Conversational Selling

About Jon Keel: Jon Keel is the Founder and CEO of Improved Together, LLC, which helps small business people increase revenue and gain the freedom they want by using proven automated systems. Jon is a results-oriented Business Advisor who has been helping businesses and their leaders stand out and thrive for nearly 25 years. Jon has developed a local, national, and international reputation as a performance-based online marketing expert, actively involved in this arena since January 1997. In addition to being CEO of Improved Results, which he founded in September 1997, he co-developed the Xavier University MBA E-Business program, where he taught online marketing and e-commerce for over three years. Since 2008, his business has focused primarily on expanding its online presence, reputation marketing, and conversion improvement for local and regional businesses. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Jon.In this episode, Nancy and Jon discuss the following:The rapid growth of LinkedIn and its frequent updatesImportance of staying informed about LinkedIn's changesNeed for a professional LinkedIn profile.Significance of staying current with LinkedIn's features.Tips on how to grow your LinkedIn followers through engagement.Key Takeaways: The limit on connections is 30,000, but there is no limit on your number of followers.LinkedIn will now show about 60 to 70 % of the posts of the people for whose bell you've clicked.It's essential when you reach out to people and make connection requests that you include a personal message with the person.99 % of LinkedIn users use it ineffectively and don't know due to ignorance."You have to master five principles. I have given a talk on mastering these five principles to be successful on LinkedIn. And, you know, one of them is to have a killer profile. LinkedIn also says, in addition to 99% of folks not using it effectively, that 99% of profiles— and I don't know any better way to say it— they suck. They're terrible. And people need to have their profiles be professional. In other words, would you show up as an amateur or a professional? And it's your choice. The second is to understand that it's about relationships on LinkedIn. It's not a quick sale. LinkedIn is not a transactional platform. It's a relationship platform. So, develop that mentality in your writing and in the videos that you do. And the third is to expand and grow your network. You can never have a large enough network on LinkedIn. And there are ways to do that. The fourth, I'm trying to remember, I'm just having a brain cramp this morning, but the fifth is to stay current, which is what I offer all my members, the ability to stay current through twice-a-month master classes that I hold where I share with them all this current stuff that I've learned. And my objective, Nancy, my objective is not to be the smartest guy in the room. I just hang out with them." – JON"Well, the easiest way is to find people on LinkedIn that you want to follow, that you think, well, that person, I might, number one, have the opportunity to do business with them. Secondly, they might be a great referral source for me. So, it all starts first with following them. And I remember from the "Five Love Languages" book that came out many years ago, it's hard to withdraw before you make deposits. So, you make a deposit by following them and commenting on their content. A certain number of them will follow you back and comment on your comments. That's the way it starts. It's a process." - JON"There's no limit to the number of posts you can do. I personally recommend three a week. Some people post every day, and that's fine. If you can do it, that's great. I personally don't have the time to do it every day, but certainly no more than once a day. When you post more than once a day, your overall post-exposure will increase, but subsequent posts are throttled, if you will, by posting more than one today." – JONConnect with Jon Keel:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonkeel/Improved Together: https://www.improvedtogether.com/Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/  Connect with Nancy Calabrese: Twitter:https://twitter.com/oneofakindsalesFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/One-Of-A-Kind-Sales-304978633264832/Website:https://oneofakindsales.comPhone: 908-879-2911 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ncalabrese/Email: leads@oneofakindsales.com 

About Eric Boggs: Eric Boggs is the Founder & CEO of RevBoss, an outbound agency on a mission to bring honesty and transparency to the B2B sales process. Using a mix of software automation, creative strategy and messaging, and top-notch client service, RevBoss powers full-service outbound campaigns for 100s of teams across a wide range of industries, including SaaS companies, marketing and creative agencies, video production services, and business services providers. Today, Eric leads the effort to bring happiness to 100s of clients and more than 50 RevBuds worldwide. Eric spent the last 20 years building companies and advising successful CEOs (Device Magic, Kevel, UserVoice, Ignite Social, and many more). He completed his undergraduate studies at UNC Chapel Hill and earned an MBA at UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School, where he was a Dean's Fellow. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Eric.In this episode, Nancy and Eric discuss the following:The importance of human conversation in salesEric Boggs' mission with RevBoss: client and coworker happinessThe role of AI in transforming sales and marketing processesStrategies for generating qualified appointmentsThe effectiveness of personalized email subject linesRecommendations for optimizing email cadence and timing.Key Takeaways: When you see really long emails, it's just laziness because it takes a lot of work to be sharp and direct in your communication.My team has probably gotten tired of hearing me say cut it in half, but I think you can cut it in half and usually cut it in half again.Content quality and volume are moving targets, but they are also goals you never achieve.If it can always be shorter, it can always be better."AI will not replace human-to-human interaction. However, it is in the process of absolutely transforming the steps in the marketing and selling process that ultimately will lead to human interaction. And it's doing that with content and decision-making and process enablement. And frankly, it's going to make the process better in the long run, but it's making it awful messy right now." – ERIC"At RevBoss, we do lead generation for hundreds of clients. Most are marketing agencies, PR firms, and business services-type companies. That's probably 60% of our customers. 