Sales Is King

In this podcast episode, Dan Sixsmith hosts Dr. Stephen Timme, author of "Insight-Led Selling" and CEO of Finlistics. They discuss the challenges of B2B sales, including economic uncertainty, lack of understanding of buyers' businesses, and resistance to change. Dr. Timme emphasizes the importance of aligning solutions with buyers' goals, providing new information, and fostering a unified team effort. He also highlights the need for clear objectives and metrics in sales enablement programs. The conversation covers the shift from traditional selling to a more strategic approach, the value of Dr. Timme's book, and the role of his company in helping businesses navigate omnichannel solutions. - **The state of B2B sales (00:01:20)** Discussion on the challenges and struggles in B2B sales, including the impact of economic uncertainty and the need for sellers to better understand the goals and strategies of their customers. **Buyers preferring a rep-free experience (00:06:09)** Exploration of why many buyers prefer not to engage with sales reps and the importance of sellers providing new and valuable insights that buyers don't already know. **Ingredients for successful sales initiatives (00:10:54)** Insight into the key factors that contribute to successful sales initiatives, including executive support, defining measurable goals, and creating a collaborative team effort. **Marketing and Sales Alignment (00:11:52)** The importance of aligning marketing and sales in the go-to-market strategy, using marketing materials as examples. **The Role of Research and Discovery in Sales (00:13:37)** The significance of conducting research and validation before engaging with prospects, to establish credibility and provide strategic advice. **Moving from Vendor to Strategic Partner (00:19:44)** The evolution of a salesperson from being a vendor to becoming a trusted advisor and strategic partner, with a seat at the table in decision-making processes. **Falling in love with your customer (00:22:36)** Understanding the importance of building strong relationships with customers and aligning solutions with their needs. **Selling to the c-suite (00:25:24)** Discussing strategies for engaging senior executives and understanding their goals and strategies. **Creating urgency in the sales process (00:30:26)** Exploring the importance of tying benefits and solutions to challenges and driving urgency to move deals forward. **The Omnichannel Solution (00:33:22)** The speaker discusses how they came up with a solution for omnichannel and the need to communicate with various departments like store ops and marketing. **Financial Benefits and Confidence (00:34:11)** The speaker talks about the importance of showing potential financial benefits early on and the need for confidence when talking to executives. **Insight-Led Selling Platform (00:35:11)** The speaker introduces the platform, which provides insights into finance performance and helps with account planning and QBRs.

Career expert Sonja Price joins Dan for a conversation on the state of the job market in a crazy economy. Is it a Buyer's or Seller's market, are we all going back to the office, how can you exponentially increase your income are just a few of the questions we ask. You'll love this interview. The job market today (00:01:26) Discussion on the current state of the job market, whether it's a buyer's or seller's market, and the impact of the pandemic on hiring. Remote work and its impact on the job market (00:04:26) Exploration of how remote work has affected the job market, including companies transitioning back to the office and the preferences of employees. Hot positions and the importance of AI skills (00:07:57) Focus on the demand for developer positions and the increasing importance of AI skills in various functional roles. Job Hopping and Career Advancement (00:11:09) Sonja discusses the importance of switching jobs every few years for career growth and market rate pay. Explaining Employment Gaps (00:14:08) Sonja advises job seekers to address gaps in their work history on their resume and provide explanations for gaps longer than one year. Optimizing Resumes and LinkedIn Profiles (00:16:24) Sonja provides tips on formatting resumes and LinkedIn profiles to make them easily readable for both ATS systems and human readers. She emphasizes the importance of tailoring messaging to specific job roles. The problem-solving approach (00:21:13) Sonja explains the importance of understanding the problems the employer is trying to solve and showcasing oneself as a problem solver during an interview. Asking clarifying questions (00:22:20) Sonja advises asking clarifying questions throughout the interview process, similar to how a consultant would, to understand the job requirements and customize responses accordingly. Customizing language and showcasing results (00:23:18) Sonja discusses the importance of customizing language and highlighting past work success stories that align with the employer's problem, connecting the dots for them and demonstrating how one can be a top candidate. The timestamp's title (00:30:40) Career advancement services offered by Dynamo Careers. Sonja explains how she helps professionals gain clarity on their career goals and offers services like resume building, job search assistance, networking, and salary negotiation. The timestamp's title (00:31:48) Duration and outcomes of working with Dynamo Careers. Sonja discusses the typical engagement length, which can vary but is usually six months or less. She also mentions success stories of clients finding jobs within one month or achieving significant income increases. The timestamp's title (00:35:01) How to connect with Sonja and Dynamo Careers. Sonja provides information on how to reach out to her through her website, where she offers a free career assessment. She also mentions her LinkedIn profile as another way to connect and mentions the availability of testimonials from satisfied clients.

