Sales Talk for CEOs

The world of selling has irrevocably changed. Buyers no longer want to be sold to and especially not as a result of a cold call. They want to get to know a company by getting to know and trust the people who work there. Starting digital conversations is the first step to build this trust. As CEO, it’s imperative that you lead by example.In this episode Alice talks with Tim Hughes who explains how to change your sales approach from “interrupting to pitch” to “gaining trust”. Simply put, you and your team use social media to start conversations that both expand your network and build trust for a future opportunity to sell. He explains the three how-to steps: Creating the right social profile, expanding your network, producing content that engages. Many salespeople don’t know how to use social media to connect and build a trusted network so they simply have a meager profile and don’t do anything else. In fact they may even be afraid because their previous company may have fired employees who posted on social. If you expect your sales or better yet, your Go To Market team to build networks and share content on social then as CEO model the behavior and create the proper framework for success including training, guidelines and content strategies.Tim goes on to explain the opportunities for B2B CEOs to dominate their vertical as thought leaders by producing content designed to educate target customers. Unless you are one of a handful of CEOs like Bernard Looney of BP, who already have it down, it’s time to watch, learn and do social selling.Highlights:3:02 In the past our sales and marketing used interruptive methods, cold calling, email, billboards. We interrupt you to pitch. And now, the buyer just won't put up with that.3:24 …buyers are digital. What can we actually do to be where the buyers are? 4:23 Gartner research is telling us that more and more people are saying 'I'd like a seller free buying experience. I'd like to be able to learn  on my own.'5:11 What we're doing on social is trying to create a conversation. There's three things that you need on social media. One is you need to have a great profile. A great profile as in what we call "Buyer centric." So when a buyer looks at you, they go, "That person looks interesting, that person could help me."9:14 So the second thing you need is a wide and varied network. And that's about you building out contacts in the people you want to influence, so the accounts you want to sell to, yes, but better yet, people who could introduce you.11:08 And the third thing that we need is content. And the reason why we need content is buyers are online looking for information and advice. 16:31 If you are not connected in your digital network to enough people, it's going to be really hard to get introductions, or if you connected and then spammed me, I'll never give you an introduction , because I know you're going to do that to the next person. 20:03 CEOs, senior leaders, lead by example. If you want your teams to be digital, you have got to be digital.21:01 Look at people like Julie Sweet, who's the CEO of Accenture, or Bernard Looney, who's the CEO of BP. Bernard has done an amazing job at repositioning BP in the world via social media. 24:41 I ask CEOs who is the leading technical and commercial influencer in your market or vertical?" And the answer to that usually will be, "I don't know. There isn't one." Well, why not? Why isn't it you?29:40 It's about digital dominance. Owning the narrative out there on social media.37:18 I don't think we realize how much it's changed, but COVID has changed the world, it's changed society. And so it changed the way of business. It sped up our need to be digital.About Our Guest:Tim Hughes is universally recognized as the world leading pioneer and exponents of Social Selling and he is curr

