Do you have a sales playbook? If you’re like most salespeople, a playbook isn’t part of your sales process! But think about it. What sports team would turn up without having practiced, or without going over the playbook? What performer would go on stage without rehearsing? People who are at the top of their field have a playbook that they practice regularly to get better at their craft. The same is necessary with selling. Jack Daly, interviewed by John Golden, explores how to create your own sales playbook.

In this expert sales interview, learn about:

• Why it’s essential to have a sales playbook
• High Payoff Activities and how to use them
• What top earners use to close more

High Payoff Activities (HPA)

Daly introduces the idea of “high payoff activities,” or HPA. We all have has 168 hours per week. However, some people are using their 168 hours better than others. It is estimated that a salesperson spends more than 50% of her or his time on these non-essential tasks. To fully take advantage of all 168 hours, delegate these activities to an assistant, and focus your time on what will generate income. “If you follow this discipline, you will generate more revenue,” said Daly.

Playbook vs. Style

“The majority of salespeople don’t want to use a sales book because they don’t want to be managed, they want to be loose and free. They think the style thing works for them,” said Daly. But, it is clear that having a playbook works. When looking at the top 10% of earners in the sales world, they make a disproportionately larger number of sales. Examining further, it is because these salespeople are selling with a playbook. They could get the same objection on four different calls and would counter it with the same response each time. They understand the systems and processes that are happening in the sales call and choose to use the playbook over their style to close deals and make more money.

Make 10x More Money

Daly tells the story of an Australian salesman who attended his seminars for the last four years. This man said that when he started going to the workshops, he was making $87,000 as a commission only salesperson. After four years, he had surpassed his previous income more than tenfold and was taking home over $1,000,000 per year. When Daly asked him how the salesperson accomplished such an enormous feat, he said that his most important switch was focusing on how he could use his 168 hours for more high payoff activities.

About our Host

John Golden

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 is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Negotiating Successfully with Modern Buyers

 #SalesChats: Episode 52

Negotiation has been a bit overlooked in the sales world, but people are beginning to realize it is a necessary skill. Tony Perzow discusses negotiation successfully in this #SalesChat, hosted by John Golden and Martha Neumeister.

Perzow explains:

• Why negotiation is its own skill instead of just part of the sales process
• How negotiation is a conversation, but with pressure to achieve the goal
• The common problem of people thinking that they are good at negotiations when they’re really not. Most people haven’t learned the necessary skills and don’t really know how to do it
• The most effective negotiation strategies a modern buyer might use, and how salespeople can use competitive selling in order to sell successfully
• Ensuring your negations are successful, but still in line with your ultimate goals and expected profit margin
• Confidence, and its importance in negotiation
• How salespeople can prepare for their roles outside of work hours
• Why salespeople need to prepare, and the importance of planning for a call and negotiation

Our Guest

Tony Perzow

A former negotiation trainer at the Karrass Organization and Vice President of negotiation training at Strategic Pricing Associates, Tony’s mission as a trainer and author is to help others be insanely successful. He has trained top executives from many of the leading Fortune 500 companies.

Links › tonyperzow.com | twitter.com | linkedin.com

Our Hosts

About 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 is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Martha Neumeister

Martha is social media strategist, responsible for all social media platforms of Pipeliner CRM. She is a communication expert with social media affinity, which she has been focusing on throughout her professional career. She has a bachelor´s degree in Entrepreneurship & Management and a master´s degree in Online Marketing which supports her in her career as Social Media Strategist.

About SalesChats

SalesChats is a fast-paced (no more than 30 minutes) multi-media series that provides leading strategies, tactics and thinking for sales professionals worldwide. It can be found on Twitter (#SalesChats), as a live Google+ Hangout, and as a podcast available on iTunes, SoundCloud and right here on SalesPOP! If you think you would make a great guest for #SalesChats, please contact co-host Martha Neumeister.

SalesChats is co-hosted by John Golden, CSMO Pipeliner CRM, and Martha Neumeister, Social Media Strategist Pipeliner CRM.

Motivation in Sales: Never Giving Up

Motivation in sales can be a difficult thing to come by. In the world of sales where salespeople get rejected continuously, it’s easy to get defeated and feel discouraged. SalesPop! is bringing you a new category of expert sales interviews centered around motivation. Kicking off this new series of motivational expert interviews is Richie Contartesi, interviewed by John Golden. In this video, Contartesi describes his story at length. His journey was one of highs and lows, good experiences and bad experiences, and lots of determination and perseverance. This process taught him how to stay motivated in other areas of life, and he has some essential tips to pass on.

