Andy Paul's Blog, page 30

#564 Improve Your Close Rates and Build Your Brand. With Chris Smith.

Chris Smith, CEO of Curaytor, and author of the best-selling book, The Conversion Code: Capture Internet Leads, Create Quality Appointments, Close More Sales, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[3:26] Chris says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps today is distraction. Reps need to focus on meaningful conversations with humans. Chris says technology, used correctly, makes it easier, if you work on engagement.

[6:11] AI may start conversations and warm people up, but it doesn’t close sales. Know your numbers. Use digital activities to help salespeople talk to more people.

[8:44] Chris gives an outline of Curaytor. It is a turn-key marketing outsource site. Curaytor has a team and a network of business owners who can use each other’s best ads with a click.

[10:44] Chris explains the Curaytor CAB process. Curaytor helps you Create amazing Content, run effective Ads, and send effective Blast emails. This makes selling easier using data-driven decisions with the resources of a community.

[12:31] Curaytor’s ICP is a successful small business that wants to be more successful but doesn’t have time for digital. Curaytor started from Chris’s influential real estate blog, Tech Savvy Agent. People wanted him to market for them.

[14:34] Chris talks about his book, The Conversion Code. People don’t know how to navigate the digital landscape, so he wrote a book about it, in sections for leads, appointments, and sales. There’s a science to selling.

[15:59] Your job in sales is to get people more emotionally excited than the price, during the time you have their attention. It involves a set of factors that Chris explains.

[17:15] ‘Belly-to-belly’ interactions are still as important as ever, but you will have fewer of them if you are not good on social platforms first, to get the attention of your prospects. The internet magnifies both greatness and mediocrity.

[21:28] Build a great business that creates a great brand. Market what you did to build your business. That improves your brand. It is a cycle.

[24:00] Chris comments on the professionalism of texting with your contacts. People check texts more readily than emails, and texts are more immediate. Don’t let replies to your website sit for hours without your contacting them. Text them.

[26:28] Chris coaches salespeople. When they find a method that works every time, they stick with it. Texting works, if they give it a try. A phone method that works is ARP: Acknowledge, Respond, and Pivot back to what you were saying.

[29:25] Respond, then pivot. A sales script is a framework for a better conversation. Wing it, after you’re making $10K a month using the script. Bill Belichick knows the first 20 plays and the last 2 plays, and the rest, Tom Brady has some leeway.

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#563. Leverage Social Media in Account-Based Selling. With Garrett Mehrguth.

Garrett Mehrguth, CEO of Directive Consulting, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[2:46] Garrett says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps today is differentiation — presenting your niche and value proposition, and including content that adds value to the prospect.

[3:53] Garrett tells how to create differentiation. The human-to-human connection is first, but differentiation comes from showing how you’ve solved similar problems for others.

[5:14] Garrett discusses increasing revenue potential in every stage of the pipeline through the use of social media. He explains how Facebook ads target can your CRM contacts.

[10:06] Garrett gives numbers for his own Facebook usage for top-of-funnel awareness.

[11:50] Garrett says that Facebook ads give him the best cost per response. He notes their features compared to Twitter and LinkedIn ads. Use graphics with a professional appearance.

[14:23] Garrett explains the essential nature of the call to action and the landing page. Garrett uses dual offers on the landing page of his calls to action.

[16:49] There are different offers for different personas. Garrett gives an explanation of the outreach to personas at different levels.

[21:07] Garrett talks about pitching Andy to get on the Accelerate! Podcast, and how he did it.

[21:39] What is Garrett’s ‘ask’ for a Facebook ad? Garrett wants to get the prospect on a call, to establish for them that they are a good fit.

[23:07] Garrett’s immediate target is to grow the business, through new hiring. He explains how he has delegated hiring.

[24:54] Garrett elaborates on social proof. Watch your keywords. The highest close rates are coming from sites where social proof (reviews) are present.

[26:56] There are alternatives to Captera for smaller companies. Garrett points out how Clutch.co works, and other directories with reviews.

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#562. How to Generate Product Qualified Leads. With Bridget Gleason and Mitch Morando.

Bridget Gleason is VP of Sales for Logz.io and my regular partner on Front Line Fridays.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[2:05] Bridget is joined on this episode by special return guest

Mitch Morando, CEO, and Founder of Whalr, the exclusive sponsor of Front Line Fridays. Whalr focuses on Product Qualified Leads and watches product usage for sales cues.

[4:43] A SaaS company with a freemium product can use Whalr to analyze the SaaS usage, and the firmographic data to determine PQLs to engage in a sales outreach.