30% are SaaS technology companies, and 10% are other. Machine shops and commercial real estate are all kinds of odds and ends. And our strategy and mechanism are generally the same across the board. We're email first and primarily email. But increasingly, we're augmenting that with targeted display ads. And sometimes, we'll layer on a LinkedIn program if it's targeted and small and makes sense. We've never done phone. And I know that's your expertise. No, it's more of a personal preference and experience than anything else. We have plenty of clients that have had a lot of success cold calling internally or with partners. And we've worked, you know, we've told plenty of sales leads in the past, hey, yeah, we don't do that. But I do think that phone will work for you. We've just focused on email because we're good at it. We can automate it with a lot of technology and increasingly automate it with many AI integrations. And that's just kind of how we've how we built the business." - ERIC"As a subject line, I'm rather ambivalent. If it works, it works; if it doesn't, it doesn't. We've had clients where we've dropped emojis and manipulated text. One thing I know works at RevBoss is that subject lines should resemble those you'd send to a coworker. You'd never send an email with a subject line like "Increase your XYZ by some percent," right? Good subject lines are casual, like "Hey, how's it going?" or "I have a question about this thing." You'll get the desired result as long as you broadly fall into that category. Emojis and text manipulation are great ideas." – ERIC"Our general approach is three emails over a week, maybe 10 days. One of the emails is usually like a bump or an inline reply, maybe two; perhaps both are inline replies or forwards. Instead of doing five, eight, or 10 emails or touches over an extended period, we like to do short bursts in seven days. Let that prospect chill out for 60 days 90 days, and then do another short burst over a short period of time. We found that the prospects we retarget—say, I email you today, and then if you don't reply after two or three emails, I email you again in 60 or 90 days—roughly convert at the same rate as net new prospects. So, a lot of the success we're able to generate for our clients is based on repetition, process, and ensuring we're landing in the inbox with enough frequency, the right target prospect, and a tight message to get lucky. And you know, we get lucky to the tune of hundreds of times a day for our clients." – ERICConnect with Eric Boggs:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericboggs/RevBoss: https://revboss.com/Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/  Connect with Nancy Calabrese: Twitter:https://twitter.com/oneofakindsalesFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/One-Of-A-Kind-Sales-304978633264832/Website:https://oneofakindsales.comPhone: 908-879-2911 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ncalabrese/Email: leads@oneofakindsales.com

About Benjamin Brown: Benjamin Brown is the CEO of 360 Sales Consulting, a company specializing in helping businesses and entrepreneurs excel in sales and dramatically increase their bottom line. Their proprietary sales system has come to be recognized as a "game-changer" and is in demand by companies of all sizes throughout the United States. Ben's sales career of more than twenty years began with selling health club memberships and quickly worked his way into sales manager and sales director positions. Having held both inside and outside sales positions, his diverse experience includes selling autos, computer products and services, voice recognition software, staffing, and transportation services. Ben is a former United States Marine with six years of service and a Veteran of the Gulf War. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Benjamin.In this episode, Nancy and Benjamin discuss the following:The importance of confidence in salesThe effectiveness of mentoring and coaching in learning salesA 10-step sales process based on Benjamin's proven sales systemCustomizing sales processes based on specific products or servicesThe impact of AI on sales and the enduring importance of human interactionBenjamin's journey into sales and teachingKey Takeaways: 80% of sales is confidence.Children are good salespeople because they close for no reason.Anytime you're in a conversation about working with an individual, there's always a sale.Sales is the essential part of a business that brings in the money.One of the things that I teach is that you have to like it, love it, or leave it. " The best way to learn sales that I found is making sure that you have a proper mentor to work with or coach, especially if you haven't done it before or if you have done it not to the point where you've been satisfied. Sales is a skill, so it's better done in an apprentice-type situation where somebody is grading your performance as you do it. Theory, reading a book, watching videos and doing it and performing it doesn't work well because there's no way for you to get the direct feedback that you need to adjust." – BENJAMIN"We live in a Western civilization where we're trained that your worth and things you want must be earned through your work. You don't negotiate. If you make enough money to negotiate in America, the only thing you know in life is a house and a car. But if you go overseas and go to third-world countries or other places less, their actual mentality or culture is that if you go to a market, an open market in a second or third-world country, there are no prices. Everything is a negotiation. Right? Everything's in the good in some cultures. If you don't negotiate, they will see it as negative. So, I love it when I go overseas, and I go to these places, and at the end of the tour, you'll see the native, the local people selling their arts and crafts at the end, and they're coming at you with the, you know, the pressure for you to buy. You can look and see the Americans because they start to cringe. They're not used to that aggression. But this is how people get things done in their country. We live in an economy where we don't have to deal with that. But we get more inundation through our phones and television, driving down the road. We get hit just like they do. It's just not verbally in our face." - BENJAMIN"There's no need to fear sales if you