Sales Talk for CEOs

Connection is everything. When your marketing message resonates with your customers, selling becomes easier, retention becomes easier, and your customers become powerful evangelists who market and sell for you. To achieve this, you have to find the right words that make your customers lean in. You have to create marketing that is music to your buyer’s ears.In this episode of the Sales Talk for CEOs podcast, my guest Kate Bradley Chernis shares advice on how to do just that. A former live radio DJ, Kate is now the CEO of Lately, a software that uses artificial intelligence to learn the voice of brands and create writing models based on the words, key phrases, and sentence structure that will get the highest engagement. Kate has used Lately technology to get a 98 percent sales conversion rate with the company’s organic messages, and she is sharing tips for creating marketing that connects to customers in this podcast episode.As Kate explains, the problem with a lot of marketing is that marketers are trying to find ‘the right words that sell.’ “The objective isn’t actually a sale,” says Kate. “The objective is first to engage. Get to the next step. Get the reaction. Get them to lean in. Get that long play going.”In this interview, Kate discusses the importance of making a connection as you start conversations with potential customers via marketing. Using the neuroscience of music, she explains how marketing messages should be crafted to offer familiar ‘touch points’ that cue nostalgia, memory, and emotion. This, in turn, builds trust, which is the basis for customer acquisition and loyalty. Sound interesting? Then listen in to learn how you too can create marketing that is music to your buyer’s ears. Highlights2:37 The rollercoaster of the CEO8:27 Getting specific about your ideal customer17:58 Why the objective of your marketing isn’t a sale21:17 Believing in yourself (and not the naysayers)28:26 Creating two-way street marketing30:33 Making music to your buyer’s ears39:00 Creating a seller-free experience Quote“The objective isn’t actually a sale. The objective is first to engage. Get to the next step. Get the reaction. Get them to lean in. Get that long play going.” Connect with Kate Bradley Chernis in the links below:Website: https://www.lately.ai/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katebradley/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

Product. Sales. Marketing. Customer Success. If you want to grow your business, your entire go-to-market team has to be in perfect alignment. Providing a seamless experience makes such a huge difference to customers, but it’s often hard to achieve. Luckily, you’ll get plenty of ideas and inspiration in the latest Sales Talk for CEOs podcast.My guest for this interview is Pouyan Salehi, CEO of Scratchpad, a workspace designed specifically for sales and revenue teams. Scratchpad has a unique bottom-up sales model where—on the one hand—the end-users of the software (sales reps) are not the buyers, but—on the other hand—the end-user experience is instrumental in getting sales conversations with decision-makers at large companies. A fully aligned go-to-market team is crucial to success, and, in this interview, Pouyan shares how he achieves it.As Pouyan explains, aligning your go-to-market team has nothing to do with tools and processes. Instead, you have to start with mindset, prioritizing ‘delight’ and ‘experience.’ “We’re a software company, and we build a product, and people buy the product. But that’s just one component,” says Pouyan. “What we’re essentially doing for every user interaction that we have is we’re giving them an experience. We’re delivering an experience, and that experience should be one of delight.”This mindset drives sales and customer experience at Scratchpad and has brought the entire go-to-market team together into one cohesive unit. Although Scratchpad is only two years old, the company has established a base of raving fans that any CEO would envy! Listen in to hear how Pouyan has done it, so you can apply the strategies to your business too. Highlights2:25 Designing a space for sales team efficiency7:24 Understanding diversity in sales reps9:26 Balancing structure and individual flexibility13:45 Selling your idea and testing your value proposition20:25 Designing a complex go-to-market motion29:40 Building a fully aligned go-to-market team35:19 Creating raving fans Quote“What we’re essentially doing for every user interaction that we have is we’re giving them an experience. We’re delivering an experience, and that experience should be one of delight.” Connect with Pouyan Salehi in the links below:Website: https://scratchpad.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pouyansalehi You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

If there is one thing to take away from this episode of Sales Talk for CEOs, it’s that CEOs should be making connections. If you’re not reaching out to customers, employees, peers, and mentors, you are missing out on opportunities to learn and grow. I understand that this doesn’t come naturally for everyone, but when you hear about the benefits of networking, evangelizing, and building relationships in today’s interview, I know you’ll be motivated to make it a priority.This episode features Amir Reiter, CEO of CloudTask, a B2B Lead Generation company helping SaaS companies drive revenue growth through teams of sales development professionals. Amir has spent his career focusing on relationships, and it is these relationships with customers, employees, mentors, and peers that have helped him build the company to what it is today.In the interview, Amir shares many stories about how he has used networking, evangelizing, and relationship-building to grow his company, including stories about:How he initially built the company by creating a network of people who believed in him and the product—and that network became the voice of awareness for others.How he hires as few employees as possible but really takes employees under his wing to develop their confidence and help them feel like part of the team.How he actively seeks out relationships with other business owners to learn from their mistakes, and how recent advice caused an important shift in his business model.How he prioritizes evangelizing for the company by strategically using social media and finding networking opportunities. Amir Reiter has built CloudTask out of (in his words) persistence and trial and error. Every step of the way, he reaches out to others and observes the world around him to make better decisions. His story is sure to motivate you to do the same, so you, too, can strategically build relationships to grow your business. Highlights:3:45 Following your passions8:35 Using networking to get to the next level11:04 Defining your success as customer (and employee) success14:50 Confronting your limiting beliefs21:38 The role of CEO as evangelizer24:49 An important lesson: less is more33:10 Building team culture Quote:"As the CEO, one of the most important things I can do to increase sales is build strong relationships with my team, our customers, and others who play a role in our success." Connect with Amir Reiter in the links below:Website: https://www.cloudtask.com/LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/amirreiter/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