[5:09] Bridget shares her experience with product use data. Mitch learned the PQL technique from game developers using player telemetry to build immersive games. He started applying the principles to his sales teams years ago.

[5:23] The ICP is a developer of freemium products for engineers and their sales team aimed at the enterprise.

[7:32] Mitch recommends best practices for sales engineers approaching engineers, and sales reps approaching management. These conversations happen by email, GitHub posts, and SMS chat.

[11:66] Bridget says Logz.io uses use text and private Slack channels. Some sales reps use the title customer success engineer for engineers and learn the technical jargon. It’s a different conversation than with the VP of Engineering.

[14:02] What music is on Mitch’s playlist? Only one thing: Pearl Jam. Mitch speaks of how well they treat their fan club members at concerts.

[16:51] Mitch’s favorite sales book is Influence, by Robert Cialdini. Mitch has every new salesperson read this book. His favorite non-sales book is Boyd, by Robert Coram, about the fighter pilot, theoretician, and strategist who introduced OODA loops.

[22:04] Mitch asks for Andy’s and Bridgets favorite books. Andy’s is anything by Shakespeare and Harold Bloom’s book about Shakespeare. Bridget loves Les Miserables, and StartUp Nation, about Israel.

[23:21] Andy’s recommended business book is Triggers, by Marshall Goldsmith on behavior change. Bridget recommends Winner’s Dream, by Bill McDermott a memoir of his success journey in business.

[26:17] Mitch’s words to live by: “We come from a time where you were expected to make your own way. We didn’t wait around for people to do something for us.” — Unknown. Mitch is focused on improving his skills in qualifying and closing.

[29:00] Mitch asks about “the July lull.” Bridget says to have a plan for a lull. Andy spent years selling to Europe. You have to pierce the veil. He did a lot of business in August in Europe — maybe not in France! Mitch always had good sales in the lull.

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#561. Buyer Aware Account-Based Selling. With Darlene Mann.

Darlene Mann, Co-founder, President, and COO at Akoonu, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[3:08] Darlene says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps today is the complexity of the selling process to create value leading to a sale. The mechanization distracts reps from the heart of selling — understanding and helping buyers.

[4:30] Is the sales stack too complex? Darlene sees two sides to the issue. They buyer team faces greater complexity in buying, from many competing vendors offering feature-rich services. Personal connection is the key.

[7:03] The sales stack serves the seller, but where are the tools to serve the buyer’s need for making a good decision quickly? Darlene says Akoonu factors in the buyer and seller, each with their own activities. It helps the seller to understand the buyer.

[10:15] There may be an opportunity for an entrepreneur to develop tools to engage the seller and buyer systems in collaboration through the buying journey.

[10:50] Akoonu means ‘content.’ It looks at content the digital marketing world is producing, in an effort to reshape account-based selling for sales organizations. It is suited for complex, long-cycle sales, not for transactional unit sales.

[12:48] Akoonu collects data from Salesforce, email, calendars, and other sales enablement tools, to construct a buyer’s journey in alignment with your sales process, showing an opportunity map, and suggesting next steps with each contact.

[14:20] Darlene discusses Akoonu’s ROI. Giving the rep better views of the buyer puts them in a better position to close. Two extra deals a year will pay for Akoonu. Buyer context that persists is being created. Deal reviews are quick and efficient.

[18:02] Does the stack help sales? Darlene says the marketing side of the stack is essential. The sales side of the stack facilitates account-based selling. Reps are using the CRM mainly to store data, while the stack enables sales efficiency.

[21:37] Reps are still figuring out how to use the stack to make account-based selling efficient and productive. Darlene explains marketing automation, and leads, vs. opportunities.

[25:45] Distinguish between tools and best practices. A smart organization aligns marketing and sales, so outreach is researched, and contacts are personalized to specific needs.

[30:67] Use the technology to help position yourself as buyer-centric. Understand the business and needs, and get feedback to help the buyer make a good decision to buy.

[32:16] Customers change through the act of selling to them. They become more informed and intelligent about their needs. Be thoughtful, mindful, and deliberate as their ideas about their needs change through greater product knowledge.

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#560. The Value of Salespeople According to B2B Buyers. With Steve Martin and Katie Bullard.

Steve Martin, technology sales author, sales researcher, Founder of Heavy Hitter Sales Training, and adjunct Professor at USC, and Katie Bullard, Chief Growth Officer at DiscoverOrg, join me on this episode of #Accelerate! to discuss their new report on B2B buyer preferences.

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

[4:01] People hear Steve Martin, and they smile. He has to go by Steve W. Martin. Steve says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps today is customer attention span. Attention spans have been shrinking for years, influenced by technology.

