There has been a lot of talk about mindfulness over the last few years, but it is more relevant now than ever before, especially with the current global pandemic caused by COVID-19. People are more stressed and more burnt out than ever, and there are relative uncertainty and complex ambiguity on a global scale. The result is that people aren’t really happy with their lives, and this translates into poor career performance. Interviewed by John Golden, Professor Rao explores mindfulness, and how this tool can help you live a happier life, and lead a more successful career.

This expert sales interview explores:

• Defining mindfulness
• Challenges to mindfulness
• The importance of uncovering meaning in life

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a practice that gives meaning and peace to people’s lives. It’s about living in the present. This means disregarding worry about the past, especially the unpleasant events that only serve to bring you down, and disregarding worry about the future, which cannot be predicted. We tend to look back a lot with regret, and live with a lot of dissatisfaction in the present that makes us look to the future. It’s all about living in the present, and adding value to your life so that you can live it with purpose and meaning.

Why is Mindfulness so difficult?

Mindfulness, and living in the present, can be quite difficult, for many reasons. One of the reasons is that technology, while it has brought many comforts and advancements, has also brought many challenges. People are so connected to cell phones and other technological devices that they are being constantly distracted, which creates a failure to focus on the present. People also struggle with a work-life balance. It can be difficult to juggle self-care, working hard at your career, and dedicating time to family and friends. While working is great, and having a career is an important part of anyone’s life, there is a disconnection from people and self. In fact, creating more connection with yourself and with others can improve your life tremendously, which will, in turn, make you a happier, better worker.

Uncovering Meaning:

One of the ways to increase mindfulness and enjoy the present is to explore what motivates you. Many people have never asked themselves why they’re doing what they’re doing, or what motivates them to move forward. People might answer that they go to work because it’s a paycheck, or live in a certain city because of certain demographic advantages, proximity to work, etc. But so often, we are motivated by external things and external comparisons with others that we don’t stop to consider what motivates us and what gives our life meaning. If you don’t know the purpose of what you’re doing, it’s hard to say focused on doing it in the present. With respect for yourself, take time to do self-reflection on what is required in your life. Look at different areas, like professionally, personally, culturally, etc. Exploration of meaning and motivation is an essential mindfulness tool that will help you get through difficult times.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Digital selling is more important now than ever. It is invading many different aspects of our lives and careers. Sales can tend to be slow to adapt, especially when business is good. But there is no better time to start integrating digital selling tools than right now. We’re going through a unique upheaval with COVID-19, and many people are switching to digital tools to help them continue selling despite the global changes. But digital selling tools can help salespeople sell easier, better, and more, both now, and when things reopen. Bill Butler explores how digital selling can be a true game-changer in this expert sales interview, hosted by John Golden.

This expert sales interview explores:

• Why digital tools aren’t a replacement
• How digital tools can help you long term
• The unique customizations that digital tools can offer you

Augmentation, Not Replacement:

Like in many other industries, the addition of new technology has people in sales wondering if their job is going to get replaced by a computer. But digital selling, and digital selling tools, are not a replacement for human salespeople, but rather an augmentation that makes the human side of selling even better.

Tools for Today and Tomorrow:

There’s a lot of people who have been selling digitally now, and with the changes brought on by COVID-19, there are more salespeople using digital tools than ever before. But there’s an idea in the sales community that digital tools like zoom, and online presentation tools, are just temporary things, or temporary tools to use while face to face meetings aren’t available.

A Customized Sales Process:

So much of sales is centered around having a solid sales process. But having a great sales process isn’t all that you need to take your sales to the closing line. The agility of your sales, as well as the flexibility of your sales process, is also super important. Digital tools for selling allow the salesperson to listen and understand the customer’s needs and then alter the sales process so that it’s tailored to exactly what the customer requires.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Disruption happens all the time in the business world. Sometimes you want to be disruptive to improve your business or make important changes, and make plans and prepare for the disruption. Other times, like what’s happening in today’s COVID-19 world, there are external forces that cause disruptions that are not at all planned. Charlene Li explores how leaders can make the most of disruptions in this expert sales interview, hosted by John Golden.

This expert sales interview explores:

• Key tips for leaders 
• How to thrive in disruption 

Tips for Leaders:

There are several things that leaders can do to help their organization through a period of disruption. The first thing that disruption-equipped leaders do is to focus on their future customers. Everyone knows that it’s important to consider the customer’s need, and figure out how to meet those needs, but the customer you should be thinking of isn’t your current customer, it’s your future customers. Staying ahead of the game will help tremendously because you’ll already be prepared if an unplanned disruption strikes. Another good quality to adhere to is keeping an open change mindset. Some people see change as a challenge. Be the leader that says, “oh wow, a change, that is so cool, how do I move into that space and thrive in it?” Also, leaders who handle disruption are constantly asking themselves: how can we do things better? Doing these things will help leaders come out on the other side of a planned or unplanned disruption.

