Andy Paul's Blog, page 13

719: A Profit-First Approach to Growing Sales, with Jamie Shanks.

Jamie Shanks, CEO at Sales for Life and author of SPEAR Selling: The ultimate Account-Based Sales guide for the modern digital sales professional, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In 2015, Forrester reported that 20% of B2B salespeople would have lost their jobs by 2020. Not so, it seems. Jamie discusses inside sales. Does sales growth come by adding inside reps, increasing technologies, or some other way?
We are seeing a decrease in the number of sellers hitting quota attainment. Win rates are also fairly low. But North American economies have been doing very well.
When the economy slows, companies will start thinking of increasing their bottom line with a greater return on what they have, instead of making massive investments in technology.
Jamie shares a case study about a company using AI to filter the leads given to reps in social selling. The number of leads was cut to 20% and the conversion doubled in 90 days. “Carpet bombing” is not an optimal process.
Start with your desired win rate and determine how to scale to that. Jamie says that is the part we don’t know, yet.
Jamie believes the weakest parts of sales enablement are at the sales manager/director level and the GM level. They’re running plays out of a 20-year-old playbook. They need to look at things differently and to coach better.
Jamie recommends having a profit-first mentality, as a CFO would. Work on the business, not just in it. Managers need an investor mindset. Unfortunately, a VP of Sales only lasts about 17 months, so the big picture suffers.
What tools are available to help sellers in the middle of the funnel? There are so many different ideas about how to move a deal forward. Processes don’t work in the absence of the necessary underlying human skills.
Buyers are not stage-driven. Andy cites Gartner Research on buyer enablement.
Jamie says the soft skills of selling are so hard to demonstrate that businesses don’t buy into them. Andy points to The Saleshouse for demonstrating human soft skills, such as EQ and learning, to sellers.
Jamie finished his Master’s Degree at 25 and thought he was done. At age 30, he started accumulating knowledge again and now reads a book a week. Andy reads books in a variety of fields. Jamie is trying to become a better CEO.
Jamie helps VPs of Sales rethink where they acquire things like budget. You can read about this on the Sales For Life blog.

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#719 A Profit-First Approach to Growing Sales, with Jamie Shanks.

Jamie Shanks, CEO at Sales for Life and author of SPEAR Selling: The ultimate Account-Based Sales guide for the modern digital sales professional, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In 2015, Forrester reported that 20% of B2B salespeople would have lost their jobs by 2020. Not so, it seems. Jamie discusses inside sales. Does sales growth come by adding inside reps, increasing technologies, or some other way?
We are seeing a decrease in the number of sellers hitting quota attainment. Win rates are also fairly low. But North American economies have been doing very well.
When the economy slows, companies will start thinking of increasing their bottom line with a greater return on what they have, instead of making massive investments in technology.
Jamie shares a case study about a company using AI to filter the leads given to reps in social selling. The number of leads was cut to 20% and the conversion doubled in 90 days. “Carpet bombing” is not an optimal process.
Start with your desired win rate and determine how to scale to that. Jamie says that is the part we don’t know, yet.
Jamie believes the weakest parts of sales enablement are at the sales manager/director level and the GM level. They’re running plays out of a 20-year-old playbook. They need to look at things differently and to coach better.
Jamie recommends having a profit-first mentality, as a CFO would. Work on the business, not just in it. Managers need an investor mindset. Unfortunately, a VP of Sales only lasts about 17 months, so the big picture suffers.
What tools are available to help sellers in the middle of the funnel? There are so many different ideas about how to move a deal forward. Processes don’t work in the absence of the necessary underlying human skills.
Buyers are not stage-driven. Andy cites Gartner Research on buyer enablement.
Jamie says the soft skills of selling are so hard to demonstrate that businesses don’t buy into them. Andy points to The Saleshouse for demonstrating human soft skills, such as EQ and learning, to sellers.
Jamie finished his Master’s Degree at 25 and thought he was done. At age 30, he started accumulating knowledge again and now reads a book a week. Andy reads books in a variety of fields. Jamie is trying to become a better CEO.
Jamie helps VPs of Sales rethink where they acquire things like budget. You can read about this on the Sales For Life blog.