[5:46] Katie explains the DiscoverOrg report, “Why Didn’t They Buy: A Deep Dive into Buyer Preferences, and Implications for Salespeople,” primarily authored by Steve. The goal is to share knowledge of buyer behaviors to adapt seller behaviors.

[8:18] The report notes that buyers rank feature sets among competing products as equal. Factors other than product determine the sale. The sales cycle is the process of ferreting out the truth from confusing product claims.

[9:53] Buyers are more informed today than ever. One of the findings of the report is the influence of the internet, and how buyers use it. Steve says generalizations have exceptions. Katie talks about selling to sales, vs. selling to marketing.

[13:41] Selling to personas encourages rigidity. People belonging to a persona are not identical. Sales methods fit the pitch around the persona, not around people. Selling fits around people, not personas, so, human connection is vital.

[17:14] In our lifetime, AI will not replace reps. The report gives six topic areas. First is Risk. Buyers see most reps as average or poor. People with degrees in the sciences have a lower view of salespeople, which affects their tolerance for risk.

[23:13] Buyer perception of reps and buyer willingness to take risks are inversely proportional. At the low end of risk are government and health care. At the high end are fashion, entertainment, and real estate. RFPs protect against reps.

[25:09] Group Dynamics is the second topic. There are several influencers on a buying committee, but the main one to convince is ‘the bully with the juice.’ This dominant person is not afraid to go against the flow. Steve explains how they buy.

[32:09] Vendor Market Position Advantages is the third topic. Buyers don’t care if you are the first, second, third, or lower in your industry market, just so your name is known. Buyers do not like unknown quantities.

[36:39] Topic four is Websites. Topic five is Selling Style. Buyers prefer friendly, moderately knowledgeable reps over personally cold, highly knowledgeable reps, and charismatic but unknowledgeable reps. Fit your approach to the buyer.

[42:23] Topic six is Buyer’s Regret. Buyer’s remorse is largely not the salesperson’s fault. Steve asked buyers to explain their buyer’s remorse. He found 10 root causes, and 70% of the time, the root cause was an action of the buyer.

[44:54] It is critical to manage expectations throughout the process, and especially, right after the contract for a complex order is signed, so there is mutual understanding of the deal, and no confusion. Buyers have a short attention span.

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#559. How to ‘Ingage’ Your Sales Team and Customers. With Evan Hackel.

Evan Hackel, CEO of Ingage Consulting, CEO of Tortal Training, and author of the book, Ingaging Leadership: 21 Steps to Elevate Your Business, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

Key Takeaways 

[2:49] Evan says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps today is focus. Salespeople have too much to say about product. They spend way too much time talking, and too little, listening for what the customer wants.

[3:42] So much content is given to reps that is uninteresting. Products are becoming more complicated. You can spend hours explaining a feature-rich product, when only a fraction of the features interest the customer.

[4:56] Reps end up distracting the buyer by giving them too much to talk about. Listen to what the customer wants to talk about.

[5:20] Spelling and grammar errors, and bad copy, are very awkward. Have a communication expert review what you plan to send to customers, before you send it.

[7:09] The ‘I’ in ‘Ingaging’ stands for Involvement, so your staff, customers, and vendors can become involved in your success. Senior staff who want to ‘ingage’ the company in strategic planning, solicit ideas from the ones doing the actual work.

[11:50] Leaders and managers fear being exposed as frauds. They don’t want their superiors wondering why a staffer came up with better ideas than a manager. But the staff are very pleased to be involved. Evan gives a successful case study.

[17:14] ‘Ingagement’ is coaching, more than direction. When the team builds the plan through coaching, they believe and execute it. Evan has three questions for ‘ingaging’ his team.

[19:35] Evan also has a process for ‘ingaging’ customers. He sets up advisory councils of B2B customers. For consumers, you would do focus groups for a similar result. The goal is to get the customers’ perspectives on the company.

[21:22] Get people together. Evan holds one live council a year, plus web meetings that are updates. Evan asks customers to serve three-year terms. Customers do 80% of the talking.

[25:54] Virtual selling, with no customer contact, leads to increased churn. Relationship-building keeps sales human. Evan likes to have multiple contacts in an organization, so the customer is not lost after a personnel change.

[27:32] Someone from Ingage Consulting visits clients once a year, and usually sees them twice more at trade shows. Other meetings are by Zoom, if possible. Evan describes what Tortal Training is and how it helps client training and e-learning.

[29:29] Andy suggests that top leadership needs to stay involved in a customer’s ‘ingagement,’ if they start, or it is seen as a withdrawal. Evan mentions the difficulty of visiting clients around the country or world. Evan likes trade shows.