understand that sales is a language. It's just like sign language or anything else, and if you can understand that, your life becomes a whole lot easier because you'll know when people are selling you and when you need to buy. And that comes through your personal life as well as your business. By doing that, your confidence level will increase because you now will understand that you need to listen more in a conversation because good salespeople are great listeners. And it is key. So, there are three things I say you need to do when you're a good salesperson: First, you need to know where you're going, which means a good sales process. Number two is that you need to be confident. You have to be able to take rejection. Number three is that you must listen. And you must do all three of those at the same time. Hence the skill of sales. So, some people could do one or two, but you need to do all three. And if you could do all three very well, you could become a great salesperson." – BENJAMINConnect with Benjamin Brown:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/360sales/360 Sales Consulting: https://www.360salesconsulting.com/Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/  Connect with Nancy Calabrese: Twitter:https://twitter.com/oneofakindsalesFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/One-Of-A-Kind-Sales-304978633264832/Website:https://oneofakindsales.comPhone: 908-879-2911 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ncalabrese/Email: leads@oneofakindsales.com 

About Christian Palmer: Christian Palmer is the Senior Manager of Sales Enablement at Justt, the only company fighting chargeback disputes for merchants and winning. Christian's background includes working as an L&D Consultant/Sales Trainer at Phaidon International, where they provided foundational academy training to new consultants and coached and mentored them on both team and individual levels. Christian also worked as a Clinical Consultant at ProClinical, a global recruitment company specializing in the life sciences industry. Earlier in their career, Christian worked as an Associate Consultant at Real Staffing, an international pharmaceutical recruitment agency, and as a Corporate Recruiter/HR Associate at Dutch-X. Christian began their professional journey at Apple, where they served as an Expert. Christian Palmer, M.S.Ed., has diverse experience in sales enablement, recruitment, learning and development, and leadership roles. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Christian.In this episode, Nancy and Christian discuss the following:Definition of sales enablement Importance of sales enablement within a company Necessary tools for enablement Role of sales playbook in enablement Enablement in one-person teams vs. global departmentsKey Takeaways: It's of tremendous value to businesses to bring somebody who can identify the gaps first, then fill them in and be the main voice for the salespeople.I've only seen playbooks succeed at larger organizations with more structure and infrastructure.Everything you say will not be listened to if you don't have it."Sales enablement can be defined in a number of different ways. Because it is such a newer field, it tends to get mis-defined if that's a phrase all the time. And the best way for me to describe it is essentially twofold. I'll probably start with the more form formal definition of it. That is to provide the tools, resources, skills, processes, and infrastructure for sellers to enable them to be more efficient, skilled, and proficient with their actual product offering to sell more effectively over time. That is the more formal side, but I would say maybe something a little bit softer that I guess you could say is more layperson's terms for folks is going to be that I am more or less bridge or support system or the voice of the salespeople. And that can stretch across different cross-functional teams to senior leadership and stakeholders and be able to bridge that gap between what's going on in the ground with sellers and what's happening strategically in the organization." – CHRISTIAN"In probably an ideal world is that you have your LMS, your learning management system, that you're able to create content with and a CMS, a content management system, of which you're able to organize that content of what you made in the LMS into a digestible format for sellers and anybody else looking at it. Both of those tools, more so the CMS, should be able to help you measure success rates of reps over time. That could be done in a number of ways, through their behaviors, actions, and results, corresponding those specific results to maybe some items that they had done during the onboarding within that CMS. But those are probably the main tools. You could throw in another authoring tool or whatnot if you wanted to facilitate making even more differentiated content, like maybe an articulate or something along those lines. Any place that doesn't have either of those. It will be a bit more of a lift for an enabler to assemble something. Those tools make it a lot easier. But there's a ton of them out there. It's hard to know what's going to be best." - CHRISTIAN"I think the easiest way, or the standard way you'll see amongst most enablers, especially those with sales experience, is leveraging that you've been there before. Of course, this gets harder the longer you're not in a sales role. The harder it's going to be to align. However, I think the main foundational selling parts don't change. So, those aspects are what you can align with a rep. Whether it's somebody going on a performance improvement plan, I've been on it several times in my career. One time, it didn't work out too great; the other time, it worked out for me. Using that as leverage and explaining to a seller, like, hey, look, this isn't the end; it's just the beginning, shows vulnerability on my part and shows them that I can relate to what this is—the vulnerability aspect I bring up because that's how you build relationships with anybody. So, whether or not they're actual sellers doesn't matter as much to me. But the fact that they are, and I go in and let them know maybe areas that I'm weak in upfront, maybe areas that I know I'm strong in or where I think I can help them, and start adding value to them without them even asking for it.An example of this would be if you come into an organization where you don't have industry knowledge. This is very much how it was at Riskified for me. I knew nothing about chargebacks or the fraud or policy abuse space. But I did know all the different selling skills I've accumulated and enabled over the years. So, I was able to come in and create sessions and content and additional resources around some of these skills that were agnostic to what Riskified is and what industry it's in." – CHRISTIANConnect with Christian Palmer:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-palmer/Justt: https://justt.ai/Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/  Connect with Nancy Calabrese: Twitter:https://twitter.com/oneofakindsalesFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/One-Of-A-Kind-Sales-304978633264832/Website:https://oneofakindsales.comPhone: 908-879-2911 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ncalabrese/Email: leads@oneofakindsales.com 

