The Sales Management. Simplified. Podcast with Mike Weinberg

Salespeople often struggle to be seen as trusted advisors rather than just vendors. The discussion highlights eight common pitfalls, such as arriving late to opportunities and leading with product features. Missteps like sounding generic and not owning the sales process contribute to this commoditization. The importance of storytelling and aiming higher in client organizations is emphasized. Personal balance in sales roles is also touched upon, setting the stage for effective strategies in future discussions.

Mike has tremendous admiration and respect for this episode’s guest and is convinced that Kurt Cushing loves his job more than any other big company sales leader he knows! Enjoy this energizing conversation and Mike’s excitement hosting this sales director extraordinaire as they tackle a range of sales leadership topics including: How creating and maintaining a healthy sales culture starts with recruiting and selection Why we should never settle when hiring for a sales role The massive pivot from being selfish as an individual sales contributor to becoming selfless as the sales team leader How ego can be our enemy as managers The value and impact of skip-level conversations and field work, and the importance of the sales leaders getting direct exposure to sellers on the front lines Why it is imperative that sales management “point” the team and speak into target account selection How to stay fresh and enhance your quality of life by turning off email after business hours At the conclusion of interview, Mike offers listeners his takeaways and asks leaders to reflect on these challenge questions: How proactively are you recruiting and how effectively are you interviewing/screening candidates? What are you proactively doing to prioritize fieldwork and planning your calendar to work with your people? How involved are you with helping your team target growable accounts or ideal profile prospects? What are you doing to keep yourself in balance and emotionally healthy? More on Mike’s guest: Kurt Cushing is a transformational leader who prides himself as a “people first” coach. He has a proven track record of driving results while demonstrating the ability to recruit, train, and develop top sales reps, and managers. Learn more about Kurt on LinkedIn here:  Please leave a rating or review for the Sales Management. Simplified. Podcast. and if you’d like to be notified via email when new episodes are released, sign up at mikeweinberg.com/podcast. And be sure to grab Mike’s powerful new free resource: “The Fastest Way to Increase Accountability, Reduce Complacency, and Create a High-Performance Sales Culture” right from his new homepage at mikeweinberg.com

“Sales Enablement” has become one of most popular (overused and misunderstood) terms in the sales world today. Mike jokes in Chapter 2 of Sales Truth that as trendy as it is to wax eloquently about enabling sales teams, it is hard to find three people who can agree exactly what that even means.  In this revealing episode Mike hosts Mike Kunkle, a respected sales transformation architect and an internationally-recognized expert on sales training, sales effectiveness, and sales enablement, and author of the helpful new book, The Building Blocks of Sales Enablement. Mike and Mike tackle topics ranging from the sales leader’s critical responsibilities of “pointing” and “arming” the team to the reality that all sales training and development efforts fall flat when frontline sales managers are not an integral part of the process. Take a listen and be encouraged that despite all the noise and nonsense you read online about sales tools, tech stacks, and toys, the most effective sales effectiveness initiatives are built on the solid foundation of “old school” timeless principles. Links Mike Kunkle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikekunkle Mike Kunkle’s new book, The Building Blocks of Sales Enablement: https://amzn.to/3kKUX74 ATD Sell Conference: https://sell.td.org/  Your Sales Story Online Course: https://mikeweinberg.com/your-sales-story/ Sales Management Simplified: https://mikeweinberg.com/sales-management-simplified-book/

This episode unpacks four very specific, intentional things Mike’s world-class golf coach did WITH him (and for him) that anyone in a leadership role, particularly in sales management, should be doing with their people: Prepare Model Coach Debrief and Envision The on-course session/lesson and powerful post-round debrief and dinner conversation radically increased Mike’s confidence, approach, and ability to execute. The initial blog post and email where Mike shared this experience generated so many requests for more details that he was inspired to share the full story in this episode. This coaching experience transformed Mike’s golf game. Sales leaders, the example set by Mike’s coach translates perfectly to sales and sales management. Imagine the increase in sales effectiveness (and results) if sales managers would do for their salespeople what Mike’s coach did for him. Never underestimate the impact of working WITH your people! _________________________________________________________ Upcoming free online group teaching and Q&A sessions for sales leaders who subscribe for email notifications of new episodes. The first session, only for Sales Management. Simplified. Podcast email subscribers, is August 13th at 1:00pm Eastern, Noon Central US Time.  Sign up here: mikeweinberg.com/podcast-signup

