions first, advises consultant and writer Christie Hunter Arscott, author of the upcoming “Begin Boldly.” You see children “asking so many questions about the world,” she says, adding that we should encourage curiosity and “teach people to approach life with a spirit of inquiry.” She says that trait is part of being successful, describing the high achievers she deals with in her coaching business as “the craziest curious people I've ever met.”Christie has been called “one of our generation’s foremost thinkers” on women and the workplace. Hear her help John better understand how his daughter looks at the world, where fear of failure can weigh more heavily on women than men. Her advice: Share stories about women who overcome adversity on their paths to success.Connect with Christie on LinkedInOrder her book “Begin Boldly: How Women Can Reimagine Risk, Embrace Uncertainty & Launch a Brilliant Career”

Sales trainer, and self proclaimed “King of Sales,” Jeffrey Gitomer has been in the sales game longer than most and he has the stats and social following to prove it. With over 15 books, many of them on the NYT Best Seller list, 70k followers on LinkedIn and thousands of followers on other social channels he has influenced millions of sales professionals throughout his career. In this episode John and Jeff talk about the power of personal brand, how the phone (cold calling) isn’t exactly a great way to sell but it is a great place to learn, characteristics of the best sales professionals and much more. John and Jeff also spar over the value of having front line sales professionals trying to catch the eye of prospective client’s CEO. Connect with Jeffrey on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreygitomer/

Brandon Bornancin, CEO and founder of Seamless.ai, has known John for more than a decade, back to when they started their respective companies. In that time Seamless, which helps clients broaden and deepen their business connections, has become one of the country’s fastest growing tech companies. On the podcast they discuss how passion can sometimes put people off, the difference between ego and confidence, why sales sometimes gets a bad rap, the state of entrepreneurship, dealing with toxic people, and what leadership means today.Hear how abiding by one of John’s guidelines to success — that you can learn something from anybody in any situation — helped Brandon connect with a Hollywood dealmaker. Connect with Brandon on LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonbornancin/ 

After landing his dream job, Sean Castrina was set. Then new management spoke the dreaded words that the company was “going in a different direction.” His response: “I'm never ever going to depend on anybody again,” and an entrepreneur was born. He has since launched 15 companies, coached other business owners, and started a podcast. Among the traits of a successful entrepreneur, Sean says, “Number one is you see problems, and you naturally want to solve them.” He cautions that leaving work early is a thing of the past for entrepreneurs, but relying on yourself brings peace of mind.Hear John and Sean discuss how to navigate the “Bermuda Triangle” of startups, where companies can disappear because of lazy management.Interested in connecting with Sean?https://www.linkedin.com/in/seancastrina/When you’re done listening to “Make it Happen Monday,” check out Sean’s podcast, “The 10-minute Entrepreneur.”https://seancastrina.com/podcasts/10-minute-entrepreneur/

When Chris Schembra visited Italy and feasted on its food and love of life he realized he “was lonely, unfulfilled, … (and) overwhelmed.” After despair led him to self-harm, he discovered that embracing gratitude in the face of adversity is good for the soul and the bottom line. Today he is a successful consultant and author, having just released “Gratitude Through Hard Times,” a follow-up to 2020’s “Gratitude and Pasta.” He says too many of us suffer from “the plague of the ungrateful man, when you think that you've done everything yourself.” His remedy: Appreciate the contributions of others. Hear Chris open John’s mind about how his recently deceased father helped — and continues to help — shape him as a parent, husband, and person.Want to get in touch with Chris?https://www.linkedin.com/in/schembra/www.747club.org

Successful selling requires being able to “push past the concept of just the transactional mindset of sales,” says Dale Dupree, founder of the Sales Rebellion sales training company. He gained that perspective during his time selling copiers, which went from expensive tools to commodities. Rather than trying to win “a race to the bottom” on pricing, Dale says successful salespeople earn business by helping companies be more efficient and profitable. He also credits introspection and finding “something much deeper” for his recovery from depression and a suicide attempt — and he uses those skills today to better engage clients.Hear Dale and John discuss their shared histories in copier sales and how that shapes their approach to selling today.Interested in connecting with Dale?https://www.linkedin.com/in/copierwarrior/

In building his sales career, Jamie Shanks found he could make more genuine connections on LinkedIn than trying to “shake hands and kiss babies” at in-person networking events. Eventually, people were more impressed by his “social selling” skills than his products, and a career in training was born. The CEO of Pipeline Signals sales intelligence company shares how savvy account executives can “reverse engineer somebody's LinkedIn social network to look for referrals.” He adds that LinkedIn can provide a trove of data as well as connections to its 60 million active U.S. users.Hear Jamie tell John that because they forged an “authentic relationship” as competitors more than a decade ago, “good things will come out of each of our lives and businesses because of that.”Interested in learning more about Jamie and Pipeline Signals?www.pipelinesignals.com

Laura Palmer got into sales because she “always wanted to be paid what I was worth.” She sharpened her skills at Google and today Laura is a Web 3.0/Metaverse pioneer as global vice president of sales for Unity Technologies, a major video game industry supplier. As she scaled her career, she says it became even more important to listen to her team. That helped her identify why account executives in Asia were so conservative in booking sales: They feared a loss of face if the deal got derailed, which is much less a concern in the West.Hear Laura and John share in the excitement that business travel is returning, even if her “packing muscle” is out of shape. (Laura’s tip to beat jet lag: Force yourself to exercise in the morning.)Interested in connecting with Laura?https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-r-palmer/