Conquer Local Podcast

Developing a brand identity for your agency is one of the best ways to take your brand to the next level.Master Sales Series this week brings you the importance of having a robust brand identity. Strong brands are all around us. In our modern, digitized world, people are seeing an alarming number of brands everywhere they turn. Remember that study done in 2007 about people being exposed to 5,000 advertisements a day? Well that number has increased with the surge in mobile smart devices, increased social media usage from all demographics, brand placements, and everything you might see in day-to-day life. Companies and people leverage their brands to connect with customers and clients. With a strong brand, it is easier for your audience to get to know you.

You have to admire startup founders. Creating. building, developing, and growing a SaaS Startup is not an easy feat. SaaS Startup founders put everything on the line to drive forward with their dream of solving a problem, building a unicorn, or even employing 500 people. Jordan McFarlen, Business Incubator Manager at Cultiavtor powered by Conexus, in our guest this week. He is currently working with key stakeholders, community members, and most importantly entrepreneurs to build out the strategy and design for a community hub, which inspires innovation and entrepreneurship. Jordan is the first to admit - because he sees it first hand - there are going to be struggles with developing SaaS solution. It starts with the educational piece and solving a problem. If there is no problem to be solved, the need to pivot is essential. 

Where are you going to be after the inevitable bounce? Will you Be the Hero? We are taking a different angle for this Master Sales Series episode. George brings to light what it means to be the hero during this time of crisis. Conquer Local's core purpose has always been to drive local economies by providing knowledge to our listeners. We support local businesses, and during challenging times like these, we’re committed to that now more than ever. We’re here to help our listeners clients through these challenging times. You may be facing staff shortages, remote work, and an evolving marketplace where changing customer habits are hurting your bottom line. We want to Protect Local.  Join our Community.

In its simplest form, Product-Led Growth leans on product experience in order to grow a customer base. In the traditional acquisition model, marketers focus on attracting potential customers through inbound tactics like paid ads. Once a prospect shows interest and are vetted as a qualified lead, they become a market qualified lead and are sent to the salespeople. Product-Led Growth (PLG) is a strategy that puts the product right before the customer to lead the customer experience! Anna Tavares, Director of Strategy at Vendasta, explains how PLG is defined, and the reason you should be implementing into your business strategy. The concept of PLG is not new. You probably already know and use it all the time. Synonyms for PLG include ‘freemium’, ‘try-before-you-buy’, ‘SaaS 2.0’ and ‘free trial’. Anna explains even more on this episode of the Conquer Local Podcast. As Vendasta’s Director of Strategy, Anna is responsible for developing, managing, and assisting the implementation of projects that support Vendasta’s vision, as well as its short and long-term growth plans. She is responsible for initiatives that drive partner engagement and growth through product-led growth strategies, while at the same time fostering a culture of cross-functional team collaboration. Besides being a strategy nerd, Anna is passionate about female empowerment, gender equality and new yoga moves.

The bar has never been lower to start a business by going Direct to Customer, but that doesn't change what the pillars of business are. Direct to Customer brands leverage their true purpose, technology, data, content, and speed to market in astonishing ways. Now, you can too. Brace for impact. Mitch Joel, Founder of Six Pixels Group, is our guest this week. He is one of the amazing speakers at the Conquer Local 2020 Conference in beautiful Montreal. Big and small business need to take it next level by going Direct to the Customer Customer. What do billion dollar companies like Kylie Cosmetics and Dollar Shave Club know that Starbucks and Walmart did not?  Mitch explains why these startups quickly disrupted industries that took their competitors decades to decode. This new breed of Direct to Consumer brands has changed the dynamics of business today,  What are these companies doing that is so disruptive? Mitch gives us the goods on what you need to know today about the power of direct to consumer brands, and how to build one and/or how to act like one (whether you are in B2C or B2B). Mitch believes that the fundamental traditional Four P's of Marketing - Product, Price, Place, Promotion - are still relevant in today's digital realm. Do you agree? Mitch Joel is Founder of Six Pixels Group - an advisory, investing and content producing company that is focused on commerce and innovation (although he prefers the title, "Media Hacker"). Prior to Six Pixels Group, Mitch spent close to two decades building, running and (eventually) selling his business. He was President of Mirum – a global digital marketing agency operating in 25 countries with close to 3000 employees. Mirum is owned by WPP. Mitch has been named one of the top 100 online marketers in the world, and was awarded the highly prestigious Top 40 Under 40.