Dan was recently interviewed on the Value Coffee Talk Podcast. Here are some of the highlight: The importance of automating value in B2B organizations (00:00:11) Discussion on the significance of automating value in B2B organizations and the need for value automation platforms. Challenges of implementing value programs and best practices for value automation platforms (00:02:37) Exploration of the challenges faced in implementing value programs and the best practices for designing and rolling out value automation platforms. Key factors for successful value automation platform implementation (00:08:10) Discussion on the key factors that contribute to the success of value automation platform implementation, including simplicity, senior management buy-in, integration with existing workflows, user experience, full cycle value, and buyer enablement training. The impact of value automation platforms (00:13:28) Discusses the dramatic results seen when companies use value automation platforms and the ability to measure average selling price and cycle time. The evolution of value programs (00:14:38) Highlights the significant impacts of value automation platforms, such as win rates, deal acceleration, and growing deal size, as well as the shift from a program created by a team to a movement. Different approaches to post-sale value (00:16:06) Explores the different messaging and methodologies used by organizations to tackle post-sale value, including measuring success through KPIs or comparing the value delivered to the original business case

In this podcast episode, Dan Sixsmith introduces Season 2 of his podcast, Sales King. He discusses the focus of this season on topics relevant to sellers, leaders, and entrepreneurs. Dan emphasizes the importance of staying updated on current events in sales and understanding buyer needs. He also mentions the inclusion of B2C topics and interviews with industry leaders. Dan encourages listeners to share the podcast and leave reviews. The main topic of the episode is the impact of generative AI on sales. Dan explains the different stages of AI integration and highlights its benefits in automating tasks, assisting decision-making, and crafting personalized value messaging. He also discusses the concept of "mentalism" and how AI can enhance salespeople's understanding of buyer behavior. Lastly, Dan discusses the challenges faced by sales professionals and how AI can help address them. He concludes by emphasizing the importance of maintaining momentum and confidence in sales. Timestamps: [00:03:28]*Topic: Introduction to Season 2 and the importance of keeping up with current events in sales. [00:04:49]*Topic: The impact of AI in sales and how it can be leveraged to improve sales performance. [00:09:32]*Topic: The different stages of AI integration in sales, from simple automation to autonomous selling. [00:15:12]*Topic: AI in Sales Discusses the use of AI in sales, including data scraping, solution design, and deal closing. [00:16:49]*Topic: Mentalism in Sales Explains the concept of mentalism in sales, which involves inferring unspoken beliefs and intentions to predict and influence buyer behavior. [00:18:16]* Topic: Leveraging AI in Sales Highlights the benefits of leveraging AI in sales, such as active listening, perspective taking, empathizing, and cognitive decoding.

In Part 1 of this podcast episode, Dan Sixsmith discusses a new research study by Mediafly that explores the key drivers of success for high-performing revenue teams. The study reveals that most organizations invest heavily in their sales tech stack and plan to reinvest headcount savings into innovative sales technology. It highlights the importance of data, engaging content, and personalized buyer experiences for success. Sixsmith also discusses the emergence of digital sales rooms in B2B marketing, which allow for collaborative value creation and efficient content performance tracking. He emphasizes the need for data congruence, pipeline management, and the use of conversational intelligence tools for sales rep training

U2 Rocked The Sphere in Vegas last night with an unbelievable concert experience. What can we learn from this as B2B Sellers: ✔️The Experience Economy is in full swing ✔️Customer Centricity Rules ✔️Embrace and Early Adopt Latest Technology ✔️Storytelling Works ✔️Foster Emotional Connections(Be Unforgettable) ✔️Think Beyond The Deal ✔️Immersion Is King

Dan Sixsmith outlines 13 steps to closing more deals and winning over senior executives. With senior executives participating in the buying process twice as much than before the pandemic, sellers need a C-Suite playbook to be able to impress and convince these executives that their solution is the best choice. Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast for more valuable insights and expert interviews. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review and share it with your colleagues in the B2B sales world. Until next time, happy selling!

Dan Sixsmith discusses the importance of understanding what CEOs care about in order to effectively engage with them. He emphasizes the need to focus on driving top-line growth, technology-related issues, the workforce, corporate financial products and services, customer satisfaction, environmental stability, cost, and sales. Dan highlights that environmental concerns, the workforce, and customer satisfaction are particularly significant to CEOs. He also emphasizes the importance of providing value to CEOs rather than simply delivering a sales pitch. In upcoming episodes, Dan promises insightful interviews with authors on value selling and financial selling. Understanding what CEOs care about and providing valuable insights and solutions is key to successful engagement.

A walkthrough of my visits to 3 car dealerships and a brutally honest account of the sales experience. Who did well? Who blew it? Who really cared? A lesson for us all!

We are back 🎧 and coming at you hard with what you need to do on your first call with a prospect to set yourself up for the WIN. It's Discovery Reimagined for the Zoom Economy. Listen up. Listen NOW!