The Sales Management. Simplified. Podcast with Mike Weinberg

While waiting for a connecting flight at Chicago O'Hare last week, Mike dialed in for an impromptu Q&A session with a sales team going through the New Sales. Simplified. Video Coaching Series. That Q&A evolved into an impactful coaching conversation around overcoming a prospect's resistance to meeting in-person. In this episode, Mike recaps three powerful tips for securing the meeting after the contact resists the salesperson's initial request to meet. He also spends a few minutes thanking the sales community for supporting New Sales. Simplified. and celebrating its 10 years as a bestseller. Most importantly, Mike invites listeners to a special free web session on November 10th. Join him for… BOOM OR BUST, THE 5 KEYS TO WINNING MORE NEW SALES Register at mikeweinberg.com/5keys Amidst all the confusion and concern around the changing business climate… Mike wants to remind sellers and sales leaders of the five simple keys for a successful new business development focused sales attack. Regardless of whether we're panicking from a pandemic, struggling with supply chain shortages, or now facing headwinds as we potentially head into a recession, the fundamentals for WINNING MORE NEW SALES remain the same. Links: Register for the free web session New Sales. Simplified. Selling in a Crisis

While observing the launch of Jeb Blount's brand new bestseller, Mike sensed something different. Just seeing the fun Jeb was having promoting Selling in a Crisis, and enjoying the excited reaction from so many sellers and sales influencers, Mike texted Jeb with a crazy question: "Jeb, I'm seeing the reaction to the book from sellers and influencers. The timing is absolutely perfect as my client sales teams are preparing to sell into strong headwinds next year. The community needs this book. Do you think it's possible that Selling in a Crisis could be even bigger than Fanatical Prospecting?" That text led to a phone call which led to this wide ranging conversation. In Episode 40, Mike has Jeb share his take on the "State of Sales," what we learned selling through the pandemic, dealing with supply chain challenges and passing along price increases, and now how we must prepare to sell in a very different business climate than we've experienced in the past fifteen years. Books Mentioned in this Episode: Selling in a Crisis Selling the Price Increase New Sales. Simplified.

Mike provoked the sales leaders gathered at the Sales Execution Simplified event in London with this statement that generated a healthy dialogue in the room: Struggling salespeople (who are neither hitting their sales numbers nor maintaining a healthy pipeline) should have a feeling of discomfort as they leave their 1:1 accountability meeting! In this short episode recorded in Belfast, Mike shares highlights from his trip to the UK during the historic week following the death of Her Majesty The Queen, and regarding the all important 1:1 regular manager-salesperson accountability meeting, he reminds sales leaders that… - this meeting is most effective when kept short and focused on thing - accountability - should be completely fact/data-based and not based on feelings - the impact of these critical sessions gets diluted when managers pivot from accountability to coaching - we actually seek to create discomfort for underperforming salespeople - if sellers are falling short of their sales goals and their pipelines are weak (not enough total coverage, not enough new opportunities being created, not enough existing opportunities being advanced) then we do not want them walking away thinking everything is fine - while we should be coaching and encouraging our struggling salespeople, we should NOT be doing that in our regular, brief accountability meeting

Episode 38 is a must listen for every sales leader - veteran, new, or aspiring. Mike continues the powerful conversation with super impressive new sales leader Drew Ellis as they cover Drew's transition from top-producing individual contributor into leadership. Hear how Drew… Built frameworks for leading his team before he even had the job Hired for culture, grit, and fit Was secure enough to bring people onto his team better than himself Implemented disciplines around proactive new business development and sales process Stressed the importance of "first dates" and continually filling the top of funnel Adapted Mike's "Accountability Framework" (results, pipeline, activity) for his new team Stays sharp and motivated If you missed the first half of Mike's conversation with Drew, listen at mikeweinberg.com/episode37 Please leave a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen) if you were inspired by this dialogue and received value from this episode. Drew Ellis on Linkedin

In this powerful episode Mike hosts impressive sales leader Drew Ellis, a mid-market vice president for SAP. Drew is the very first guest whom Mike did not know personally to be invited on the show. Their new relationship started with a LinkedIn message thanking Mike for Sales Management. Simplified. The online dialogue led to a Zoom meeting where Drew shared the trajectory of his sales, and now sales management, career. Mike was so blown away by Drew's sales acumen and passion for sales leadership and excellence that he asked Drew to come on the podcast. In Part One of this conversation hear how Drew became a sales rock star during the Great Recession of 2008-2009 which opened new doors and opportunities. Listen to Drew share how his career progressed and his secret to becoming a true trusted advisor (and "thick as thieves") with your most important customers! This episode is not just for leaders and is a great dialogue to share with your sales team members as well. Drew Ellis on Linkedin ___________________________________________ SUPERCHARGE YOUR SALES LEADERSHIP - ONLY 4 SPOTS REMAINING! The upcoming October 11th event at the Porsche Experience Center was sold out but one group had to shift to the November session which opened up four spots. If you are looking to radically increase your sales management effectiveness in a one-day intensive with Mike and 50 hungry, energized sales leaders, get more info here on the premium venue (Porsche Experience Center Atlanta), packed agenda, and powerful outcomes from attending.