In this expert sales interview, learn:

• How setting goals propels motivation
• The way that relationships lead to referrals
• The real definition of luck

Goals Make Motivation

“I wrote down my goal. And all of a sudden, I subconsciously started to do things differently. I acted differently. I did things every day to attract myself closer and closer to that goal. Things started to happen differently around me. That’s where it all started,” said Contartesi, who wrote down his goal of becoming a college football player when he was in the 5th grade. He reframed and set new goals various times throughout his journey to success, but stayed centered on his one primary goal of making a college team. Having this goal as his central focus helped him to stay motivated, even when things were difficult.

Importance of Sales

Relationships were very significant for Contartesi throughout his journey towards his goals. He encountered new football coaches that were unsure about his skills. But, he had mentors vouch for him. He had people who knew him and knew his character that said, “you need this guy on your team for these reasons.” As it was true for Contartesi as a football player, so is it true for him in the world of sales. When you have close connections, you become someone to trust and to recommend. In sales, it’s so important to get referrals. People won’t refer you unless they have a stable relationship with you. Ensuring the creation of these relationships will be invaluable, both in the personal and professional realm.

The Definition of Luck

Contartesi doesn’t believe in luck in the traditional sense. Rather, he has his own definition. “The definition of luck is when preparedness meets opportunity. And in sales, things aren’t going to happen right away. But, if you consistently stay with it and stay prepared, there’s going to be an opportunity. It’s just a matter of time. It will happen,” he said. “It’s just whether or not you’ve prepared or not. If there’s an opportunity, boom, people will say you got lucky. But it’s not luck. You were prepared when the opportunity came your way.”

Furthermore, many people miss out on opportunities because they don’t seem quite perfect. They opt to wait for something better to come along. This mindset can lead to missed opportunities. Rather, look at each opportunity is a path. That path might lead you to a destination, or it might lead you to another path that will eventually take you where you need to go.

To learn more about Contartesi and his journey to success, watch the video!

About 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 is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Bottlenecks & Accelerators in the Sales Process

Judy Frank talks sales bottlenecks and accelerators in the sales process with John Golden. Bottlenecks, also referred to as speed bumps or potholes, are things that come up in the sales process that slow the entire method down, or negatively impact it in some way. Accelerators, on the other hand, are things that speed up the sales process and lead to a quicker close.

In this expert sales interview, learn:

• The key bottlenecks to avoid
• Ways to accelerate the sales process

The Biggest Sales Bottleneck: Discovery

The discovery portion of a sales pitch is where a salesperson builds rapport with a potential client. This early stage is where trust is established, and where the relationship begins to develop. Often, salespeople blow through this discovery process. They don’t take the time to build rapport or form relationships, they don’t ask relevant questions, and they don’t figure out what the potential customer needs. This leaves them in a position of pitching to someone who they haven’t built trust with yet and selling a solution to a problem that is unclear.

Failure to Qualify

Frank also emphases the importance of qualifying each company in the pipeline. Ask yourself, “is this a viable opportunity? Can I help this business?” Selling is helping; Helping a company to increase profit, decrease cost, or do things better using your products, or services, or software. If you cannot help this company, then you likely cannot sell to this company. “Get the ‘no’ as fast as possible so you can move onto the companies who will give you a ‘yes,’” said Frank.

Accelerate by Understanding the Company

If you have qualified that a company would benefit from your product or service, there are several things to understand that often get ignored. Frank encourages salespeople to ask critical questions to further understand the company they are trying to sell to. “What is the value that this company has for you? Who are the decision makers? What is their style? How close are you to forming a relationship with them? What is their internal process that will lead to an approved purchase?” These questions are crucial for having an accurate understanding of the company. If a salesperson is going in blind, it is likely they will miss something important that could ultimately cost the sale. This potential bottleneck could turn into a massive source of acceleration. Understanding these questions helps to build trust with the client, something that can help a sale close faster.

About 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 is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Revenue is like any other kind of natural resource. Every salesperson is out there looking for it, but there is only a limited amount of revenue potential. With risk comes uncertainty. Risk is the quantification of this uncertainty. John Golden interviews sales professional Andy Rudin on how to manage revenue risk.

