Sales Game Changers | Tips from Successful Sales Leaders

This is episode 464. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. TOM'S TIP: "As we emerge from this pandemic, every piece of data screams what people are desperate for from the salespeople they see – it's human conversation. Enough already with the structure of questions, that's not bad stuff, you're a human being. Things like empathy, attentive listening, premise on your questions, providing reaction, asking clarifying questions, these are the ways human beings interact. Now that none of us have been able to interact, we're dying for it. The door is wide open for you to be the one that does that and be different on that alone."

This is episode 463. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. THOMAS' TIP: "Do an analysis of yourself, do a self-analysis and say, "Where do I need to improve that to get to the next level?" Sit down, write down what your strengths are. What do you need to improve upon in 2022 to get you to the next level? Then immediately find people that can help you get there. Whether that's attending the IES workshops every month, whether that's a podcast, there's so many ways that you can get better, but you first have to identify what is the one thing? Don't write down 10 things, but we can focus on no more than three."

This is episode 462. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. KELLY'S TIP: "What would be game-changing for you? Then make a commitment to putting that into action. Be intentional about it. Because listening to it and being aware of it is the first step. But if you don't put it into action, it's never going to help you. Every little baby step you take counts towards creating something great down the road. Take the action."

This is episode 461. Read the complete transcript on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. TODD'S TIP: "When people say, "Why does authenticity matter?" I go, well, do you want comfort, do you want understanding, do you want rapport? That's the relationship foundation upon which anything else that might happen will happen, and it begins with being a human being who's a little more real, authentic."

This is episode 460. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. WAYNE'S TIP: "Focus on the client's outcome, not on your product. All too often we go in there and all we're trying to do is push the differentiators in our product. The time of feature, function, benefit, not there now, it's about what's the outcome. Go in, do a deep discovery, understand how you can influence positively and deliver value as well as defined by the client, and then talk about your product. Don't do it too early."

This is episode 459. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. COLLEEN'S TIP: "It's time for a new perspective in sales. I believe in teaching both the hard skills, what I've framed up as the sales IQ skills – negotiation skills, value propositions, prospecting, closing – but what was missing for years and is still missing in a lot of sales organizations are coaching and teaching the soft skills, emotional intelligence skills. Emotional intelligence sounds great but how do you actually yield hard sales results? What I'd like to encourage everyone today is for this new perspective, when you're coaching your salespeople, absolutely coach to the hard skills but start including language such as, "Where do you think lack of empathy got in the way of forwarding this opportunity?", "Where did your lack of assertiveness go up?", "How are you playing into instant gratification?" It's not an either/or proposition which often people confuse that when they hear of emotional intelligence.

This is episode 458. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. Meredith's TIP: "Find someone to be an accountability partner with you. Pair up with someone so that you work with another individual to help them and you improve in a particular skill. Because when you make a commitment to someone else and you meet with them on a regular basis, you are going to be more aware of using that skill and applying it in between the times that you meet with your accountability partner. Denny's TIP: "An elite team is a team where everyone on the team, the sales manager as well as the sales reps, all of the people involved are good at listening to each other so that the people, all of them felt understood and respected so that they are forthcoming with what's going on. Also, they help each other solve problems. They stimulate each other to think. It's not just a one-way thing. It's people sharing ideas and they ask for the ideas."

This is episode 457. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. REBECCA'S TIP: "Embrace the new year. Don't be rudderless, develop an account plan, action your plan, be adaptive, agile and flexible to the needs and demands of your customers as the environments are ever-changing." HANNAH KATE'S TIP: "Meet with all of your clients and prospects or as many as you can in the early part of the year and really listen to what their resolutions are, personal and professional. You'll learn about their pain points, their goals, then what motivates them as people. Emotional intelligence is so important in sales so take this opportunity to meet with as many people as you can and really listen to what they have going on."

This is episode 456. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. Julie's TIP: "Everyone needs to watch themselves more on video. Watch a recent recording or record your next interaction and play it back. Time every time you make eye contact with yourself. Every time your on-screen persona makes eye contact with you, the real person, have a stopwatch to time that. Then I want you to add up that time and divide that by the time of the entire call. If it is less than 50%, which for most people it is significantly less than 50%, you got some work to do because you're missing that opportunity to really build that connection. Also, look at what your face is saying. If you're sharing something positive, did your face support that? Is there variety in it? Is it just a blank slate the entire time? Those are good starting points."

This is episode 455. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. Mike's TIP: "Play with more gratitude, more joy, more freedom, more creativity and go deep into that belief that you are more than a sales professional, just like the Steph Curry's are more than just athletes. I think it is something that can be a foundational element of your performance and it's something that's super important. I think if you can leave here and figure out a way to build some legs for you to believe in that and adopt that belief, it's going to take you a long way, and it's going to impact you beyond the sales arena."