 

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#558. A Millennial Sales Rep Joins Us to Talk about Selling. With Bridget Gleason.

Bridget Gleason is VP of Sales for Logz.io and my regular partner on Front Line Fridays.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[2:15] Bridget — who feels fantastic today, and just had a great family reunion — is joined by special guest Josh Phillips, head of the account management team at Logz.io in Tel Aviv. Josh is on the customer front line for technical help and other needs. [7:06] There are a lot of people skills in sales, and a lot of sales aspects in nearly every job. Josh says his generation is used to short-term targets and goals. Sales speaks to his generation.

[8:23]  Josh is from Manchester, United Kingdom. Andy and Josh bond over the Red Devils and the Romelu Lukaku transfer. Being a striker in football is just like being a sales guy. You’re the pointy end of the stick, and you need to be consistent.

[9:47] Josh says the stereotype of Millennial entitlement is real, for a specific reason. He talks about the educational process of constant targets to hit, for which you get Pavlovian rewards.

[13:58] Josh tells tips he learned getting his Master’s: If you only do as you’re told, you’ll excel; but that doesn’t work in the office. Millennials are surprised to be micromanaged; their supervisors are surprised Millennials want to be unsupervised.

[15:56] Andy says Boomers and Gen Xers misinterpret Millennials. Millennials want to know why things have to be ‘this way.’ That is motivated curiosity, not entitlement. They believe more in a meritocracy.

[18:01] Bridget agrees with the concept of meritocracy, and contrasts that with the Boomer mentality of ‘doing the time’ for the eventual reward. Millennial impatience is a good thing.

[19:45] Josh says technology increases transparency for a workplace of meritocracy. CRM lets everyone see everyone else’s work. Andy and Bridget remember the ever-present sales board. There has always been a ranking.

[21:29] Josh knows very few people who have been six years at one company. Andy notes that people not making their numbers were dropped quickly. You qualified to go to training.

[27:22] Josh says, the more tech comes into sales, the more it distracts the process. The customer buys the person, and the benefits they sell, not the product.

[28:58] Buyers think the Millennials are great at tech, but not as good at connecting with people. Josh says knowledge doesn’t close a deal. Bridget taught him not to have ‘happy ears.’ Proper listening is critical to selling.

[31:16] Technology can only replace some aspects of sales. Successful sales reps will be more human. Josh does not see his customers, so he looks into their social profile.

[32:34] Josh uses video on conferences sometimes. If the customer turns on the video feed, so does Josh. Some only want to chat or do email.

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#557. How to Create Accurate and Realistic Sales Forecasts. With David Griffin.

David Griffin, CEO of Vortini, a sales forecasting system, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[2:33] David says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps today is that the level of competition increases quarterly, making it difficult to achieve predictable income. The buyer is also more informed, both on you and on your competition.

[4:32] Vortini came to be when David was doing sales data analytics. David wanted to specialize, as it is a crowded market. He looked for core business processes that were not well-supported with software solutions, and found forecasting.

[5:08] David sees heavy investments in CRM, and pipelines of opportunities. However, pipelines don’t tell the whole story for a solid forecast. Managers create spreadsheets, send them to opportunity owners, and get their forecasts a week later.

[7:20] Forecasts matter because revenue expectations must be met. SaaS has issues around staffing, and manufacturing has problems around inventory, if forecasts are inaccurate.

[9:34] Vortini takes data from the CRM, compares it to history, and considers collaboration for pipeline deliverability. Then it creates a scenario around the pipeline and resources.

[14:44] Andy cites Philip Tetlock, saying that we should train people to become better forecasters. It is a skill that can be learned. Vortini focuses on history and information available, to step through the assumptions that create a forecast.

[16:34] Reps are nervous about committing. Under-forecasting is as great an issue as over-forecasting. It can mean canceled orders if the goods or services are not available on time. Corporate forecasts are built from many smaller forecasts.

[18:22] Forecasting tip: first, ensure opportunities are realistic and achievable. The last day of the quarter is not a credible close date. Are targets set too high by management? Setting targets 15% higher this year than last is a hope, not a target.

[21:58] It is essential to manage biases. Don’t put the forecast in a spreadsheet. Keep it in the CRM, so forecasts and the quarterly results can be compared within the CRM. People can see their bias by looking at the evidence.

[24:24] Make sure you are staying connected to the overall plan. Are your quarterly forecasts supporting the annual forecast? David compares day 70 in history with day 70 of the quarter and day 70 of the forecast. Watch for going off track.