About Jeff Savlov: Jeff Savlov is the Founder of Blum & Savlov, LLP, and consults with business families, legacy wealth families, and the advisors who serve them. He brings more than 30 years of unique experience in sales and marketing, business ownership, entrepreneurial endeavors, family dynamics/psychological training, and a common-sense style to his consulting work with families. By integrating his diverse business background, extensive academic work, and family dynamics/psychological training with his experience working in his family's commercial printing business, Jeff helps enterprising families balance family and business/wealth so both will thrive for generations. Jeff has consulted on relationship and team dynamics with Fortune 500 companies such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, and Schering Plough. He also devotes a portion of his time to performance enhancement with corporate executives and elite high school athletes. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Jeff.In this episode, Nancy and Jeff discuss the following:The role of the Sandler methodology in understanding client needs and building relationshipsJeff's background and journey into family consultingThe challenges faced by wealthy families and the specialized assistance they requireStrategies for acquiring clients: speaking engagements and referralsJeff's unique approach to using Metallica's story in his workshopsKey Takeaways: It's easy to idealize being wealthy, but there are many challenges.One of my areas is parenting in the context of family wealth and how to start when kids are young to raise them so that those values will remain there when they learn about money.DISC is excellent for people who don't have the training to help them think about the general categories that people fall into. "I got trained as a family therapist. After grad school, I did another seven years of training in a psychoanalytic institute for seven years. Like I said, I got fully certified and started a private practice doing talk therapy 30 years ago. And just by coincidence, some of my early therapy clients also had significant wealth or family businesses. I was working with them as a therapist, and I could see that there was a need that was different than therapy, but that lawyers, accountants, and wealth managers didn't have the training and background to go into the family dynamic side. So, I saw an opportunity to do something that was not therapy but between what a therapist and business consultants do. I started to work slowly and consult with families. Again, I'm not working on finance taxes or operations. I'm helping families develop strong family teams and work together two or three generations at a time. Now that people are living longer, you can easily have, you know, 80-year-olds, 50-year-olds, and 20-year-olds working together. I help them work together, develop leadership, communicate well, and make transitions from one generation to the next, helping the senior generation step back, give the next generation opportunity, and developing the next generation to step up and take over." – JEFF" In terms of meeting people and those early stages when I'm trying to decide if I want to work with them and they're trying to decide if they want to work with me, Sandler has been incredibly valuable. And what I just said is really at the heart of it. Sandler talks about a level playing field. So, it's not like, "Hey, I'm the poor guy with the poor schmuck with something to sell. I hope you'll buy it." It's more like I have something of value; I'm looking for people who need it, have pain around it that I can solve, and have respect for what I bring. And they're looking for someone to help them with their pain, and it's mutual. And Sandler, that part of the Sandler attitude is that it's a level playing field but a two-way street. I'm not just looking for anyone who'll hire me. And that's a big piece of it. I feel like the rapport part of the equation is something I've always been good at just naturally, and certainly years of being a therapist, and that's a big part of the Sandler piece." - JEFF"I find sales is fun. Even though I am primarily sort of a consultant and I'm doing, you know, professional consulting services, I must find— I'm a solo guy. I must find my, you know, my clients and serve them. And that is sales. And I think that sales— really, life is sales, not in a manipulative way, but life is about understanding people, seeing if there's a common need or desire, and then going for it. And so, I find it a lot of fun. Sometimes, I land a big client, and then I'm disappointed. I must do the work. Not that I don't enjoy the work, but I find sales— I love the hunt. And I find it enjoyable. I don't know, people think it's crazy that aren't into it." – JEFFConnect with Jeff Savlov:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsavlov/Blum & Savlov, LLP: https://blumandsavlov.com/about/Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/  Connect with Nancy Calabrese: Twitter:https://twitter.com/oneofakindsalesFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/One-Of-A-Kind-Sales-304978633264832/Website:https://oneofakindsales.comPhone: 908-879-2911 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ncalabrese/Email: leads@oneofakindsales.com 