This expert sales interview we cover topics, such as:

• Proactively planning for unknown risks
• Identifying risks on an internal and external level
• Mitigating Risks

Proactive Planning

A lot of organizations tend to look back on mistakes and fix things after they have become problems. However, proactive risk management is possible. “Look at the road ahead and identify potholes before you hit them,” said Rudin. “Look at where the potholes might be and react and respond accordingly so that they do not ruin your car.” Being proactive in risk management is key to increasing revenue.

Internal Risk

The first thing is to recognize that risk can come from many places. “A lot of people tend to look at risk as an internal issue,” said Rudin. “For example, we don’t know what our marketing messages are. We don’t know clearly what our target markets are. We still haven’t figured out our sales hiring criteria, and what makes the most competent salespeople.” However, these internal factors are not the only part of managing risk.

External Risk

The first part of the challenge is to look at things holistically. It is not enough to only look at things internally. The external risk needs to be considered too. There is a technological risk, there is the risk from world events, from the economy, and other unknown situations. All of these external risks influence whether or not salespeople make an impact.

Mitigating Risk

There are certain risks that companies need to understand. To accept these risks, there are specific mitigation techniques that a company can utilize in order to reduce the impact of potential consequences. “You can reduce or eliminate the risks by doing several things,” said Rudin. “You can share the risk with others, you can transfer them to other stakeholders, etc.” On a more personal level for salespeople who sell direct to market, Rudin has additional advice to manage risk. “A very common example is ‘try and buy.’ Companies do that frequently in order to entice a customer to take a product and test it out. A money back guarantee is a risk-sharing strategy.”

To boost your sales and learn about other ways to mitigate risk, watch the video!

About 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 is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

“Bend the fish while it’s fresh.” This quirky metaphor is used by Torben Wiese to highlight the importance of mindfulness. Watch this sales expert interview, hosted by John Golden, to hear how this metaphor applies to sales.

In this sales expert interview, get professional sales tips on:

• How to be mentally present as a salesperson
• How to keep your clients mentally present
• Changing habits to improve sales
• Reacting to rejections

Being Mentally Present

“We have the past and the future, but to be a good salesperson, you have to be 100% mentally present,” said Wiese. Not only do salespeople have to be in the present moment, but customers need to have present minded thinking as well. Customers, like most people, are thinking about the next moment. Like their email inbox, and how long is it polite to keep the salesperson on the line before hanging up. However, a good salesperson will keep their prospects in the present moment to get their full attention and most efficiently sell to them.

Strategies to Keep Customers Present

Eye contact, exciting words, vocal intonation, and other nonverbal techniques are necessary to keep your pitch interesting. Additionally, identifying the customer’s needs and bringing them up proactively will keep them focused on what you have to say. “Explore future problems they want to solve or bring up problems they want to avoid,” said Wiese. “You need them to be mentally present to think about the future.”

Habits

A crucial part of creating change is to understand the habits that you do automatically. There are three kinds of habits. The first is physical habits, which include nonverbal communication such as voice, physical mannerisms, etc. The second kind of habit is mental habits, which look at positive vs. negative thinking tendencies, if thoughts are constructive or not, etc. The third kind of habit, emotional habits, are tendencies to feel certain things in certain situations. When thinking about habits, the trend is to think about physical habits. Because of this tendency, it’s often only the physical habits that get changed. However, to make real changes in our habits, salespeople must look at all three different kinds. “All habits feel good. A good habit helps us to reach our goals. A bad habit deters us from reaching goals,” Wiese said.

Reacting to an Objection

What do you say when you get an objection? Wiese gives the example of when a potential customer brings up the price. “Some people will say ‘it’s expensive!’. You don’t think about it; it’s just an automatic response. It feels like an attack that you have to defend yourself from.” This kind of mental habit can push clients away and demonstrate a defensive attitude. To personally address this problem, Wiese has a list of the 12 most common objections and has a prepared script to counter these objections in a sensitive way. “It shows that you’re not afraid of these objections, and you can be prepared for them when they come.”

Difficulty Done Right

We shouldn’t be looking to feel comfortable; we should be looking to really engage. It feels safe, but it might not be. Outside the comfort zone, create new habits that are outside the comfort zone. The most difficult habit to change is the one that you don’t know about. It’s important to watch yourself, get feedback, and continue to assess yourself. Salespeople need to do a better job taking accountability for themselves and being proactive in making concrete changes.