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718: Social Dynamic Selling, with Rylee Meek

Rylee Meek, marketing consultant, sales coach, and author, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Rylee’s first sales jobs were one-on-one, so his commissions were limited by the appointments he could fit into the hours of a day.
Rylee answered an ad to work three days a week and make $10,000. That introduced him to one-to-many group presentation selling. The opportunity was for selling home remodeling packages.
That was a light-bulb moment for Rylee. He didn’t get the job but within two months, he had put together his own company doing dinner seminars. It wasn’t as easy as he had thought to fill a room with qualified people.
Crafting the right message to take a group of the right people down an emotional journey to make a buying decision is different than one-on-one selling. Rylee came up with the term Social Dynamic Selling to describe it.
Rylee had 26 sales crews over 38 states giving seminars selling residential home insulation and LED lighting packages to help people save on their utility bills. The sale prices averaged $5,000 to $6,000.
Rylee picked the locations, negotiated dinners with restaurants, sent direct mail, took reservations, made confirmation calls, and gave presentations. The goal was 15 to 20 people per dinner, from about 4,500 mail pieces.
Rylee calls it “fishing with corndogs.” The “corndog” is a free dinner. Rylee has unsuccessfully tried events without dinners. The dynamic of breaking bread together helps build the system of “know, like, and trust.”
Today Rylee helps clients run the seminars. A seminar takes two months of planning. With every new client, Rylee starts with the end in mind and then “backs into it.” The budget works with a big-ticket sale item.
At the dinner, the client is the ringleader of their circus. It’s up to them to perform; Rylee’s team provides support. Prospect attention spans are short, so things move quickly and precisely.
A group setting is a neutral environment where people don’t feel they’re being sold something under pressure. People sharing a meal in a group form social connections. Rylee tells of the importance of the social dynamic.
Rylee explains the types of services he offers. Holding eight dinner events is the standard. It is a predictable, sustainable, and scalable selling system. Rylee scaled it to over $12 million in sales in the second year.
Can you use online marketing to invite people instead of direct mail? Rylee finds that paid online ads cost much more per eventual attendee. People commit at a greater rate, calling in from direct mail, with a confirmation call.

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717: The Truth about Selling, with Mike Weinberg

Apply Powerful Principles. Win More New Sales, joins me again on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In his new book, Mike warns of nouveau experts. He rails against nonsensical sales advice found all over LinkedIn and contrasts it with the best practices he sees every day. The first myth is that prospecting by phone doesn’t work.
Mike refers to Episode #712 with Steve Norman on sales strategies for the mMike Weinberg, Consultant, Coach, Speaker, and author of three Amazon #1 Bestsellers, including Sales Truth: Debunk the Myths. iddle of the funnel and recommends Steve Norman’s book. Andy encourages CROs to increase conversion rates instead of accepting a 20% win rate.
Keenan wrote, “No discovery; no demo.” Mike says salespeople are too compliant. He warns against falling into the ‘procurement pit.’ Differentiate yourself and your approach. Push back against objections.
Mike asks, Where are the sales mentors? Managers are not developing their people. Andy brings up discovery and qualification. Good discovery requires tactics. Mike cites Amp Up Your Sales. There are no shortcuts.
Mike shares a story of confusion and miscommunication between executives and their procurement team about what they really bought. In 100% of situations Mike has seen, the procurement team is the enemy of the sale.
Andy tells how to make negotiations procurement-proof. Wrap up the scope of the deal so tightly with the client that when it gets to procurement, it is untouchable. Do the trade-offs first. He compares it to a game of Jenga.
Mike talks about compromising to get the best result in the deal. He wants to win every deal he can and to produce the best outcome for the prospect. He talks about dealing with procurement to get the right outcome.
Andy relates how non-compliant he was as a salesperson. Mike says that the right talent has to be in the right seats so the manager can trust them. Also, you need the right manager to trust people over metrics.
“99% of all statistics only tell 49% of the story.”