About Dave Kahle: Dave Kahle is the President of Kahle Way Sales Systems, a company where they help CEOs and VPs of Sales for Wholesale Distributors increase sales, gain market share, and significantly increase the ROI from their salespeople in 15-30 minutes a week. He is a B2B sales expert and Christian business thought leader. Dave helps his clients increase their sales and improve their sales productivity. He's written twelve books, presented in 47 states and eleven countries, and has helped enrich tens of thousands of salespeople and transform hundreds of sales organizations. Sign up for his free weekly Ezine. Three international entities recognized his book, How to Sell Anything to Anyone Anytime, as "one of the five best English language business books." Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Dave.In this episode, Nancy and Dave discuss the following:The importance of sales processesImportance of sales processes: big picture vs. day-to-dayStrategies to make prospects comfortable: first impressions, appropriate dressing, sharing personal details, effective questioningInvesting in sales managers: their impact on salespeople's behaviorsVirtual selling: increased need for thorough preparationUse of "snippets" in sales conversations and their value in everyday life Key Takeaways: Sharing something personal and unique about yourself breaks the barriers between you and the customer.The depth and detail of your question have a lot to do with how you make people comfortable with you.The sales managers are the in-between step between management and salespeople.Everybody can sell better if they choose to. They can."In that book, we talk about two different levels of sales process. The big-picture sales process is what a sales organization and the salesperson do over time. And then what I call the day-to-day or the nitty-gritty sales process is what a salesperson does with a customer or a prospect. […] Let me talk about the nitty-gritty sales process and how it relates to everyday activity. So, the first step in the prospect is to engage with the right people. And that can trump everything else. If you spend your time with the wrong people, no matter how well you do everything else, it's a waste of time. So, step one is to engage with the right people. Step two is to make them comfortable with you. Because if they're uncomfortable with you, they won't react transparently and honestly. Step three: find out what they want. And again, there's a whole body of content surrounding each of these. I mean, a couple of days' training for each of these. The next step is to show them what you have given them and what they want. And again, that applies to anything, anywhere, anytime. That's why it's the title of the book. Then, you agree on the next step. And again, each one of these can be at least a couple of training days. At that point, you follow up because the decision is typically made in the business-to-business world. The decision to buy is typically made when you're not there. So, you follow up and leverage satisfaction with this, which salespeople often neglect to do but to leverage satisfaction into additional internal or external opportunities. And then you know what? You're back where you started from. So that's the process. That's the process that an individual salesperson uses to relate and sell anybody, anything. You have to do all those things regardless." – DAVE"There's a whole lot of things, like number one, that is so often overlooked, and that is to make an excellent first impression—to look like you, to sound like someone that people can talk to and relate to. So that's step one. And then there are so many things, like, for example, how you dress. I have a rule—you should dress like your customer, only a little better. So, if you're a man wearing a suit and tie, calling on farmers, I mean, your suit and tie is separating you from connecting with that farmer, from making that customer comfortable with you. So, you dress like the customer, only a little bit better. And that's the rule for everybody. And then, there's sharing. I like to share something personal. It forces the customer to see you as a human being, not just a role player. You're not just a salesperson; you're a real person.- DAVE"It's here to stay, and it's growing, and it has, and it required. It requires not necessarily something new, but the salespeople who are selling virtually have to be much better. For example, you cannot make an appointment to talk with somebody on a Zoom call and not be thoroughly prepared. You know, like so, the pressure to be thoroughly prepared so you're not wasting time looking foolish on a Zoom call is far greater than if you stop by. You're just going to stop by and see them, and sometimes you're not fully prepared, but you cannot do that on a Zoom call. Now, it's increased by a multiple. So, number one, they must be far more prepared. You know, with agendas and objectives of every sales call. That's always been a best practice, but many have ignored it. You can't ignore that anymore. And so, you know, that's a big one. And then there are lots of things that kind of fall underneath that, things that you need to do when you're selling virtually that you don't necessarily need to pay that much attention to when you're selling live." – DAVEConnect with Dave Kahle:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davekahleWebsite: https://www.davekahle.com/Housing Lessons: www.thesalesresourcecenter.comTry Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/  Connect with Nancy Calabrese: Twitter:https://twitter.com/oneofakindsalesFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/One-Of-A-Kind-Sales-304978633264832/Website:https://oneofakindsales.comPhone: 908-879-2911 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ncalabrese/Email: leads@oneofakindsales.com 

About Craig Lowder: Craig Lowder is the Founder and President of the Main Spring Sales Group, a specialized client acquisition consultancy focused on creating significant, predictable and sustainable sales growth for successful Financial Advisors, Consultants and Business Leaders making a 6-7 Figure Income seeking a strategic senior-level sales executive on a part-time, contract basis to develop and execute sales strategy, including sales process development, performance management systems, and ensure sales execution. With a 30-year track record of helping business owners and sales teams achieve their goals, as author of two highly-rated books, Smooth Selling Forever and Trusted Advisor Confidential℠, and as Founder and President of the Main Spring Sales Group, Craig has learned that success in sales comes down to three things: process, teamwork and access to experience that shortens the learning curve. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Craig.In this episode, Nancy and Craig discuss the following:Craig’s journey into salesThe importance of understanding buyer journeys and aligning sales strategies accordinglyThe specifics of Craig's target industriesThe value of choosing the right fit for sales roles within organizationsAssessments in hiring salespeople: value or harm?Exploration of Craig’s new book “Trusted Advisor Confidential”Recommendations on maintaining a healthy sales funnelIncreasing importance and the shift in buyer behavior towards virtual sellingKey Takeaways: The basis of selling is understanding the person that you're talking to from a professional as well as a personal level so that you can communicate with them effectively.A professionally statistically valid assessment helps you to determine whether what you're looking at is real.We were going towards virtual selling prior to COVID and COVID was just like the spark plug that initiated the change.If you think effective virtual selling is a 20-to-30-minute conversation at max, maybe 40, but the shorter the better."I have not found a company yet that has a defined, documented sales recruiting process. Step by step: what are the steps, who's involved, what are the desired outcomes? So, number one: having a documented sales hiring process. Number two: developing filtering questions based on the characteristics that you're seeking, so that you can also build an interview scorecard, which will tell you whether they're a good fit for your organization." – CRAIG"I've been on a four-decade journey of being a trusted advisor, a salesperson, a business development person, a new client acquisition person. And I saw a huge gap out there for individuals who are in business. The only way that they can earn a living is by eating what they sell. Unfortunately, whether they're financial advisors, commercial bankers, insurance brokers, consultants, coaches, or even marketing firms, they're very, very good at delivery, but they're not very competent or competent in developing new clients, having a process to do that. And with those, in many cases, particularly those who have letters after their name (PhD, JD, even MBA, I can say that because I have one of those), they go, "No, no, no, selling is too far below me." So, in the book, we don't use the word selling, but that's really what it is. If you were to ask every one of them, "Would you like to have more of the right fit clients?" Unanimously, they're going to say, "Yes." Well, as you and I know, that's technically business development and social selling. But it's like taking the curse off the call by talking about client acquisition. So, trusted advisor confidentiality is about communicating to them what are the six stars (and we're using that in celestial terms) that they need to follow to successively build a book of business filled with right-fit clients and significantly increase their personal income. And those stars include: targeting, messaging, sales process mapping, establishing sales success standards, effective generation, and having a healthy funnel." – CRAIG"Well, the six stars are developed in a hierarchical fashion. You have to have a good target audience and you have to have a message that resonates with them, and you have to have a lead conversion process that mirrors how they buy. So, it really all starts with targeting the right prospects, the right audience so that you can get the most out of your marketing activities as well as your limited sales time." – CRAIGConnect with Craig Lowder:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craiglowder/Smooth Selling Forever: https://www.smoothsellingforever.com/Personal: https://www.craiglowder.com/Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/  Connect with Nancy Calabrese: Twitter:https://twitter.com/oneofakindsalesFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/One-Of-A-Kind-Sales-304978633264832/Website:https://oneofakindsales.comPhone: 908-879-2911 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ncalabrese/Email: leads@oneofakindsales.com 

 About Natalie Doyle Oldfield: Natalie Doyle Oldfield is the President of Success Through Trust, which works with some of the world's most successful companies to increase sales, become more profitable, and increase customer trust and loyalty. She is also a keynote speaker, trainer, and thought leader. Natalie is the author of The Power of Trust: How Top Companies Build, Manage and Protect It. Success Through Trust has developed a methodology and award-winning programs based on this research.  The book was named one of the Top 5 business books of 2017 by the Chronicle Herald. Natalie was named a Top Thought Leader in Trust by Trust Across America Trust Around the World in 2018 and 2017. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Natalie.In this episode, Nancy and Natalie discuss the following:The fundamental importance of trust in business relationshipsNatalie's experience as a chief marketing officer during the 2008 financial crisisThe role of trust in business-to-business transactionsThe outcome of Natalie's research: Trust is a fundament of every buying decision in business-to-business environmentsWhy customers are willing to pay more for products and services from trusted companiesKey Takeaways: I created a proprietary framework and a model to help people build these relationships of trust with their customers and colleagues.Trust is what the most successful companies have in common.People and companies that are focused on building relationships of trust are the ones that are going to be most successful.Everybody can learn how to build a relationship or strengthen a relationship of trust and we can all cultivate and develop these skills."There is nothing more important than trust. And if we think about it, every single decision we make comes down to trust. First, we decide: do we trust? Then, we decide: are we going to listen? Afterward, we decide if we're going to have a conversation. Following that, we decide if we're going to look at someone's capabilities. We make these decisions subconsciously. In fact, in every business and personal relationship, trust plays a crucial role. Because I know most of your listeners are either working in a business, own a business, or are leaders in a business, trust is involved in every single relationship we have. It's the most important question everyone has." – NATALIE"I became deeply intrigued by how customers decide to buy in a business-to-business environment that I went back to school. I did graduate research, which led me to the science of trust. My master's thesis revolved around how people decide to buy in such environments. I found out quite quickly that it all starts with trust. First, we decide to trust, then we decide to buy. And you know, lonely wolf, there's a wonderful, very, very strong, much