Mental Selling: The Sales Performance Podcast

How one leader's experience is perhaps part of a broader trend for coping with the challenges brought on by COVID-19. Our discussion with Principal Financial Group’s Gary Karthauser who explores how he’s adapting his leadership style to the challenges of leading teams in a pandemic. One seasoned leader’s insights into how values-based leadership and coaching provides a solid foundation for getting results in the most unprecedented of times.

Most organizations are quickly coming around to the view that virtual training is a must-have — given its obvious benefits. You might be relatively new to it and find yourself doing more virtual because of the crisis times we’re living in. Or maybe you’re more experienced — but you’d love a quick primer on some fundamentals. Seasoned trainer Johnny Walker has just that — with a look at how virtual compares to in-person training and insights for how to do it well. Virtual training is still sometimes viewed as not as effective as in-person, classroom training. But the reality is in some ways it's even more personal, engaging and creates greater training retention. What to know if you're testing the waters of virtual training- and how to get clarity around the fundamentals to create learning environments that generate greater competence and confidence. We also explore with Johnny what leaders need to do, the role of the facilitator and some fundamentals for making virtual training succeed.

In adversity lies the most opportunity. Opportunities arise in challenges and how you approach incoming storms. If you can step in and be a problem solver for your customers, you move yourself from being a vendor to a trusted advisor. See how finding sales opportunity during times of adversity requires shifting focus from selling, toward building connections with colleges and customers to set up future success. As the current economic downturn shows signs of changing where and how we work, what’s it take to adjust and lean in to new ways of connecting with customers and leading teams? Integrity Solutions’ Mike Fisher checks in with fresh insights to deepen how to adjust to the new normal.

Technology alone can't solve what ails the selling process in so many sales organizations. Mistakes so often made by salespeople today are based on simple mistakes grounded in false assumptions and beliefs about people, selling and buying. Our podcast interview with George Bronten, founder and CEO of Membrain and author of the new book 'Stop Killing Deals'. Our conversation with George explores his thinking around sales training, motivation drive, the role of sales managers and the importance of sales coaching.

What’s the art of quiet influence — and how can you excel at it? Learning how to exercise influence is vital in many work situations today — on teams, with customers, in flat organizations, and especially when you don’t have formal authority but you need to drive strong results. The latest podcast from Integrity Solutions features practical tips from the front lines — in an interview with Jocelyn Davis, learning & development industry expert and author of the new book, The Art of Quiet Influence: Timeless Wisdom for Leading Without Authority.

Sales enablement is one of the biggest- but also more confusing- buzz words in business today. Many sales leaders clamor to add a stream of data, content and technologies without a strategy behind it that may overwhelm salespeople and ultimately harm productivity more than it helps. How do you make the investment and promises of sales enablement actually pay off? Integrity Solutions Chief Sales Officer, Bruce Wedderburn, details how sales teams can use sales enablement to develop better quality conversations skills that can be used at the right time to advance sales opportunities.

Most sales managers claim to value coaching- yet most don't do it rigorously, effectively and in many cases at all. What's behind the disconnect? New research done by Integrity Solutions in partnership with The Sales Management Association looks at key challenges for making coaching work and drivers for making sales coaching yield better results. A discussion with Mike Esterday of Integrity Solutions and Bob Kelly of The Sales Management Association.

How can you know what works and what doesn’t for connecting successfully with prospects and customers? One important way is to focus on their Behavior Styles — a critical selling and communication skill which Integrity Solutions’ Mike Fisher explores in this podcast.

How does the luggage and travel bags powerhouse — Samsonite — leverage the power of coaching to help it manage explosive growth and change? We sat down with Lou Cimini, Samsonite’s Vice President of Human Resources, to learn how Samsonite created a culture that binds leaders together, has a shared purpose to carry out their mission and empowers a more collaborative workforce.

Can non-profits become more sales minded in support of their mission? That’s the central focus of this podcast with Derek Roberts, which explores how a key division of a leading humanitarian aid organization achieved strong results in a shift that bolstered sales consciousness to support its important mission.