My next guest is Chris Beall, CEO of ConnectAndSell, Inc. who is a case study in drinking your own champagne. He is here to talk about using his own platform to build his business and the breakthroughs that he discovered to make the platform more effective for him and of course the customers that use it.Chris Beall takes us through his journey building the ConnectAndSell business model starting with his “Wartime” stance to pioneering better pipelines and finally inventing the next generation of technology that cannibalizes his first generation. His biggest breakthrough was going from demo to test drive where customers get to experience the thrill of having actual sales success in a day-long, on premise, session. Every CEO can learn how to increase sales team performance by listening to this interview with Chris. Highlights:2:10 So everyone out there who's saying cold calling is dead, cold calling is not dead2:27 You don't want to pay your reps to be phone jockeys14:13 "Look, there's two kind of CEOs. There's peacetime CEOs and wartime CEOs, and you better know which one you are."14:49 We got going pretty fast and started making lots of sales. Then we focused on making a sales machine and finally made the breakthrough “The Test Drive”18:44 I don't believe that it's possible to figure out what to do until you're doing something and feeling the pain of it not working.20:41 To me, something that's not done in anger is not done at all. So that's our test drive. We do 500 of them a year.23:57 So what the question on the table really is, what's it going to be like to work together to solve thisproblem? 25:02 Your competition right now, today, tomorrow, the next day, and forever is to do nothing!27:01 Well, we need to experience what our customers are experiencing. So let's organize like they're organizing even though we don't like it.28:05 There is no such thing as a person who talks, listens, reads, writes, and does data who isn't a CEO or a future CEO.31:14 Rescheduling (missed sales calls) is your number one source of new business.33:36 The idea of the lone wolf salesperson who's not part of the machine is just not part of our company.34:41 We establish status alignment with somebody that we're their peer, and then we need to let them feel comfortable that we're an expert, and then we need to give them a piece of advice about what the next thing is to do.38:27 So once a test drive has happened, the conversion rate is about 37%. 40:31… the enterprise is not that person you're talking to, it's this big dynamic beast that's going to reorg once a year. 41:19 Everything's renewals, everything's upsell, everything's the future.So how do you start in a way that establishes, for sure, that value is being deliveredAbout Our GuestFor thepast 30 years, Chris Beall has participated in softwarestart-ups as a founder or at a very early stage of development. His belief is that the most powerful part of any software system is the human being that we inappropriately call a “user,” and that thevalue key in software is to let the computer do what it does well —go fast without getting bored —in order to free up human potential. Toward that end, Chris has been involved with Requisite Technology, GXS, Epiance, Qlip Media, Aptara, Cadis, Sun Microsystems, and Unisyn. He is currently CEO of ConnectAndSell, Inc., based in Silicon Valley, and hosts a podcast at MarketDominanceGuys.com.Show LinksGerhard Gschwandtner and the Sales 3.0 Conference Connect with Chris Beall in the links below:Website: https://connectandsell.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-beall-7859a4/Twitter: http

So many founders make it their goal to get out of the sales role as they scale. “I can hardly wait until we can afford a VP sales to take over” is a common founder refrain. While his role has evolved, getting out of sales entirely is the last thing that Usman Sheikh plans to do. In this episode we will learn what defines a founder-led sales organization and how you might change your mind about getting out of sales.It all starts with redefining the sales mindset. B2B sales are not transactional. They come with building a relationship and the core currency of a relationship is the right information. That’s how he got xiQ - Personality-Driven Sales & Marketing™️, started in the first place. He reached out to his SAP network to share his vision of providing more helpful data to sales organizations than they could possibly collect on their own. This turned into more and deeper conversations with people in his network who eventually became his first 5 customers. Rather than change this approach, he expanded it by reaching out to more and more people in his network which created opportunities for his sales team. Highlights:4:54 Fortunately for me, when I was at SAP, I was able to form a great network ofhighly valuable and engaged and influential people7:15 I started explaining my vision, which was to be able to tap into this enormous amount of data that's out there that's relevant to sales but humanly it's not possible to analyze and bring in, it started ringing bells.9:04 So it was very clear to me that listening to what the customers had to say, addressing their key pain points, and being able to bring novelty innovation to how traditional problems were solved was super, super important.12:47 … being able to hire the right mindset. Sales is not about selling anymore, it's about educating. It's about having a conversation.15:42 We have to make it easier to buy from us, and knowing our buyers better helps us do that. 18:18 We take salespeople and we make them into tool jockeys, and that just takes time away from selling.20:03 Salespeople are only spending about 20% of their time with actual customers. 80% of their job is doing so many other things.21:45 We, by the way, drink our own champagne. Everybody uses xiQ. And one of the core purposes of xiQ is to help you spend less time on doing research, more time on selling.25:30 We're still doing a lot of networking and finding individuals that can help us meet a heart lead leader.31:16 We are increasingly leaning towards partnerships and channels. Quote: “You’ve got to know the problem you are going in to solve. The client doesn’t have time to explain it to you.” Connect with Usman Sheikh in the links below:Website: https://xiqinc.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/usmanmsheikh/Twitter: https://twitter.com/usmanmsheikh You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