stronger than when I started 10 years ago, business case for learning and cultivating and developing relationships of trust. And, you know, worldwide, as we know, people buy from people they trust. Well, the fact is that 80% of us buy from a company or an organization we trust. And we pay more. We pay more when we trust. If I'm going to go out for a coffee, I'm going to pay more for a Starbucks coffee because I trust that coffee. I trust the company. I know they know how to create and make an amazing coffee and it's consistent. It tastes the same just like we know in business-to-business environments companies that will provide us with services we trust, or advice we trust, or products that are safe and secure to use, or are going to do what they say they're going to do. So that's how I got into it." – NATALIE"We all decide to trust. We make, as I mentioned, a subconscious decision. And we make that decision based on another person's communication, how they behave, and how they service us. So, it really comes down to these three components, Nancy. So, when you and I are buying a product or service, we're evaluating another person. And when we say we trust a company, well, companies, as we know, are made up of people. So as an example, when we are buying, say, professional services, like an engineering service, design services to ref- let's say we're going to renovate a factory, we would and we're the business owner and we own this plant, this factory. Well, we would most likely talk to a few different engineering firms to get a design. And we would have conversations and as you know, because you know, this is what you share with your audience, it all comes down to conversations and connecting with people." – NATALIEConnect with Natalie Doyle Oldfield:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliedoyleoldfield/Success Through Trust Inc: https://www.successthroughtrust.com/Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/  Connect with Nancy Calabrese: Twitter:https://twitter.com/oneofakindsalesFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/One-Of-A-Kind-Sales-304978633264832/Website:https://oneofakindsales.comPhone: 908-879-2911 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ncalabrese/Email: leads@oneofakindsales.com 

About Tom Ruwitch: Tom Ruwitch is the Founder of Story Power Marketing, where he helps clients discover the building blocks for prospect-focused stories. In 2001, Tom founded the email marketing software and services company MarketVolt — before most business people had even heard of email marketing. He helps execute marketing campaigns to engage with prospects, convert sales, and maximize customer relationships. He sold MarketVolt in 2019 and founded Story Power Marketing. Today, coaches, authors, and other experts hire Tom to power up their stories because most dish out the same old boring content that turns off prospects, and then they feel frustrated and stuck. So Tom helps them transform content from prospect-repelling to client-attracting, turn marketing from frustrating to fun, and convert results from subpar to superb. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Tom. In this episode, Nancy and Tom discuss the following:The best thing that can happen in your content is for somebody to read it see it or hear it and think.Storytelling can be a really important element of the content that you put out.The lesson is delegate and she can tell endless anecdotes or build endless stories to deliver that.You have to write in your own voice, produce videos in your own voice, and tell stories that are drawn from what you discover about your prospects and your clients, not with AI. Key Takeaways: I do not engage with any company for under three months, ideally six months.In the majority of startups and small businesses, all the sales are typically made by the founder or, in small business cases, the president or CEO of the company.I had always wanted to do something on my own.It's interesting how you can be fueled by the sales piece and the environment in which you sell."And what people need to understand that they need to do with their content is they need to inform and entertain and that's where storytelling comes in. When you deliver valuable information in a more captivating way, that's more story powered, more entertaining, you draw people in, you make the content more relatable and you're more likely to be the one to stand out in your niche.” – TOM"I would say that listening and empathy are probably the most important qualities because what it’s about is not just tell, tell. This is what I know and I'm going to tell you everything I know. That's not what it's about. What it's about is hearing and watching and empathizing and understanding what is it that my prospects and clients are feeling and how is it that I can transform them from a feeling of, you know, one feeling to another, from a feeling of frustration to relief, from a feeling of fright to courage, from a feeling of stuck to free. It's almost always about emotional transformation. Even in business-to-consumer products, it's that way. But certainly, in business to business that it's almost always an emotional transformation and understanding and paying attention to the feelings of your prospects and clients and using that as the basis to assemble stories is what it's all about." – TOM"There are businesspeople who think that somehow storytelling is not professional, or it's beneath them, and that: “No, I'm going to write a 1500-word white paper”, or “I must be serious”. And my response is that storytelling in and of itself is not a frivolous activity. There are a lot of frivolous, meaningless silly stories that are being dished out. You know, storytelling is a big buzzword right now in marketing and online. And so, there are a lot of people who just think, oh, I'm going to tell a funny story for stories sake, and that's going to be great. Well, no, it's not great unless the prospect or the client can see themselves and unless there is a lesson and meaning in that story. But those who believe that I don't like stories, or I will be considered something less than professional if I tell stories, I think are missing the point of what a good story can do. As human beings, we are naturally drawn to stories and storytellers. There are all sorts of data to show that when information is delivered via story, we're much more likely to retain it. We're much more likely to trust the person who delivered the information. And we're much more likely to act on the call to action. So, you know, anyone who feels like, oh, it's beneath me or I don't like stories, or my audience won't like stories, when done properly, stories sell." – TOMConnect with Tom Ruwitch:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomruwitch/Story Power Marketing: https://storypowermarketing.com/Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/  Connect with Nancy Calabrese: Twitter:https://twitter.com/oneofakindsalesFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/One-Of-A-Kind-Sales-304978633264832/Website:https://oneofakindsales.comPhone: 908-879-2911 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ncalabrese/Email:  leads@oneofakindsales.com