About 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 is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Win Better With Sales Analysis

All good salespeople know the importance of conducting and reviewing win-loss analyses. Adrian Davis discusses the win-loss sales analysis, and why it’s crucial that sales leaders pay more attention to win analysis. He also provides expert tips on how to properly conduct win analyses.

Win-Loss Sales Analysis

Win analyses and loss analyses are both fundamental. But, many sales leaders gravitate towards loss analysis, asking questions such as, ‘Why did we lose?’” “Who did we lose against?” and “Why did the customer choose another company over us?” While loss analysis is still essential, win analysis deserves more focus for a variety of reasons.

The Importance of Win Analysis

You can learn a lot from evaluating what went right. Win-loss analysis becomes especially important when trying to build your business with a particular kind of client. If you want to get more of a certain kind of client, interview past clients that were similar. This gives the salesperson an idea of what that client is looking for, and how to pitch to that specific need.

The Client’s Perspective

It’s notable that when salespeople or companies review win analysis, they typically only look at more recent deals. However, Davis recommends that you make a notation in your pipeline software to remind you one year after the sale closes. Use this reminder as an opportunity to go back and review things with your client. Understand the initial outcome that they envisioned, and how you have or haven’t delivered on it in the last 12 months. Truly step into the client’s shoes, and understand their perspective.

This type of analysis allows salespeople to have empathy for the client, and to see how they perceive the value in what you have sold them. Then, this analysis can be used for future sales calls. The salesperson can provide a nuanced story of how they can create value for prospective customers.

Videos provide a lot of information to consumers that may not always be obvious over the phone or online communication. It allows for an interested person to understand a salespersons emotions, personality, mannerisms, etc. It is one of the best ways to show who you are and what you can do. In this interview, sales expert Frank Furness talks to John Golden about how to boosting sales and getting media attention through videos.

In this sales expert interview, get sales tips on:

• How video marketing can provide an SEO boost
• Success stories of those who have utilized video marketing
• Content tips for creating great videos
• Advice for those who are just starting to make videos

Get an SEO Boost

Additionally, videos are great for search engine optimization. YouTube is currently the second biggest search engine on the planet, right after Google. When posting video content online, you are marketing yourself in a whole different way that makes a salesperson much more accessible to future clients. “People search YouTube constantly, and business people search it constantly,” said Furness. Accessing and utilizing this platform as a tool can be invaluable for a salesperson who wants to boost his or her searchability.

Success Stories

Another positive thing about video marketing is that it’s not only prospective customers that have access to and find videos. Furness shares an example of how a news station discovered the YouTube channel of one of his clients. “I work with a law firm in Los Angeles with this kind of weird and wacky guy. When you go into his office, there are baseballs all over the place. We just started doing some ‘meet the guy’ videos, talking about what he was doing. It showcased who he was as a person, and got a hundred thousand views.”

Video Content

Video marketing provides an excellent opportunity to showcase many different kinds of content. First, video testimonials are a great way to get started with video marketing. Furness recommends starting the video with a 20-second elevator pitch, saying who you are and the intent of the video. Then, give the testimonial. Learn how to make video testimonial! Second, videos are a great way to show off the personality and culture of a corporation. Videos like “meet the CEO,” or “meet the team,” allow for a potential client to get a more personal idea of who is behind the company they are considering buying from.

Doing tour videos of the workplace also give a more real and tangible feeling to a company. A customer can put a personality to their salesperson. This increases the relationship, rapport, and helps the salesperson be more memorable. A third idea is to make videos for product launches. This allows the consumer to see more details and get a visual on a certain product or service. Furness’ favorite kind of content, however, is live streaming video.

Start Simply

Furness addresses the learning curve that comes with making videos, acknowledging that not everyone is a video expert. “It’s really pretty simple, it just takes practice. When I look back on my earlier videos now I cringe. But the main thing is to just get them out there,” said Furness. Additionally, consumers are more concerned about the content of the videos than the presentation and editing. Furness asserts that if someone is an expert on a topic and can create subject material, they can make videos that consumers are interested in.
“Don’t look for perfection. Just get out there and make it happen,” said Furness.

About 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 is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.