Sales Talk for CEOs

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/

Are you a product CEO or a sales CEO? The answer may not be what you think. Case in point: Catherine Dahl, the CEO of Beanworks, an AP automation platform recently acquired by Quadient. Catherine spent two years building her company as a sales CEO when a sudden realization struck that she was trying to be something she wasn't. By owning her role as a product CEO, everything changed. With the right sales leader in place and the sales machine turned on, Beanworks went from half a million Canadian in revenue in 2017 to 8 million Canadian in 2021. Listen to her story in this episode of Sales Talk for CEOs.During our discussion, Catherine takes us back to the early days when Beanworks was starting. She discusses building the platform, getting customers, and the bumps along the way. After partnering with Sage, Catherine demonstrated her knowledge of the pain points and product through speaking and educating customers. But it wasn't until she read Steve Jobs's biography did it 'click' that she was a product CEO trying to be a sales CEO. Her journey led her to find the perfect sales leader, who built a powerful sales team and got the sales machine running. Find out how it all happened by listening to this episode. Highlights0:50 Rejuvenating a hundred-year-old business4:39 Getting ready to go global7:26 Before Beanworks began…12:21 Trying not to sell19:57 The quest for more customers23:33 Getting the channel sales flowing26:52 Product CEO or sales CEO?34:18 The biggest lesson learned along the way Quote "Steve Jobs was not a sales CEO, and all this time, I thought he was because of the way he's portrayed in movies. He was a product CEO, and his passion was product. And he hired the right people to do the sales side." Connect with Catherine Dahl in the links below:Website: https://www.beanworks.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinedahl/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

Going from incremental growth to exponential growth requires radical changes in your business—from your mindset and focus to your team and how your company operates. If you're a CEO who feels 'stuck' in incremental growth but wants more, you'll want to listen to this episode of Sales Talk for CEOs Expert Series with  Richard Medcalf. Richard is the CEO of Xquadrant, a company that works with high-achieving founders, CEOs, and executives to reinvent their success formula and push their companies to the next level. He knows what it takes to achieve exponential growth and shares his expert advice today. Believe me when I say that all CEOs who want to scale their growth need to understand the ideas discussed in this episode.Our conversation focuses on what CEOs need to do to get to the next level where they can work ON their business instead of just IN their business. We discuss 4 limiting factors that could be holding you back from exponential growth and the crucial role of mindset. We also explore how delegation frees up your time and what you can do to get the right team in place. In the end, the challenge for most CEOs is to envision a very different future (one of exponential growth) versus living in the past (of incremental growth). Richard shares tips on this and what you need to have in place for exponential growth to happen. So, do you want to achieve exponential growth in your company? Then listen in and heed the advice offered in this episode. Highlights:3:05 4 limiting factors that hold you back from exponential growth6:35 The role of mindset in growth12:34 Learning how to delegate—examples and exercises17:45 Getting the right team in place22:23 Envisioning the future vs. living in the past29:29 3 elements needed for exponential growth to happen36:40 Resources for CEOs Quote:“As CEO, if you don't focus on the needle-moving parts of the business, the long-term vision, the strategy, the go-to-market strategy, if you're not making sure that you are really leveling those things up, who is?”  Connect with Richard Medcalf in the links below:Website: https://xquadrant.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardmedcalf/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

According to Mei Siauw, CEO of LeadIQ, a tool that helps sales teams with smarter prospecting, building an outbound sales motion is the key to growth. Start early, stick with it; if you do it right, outbound sales will produce amazing results. In this episode, we talk about the outbound motion Mei built, how Ryan used the piano to book conversations with prospects and how Mei built a global, remote team of 150 people to take LeadIQ to the next level. During the show, Mei talks about how she built LeadIQ by focusing on outbound sales. You'll learn how her team uses trigger events and insights for personalization to eliminate that 'spammy' feel and get engagement with prospects.  She also discusses the organization of her sales team, including how diversity and inclusion have played a role in LeadIQ's expansion. Mei's main message: don't give up on outbound sales!  Highlights:1:12 The evolution of LeadIQ6:32 Focusing on outbound sales16:25 The importance of personalization in outbound sales22:03 Hiring for diversity29:33 Creating a gender balance36:05 Growth in the early stages: don't give up on outbound sales Quote:“Every company needs to train their sales team to find triggers and insights, to research, and then personalize. That's not easy, of course, but companies that do, book more conversations because they are engaging the prospect.”   Connect with Mei Siauw in the links below:Website: https://leadiq.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meisiauw/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/