This episode will help sales leaders radically increase effectiveness when interviewing potential sales hires and offers powerful perspective to help candidates prepare for a proper interview.   Mike was inspired to tackle this topic because in several recent Sales Management. Simplified. workshops sales leaders expressed frustration about ineffective interviews and being duped by candidates who interviewed well but did not deliver once hired.    Hear about... Common interview mistakes many sales managers make The importance of viewing the interview like an actual sales call Examples of recent awesome and awful interviews How to get past surface answers and window-dressing to expose the true experience and skills of the candidate Mike's current seven favorite interview questions How to observe the candidate’s real-life sales ability as the interview nears conclusion   Whether you’re the interviewer or interviewee, take a listen to take your interviewing game to an entirely new level!   * Managers and sales execs: come spend a full-day with Mike to Supercharge Your Sales Leadership and maximize results for the second-half of 2021! Three options. Major cities. Premium venues. Packed agenda. Powerful interaction. Proven content. Group packages available.  mikeweinberg.com/events

In the episode Mike confronts sales leaders with this very straightforward question: Are you the hero of your sales team or are you the hero-maker? While the question is simple, its answer has enormous implications. This topic is one of the most prevalent sales leadership issues today – one that not only damages culture, diminishes results, and derails careers, but it’s also a reason so many sales leaders are maxed out and exhausted. Prepare to be challenged as Mike doesn’t pull punches walking listeners through this four-part outline: WHY:  the common reasons sales leaders tend to play the hero HOW/WHERE/WHEN hero-mode manifests itself WHAT:   the awful consequences that result when leaders default to playing hero instead of making heroes HELP:   simple fixes to help us refocus on leading and coaching instead of “doing” During the episode Mike offers listeners this short, free Sales Leader: Hero or Hero-Maker? Self-Assessment.  Get your copy here. 

In Episode 10 Mike hosts a super successful sales leader and executive, his friend Joe Tarulli. Be encouraged and challenged as Joe shares the keys to his success along with the key inflection points in his career as he progressed from individual contributor to sales manager to sales development leader to senior executive. Learn about the power of… Taking an annual sabbatical from social media  Sales managers understanding that they win “through” their people Focusing on making heroes of members of your sales team, not playing sales team hero Sales managers driving amazing results from focusing on the highest-payoff sales management activities A sales leader’s simple and highly effective approach to quickly turning around a struggling business unit  Details have been finalized for all 3 venues for upcoming Supercharge Your Sales Leadership Events in the following cities: Dallas Chicago Atlanta Except for that awful last sentence “check out all the venues“ everything is awesome. For more info on these powerful events at premium venues, visit https://mikeweinberg.com/events

In the episode Mike shares his foolproof framework for conducting high-impact 1:1 sales manager – salesperson accountability meetings. This one best practice, when mastered, will transform sales culture and results. And the best part? Sales leaders reduce complacency and radically increase accountability without being a jerk, demotivating, or micromanaging their teams! Listen as Mike unpacks what he calls “The Sales Management Accountability Progression” - Results then Pipeline then Activity – and models the transformative approach he learned from his sales management mentor. While it is certainly more trendy today to talk about sales coaching and sales enablement, Mike makes the strong case that this 10 to 15-minute per month 1:1 manager-salesperson accountability meeting is the single highest-payoff sales management activity. Accountability is not a dirty word and there is nothing wrong, inappropriate, or politically incorrect with holding salespeople accountable for results, pipeline health, opportunity creation and advancement, and when necessary, activity. In fact, when this 1:1 meeting is conducted properly, (good) salespeople love it, and instead of dreading accountability conversations, you will actually look forward to them! Exciting News: Mike unveils the dates and locations for Supercharge Your Sales Leadership events coming in the second-half of 2021: mikeweinberg.com/events

No sales leader has pushed and challenged Mike as hard his guest for this powerful episode. Take a listen as Mike leans in with Dennis Sorenson – one of the strongest and most strategic senior executives with whom he’s worked. You’ll be stretched as Dennis and Mike tackle… The true role of a sales leader The importance of dreaming big and asking, “what’s possible?” Why sales leaders should invest more time with their best people How deep preparation is key for critical customer meetings and penetrating key accounts How sales process and sales culture intersect Sweating the details, leaning in, and getting your hands dirty Strong advice for newly promoted sales leaders Salespeople needing to focus on their primary job - selling Why too many senior leaders and executives are distant and clueless  Mike also shares his excitement about resuming in-person Supercharge Your Sales Leadership Elite Events in the second half of 2021. Sign-up for more info at mikeweinberg.com/events.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Mike and international sales management expert Tony Cross discuss… Their amusement that the sales leadership challenges around the globe are not just similar, they’re identical The importance of sales managers “managing up” in order to protect their time The single most impactful way sales managers must spend their time The sales manager’s mission What the very best managers did not change during the pandemic The proper temperature of beer and Tony’s favorite places to visit around the world Tony Cross is the CEO of Growth Matters International, a firm focused on sales and sales management excellence that has worked with sales leaders in 35 countries. He is based in Johannesburg, South Africa. During the episode, Mike had Tony unpack this powerful statement from his LinkedIn profile image: “No training, or consulting, or technology will make a sustainable impact on sales unless you embed sales execution disciplines into the fabric of your business – through your sales managers.”