Hiring the right sales leader is something that every CEO has challenges with, so this episode of the Sales Talk for CEOs podcast is a great opportunity to improve your strategy and avoid some common mistakes. By hiring the right sales leader for your company, you’ll be able to build the kind of sales organization that really supports your business, and that allows you, as CEO, to take on the role of strategist, evangelist, and thought leader.The perfect guest for this topic is Elay Cohen, CEO and co-founder of SalesHood, a sales enablement platform. The role Elay has taken in sales is the role I hope all CEOs can get to. But there were some bumps along the road to getting there, which is why Elay is openly sharing some of the lessons he learned while trying to find the right sales leader, so you can avoid the same mistakes.During this interview, Elay takes us on his own journey to find the perfect sales leadership for SalesHood. He recounts the missteps along the way, including his first hire, who looked great on paper but wasn’t a good fit for the company, and his second hire that failed because of a misunderstanding related to job title and role. You’ll also learn how Elay landed his current co-leaders in sales who are exceeding sales goals and gearing the company up for amazing growth in 2022.By finding the right sales leaders for his company, Elay is able to take the role of chief strategist, visionary, and evangelist of his business.  Of course, getting to this place in your career is only possible when you find the right people to lead your sales team. The information in this podcast is sure to ease the process! Highlights8:18 The importance of your first customers13:00 When to hire a sales leader20:51 The journey to find the right sales leader24:14 A lesson on title inflation27:45 When to consider your top sales rep as head of sales30:36 The CEO’s role in sales after finding a sales leader36:00 A red flag when interviewing sales leaders39:48 Final takeaway on hiring your first sales manager Quote“Recruitment and finding the right people has been the hardest thing. I never would have thought. I would have thought building the company, getting customers, innovating… No. The hardest thing in the last eight years has been finding the right people for the company.” Connect with Elay Cohen in the links below:Website: https://saleshood.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elaycohen You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

As an entrepreneur, when you first launch your company, you often start out doing most of the work yourself. However, at a certain point, it’s time to hire a team so you can focus on the higher-level work required of a CEO and grow your business. But who should you hire first? When should you bring on a sales team? What hiring strategies can help you find the best talent? How should you organize your team for top performance and growth? All these questions (and more!) are answered in my latest Sales Talk for CEOs podcast.This episode features Jacco van der Kooij, Founder of Winning by Design, a global B2B revenue consulting and training company founded in 2012. In this interview, Jacco takes us back to those early days when he was running the company by himself, through his years as CEO, and up until today when he has passed the CEO baton on to someone else and stepped back into the role of Founder of the multi-million-dollar international company.In this interview, you will learn why Jacco suggests not to hire your sales team first (and who you should hire instead!). He also shares two hiring strategies his company uses to make it easier to find the best candidate for your position (and quickly eliminate those who won’t make the cut!). Finally, you will find out about the intriguing way he groups his team members into customer-focused pods to enable them to become powerhouses for customer service. At the heart of it, this episode is all about growth and how your hiring and team organization can set your business up for success. Listen in, and you are sure to get amazing insight to grow your company too. Highlights:3:22 Growth via recurring revenue8:10 Why you shouldn’t hire for sales early15:37 Two unique elements to include in your hiring process17:14: Taking a multi-dimensional approach to growth21:50 Organizing your team: units instead of individuals27:25 The evolving role of CEO in sales31:05 When it’s time to step back35:35 Marketing: entering the realm of science  “Selling is not what the customer wants. What the customer is involved in is buying. Instead of selling to them, which is against their nature, help them to buy, which is human nature from the get-go.” Connect with Jacco van der Kooij in the links below:Website: https://winningbydesign.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaccovanderkooij You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