Is your sales team using a value proposition that is irrelevant to your buyers leaving them to connect the dots?Take a look at the value proposition that your Go To Market Teams are using to make sure they are relevant. As CEO, you are the only one who can orchestrate this. It matters, research shows that relevant value propositions could increase your deal closure rate by 50%.In today's hyper competitive markets, it's hard for salespeople to get their message heard by the right buyers. Without a rock solid, relevant value proposition, attracting and closing new customers is just plain hard. Most value propositions are "inside-out" - more focused on product and service features than they are on the buyers' needs. Ask your team for the messages they use and see what you think. In her new book, Value Propositions that SELL: Turning Your Message into a Magnet that Attracts Buyers, Lisa Dennis explains how to move from an “inside-out’ proposition to an approach that speaks the language that activates your buyers. I recommend you give this book to the leaders of your Go to Market team. In this episode we talk with Lisa Dennis whose company, Knowledgence Associates, is a marketing & sales consultancy specializing in buyer-focused value propositions. Lisa explores the most common problem - value statements that lack relevance to the customer because they are too focused on product or service features. Buyers are left to connect the dots between these features and their actual pain point. Lisa’s research has demonstrated a 50% decrease in the likelihood of closing a sale when a value proposition lacks relevance. Listen so you can learn what your team should be doing to make it easier for your customers to buy from you.  Highlights:3:02 If your value propositions lack relevance to the buyer You are 35% less likely to get shortlisted You are 47% less likely to get a sale 4:02 We need to be talking about the buyer’s market, priorities and issues. 5:55 Are your writing one size fits all value proposition or do you segment by buyer persona? 9:12 It all starts with marketing teams that thoroughly understand the ideal customer 12:20 The first line or two of your value proposition should  be about what is driving your customer to make a decision 16:00 With value propositions, less is more versus bloated generic ones 16:51 The last chunk of a value statement, and the hardest, what are your differentiators? 18:00 You need two differentiators - one identifies what is different about working with your company and how the customer will feel after working with you. 18:45 A value proposition must be true - A customer is saying it, a partner is saying it, an outside third party organization is saying it. 20:48 When I ask sales teams to write their value proposition it’s frightening how often none of them are the same - this is why it's so important to present yours to the entire team. 23:15 Once you have your value proposition, you need email copy, blog templates, social copy, voicemail, email signatures… 24:49 It’s like you’re breadcrumbing them down the path with storytelling 29:15 How am I going to install this message organizationally? Just putting it in some content isn't enough. Quote:“Get your target right, once you do research it so you know it well. Gather the important data and information because if you don’t, how are you going to write engaging messages that matter?” Resource Links:https://www.amazon.ca/Value-Propositions-That-Sell-Attracts/dp/0692089462 Connect with Lisa Dennis in the links bel

Most startup founders wear many hats in the early days. And one of those hats is often head of sales usually because they are the most knowledgeable about the product and the problems it solves in the market. But it's impossible to grow beyond the startup phase if you are spending 15 days a month on the road selling. Replacing himself as a salesperson took 3 years, but replacing himself as head of sales took Doug Frazier much longer. It wasn’t until he discovered a genius channel strategy that he made the transition out of sales management.In this episode of Sales Talk for CEOs, Doug Frazier talks about his 30-year journey at EnviroGuard and the key milestones that defined his path to success. From teaming up with his wife in order to make EnviroGuard a female-led company to hacking together a CRM solution years before Salesforce was invented. But the breakthrough that got him out of sales management and into the C Suite, a certification program for channel partners. The program provided the necessary training, but more importantly, it became a symbol of expertise and competence that differentiated his channel partners in the eyes of the customer. Highlights1:25 - The big idea6:20 - CRM before Salesforce12:52 - Certification as a channel strategy24:03 - The future of EnviroGuard About Guest & CompanyDoug Frazier is the co-founder and CEO of EnviroGuard, a company that revolutionized battery safety products that are utilized in mission-critical applications such as backup power sites, data centers, utilities, and telecommunication transmission facilities across North America. Quote“The single best strategy for scaling was to create a certification program similar to the Automotive Service Excellence program that auto mechanics have to pass. Ours is a factory installer training program with yearly courses, badges, and online videos. We have 1,200 certified installers across North America. The end customers really appreciate the fact that our installers are certified.” Connect with Doug Frazier in the links below:Website: https://www.enviroguard.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug-frazier-214668a/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

