Sales Game Changers | Tips from Successful Sales Leaders

This is episode 434. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. BOB'S TIP: "Here are three radically authentic discovery questions to ask. (1) What do you think is the biggest priority or challenge your board is discussing? (2) Who is your customer and what's the biggest challenge they need you to solve? (3) Out of your entire job description, what's the one thing your company is counting on you to get done?"

This is episode 433. Join the exclusive Institute for Excellence in Sales. Read the complete transcript on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website JEFFREY'S TIP: "The journey continues. I think for new sellers, we were talking about people who've joined the Institute for Excellence in Sales, people think that they can do something and then be there, they can have arrived and be successful, be a senior salesperson or a sales leader. The journey always continues as things change, what has been made very available to everybody is that embracing change, adapting to change and actually changing to get better is a big part of being a successful salesperson. Stay on a journey for making yourself more valuable to both your organization and your customers' organization, and you'll be well served." BILLY'S TIP: "Figure out the top 10 challenges that each one of your prospects have and how you can provide value. I don't think sales reps do this enough, they sell the product and/or service. Figure out the top 10. For me, the top 10 IT transformational projects at each agency level, that's what I want my AEs focused on and how we can provide value."

This is episode 432. Join the exclusive Institute for Excellence in Sales. Read the complete transcript on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. KATHIE'S TIP: "Have a consistent morning routine. That's where you're connecting with yourself, body, mind and spirit before you let the outside world in. You're putting yourself in the driver's seat before the day takes off. You can walk in with clarity, you can walk in with confidence and then you're able to respond versus react. Then you're going to be able to be present instead of just going adrift through the day. The other thing is centering. The central question that you may want to ask yourself periodically when you're in decision making situations is, what choice can I make or action can I take in this moment to create the greatest net value?"

This is episode 431. Join the exclusive Institute for Excellence in Sales. Read the complete transcription on The Sales Game Changers Podcast website. MICHELLE'S TIP: "Choose an organization, an association that you can reach out to that is not similar to one that you have reached out to before. Whether it's a category of businesses that you've done business with or it's a group of people that you want to get more involved with, choose one and go online. It's not going to take you long. Choose one and then develop your relationships. It starts with one step at a time. One action is go find a different organization, and then start a conversation with someone that you typically wouldn't have had a conversation with before today."

This is episode 430. Join the exclusive Institute for Excellence in Sales. Read the complete transcript on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. This episode is sponsored by Cox. Learn more about their For The Love of Sales Program here! Cox is a great place to start or continue your sales career. ALEASHA'S TIP: "Introverts are often failing at sales because they're trying to pretend they're an extrovert. They feel like they have to put on this weird suit or hat like we were talking about and act like somebody else. Introverts have amazing intuition and give yourself permission to just play up your strengths. You don't have to have a million hours of small talk if you don't like it. Don't force yourself to do it. The other person's going to feel weird too, because they can tell your heart's not in it. Just really being able to lean into your own strengths and obviously, the ideal is the blend of both. If extroverts can learn something from introverts' qualities, that would definitely make them a better salesperson."

This is episode 429. Join the Institute for Excellence in Sales. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. MATT'S TIP FOR EMERGING SALES LEADERS: "Be fearless. Don't worry about failing, there's beauty in learning and knowledge, and you will be better at what you do if you go through that. The biggest thing is be the number one resource and asset for your client. You're there to help them, you're an asset and a resource. Be their number one. When they need to call somebody, pick up the phone, send an email, send a text, make sure it's to you. PAUL'S TIP FOR EMERGING SALES LEADERS: "I have a saying, you have two ears and one mouth, listen twice as much as you talk. Don't sell anything, ask big, broad, open-ended questions so that your prospect can give you the answers to the test. Don't ask questions that are yes or no or even directive, let them go limitless. Ask them, if you had a magic wand, what would you celebrate at the end of this year? And you're going to be able to back into a great client needs analysis. If I can leave that with everybody, don't try to respond to or even have anything preset into what you're talking to a client about. Respond to what their needs are, listen twice as much as you talk.

This is episode 428. Join the exclusive Institute for Excellence in Sales. Read the complete transcript on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. Sales professionals struggle with converting leads to business, or at least getting them to move down the sales funnel. A lot of people get stuck somewhere in that sales funnel and a lot of people give up quickly because they feel like they've hit a wall. Take a step back, think about all the resources that you have at your disposal. Take a look at the top five targets on your target list, take a look at how many touch points you've already made with each and what you've done. Really take a good look and ask yourself, have I leveraged every resource possible to move them along the sale cycle and move them down the funnel? If you can't answer that with 100% confidence, my advice would be that if you're relying too heavily on the software that your company is using and the data and you really didn't push yourself in a certain direction where you were humanizing that process. Dig a little deeper and not just take your results for face value. If that means reaching out and clarifying a little bit more, because your buyer's journey, they're all unique. Who influenced them, how have they heard about the different brands that are out there? What kind of research have they done? Then a question that I heard a while ago which I love so much and it applies to anybody in sales, any industry, is tell me about the day that you decided that you had an issue or a problem that you needed to solve."

This is episode 427. Join the exclusive Institute for Excellence in Sales. Read the complete transcript on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. JONATHAN'S TIP FOR EMERGING SALES LEADERS: "All the economists that I speak to and everybody that I listen to that is a so-called financial expert are predicting a boom for the next two, three, four, maybe even five years. Beginning, they suggest, at the end of Q3 this year. If we're going to take advantage of all of this, we've got to be prepared. First of all, we've got to conduct an audit of ourselves, we've got to understand what we need to do to improve because the day we stop improving and the day we stop learning, we might as well pack up and go home, frankly. The next thing we have to do is to understand the people that report to us, and we do have a duty of care to them. We've got to make sure that they fully armed not just to win the occasional skirmish, but to win the war. Then third and probably the most important, think about customers. Get as close as you can to customers. Work across the line, work up, work down, understand their entire commercial objectives, understand their concerns, their fears and just get closer to them because they want you to. Stop selling, start understanding."

This is episode 426. Join the exclusive Institute for Excellence in Sales. Read the complete transcript on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. DAN'S TIP FOR EMERGING SALES LEADERS: "If you've got an iPhone, you've got Reminders. If you've got Google, you've got Google Tasks. Here's my challenge. Go open up your tasks, create a reminder and in just one line, in a sentence, type in "what do you want?" When you set the date, make that reoccurring daily. Set a time that works for you, I like to pick a number that's quirky and weird. Take a number, say reoccurring daily every day at that time that'll pop up an alert on your phone to say, "What do you want?" Often, that little reminder is enough to say, "You know what? I'm doing great" or, "I should go in a different direction." It's something that can make an immediate impact in your life and will. You can do it right now."

This is episode 425. Join the exclusive Institute for Excellence in Sales. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. RITA'S TIP: "Being able to share what you're actually doing to promote women within your company is an important step. That's one thing that I would recommend for companies that are trying to be more open about that. One thing that I've promoted even in our own company is diversity. There's a lot of women in leadership that are white, expanding that to include women of color and really showing people that you're doing these things and it's not just talk. I think that's really key." RACHEL'S TIP: "Just start talking to people. Ask them one on one, what should I do? If you do that they're much more likely to reach out a hand to you and help you along. If you're in a company and you want to move up or you want to move in a different direction, just let your manager know or let the manager of that department know. Say, "This is what I want to do. Here's where I am now. What do I need to do to get where I want to go and can you help me? That makes the difference."