About Umar Hameed: Umar Hameed aka Mr. Breakthrough is the CEO of No Limits Selling, a professional training and coaching company that specializes in improving the sales performance of realtors and other sales professionals. They use the latest insights from neuroscience and NLP to help realtors break through their limitations and perform at a higher level. Umar is a keynote speaker, an author, and a Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) performance coach. Umar distinguishes himself from other consultants and trainers with his extensive track record and diverse skill set. With over 25 years of experience as a successful business and sales consultant, coupled with more than 13 years of expertise in utilizing Neuroscience, NLP, and Hypnosis to effect behavioral changes, Umar brings a unique perspective to his work. Renowned as a keynote speaker at conferences held in 14 countries, he shares his insights and knowledge with audiences worldwide. Additionally, Umar is an accomplished author, having penned three books, including the acclaimed "Unleash Your Crazy Sexy Brain!". Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Umar. In this episode, Nancy and Umar discuss the following:Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and its role in sales trainingThe concept of mindset and its significance in sales successThe reasons why some salespeople fail to reach their potentialThe importance of discovering one's authentic self in salesThe role of fear and childhood experiences in shaping behaviorThe use of hypnosis to overcome mental barriers in salesStrategies for building a resilient sales mindset Key Takeaways: What NLP is about and how to use your mindset differently.The reason most salespeople don't reach their potential is they don't ascertain or discover their true selves.Our conscious mind says: “No, we don't want to do that, that's scary”. And the unconscious mind is like: “I can do anything”!Look at people, especially the one that drives you crazy, and learn and utilize that to become better and thank them for it." Mindset is very much how we see the world because there is no such thing as reality. So how do we get that perception? It's from our life experiences, and how we see the world. So, let's say, Nancy, for example, you thought that everybody that interacts with you wants to work with you. Let's say that was your belief. Let's say it was a lie, but if you really believed it, you're going to show up in a way that would be expectant of people to want to interact with you. And you know what? People would start doing that because you show up in that way. And if I went into the same meeting and my belief was nobody wants to do business with me, or we're too small a company, then of course, people wouldn't ask and I'd answer questions in a stumbling, bumbling way, not on purpose, but at an unconscious level. So yeah, mindset is how we perceive the world and the meanings we make out of it. And so, the sales mindset is the same, right? It's how we perceive the world. And one of the elements you'll be shocked to hear, Nancy, is our beliefs around money have a huge impact on how well we do in sales." – UMAR"Number one, you know who you are, and you know what you want so you get clarity on what you want to achieve in your sales career. Number two is you get confidence, like a massive amount of confidence that allows you, because your clients are going to borrow your confidence in your product and in yourself to go, I should make this decision. Then you need grit, so you do not give up. That allows you to keep on going, so when the person says no, three times in a row, you still handle the objection. You're not trying to be pushy and force them, but you also don't want them to miss out. And the last component is passion, which is more contagious than COVID. And if you can know your authentic self, you've got those four elements, clarity, confidence, grit, and passion. That's how you reach your potential. And that's what we teach, how to change your mindset. So, you figure that stuff out and it doubles your sales, not because we teach you any new techniques, is because you use the techniques you already know in a bolder, purposeful way. And I'm going to preach here just for a second, Nancy, that whatever you believe, let's label it God. You will put here on earth to shine. And oftentimes when we're babies, we shine so brightly. And then when life's experiences, we get a sense of I'm not good enough, people don't like me. And then we pull our punches, and we start living a smaller life. And that's not why you were put here. The reason you need to shine, Nancy, is because there are people in your life, your colleagues, your family, your community, that once they see you shine, it permits them to do so as well. So, when we live smaller lives, we're injuring people that we love around us." – UMAR"Fear is the biological imperative that when we're about to do something new, something scary, fear comes up. And the reason fear comes up is not to stop you. When you're in the mode of fear, your reaction time is the fastest. You are stronger. You don't feel pain when you get injured. It's all the things that you need to be successful. But in our lives, we've been trained when fear comes up, and go in the opposite direction. Don't do that scary thing. Biology is giving us the tools we need to go do it." – UMARConnect with Umar Hameed:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/umarhameed/No Limits Selling:https://nolimitsselling.com/one-on-one-coaching-resolve-any-issue/Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/  Connect with Nancy Calabrese: Twitter:https://twitter.com/oneofakindsalesFacebook:https://www.facebook.com/One-Of-A-Kind-Sales-304978633264832/Website:https://oneofakindsales.comPhone: 908-879-2911 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ncalabrese/Email: leads@oneofakindsales.com