The companies that are succeeding today are the ones that are looking at themselves from their customers’ perspective. How do your customers see your business? Do they understand your products and services? How do they want to buy from you? Whether you have been in business for five years or 100, your customers’ perspective will always play a pivotal role in the success (or failure) of your business. So, are you listening to their valuable feedback?No matter how old your business is, you must constantly change and adapt to what your customers are telling you. That’s the subject of my latest Sales Talk for CEOs podcast, where Erik Frank - CEO and President of Tristate Amature and Electrical Works - shares the details on the major overhauls that are happening in his 101-year-old business. Erik is completely rebuilding his marketing and sales strategy from the ground up – all based on what they are learning from their customers.Erik’s strategy includes gathering extra insight into the customer experience through conversations with customers, a newly launched customer survey, and continued customer outreach. The strategy also involves changing up the sales team, including better training for customer service representatives, hiring more sales staff, and finding that crucial new hire for VP of sales.This episode is a must-listen if you feel that your sales strategy isn’t quite hitting the mark with your customers. Whether you’re just starting your business or have been at it for decades, there is ALWAYS room to make your marketing and sales more customer-centric. Highlights3:10 Bringing sales experience into the role of CEO8:35 Customer-focused rebranding11:25 Why train your customer service team in sales15:18 Using customer surveys to gather data17:31 The importance of sales leadership21:00 The CEO’s role in sales: selling the vision of the company23:00 Growing your sales team to accommodate customers’ needs in the future Quote“Today, the companies that are succeeding are looking at themselves from their customer’s perspective and the way their customer wants to buy from them versus the way they have been selling to them for sometimes 30 or 100 years.” Connect with Erik Frank in the links below:Website: https://tristatearmature.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ebfrank/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

HIGHLIGHTS1:20 Changes to hiring during the pandemic8:25 Growth of sales operations during the pandemic11:25 How to integrate roles on your team to serve customers better14:10 The CEO’s unique role in sales18:38 Balancing a CEO’s many responsibilities22:40 Switching your sales strategy when inbound calls increase25:07 Growth opportunities on the horizon  “The customer wants it to be seamless. They don’t want to have your services coming from 15 different directions and different messages. They know what they want, and they want it to be seamless. They don’t really care what happens behind the scenes. They just want good results, a good outcome.”   Connect with Bronwyn Allen in the links below:Website: http://www.highprofilestaffing.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bronwynallen/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

HIGHLIGHTS3:19 The journey to becoming the CEO of basketball8:24 Knowing CEO skills, playing the sport and understanding the fans10:57 Finding solutions for the first challenges you have to face as a CEO19:10 Holding each member and each department of the organization responsible for revenue and the customer’s experience27:35 The CEO as the spearhead and pivot of the organization30:35 Keeping sports stakeholders engaged during the pandemic through innovative thinking QUOTES3:25 “If I wrote down a piece of advice to myself: specializing in a particular area is helpful as you move through.”9:23 “You need to be authentic. In anything, authenticity is key. Because people buy from people at the end of the day. If you have strong knowledge of your product, your services, and you understand your customer, you obviously are going to be more successful.”20:28 "If we don't collaborate, the customer may choose to work with somebody that's easier to deal with than our organization. Simplifying that for all the people and strategically working more... systems on actually putting the customer on the center... and everybody in that value chain have responsibility for the customer"35:05 “That innovative thinking and people putting themselves and making themselves available has been the beauty of what this pandemic has brought about in a number of different areas”   Connect with Maria Nordstrom in the links below.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-nordstrom-89b71a8Website: https://www.bnsw.com.au/Twitter: https://twitter.com/marianordstrom3 You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

HIGHLIGHTS2:50 How Sendoso started - finding creative ways to connect with people5:20 Interviewing for creativity 15:10 Building a strong company culture 20:20 Adapting to modern sales 24:58 Following up with customers27:41 Why stay with named accounts?  QUOTES4:57  “Creative thinking is one of those soft skills that are underutilized and undervalued… add creativity or if you want to be more creative that’ll be a skillset that will stand out”5:32 “I think creativity is something that all you CEOs out there - make sure that your sales leaders are interviewing for creativity”15:57 “I’m really trying to create a culture where it’s a ‘one team, one dream’ and the CEO is not too cool for school, he’s in the trenches working with everyone else.” 24:25 “People should not just disappear from a customers life, they should be around and the customer knows they're available and a part of a team that's helping lift everybody up.”26:51 “Any day can be ‘we love our customers day’” Connect with Kris Rudeegraap in the links below:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rudeegraap/Website: http://www.rudeegraap.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/rudeegraap You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

HIGHLIGHTS1:20 What exactly is Xactly and who are their ideal customers? 7:00 Sales journey to CEO 11:55 Entrepreneurial enthusiasm26:42 Sales organization’s evolution after 16 years30:10 The balance of having partners and direct sellers 38:20 From private company to public, then to private and going back to being public  QUOTES11:30  “So many things could go differently, so many startups fail for so many different reasons - but that never entered my mind. Looking back, I didn’t understand that - but at the time the idea of it not working was never ever in the realm of possibility”11:55 “I call that entrepreneurial enthusiasm, if you didn’t have it - you won’t make it. You have to believe, you can’t even look back and think that it’s not gonna work - that’s not the way we think as entrepreneurs”24:24 “CEOs can really be the chief evangelist for their company and it makes a huge difference. It’s more about that networking and developing and drawing people to you because they see you and they see “oh, this CEO isn’t afraid to be out there, is available we can talk to him” Connect with Chris Cabrera in the link below.Website: https://www.xactlycorp.com/LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophercabrera/Twitter: https://twitter.com/cabrera You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/