Do you have a channel strategy in place? You may have channel partners as part of your Go To Market Strategy, but do you have a strategy that includes how you will support your partners’ success? I’ve worked with many companies who sell through the channel and complain that their channel partners aren’t selling enough. In order for channel sales to be successful, your team has to understand how the potential partners are going to make money with the product or service you want them to sell. It’s not up to the partners to figure it out, it’s up to you.My guest today is Bruce Stuart, a partner at CHANNELCORP and a 30+ year veteran helping companies develop profitable channel strategies. In this episode, Bruce will take us through each step in the process of setting up a channel strategy. You will learn tactics on how to identify potential partners. He explains how to build a financial model that will attract the right partners, including understanding their investment and time to pay back. Another key takeaway is the program package. Think franchise, and you are on the right track to understanding the investment that you need to make in preparing the materials and process for a successful channel strategy.About Our GuestBruce R. Stuart, CMC, founding partner of Channelcorp Management Consultants Inc. (Channelcorp) where he provides growth-focused executive education and channel consulting to senior executives in the IT industry. He has authored more published articles on the topics of channel partner profitability, channel development, channel management, and strategic partnerships and alliances then anyone in the industry. About ChannelcorpChannelcorp is the leading, and most experienced, independent IT channel consultancy in the world specializing in vendor and partner business model transformation. Channelcorp has completed Management Consulting and Executive Education assignments in 25 countries around the world. The firm’s clients include many of the top hardware/software/telecommunications companies selling into most of the product and service categories in the worldwide IT market. Show LinksResource Link:https://channelcorp-management-consultants-inc.myshopify.com/products/channels-handbook-third-edition?variant=35201383891095 Connect with Bruce Stuart in the links below:Website: http://www.channelcorp.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bruce-r-stuart-22b911122/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/Alice’s Website: https://aliceheiman.com/

Like most CEOs, you've probably had some bad experiences trying to hire sales leaders in your company. The root of the problem? Many CEOs think they can hire someone to take over the sales team so they can step away and focus on other things to grow the company. It's just not that way! The CEO can't step away from sales but instead must have a plan for supporting sales leaders every step of the way. That's what Rasmus Goksor learned as he founded and sold his company Cobalt (a portfolio monitoring solution). And that's what led him to launch his new company, Ressemble, a platform designed for supporting sales leaders.In this episode of Sales Talk for CEOs, Rasmus talks about his experiences at Cobalt which led him to create Ressemble. He discusses the things that didn't go well (like hiring three different VPs of sales that all didn't work out) and the things that worked perfectly (like using content creation to build a community to sell to). He explains how the technology he created helps in supporting sales leaders and shares advice on what CEOs should do to support their leaders as well, such as determining how and why you're winning customers and stepping in at the beginning of the sales cycle. Before you hire that next sales VP, who may flop, tune in to discover ideas on supporting sales leaders and enabling them for success. Highlights3:24 Challenges in one business led to the creation of another8:55 Supporting sales leaders by asking, "How are we winning, and why are we winning?"10:55 Rasmus Goksor's founder story16:20 Supporting sales leaders through changes in the market and how customers buy24:05 Build a community (and sales will follow)35:12 The CEO's role at the beginning of the sales cycle Quote"As CEO, I can never really take my eye off the ball when it comes to sales. I always need to understand where the market is. Why are people buying? Who is buying? How are they buying? Otherwise, I can't be supportive strategically or tactically with my sales team." Connect with Rasmus Goksor in the links below:Website: https://www.ressemble.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rasmusgoksor/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman

Show NotesToday we celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Sales Talk for CEOs podcast! Throughout the past year, I've featured two types of episodes on the show. In the “CEO Journey” series, I interview CEOs to learn about how they grow sales. Next, in the Experts Series, I interview experts I know will have advice to help you grow sales. So today, we kick off a new segment: the Insights Series! These will be episodes with just you and me where I share insights on various topics that will help you elevate sales. The first topic, making sales easier.The key to making sales easier is alignment. As CEO, you are the only one who can make the changes needed to align your teams to make sales easier.  It starts with aligning your sales process with your buyer's journey. That’s hard to do if you don’t have alignment between your sales and marketing teams (and the rest of your organization) to take a customer-focused approach. Listen in as I share advice on where to focus your attention and what CEOs can do to make sales easier. Highlights1:06 A year in review2:52 Introducing the Insights Series3:19 Making sales easier3:51 The importance of alignment6:01 The CEO's role as orchestrator7:41 Make it easier for customers to buyQuote"What CEOs need to know is that sales shouldn't be so hard. If it's hard it’s because there is no alignment between the way the buyer wants to buy and the way you sell.” You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

Lisa Magnuson is a mastermind sales strategist and author of The TOP Sales Leader Playbook and The TOP Seller Advantage. Today she joins me on a special episode of the Sales Talk for CEOs Experts Series. The topic of our conversation? Closing bigger deals. If you're looking to scale sales by going after much larger deals, this is the perfect podcast for you.Many companies I work with are growing sales to increase their valuation. At some point, they'll exit, make an acquisition or bring on investors. So, scaling sales is a priority, and they want to make it happen quickly.During our conversation, Lisa discusses the CEO's role in closing bigger deals, the importance of celebrating wins, how to adequately prep for sales calls (and why CEOs should make this a requirement!) and how to build the right team structure. Landing big contracts takes planning and time, but when you land a deal 5x of the your largest deal yet, you'll understand that the effort was well worth it. Use the ideas offered in this podcast to close your next big deal! Highlights0:29 Lisa Magnuson introduction3:41 Closing bigger deals starts with mindset7:36 The CEO's role in closing big deals15:38 Why call planning is a must for big deals23:22 Building a team structure to land bigger deals33:19 Are you ready to land bigger deals? Quote“CEOs who want their salespeople to win more big deals have to develop a culture to support that. That culture starts with the CEO and has to include everyone in the company. The right culture will attract those bigger deals.” Connect with Lisa Magnuson in the links below:Website: https://toplinesales.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toplinesales/The TOP Sales Leader PlaybookThe TOP Seller Advantage You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

Are you trying to find sellers who check all the boxes of success in sales? Do you believe that you must keep hiring more salespeople to grow sales? That's what Juliana Stancampiano thought before she tried a radically different approach that has yielded amazing results. Juliana is the CEO of Oxygen, a company that works in the learning strategy space. She joins me today on Sales Talk for CEO in an episode that will challenge your assumptions and have you thinking differently about how to build a sales organization.Juliana's strategy for building a sales organization involves scaffolding around her strongest workers. By evaluating their strengths and weaknesses, she finds new team members who fill in the gaps so that each person can work in their zone of genius. The truth is, there are a lot of parts of the sales process that excellent sellers are not good at. Why force them to work in their zone of incompetence where they'll end up unengaged and burnt out? Letting salespeople do the things they excel at and taking the rest off their plate is how Juliana has found success. She's explaining her strategy so you can replicate it in this episode of Sales Talk for CEOs.   Highlights07:40 Buying a business during the Great Recession13:05 Finding a salesperson who sells just like you22:06 Building the scaffolding that supports sales (versus hiring more sellers)22:34 Enabling your sales team29:55 Generating more customer-ready conversations35:41 Keeping your sellers in their zone of genius43:54 Thinking differently about how to build your sales organization Quote"I would take less on the skills side and more on that innate belief side any day because skills are much easier to teach than authentic enthusiasm." Connect with Juliana Stancampiano in the links below:Website: https://www.oxygenexp.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jstancampiano/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/