Thriving in Disruption:

Whether you’re being disrupted by an outside force, or creating the disruption yourself, the rules and end goal are basically the same: Take your organization from a place of status quo, to a place of exponential change. The disruption, planned or unplanned, is always hard, and many leaders and organizations run from the challenge. But, there are some leaders and organizations that thrive when their back is up against the wall. Instead of shrinking and saying, “this is too hard,” they jump into the challenge and look for solutions. These are the organizations that end up thriving when there’s a shakeup. The key is for the organization to find where the customer is, and where customer needs have shifted to. The fastest company to adapt to their customer’s needs are the ones who are going to thrive.

The Big Gulp Moment:

Resistance to change is futile. In fact, change is really the only constant in our lives, be it in our personal or professional lives. Especially when it comes to working, people try to control everything and keep things from undergoing too much change, but this only serves to complicate the inevitable process. Li coined the term “big gulp moment,” which is when a leader knows what they need to do, and does it, even if they’re not 100% sure of the outcome. They might only be 50% sure that there will be success, but it’s about taking a big gulp and hoping that things land. Fear-avoidance keeps your organization stagnant – or worse – creates decline. Take the sip, and make it happen.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

One of the biggest problems with today’s sales force is the reliance on tactics that were documented back in 1873. This tactic and process assume that the salesperson can do everything, including prospecting, negotiating, closing, demonstrating the product or service, following up, and taking care of the customer overall. Back in those days, that process worked, but the buying process has changed significantly. The sales process hasn’t kept up with those changes in the buying process, and as a result, this creates numerous bottlenecks in the buying process. Gil Cargill, interviewed by John Golden, explores how to create a sales process and stick to it for maximum results, more sales, and less wasted money.

This expert sales interview explores:

• Why a sales process is vital to the success
• Why so many sales teams don’t have sales processes
• The importance of starting now

The Importance of the Sales Process:

Research indicates that the highest performers and the most successful sales team have a well-defined process that everyone follows. In addition, they also have well-defined activities or steps that need to be completed within the process.

Lack of Sales Processes:

Considering the research that shows the importance of the sales process, it’s surprising that more teams don’t create, understand, and implement processes of their own. Part of that is resistance. The sales process has been fairly resisted by a lot of sales teams.

Start Now:

If you keep doing what you’re doing, where will you be at the end of the year? Most sales forces wait until they’re about two months away from the end of the year to acknowledge the fact that they’re not going to make it.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

There are many different behavioral and value analysis tools out there, like the Meyers Briggs and Enneagram tests, emotional intelligence tools, and others. Many people deem these assessments as helpful, both in personal and professional realms, but they can be truly invaluable when it comes to creating trust with your clients and building relationships with prospects. Steve Gavatorta, interviewed by John Golden, explores how to use these behavioral and value analysis tools to become a better salesperson, sales leader, or sales manager.

This expert sales interview explores:

• The importance of building trust in the sales process
• Learning about yourself to learn about your client
• Using your brain to make changes

Building Trust:

Whatever you do, be it leadership, sales, management, or marketing, trust is the most foundational part of any relation. In sales, if your customers don’t trust you, they’re not going to open up and share their needs, and if they’re not sharing their needs, you can’t articulate the ways that your product or service can solve their needs, and you’re not going to be able to align relevant solutions.

Know Yourself, and Your Client:

Many people use-value and behavior assessments in order to understand themselves, but they can also be very helpful in getting to know your clients.

Better Brains:

There are two important parts of the brain, the limbic system, and the cortex. The limbic system is where our emotions are. As babies, we function largely out of the limbic part of the brain, where our response to an adverse situation is going to be strictly emotional, and trigger a freeze, flight, or fight reaction.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Think about the number of performance metrics and data that you have access to at any given moment. For salespeople, sales managers, sales leaders, and other business people, there is an enormous amount of metric; so much so that CRM systems and other organizational software are prioritized as one of the most important things that you can do for your business. But there is one very important thing that we’re not collecting data on the conversation. In sales, the conversation has always been this black box where no one really knows what is going on. But now, with the advances of speech to text and AI technologies, we can analyze one of the most important pieces of selling. These insights can help to close the performance gap if we use the insights to change behavior through training and coaching. Steve Richard, interviewed by John Golden, discusses how to use conversational insights to improve sales.

