One Next Step: Management Tips & Tools for Small Business Owners

As business owners, we know that our sales team needs to be incentivized. But they also need to feel confident that their entire job isn’t based on simple sales numbers. Today, we’re joined for a second time by Lisa Seal, the VP of Revenue at BELAY. Lisa has a brilliant mind for sales, and she’s had years of experience with this topic. She’s helped BELAY structure a business compensation plan that is beneficial to both BELAY and its sales team. In this episode, she’s going to share with our listeners her best practices for designing a successful comp plan. Welcome to episode 67 of One Next Step.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do successful businesses stand out from their competition? Many business leaders think they know the answer, but some may be operating under dated advice that’s no longer applicable. Chris Walker is the CEO Refine Labs and host of the “State of Demand Gen Podcast,” and he’s redefined how businesses play the differentiation game, helping them use those unique elements of what they do to separate themselves and drive leads. In this episode, Lisa and special guest host Dorian Usherwood will talk with Chris about how his system can help our podcast listeners understand how to differentiate their businesses, build their brand, and make more sales. Welcome to episode 66 of One Next Step.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this special episode, Tricia and LZ welcome the Vice President of Marketing at BELAY, Dorian Usherwood. Dorian has 26 years of experience in brand strategy development, customer experience, and brand development and management among many other skills. Dorian is a master at using visual expression as a way to communicate a marketing message. So we’re going to talk to him about that, as well as what leaders need to know about creating a great brand experience for their company – and how to use that to really move the company forward. Welcome to episode 65 of One Next Step.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everything of value is built on trust. You’ll pay more for the trusted brand, follow the trusted leader, and buy from the trusted salesperson. Trust is the single uniqueness of the greatest leaders, organizations, and brands of all time. In this episode, Tricia and LZ are joined by David Horsager, CEO of Trust Edge Leadership Institute and the best-selling author of The Trust Edge. He’s here to discuss his 8 pillars of trust and how you can practically become more trustworthy as a leader. Welcome to episode 64 of One Next Step.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Leaders are constantly making decisions. Some of them are easy, like where to take the team to lunch, and some of them are incredibly hard, like budget cuts and layoffs. With so many decisions, it’s easy to get paralyzed out of fear of making the wrong choice, or simply not being able to see the best option. In this episode, Tricia and LZ talk with Jeff Shinabarger, CEO of Plywood People, a former leader at Catalyst, and a successful author. He’ll talk about how to be better at decision-making as leaders, including understanding how to make the right choices even in difficult circumstances, discovering our decision-making style, and using that style to benefit our teams and organization. Welcome to episode 63 of One Next Step.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Organizations often focus their marketing on a few channels that have worked for them in the past without understanding other opportunities to promote their business and make an impact. Unfortunately, this leaves their organization vulnerable if even one of their previous tactics or channels doesn’t produce at previous levels. How can leaders at these organizations better use all marketing channels – both online and offline – to help them achieve the best possible results? In today’s episode, Tricia will be joined by our friend, Michael Taggart, the COO of Envoy Media Group, an award winning direct-response marketing company. He’ll talk with us about how he uses online and offline marketing channels for his clients so they can better market their organizations. Welcome to episode 62 of One Next Step.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Knowing what you want to say is just half the battle. Actually communicating it in an effective, engaging way is the hard part. Joining us this episode to talk about this topic is one of the best communicators in the country – Lydia Fenet. She’s the global managing director and lead benefit auctioneer at Christie’s in New York City. She’s also a gifted speaker and the author of the widely acclaimed book, The Most Powerful Woman in the Room is You. She’ll talk with Tricia and LZ about how to communicate your message in a way that captures and holds your audience’s attention. Welcome to episode 61 of One Next Step.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Whether you have a sales team or are still in a sales role as a leader, you need to know how to overcome objections and pushback in the sales process. So how can you honor people’s objections while still closing the sale and delivering your product or service? Today we’re going to talk about just that with Lisa Seal, who is BELAY’s VP of Revenue. Lisa has years of experience in growth management across several industries and various sales environments. She empowers our team at BELAY to really exceed their growth targets and has been instrumental in helping the organization grow – which, you might have guessed it, involves overcoming pushbacks and making sales! Welcome to episode 60 of One Next Step.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Corporate gifting is nothing new. For years, businesses have been branding coffee mugs, hats, and koozies and giving them away to potential clients. But John Ruhlin goes next level when it comes to gifting. In this episode, Tricia and LZ chat with Ruhlin, a gifted speaker, author of Giftology, and founder of The Ruhlin Group, a gift strategy, and logistics company. He’ll talk about how he uses high-end gifts customized to his clients to cut through the noise, increase referrals, and strengthen retention. He tells you how to give, what to give, when is the best time to give, and how to make a giving strategy that has the most impact on your clients. Welcome to episode 59 of One Next Step.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As a small business owner and leader, promoting your business and promoting yourself is essentially the same thing. But in today’s world of social media, many people are turned off by what they consider to be narcissistic self-promotion. No one wants to be “that person.” However, there is a way to promote your business in a tasteful, professional way. In this episode, Tricia and LZ will talk with Debby Stone, the founder, and CEO of Novateur Partners and author of The Art of Self-Promotion. Debby will share her great ideas on how to get over the discomfort of self-promotion and how to promote in a way that’s tasteful, professional, and connects with others – instead of turning them off. Welcome to episode 58 of One Next Step.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.