Omnichannel Sales Strategy
#SalesChats Episode 9

Omnichannel selling is a multi-channel approach to selling that aims to provide a consistent experience at every touch point a salesperson has with their customers. It’s easy to think about in theory, but in reality, it’s difficult to do. It means having experiences with customers, and connecting with prospects through the mail, phone, email, and the multitude of social media platforms, and obtaining customers who will engage with you through more than one of these channels. Andrew Jenkins talks creating omnichannel sales strategies in this #SalesChat, hosted by John Golden and Martha Neumeister.

Jenkins explains:

• The importance of being clear on what channels to find customers in, and how to live up to customer’s expectations based on each channel
• Mapping organization functions to a particular channel
• How to create an optimal process to organize and structure selling across platforms
• The omnichannel customer, and how to create consistency to nurture the customer along their path
• Prioritising your time in order to utilize each channel to its maximum potential
• Using different strategies for different platforms while still maintaining your presence across the board and providing a consistent customer experience
• The similarities and difference between social selling and omnichannel selling
• How the average business can keep up with the customer demand and expectations of omnichannel sellers

Our Guest

Andrew Jenkins

Andrew Jenkins helps companies grow revenue by embracing social media and social selling strategies. He regularly speaks and presents at the top business schools and is a professor at the University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies.

Our Hosts

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.

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, CSO Pipeliner CRM, and Martha Neumeister, Social Media Strategist Pipeliner CRM.

The High Cost of a Salesperson
#SalesChats Episode 8

Often when we talk about selling, we talk about communicating and engaging with prospects, and the skills involved in actually selling. It’s also important to remember the business of managing the sales team in order to minimize unnecessary costs. The financial requirements involved in things like hiring, training, and sales activities can lead to waste if not understood and managed properly. Particularly from a managerial level, it is essential to properly handle critical assets effectively in order to get desired results. Dave Brock highlights the business of selling in this #SalesChat, hosted by John Golden and Martha Neumeister.

Brock explains:

• Why calculating the cost of a sales function is shied away from
• The costs of hiring, and how onboarding each person is a multi-million dollar decision after considering the revenue that they are expected to earn
• Why being driven by desperation can cost you more money in the long run
• How ongoing coaching plays into the costs of maintaining a selling entity. Training should not be seen as an event, but rather an ongoing commitment to reinforce information. It is an important investment that when overlooked leads to poor results.
• Getting ROI from sales activities. Ensure you are being proactive, and utilizing a well-established sales process.
• The importance of integrating coaching and business management in an achievable, focused way

Our Guest

 David Brock

Dave has spent his career developing high-performance organizations for both startups and Fortune 25 names like IBM, HP, GE, and Microsoft. As a consultant, he is recognized as a thought leader and strategic planner who employs pragmatic methods to execute high-impact results.

Our Hosts

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.

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, CSO Pipeliner CRM, and Martha Neumeister, Social Media Strategist Pipeliner CRM.

The Secret of Knowledge Sharing
#SalesChats Episode 7

It’s more important than ever to build credibility around your persona as a professional. If you don’t have credibility as a salesperson, people aren’t going to want to buy from you. It puts you at a disadvantage over other salespeople who have a more developed and accessible personal brand. One of the absolute best ways to build credibility is to share your knowledge. It’s a great business tactic, plus it shows that you are skilled and credible. Vidar Brekke explains the secrets behind knowledge sharing in this #SalesChat with John Golden and Martha Neumeister.

Brekke explains:

• How salespeople can take their knowledge and contextualize it for certain buyers, thus becoming valuable for these particular buyers
• How to build credibility in the eyes of your customer, both for salespeople in large sales organizations and small startups alike
• The pitfalls to avoid when an organization begins trying to establish themselves as credible in the selling market
• How being authentic and genuine adds value to your role as a salesperson
• Why salespeople are reluctant towards knowledge sharing, despite it being an effective business strategy
• Knowledge is power. It becomes even more powerful when you share it. This is the basis for thought leadership and knowledge sharing. Making your knowledge available only reflects positively on you, and furthers your credibility.
• The difference between sharing data and sharing knowledge. There is an excess of data, but a lack of knowledge.
• Free advice doesn’t help someone if they can’t execute the advice. By utilizing knowledge sharing, you are showing that you are credible and can fix problems, and buyers will hire you to execute your skills.
• Finding the best tool and platform to publicize and broadcast your expertise
• The best ways to get started as a knowledge sharer

Our Guest

Vidar Brekke

Vidar Brekke is the CEO and Co-founder of Heavy Meddle. The company’s social publishing platform, Meddle, helps professionals showcase their unique insights and capabilities without the hassle of maintaining a blog. He is an experienced technology entrepreneur and entrepreneur with a focus on what’s next.