This expert sales interview explores:

• How to change behaviors
• How to identify behaviors

Changing Behavior:

Understanding how to use conversational insights to improve sales is all about noticing the gaps in the conversation, and where your sales conversations might be lacking, and using that information to change your behavior and become a better conversationalist. However, changing behavior is one of the hardest things to do. You can train people, give them the skills, and they can be super enthusiastic about learning, but embedding the information into their brain and applying it to work practices can be very difficult, and takes a lot of reinforcement.

Identifying Behavior:

Before you can change behavior, you have to identify what behaviors you want to change. Many salespeople are hesitant to change their behavior, especially when it comes to conversations because so much of their personality and unique selling style is wrapped up in the conversation. But identifying behaviors and changing them doesn’t mean that you have to read from a script, or have a robotic, boring structure to your sales calls.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Who doesn’t want more clients? Clients mean more opportunities to help people with your product or service, more opportunities to generate revenue, and more opportunities to grow your business. There are lots of different ways of attracting more clients, but Tricia Molloy has designed a five-step approach to help you attract more clients with her CRAVE method. Molloy explains her method in this expert sales interview, hosted by John Golden.

This expert sales interview explores:

• C: Clean out the clutter
• R: Raise your energy
• A: Affirm success
• V: Visualize
• E: Express thanks

Clean Out The Clutter:

The first step in the CRAVE method of attracting new clients is to clean out the clutter. This can be physical, technical, or emotional clutter. When it comes to craving your sales goals, there is nothing more detrimental than the emotional clutter of dead-end sales leads.

Raise Your Energy:

Energy management is just as important as time management. We’re all vibrational energy beings. Vibrations is just another word for feelings and emotions, it’s our overall attitude. When we feel good about ourselves and feel appreciated, we will vibrate at a high, positive, constructive level. Energy attracts like energy.

Affirm Success:

Studies show that we speak to ourselves at least 10,000 times a day, and 80% of that tends to be negative because we’re programmed to protect ourselves against worst-case scenarios. Affirmations and positive self-talk can help us to counteract that negative thinking. Especially when it comes to affirmations for salespeople, it can be kept very simple.

Visualize:

Your subconscious mind believes everything that you tell it, which is why affirmations work so well. Your subconscious mind will believe everything that you show it, as well, which is where visualizations come into play.

Express Thanks:

Cultivate an attitude of gratitude. What you focus on expands, and what you appreciate appreciates. We tend to focus on what isn’t going right, and what we don’t have. Gratitude serves two amazing functions. It keeps you positive and strengthens your relationships.

To subscribe to Tricia Molloy’s Working with Wisdom blog, go to www.triciamolloy.com

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Everyone has a personal brand, but not everyone defines their personal brand for themselves. The idea that other people could define you and your brand should be a scary idea! Don’t let people go so far as to make up what your brand is. Be clear, concise, specific, and intentional about what your personal brand is. Sima Dahl tells you how to forge your personal brand using the “sway method” in this expert sales interview, hosted by John Golden.

This expert sales interview explores:

• Defining the sway factor
• How to start building your brand
• Why having a brand is important

The Sway Factor:

The sway factor is a set of behaviors that help others understand and remember how you wish to be known. This includes things like who you are, what you do, and what makes you special. If the people in your circles and in your enterprise and in your networks don’t know that, then you have no personal brand, and they will go so far as to make one up for you. You don’t want your brand to be one that’s given to you.

Where To Start:

Creating your personal brand can be very scary and overwhelming, but if you break it down into pieces, it becomes much more manageable and achievable. The first thing that you have to do is determining how you want to be known, and being really clear and concise on the image that you want to project. Articulate your brand value, and make sure that you start with a limited number of things. With branding, you can only be known for a few things at once. These things can evolve over time, but if you want to be known for 50 different things, you, in essence, become a master of none. Instead, limit yourself to 15 or so words that you want to be known by, and highlight your target demographic, and use those to build the foundation of your personal brand.

Benefits of Having A Personal Brand:

People don’t want you to be good at everything or be good for everyone, they want you to be able to help them with their unique needs, so be specific and be concise in order to let your target buyer know they can feel safe with you at the wheel. Articulate your value in a way that feels good to you, and it will feel good to your clients, customers, prospects, and peers. It will also help people come to you for their needs. If you have a set personal brand and distinctive skill set, it will encourage potential customers to seek you out.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.