— Ron DeLegge II. Andy thinks it is less. How do we get past anecdotal thinking? Daniel Kahneman had to repudiate “priming” because studies were not replicable.
A study that buyers get 57% of the way down the buying journey before talking to a vendor was not replicable. Andy had a friend study specialized prospects vs. targeted accounts. The targeted accounts performed best.
Sales “experts” from Silicon Valley have a tech method. Sales methods are quite different in fields where BDRs and playbooks are not involved. In companies that Mike coaches, the top salespeople do their own prospecting.
Mike says you have to own the whole funnel. Use any appropriate, ethical means necessary to get in front of somebody for a discovery meeting. Stop whining about your product and your pricing. Start selling it.

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716: Why and How to Build a Massive Social Following, with Brendan Kane

Brendan Kane, growth strategist, keynote speaker and author of One Million Followers: How I built a Massive Social Following in 30 Days, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Brendan has been using social media for corporations and celebrities for 15 years. He took the methods he created for major clients and applied them to people starting from zero who want to bring value to the world.
The content you generate solidifies your brand credibility and your position as a thought leader. It does not generate leads; it puts you in front of your client. Its real value is in brand-building over the long term.
Andy suggests if you are unsure about creating content, start by sharing relevant content on LinkedIn that represents your point of view.
Mindset is the starting point. Why are you creating content? Why are you building a following? What does your ROI look like? For Brendan, the goal ROI of getting a million followers in 30 days was to publish a book.
Brendan’s efforts led to closing a literary agent, publishing the book, and speaking around the world. That opened up the opportunity for press and podcast interviews such as Accelerate, which may lead to more revenue.
How does this help you to increase your sales, or to get your next speaking gig, etc.? If you hate social media, don’t use it. If you can’t enjoy all the work and dedication that goes into it, you will ultimately fail in social media.
Brendan never sells. He communicates how he provides value. He tries to understand how the person on the other side of the table perceives their job, their goals, and their obstacles and he speaks to them in that language.
Brendan tells of when he reached out to the head of media at Disney and offered value to her with specific projected numbers of savings and performance. He did business with her at Disney and later, at Xbox and Fox.
Bad behavior on LinkedIn backfires. It is not a pitching platform. Use it to network and provide value that solves problems. Have a point of view to build your brand but, first and foremost, provide sharable, educational value.
Run your social media as celebrities do. 1. Understand your ‘why.’ 2. Run a competitive analysis. 3. Test your content. Learn for yourself what principles work before or instead of outsourcing your media account.
Engage on LinkedIn with likes, comments, and shares and drive engagement for your content by tagging people for comments. Better engagement makes your content rise on the platform. It has to be great content to engage.
Platforms weight video heavily but it comes down to compelling content that resonates. If you’re an amazing writer, write. If you’re an amazing photographer, share your photos, if you’re great at podcasting, podcast.

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715: Skills for Sales Sherpas, with David J.P. Fisher

David J.P. Fisher, sales expert, keynote speaker, and author, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

How does empathy fit into selling? David gives the context of empathy in sales conversations and in the client’s point of view. Andy cites Paul Bloom’s book. Against Empathy, on rational compassion.
Very successful sellers “get it” without having to “live it” with the customer. You have to have a dispassionate approach to guide the buyer through their journey.
Andy speaks of curiosity and listening to understand. In Humans Are Underrated, Geoff Colvin quotes an Oracle executive: “Empathy is the critical 21st-Century skill.”
David contrasts processes with empathy. Avoid using false familiarity with a customer. Empathy does not make you a close friend. Ask several follow-up questions to understand what a situation means for your prospect.
Empathy does not mean extending discounts!
The buyer needs to feel sincerity, authenticity, and empathy from you, in order to trust you. Empathy stems from listening. Be curious about people. Andy blames bad parenting for lack of skills. David includes bad schooling.
Andy recalls a point from Anthony Tjan’s point from Good People. Andy had difficulty selling during a time when he was having difficulties in his personal life.
Be intentional about your empathetic skills. Be as human with your prospects as you are human at home. Always ask the next question and take notes. “What does ‘X’ mean to you?” “What effect does that have on you?”
Managers, debrief your salespeople after their conversations, especially after no-sales. “Why didn’t you get the sale?” Ask, “Why?” again. “What else?” and “Tell me more.” The salesperson will then ask the prospect.
Asking open-ended questions forces you to listen and understand. You should have a process but it should be different every time because of the answers. David suggests it should be modular, not linear.
It’s your responsibility to cultivate human selling skills. Skills provide you with the best questions to ask based on the responses you receive. David notes the LinkedIn 2018 Emerging Jobs Report. People skills are the most critical.
People think hard skills are more important to their future success. Technology will not solve their deficiencies. “Master the art of being more intensely human.” — Geoff Colvin