Our Hosts

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.

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, CSO Pipeliner CRM, and Martha Neumeister, Social Media Strategist Pipeliner CRM.

3 Next Generation Sales Traits to Earn SmallBiz Trust
#SalesChats Episode 6

Small to medium sized businesses (SMB) face many unique struggles in the sales world that larger business don’t have to overcome. This presents a frustrating, daunting task for business owners who want to increase their revenue, but juggle other tasks associated with running their business. Shawn Karol Sandy discusses next-generation sales traits in the small to medium size business market with John Golden and Martha Neumeister.

Sandy explores:

• Why salespeople have to wear so many hats, specifically in the SMB sphere
• How to build a strategy and increase revenue with a one or few person sales team, and no marketing team or sales manager and other employees to leverage
• How to manage change as a small business owner
• Characteristics of next-generation salespeople
• Building trust and credibility with consumers, and then transferring the rapport that you have built to others in the organization that can provide additional support
• The importance of sharing resources amongst departments and different employees in a smaller business
• How to sell what you are doing as a salesperson to the other people in your organization to ensure everyone is on board and unified in fulfilling the company objectives and presenting a cohesive front to the customer
• Building relationships built on trust, and what happens if you don’t build trust internally as a company, or with the buyer
• Empathy and emotional intelligence, and how to use these traits to your advantage
• The mistake of not speaking in terms of your buyer’s value currency
• Focusing on what’s in it for the customer
• How to self-promote and create a digital footprint that can help their buyer and show yourself as a credible salesperson

Our Guest

Shawn Karol Sandy

Shawn founded The Selling Agency after a successful sales career working on building solutions for Small Businesses. Shawn’s titles include: Market Director, Sales Director, Marketing Director, Development Director, and Entrepreneur. She focuses on organizational selling and strategies.

Our Hosts

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.

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, CSO Pipeliner CRM, and Martha Neumeister, Social Media Strategist Pipeliner CRM.

The Advantage of Uncertainty

The words uncertainty and risk can sound daunting. But, there is a way to demystify this scary topic and help people understood that uncertainty can be understood and approached. Risk management can give organizations a critical advantage over companies that ignore it, and avoid getting blindsided by situations that could be have been anticipated, managed, or mitigated. There are dozens of emerging tools and techniques for sales organizations to better understand uncertainty and risk, and use these for revenue planning. Andy Rudin and John Golden discuss sales and revenue risk in this expert sales webinar.

Embracing Uncertainty:

The automatic reaction for many sales organizations is to sweep uncertainty under the rug. But, rather than trying to ignore it, put it to work! Effective risk management is about knowing the risks that you face, prioritizing them, and then having the will to address them. This process begins with 6 key steps to embracing uncertainty and putting it to work for your company.

Step 1:

Start with a deterministic statement. A template for a deterministic statement might look like: “Our [name of goal] for [period of time] is [quantity]. A more specific example would be: “Our revenue goal for the fiscal year of 2016 is $35 million dollars.” This is something that most people should be familiar with, as all companies set this as a goal for their organization and sales team.

Step 2:

The second step is to identify areas of concern. What jeopardizes the outcome? What issues or challenges could stop you or your team in being successful? When you go over the things you’re most concerned about, it’s important to bring in your entire team, and have a collaborative discussion. Some of the most common worries of sales employees include: we might not get enough leads, our product might not be available when a customer requires it, we might not be able to sell at our list price, the sales team might not be able to engage with prospects, our average proposal value might be too low, the exchange rate for our exports might not be favorable, too few opportunities might reach the proposal stage, or that the brand might take a hit if an employee does something stupid on social media.

Step 3:

Third, prioritize your areas of concern. Whatever it is, you can prioritize it by most serious, to least. For example, not getting enough leads might be your first, most concerning priority. The average proposal value might be an area of note, but if it doesn’t rank high enough on the priority list, it may not be the task to immediately focus on.

Step 4:

For each of these priorities, take a view on a related process. If your concern is that you won’t get enough leads, the related process might be getting qualified leads from the marketing department. If you’re worried about the sales team getting enough engagement with prospects, look at the number of face-to-face appointments they have with clients. Fears of too few opportunities reaching the proposal stage can be deeper explored by considering the number of proposals that were generated. There are usually multiple related processes for each concern, but these examples highlight how to look deeper at your expected problem areas.

Step 5:

Determine the “worst case,” “most likely,” and “best case” scenarios for the processes created in step 4. For example, if your revenue goal is $35 million, you might estimate that the worst case scenario is around $18 million, the most likely scenario is $32 million, and the best case is that your company will earn $40 million. You can also predict values for each individual processes. Going back to the example of the number of qualified leads received from marketing, the worst case scenario could be 3,600, the most likely outcome is 4,000, and the best case scenario is 6,000.