A powerful Elevator Pitch can be magnetic. If it’s engaging enough, you can sell anything – whether it’s a product to a client, an idea to an investor, or convincing an employer that you’re the right fit. We held a live Elevator Pitch competition at Vendast'a headquarters. Our astonishing host, George Leith, was one of three on the panel of judges. We bring you the eight elevator pitches from the competitors, and George provides feedback on each. Who do you think will win? The objective of an elevator pitch isn’t to close a deal, but to convince someone that you have something worthwhile to offer! George's career in sales and marketing spans more than three decades. He has spoken to tens of thousands of people across the world at conferences and through seminars, helping businesses to overcome their difficulties and transform them into digital sales and marketing experts.

Converting Leads Part 1 was all about the prospects, and we're now diving into Part 2: Converting Leads, with existing clients—selling after the close.  George is back with Part 2 of Converting Leads on this episode of the Master Sales Series. You’ve closed the deal, you’ve won the sale, it’s time to celebrate, right? Yes, but there’s still work to be done. George explains the concept of looking at existing partners whose accounts are still active and treat them as a lead. Treat them the same and establish regular rhythms of communication and keep building the relationship. As stated previously, always be adding value. The biggest take away is to generate advocacy - turn happy clients into your best sales resource.

Everyone always wants more and more leads, but what about the leads they already have? We bring you Converting Leads on the Conquer Local Podcast The Master Sales Series is back and we are talking about Converting Leads. We conducted a survey from our listeners to understand what they are looking to Conquer in 2020. The number one thing everyone put at the top of their list, you guessed it, getting more leads. Taking a step back and looking at that answer and uncovering the nitty gritty details, we determined that our listeners need to know how to convert their leads not just seek out new ones. George Leith, a sales transformation keynote speaker, top-ten iTunes ranked podcast host, author and guest university lecturer, has the unique ability to demystify concepts and inspire businesses and professionals to understand and truly embrace the potential that digital transformation has for many business objectives including sales, business development, and marketing for B2B, non-profit organizations, as well as government institutions. In his 30+ year professional career, he has developed key focal points that include market analysis, management development, online advertising, reputation management, mobile marketing, operations optimization, sales transformation, mentoring, public speaking, technology solutions, and project management.

Developing a Sales Strategy to implement with your sales team isn't a one and done, it has to tweaked and edited as you grow. We are excited to bring back Donny Dye, Founder of Quota NYC, to the Conquer Local Podcast. Donny updates on what he has been doing since we last spoke in Season 2. For the past year he has been the acting CRO for Eden Health developing and growing their sales team. Donny divulges the three things his tried and tested method of developing a sales strategy: Strategy, Team, and Conversation. He says it's a technique that is universal to all sales team. Donny has over 15 years of Saas and enterprise sales experience by selling, leading, and guiding companies scale predictable revenue. If you are building a sales team or have broken a sales team, Quota NYC can help. Prior to founding Quota, he has spent the last 2 decades building, leading (and fixing) sales organizations. Most recently, he helped build a company that sold for 9 figures. My journey has made me an expert in enterprise, B2B, SaaS and channel sales across several verticals.

Sales Procurement is your friend, not your enemy. Jens Hentschel, Founder and CEO of THE FIVIS PARTNERSHIP, is on the Conquer Local Podcast this week talking Sales Procurement. Most people cringe at the word procurement, but procurement is just as important as sales. Sales organizations see procurement as a roadblock and avoid it at all costs. Jens explains that procurement is your best friend, and when you are selling a product or service reaching out to the head of the procurement department can actually lead to insuring the sale closes. Jen is the thought-provoking, customer centricity consultancy company for B2B relationship management. He and his team advise Sales, Procurement and Supply Chain Management teams on how to build winning, customer centric business relationships. Jens has more than 12 years of experience in procurement and professional buying and worked for companies such as Procter & Gamble, KFC, RWE and others in senior leadership roles. Jens lives and works in London, UK.