 

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714: A Holistic Approach to Sales, with David Masover.

David Masover, author of The Salesman’s Guide to Dating: A Sales Book About Making Connections… With an Unexpected Twist!, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

About David in Buda, Hungary, and Andy’s Hungarian connection.
Why has sales training not evolved in America beyond “asking good questions and being curious”? Why does every new generation have to be taught these things? David shares his development in sales since 1991.
The basics are usually “assumed away.” Companies don’t have a passionate culture for learning and study. There is a lack of focus on the core basics and fundamentals.
Selling is about people. David cites Dan Pink on facts and true facts. Andy talks about correlations without causes.
David “discovered” the sales process using the scientific method. Later, somebody told him it was the sales process. He thinks of it more as a sales framework.
Should more effort be spent at the top-of-the-funnel or at the bottom-of-the-funnel? Can we scale the process to a higher close target than 20%?
David describes front-loading sales efforts. Rather than setting a desired close rate, solve customer problems early and work towards the close.
What does winning look like? What has to happen at each step along the way to the ultimate outcome? Andy calls it reaching the “deciding to make a change” with the customer. Win that decision to win the sale.
David shares his experience with sales, consulting, management and sales again, including coaching reps. David has seen too many people mechanically reading down a script.
Are you creating the opportunity to score? Andy relates it to soccer. Andy blames the corporate culture of the sales process. Activity metrics constrain innovation. Success comes when salespeople treat customers like people.
David wants to see more sales coaching. Andy says managers coach on opportunities rather than coaching on skills. Andy says managers should divide their time on Process, Opportunities, People, and Education.
David recommends a holistic approach. Look at what leads to the output, not just at the output. Andy talks about productivity vs. metrics or revenue vs. activity.

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713: Join the Sales Rebellion, with Dale Dupree

Dale Dupree, the legendary Copier Warrior, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Dale is known as the Copier Warrior, a title he picked up from selling copiers for his father’s company. Dale covers his career path (including lead singer in Heavy Metal band Imperial) from then until now.
Dale explains his vision for the Sales Rebellion, based on his sales walk. He emphasizes the humanity of “the true form of sales,” in cadences, processes, and interactions.
Selling is basic human interaction. Dale warns against having a selfish mindset. Technology can be a crutch.
Year after year, the percentage of reps making quota falls. Dale describes the questions sales reps ask him. He says their biggest problem is they have stopped thinking about the buyer. Downplay the processes and really interact.
Top performers are motivated more by service, accomplishments, and achievements than by money. The money comes after the performance.
Andy notes that training focuses on top-of-funnel activities but no one wins a sale on the initial outreach call. Training is needed in discovery, needs analysis, qualification, and disqualification. Sellers are ‘lost.’
Dale says salespeople don’t know how to set up a third appointment or a presentation close. They don’t know what questions to ask. Dale and Andy have had years where they didn’t make a cold call and still sold a lot.
Dale says the problem is people are looking for new ways to prospect because the old ways of prospecting aren’t working; they don’t think about what to do with the lead.
Instead of maximizing the number of people in the pipeline, try increasing the percentage of leads that close. Dale talks about hurdles along the sales process. Why does it get down to price? Are we buyer-centric?
Dale talked about the approach his father gave him one day: This is the price for these reasons. This is what I will do for you. It’s all about the relationship. When Dale approached the customer that way, the customer bought.
‘Handling objections’ should be replaced with ‘answering questions.’ Every objection is really a question. Solve real problems for the customer.
Dale invites listeners to read his funny and wise copier sales stories at Dale Dupree on LinkedIn, follow him @SalesRebellion on social media, and listen to his Selling Local podcast.