Step 6:

For every minimum value, explain why it’s not possible to achieve a result that is lower. For every maximum value, explain why it’s not possible to a achieve a result that’s higher. This is a very important step because it helps managers understand volatility. In general, variables with lower volatility are considered less risky, and vice versa for variables with higher volatility. It gives more information on the range of possible outcomes, which allows sales managers to make predictions on which concerns and processes to tighten up and focus on.

For more information on how understanding risk and using it to your advantage, watch the entire expert sales webinar.

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.

New Value Drivers For 2015 and Beyond #
SalesChats Episode 5

Understanding what drives value is one of the most important things for an organization. If you can’t bring value to your customers, you can’t sell to your customers. A landmark survey of over 799 executives was conducted in order to explore buyer perceptions of value. This survey asked two questions. The first is: in the last two years, have you made a significant purchase of a product or service from someone other than the low price provider? If they said yes, they were asked: Why did you do that? What was the number one reason that you chose to do business with that supplier? Matt McDarby discusses the results of this survey with John Golden and Martha Neumeister.

McDarby explores:

• Why buyers make certain buying decisions, and why they make decisions based on things other than price
• The top three value drivers for customers: Trust, feeling the product was the best fit for the organization’s needs, and feeling as if the salesperson understood the result they wanted to achieve and could help them achieve it
• The importance of salespeople asking the customers what they want to achieve, and why many salespeople don’t do that initially
• Avoiding reliance on the product demo, and setting the tone for success when you set a customer up with a free trial
• How the changes in buyer behavior influence value drivers
• The necessity of having a variety of different ways to assess what the buyer’s expected outcome is
• Starting the process by adding value by looking for queues in buyer behavior, and then coming up with a specific and measurable next step for them to take
• What sales leaders can do to operationalize value creation on behalf of their entire sales team

Our Guest

Matt McDarby

Matt is the founder of  United Sales Resources and Managing Director at Specialized Sales System, a sales performance company focused on sales management coaching and specialized sales system development. He is the author of The Cadence of Excellence and many sales white papers and advisory briefs.

Our Hosts

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.

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.

Careers In Sales
#SalesChats Episode 4

Making sure the right people are in the right jobs is crucial for any industry, but it’s a particular challenge in the sales world. Sales managers often struggle finding and onboarding qualified candidates, which makes it difficult to have a cohesive, well functioning sales team.Chad Porter discusses careers in sales in this #Saleschat, hosted by John Golden and Martha Neumeister.

Porter discusses:

• The problems that many people have with job searches, including struggling with privacy and not having sufficient time to research and apply for jobs
• Utilizing technology in order to place the best candidates with the best companies to assist both recruiters and candidates
• Creating an employee persona
• How to locate the idea candidates, and how candidates should locate the best jobs using the data driven conclusions
• Being realistic about creating time frames and expectations
• The limitations that the cultural climate puts on hiring
• Using your resume as a marketing tool with structured, easy to understand data
• Find proactive ways as an employee to prepare yourself for your next job, even if you’re not currently looking
• Breaking through the noise in the hiring market
• Using data driven choices to make the best emotional decisions

Our Guest

Chad Porter

Chad Porter is cofounder of Invisume (the Match.com for jobs). Prior to Invisume he founded 570 Insight (a strategic sales and marketing agency) and worked in sales at eBay.

Our Hosts

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.

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, CSO Pipeliner CRM, and Martha Neumeister, Social Media Strategist Pipeliner CRM.

Sales Management Fear of Missing Out
#SalesChats Episode 3

Have FOMO (fear of missing out) on social selling? Don’t let this new tool pass you by. Barbara Giamanco explores how sales management can adopt and bring their sales team into the era of social selling in this #Saleschat, hosted by John Golden and Martha Neumeister.

Giamanco discusses:

• Social selling, how it has impacted the sales world, and why more people aren’t adopting this selling method
• How salespeople and the sales field in general adopts new technology and techniques, and specifics surrounding social selling adoption
• The ROI on social selling, and tracking success
• Finding the right platform to utilize social selling and develop their own customized path to selling successfully
• The importance of nurturing relationships, and using social media and technology to help foster connections
• Best practises for making needed connections with prospects and relevant consumers
• The right time to engage with prospects
• How to set appropriate expectations for conversations on social selling, and
• Find ways to give valuable, relevant business information for your prospect

Our Guest

Barbara Giamanco

Sales leader, keynote speaker, best-selling author, sales and social media strategist, host of Razor’s Edge and CEO of Social Centered Selling. Consistently a Top Influential Leader in Sales and Social Selling, Barb was also recognized as one of the world’s Top 65 Women Business Influencers.

Our Hosts

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.

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.