Special guest, former Major League Baseball first round draft pick, Jacob Turner, and Mike talk about the discipline, determination, and desire required to succeed at the highest in level of sports and sales. Hear Jacob's journey from high school standout, to "bonus baby" (signing a $5,000,000+ contract at 18 years old) through the ups, downs, and disappointments of his MLB career to his transformation into a successful, confident sales professional and strategic wealth advisor. Enjoy Jacob's evolution from an admittedly "anti-sales" person to someone who has embraced the role and profession of selling to become a trusted advisor, value-creator and consultant. Speaking directly, Jacob shares how much he initially hated the word sales, how bad he was when he started, and the process he followed to drastically improve (building on the New Sales. Simplified. framework). Hear how Jacob has applied Max Scherzer's pitching advice that "confidence is a choice" to selling, and how he has experienced first-hand that owning your sales process breeds confidence and drives success! Links: Jacob Turner on LinkedIn JL Strategic Wealth New Sales. Simplified (book) and (video course)

"Papa Mike" welcomes listeners back from the podcast's unplanned summer break with big personal news, a brief business update, and tips for tackling one of today's biggest sales leadership challenges. In Episode 35, Mike continues his review of The Four R's of Smart Talent Management… 1. Right People in the Right Roles (hunters and zookeepers - Episode 34) 2. Retain and Maximize the Performance of Top-Producers 3. Remediate or Replace Underperformers (coach-up or coach-out) 4. Recruit ...Diving into the second 'R' - with practical, powerful, and counterintuitive suggestions for how to not only keep your best people in this tough labor market, but how to help them produce at even higher levels. _____________________________________________ Upcoming Live, One-Day Intensive Sales Leadership Events with Mike: London, September 14: Sales Execution Simplified Atlanta, October 11 and November 2: Supercharge Your Sales Leadership

In this episode Mike tackles the first of the Four R's of Smart Sales Talent Management: Right People in the Right Roles and he introduces the concept of zookeeper-wired sellers. So many sales leaders live in perpetual frustration that their overly relational, account management minded salespeople will not hunt for new business. These "zookeepers" are wonderful people who live to keep the peace, enhance relationships, put out customer service fires, and service existing accounts, but most absolutely hate the conflict, risk, and rejection that accompanies hunting for new business. Prepare to be challenged as Mike asks if it is possible to coerce, coach, and compensate zookeepers to become successful hunters. He also turns conventional wisdom on its head by making the case that even the most successful "account managers" who consistently penetrate and grow revenue within existing accounts actually behave more like proactive hunters than reactive farmers/zookeepers. ______________________________________________________________________ Join Mike on either July 19th or 21st for a special session where he will offer 4 Practical Fixes for the Biggest Challenges Facing Sales Leaders Right Now. Sign up at https://mikeweinberg.com/4practicalfixes/

In the episode Mike talks about two recent experiences with great relevance for sales leaders. First, he shares his reaction to what he is calling "business sentiment whiplash." In just a period of a few weeks it feels like business momentum and sentiment has shifted from boom to bust. Mike expresses his bewilderment that we so quickly pivoted from go, go, go, hire, hire, hire, spend, spend, spend to a posture of pessimism as job offers are being rescinded, conferences being postponed, and companies talking about cutting back. There are enormous sales management implications as we work through this whiplash. The strong reaction to this post prompted Mike to unpack his thoughts further in this episode. Next, Mike reveals a recent painful experience with a large company's procurement department that would be humorous if it wasn't true. The reaction to this LinkedIn post inspired him to share more of the story in this episode. Hear Mike's reaction to receiving a 36-page guide to help his team navigate this company's procurement portal. That's right. A 36-page guide on how to get set up as a "vendor." If you're familiar with Sales Truth, you can imagine that this did not end well. Quoting Chapter 13, he offers a strong reminder on why we need to own our rules of engagement, and that it's imperative to maintain a full pipeline of opportunities so we can sell from an abundance mentality. "…we decided a few years ago that 100 percent of my effort goes into creating value for clients; I promised myself and my clients that all of our energy will be focused solely on creating and delivering the best speaking/workshop/coaching/consulting engagement possible. Due to that commitment to my clients, I refuse to put even one ounce of energy jumping through procurement hoops…" Books mentioned in Episode 33: Let's Get Real or Let's Not Play by Mahan Khalsa Baseline Selling by Dave Kurlan Finally, Mike wraps the episode with an announcement about a new offering, The Sales Leadership Coaching Cohort. You can hear the "why" and the "what" behind this coaching cohort in this short video. Upcoming Opportunities for Sales Leaders: September 14th, London, UK – Mike is co-hosting SALES EXECUTION SIMPLIFIED, a special one-day event for sales execs, leaders and managers. More info here: https://event.growthmattersintl.com/ses22/ October 11th, Atlanta, GA – Supercharge Your Sales Leadership, one-day intensive at The Porsche Experience Center. Just 6 spots (of 50) are still available. More info here: https://mikeweinberg.com/atlanta2022/

This may be Mike's all-time favorite sales management conversation as he hosts his favorite international sales management experts, Tony Cross and Alan Versteeg. If you believe in the fundamentals and appreciate the blunt truth about sales, this episode is for you! Tony and Alan's specialty is sales management execution, and triggered by Mike's questions, they hold nothing back and provide more tweetable one-liners than you'll be able to capture. Buckle up as these three make the strong case that executing the fundamentals well (particularly accountability and coaching) drives exponentially more sales results than anything else, and specifically more than simply "enabling" sellers. Take a listen as Mike and his guests address… How it feels like the lunatics are running the asylum as sales leaders have been blinded by shiny, new, fancy toys and ignoring the fundamentals Why sales managers were often more effective decades ago when they were "in-field" and laser-focused on coaching sellers That after all the hype and major investment in enablement, there has not been a proportional increase in sales effectiveness; in fact, the opposite has occurred The problem with "execution" often lies with senior executives who have lost sight of the sales leader's primary job and highest-value activities Mike and his guests also preview a special one-day event they are co-hosting in London on September 14. Sales leaders in UK, be sure to check out Sales Execution Simplified. All of Mike's previous trips to Europe have been private events hosted by his clients. This is the first time he is doing a session with public availability for sales leaders! More info here: https://event.growthmattersintl.com/ses22/