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712: Sales Strategies for the Future, with Steve Norman

Steve Norman, B2B sales consultant, speaker, and author of Future Proof Sales Strategy: 7 Steps to Rise Above the Chaos, and Transform Your Team and Take Charge of Your Career, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Steve wrote the book Future Proof Sales Strategy to help B2B organizations get up to date and competitive and to adapt to change. A team is a living, changing organism. Be very serious about managing change; don’t miss a step.
Steve talks about non-specialized and specialized sales structures. Andy asks if the right people are doing the outreach. Steve says the older ways of prospecting are getting much harder as customers avoid salespeople.
Steve suggests a field salesperson, working with the inside salesperson, is required at a certain price point. Andy and Steve share their perspectives as former field salespersons.
The inside salesperson calls on the field sales specialist to make a call when it is worthwhile. Multiple inside salespersons work with one field salesperson.
Steve expects the field salesperson to have one or two good meetings a day set up by inside sales, while also setting their own appointments.
The book lists steps to future-proof sales. Employ the right sales structure. Recruit and promote the right talent. Assessments and aptitude tests help. Steve says to use structured interviews and give a sample work task.
Andy suggests how to improve sales hiring by tracking hiring data against the sales results of the reps that were hired. Sales forecasting skills could also be improved by tracking forecasts to results. Most companies don’t try.
Another step is to Develop high-converting middle-of-the-funnel (MOFu) capabilities. Steve explains specialization with regard to MOFu activities while working with buying committees.
Who should negotiate a deal? Andy recommends using contract professionals. Salespeople need to be skilled in trade-offs, bringing in other elements away from pricing.
Qualification, discovery, and needs analysis are skills needed for any salesperson to be future-proofed. Stay on top of change by continually learning proactively.
Steve talks about gap analysis and closing.
Where are the sales conferences on qualification and discovery? Steve and Andy consider putting one together.

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711: Generate Natural Business Referrals, with Stacey Brown Randall

Stacey Brown Randall, speaker, podcast host, and author of Generating Business Referrals Without Asking, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The best trigger for a referral is when your customer sees someone who has a problem and the customer knows you can help that person to solve it. Reps cannot control when a genuine trigger for a referral occurs.
A manufactured trigger, such as asking for referrals, feels uncomfortable and fake. Stacey has a five-step system to create triggers using the psychology of why referrals are given.
In order to receive a meaningful referral from someone, you first have to have a relationship with them and build trust with them and they must understand what you do and who you can help.
Before trying Stacey’s referral plan, be really clear about what your client experience is like and about building relationships with your referral sources. Your sources can be your clients or centers of influence in your network.
Stacey shares ideas about how many referrals and referral sources you need and how you can grow center-of-influence referral sources. It starts with being top-of-mind with them and building relationships.
Stacey teaches a master class on a process to turn clients into referral sources and how to turn centers of influence into referral sources. Identify with them, connect with them, meet face-to-face, and see how you can help them.
Be a giver, not a taker. Really understand their business and look for opportunities to give value to them. Stacey keeps a running number list of sources she is developing and a ‘keeping warm’ list she contacts often.
If you want to know someone, find someone you know who can make an introduction for you. You can ask for introductions but never for referrals. Plant referral seeds for people to think about you in a referral perspective.
Stacey shares one example of a script you can use at an event. Stacey has a free Referral Ninja Quiz you can take on her website. It’s all about weaving in the right basic language to plant referral seeds that will grow.
Stacey shares the steps. Step 1, know who your referral sources are; 2, properly and immediately thank someone who sends you a referral; 3, build an intentional, long-term plan for taking care of your sources.
Step 4, plant referral seeds using the right words; 5, Systemize the steps as much as possible so the plan, the touchpoints, and the outreach actually happen. You will be involved because it is your relationship. Use a process.
Your business will not be able to rely only on referrals for lead generation. Focus on metrics and activities that will generate the best results for you. Referrals come as part of a long-term plan.

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