[27:17] It might be better to work on fewer opportunities, and do a better job on them. Carefully convert as many as possible. Don’t burn your way through them. They represent the base of future wealth to the company.

[30:09] The forecast that works uses machine learning to look at history and make defensible assertions about times to close. Forecasting does not say a quick close is impossible, but that it does not match past observed behaviors. Talk about it.

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#556. Achieving Excellence in Work and Life. With Subir Chowdhury.

Subir Chowdhury, CEO of ASI Consulting Group and author of The Difference: When Good Enough Isn’t Enough, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[3:12] Subir says the single biggest challenge facing sales professionals today is understanding the customer; wanting to make sales too quickly, rather than truly understanding what the customer needs are. They must listen first, then sell.

[4:14] Subir tells why he wrote his 15th book, after a career of process improvement, saving companies billions of dollars. He talks about seeing some companies hit a wall, with less improvement, even though they had good processes to use.

[8:00] Subir noticed excellent companies have many people who have a caring mindset. Subir lists the attributes of a caring mindset: Straightforward, Thoughtful, Accountable, Resolve.

[8:14] There is a story in the book about toothpicks, and how people discard them. Subir ties the success of a process to the prevailing mindset of the people using it.

[13:13] We lack confidence in the institutions that serve us, and we accept an indifferent mindset on the part of the people who serve us. It’s a leadership crisis. Subir says don’t wait for a leader. Think of a good thing you can do for someone today.

[16:15] Subir explains what he means by Straightforward. Be honest in everything. Fear and pride, or ego sometimes lead to dishonesty. Subir quotes Randy Pausch, “It’s interesting the secrets you decide to reveal at the end of your life.”

[18:15] Subir has a story of a CPO who used others to succeed, firing some and causing some to quit the organization. When faced with a terminal cancer, he sought advice from Subir how to earn forgiveness. Subir tells what happened next.

[21:22] Be straightforward first with yourself, then with others, in a meaningful way. Subir talks about being Thoughtful. Listening requires observing first, and then understanding with empathy. Subir has a United Airlines story.

[24:38] It’s very important to find your self-respect and self awareness, and what you can do for other human beings. Just do the basic things as a human being. Do little services for people. Subir recalls helping a boy looking for food in a gutter.

[27:17] Accountability is taking personal responsibility. Mother Teresa said, “Do not wait for leaders. Do it alone.” Do what you can to make things right. Trisha Prabhu, age 13, developed the ReThink app against bullying. It reduces cyberbullying by 93%.

[29:48] Do your actions, as a rep, inspire others to want to do business with you? Accept responsibility, then act. Think deeply about the consequences of the choice, positive or negative. Always have high expectations for your actions.

[32:30] Resolve is the the determination and perseverance to meet challenges. Subir achieved his graduate degree with no money, after asking the chairs of 21 university departments for a fellowship. Once you have resolve, anything is achievable.

 

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#555. How to Be a Power Connector. With Judy Robinett.

Judy Robinett, startup funding expert, advisor to investors and startups, and author of a great book, titled, How to Be a Power Connector: The 5+50+100 Rule for Turning Your Business Network into Profits, joins me on this episode of #Accelerate!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[2:24] Judy says the single biggest challenge facing sales reps today is getting sales in the first place. New technology is overwhelming. Meeting someone face-to-face means a 10X faster connection and the possibility of getting your ask.

[3:04] Andy recently wrote about a new sales tool, called ‘meeting people face-to-face!’ It got a very positive response. People have to know you, like you, trust you.

[4:46] Tech tools are about the seller. The focus should be on helping the customer gather information to make a good decision with the least investment. Judy says the tools are coming. She recently judged a pitch event in NY about AI/VR.

[5:58] Geoff Colvin writes that people become more valuable than AI for face-to-face connection. Judy shares an experience and smart suggestions for networking and joining groups.

[9:04] Judy’s shares core beliefs of successful connectors, be authentic, be yourself, show a level of generosity. Do a value match. Include people in your network who have a good head, a good heart, and a good gut. Judy would let Oprah in.

[10:43] Business relationships are relationships first. Ask three golden questions: How can I help you? What other ideas do you have for me? Who else do you know I should talk to? Judy gets introduced to billionaires, and is on panels with them.

[12:30] Judy talks about how she did some homework, found what Mark Burnett needed for an upcoming production, lined up resources, and got a meeting with him, where they agreed they could help each other. Get out of your comfort zone.

[15:45] Take initiative, research, find ways to give value to people, and you will grow your network. Everybody has problems and needs. Judy talks about how she was invited to the White House the first time.

[17:52] Judy gives some examples of how she has helped various billionaires and other influencers, and how she was asked to be a CEO of a company.

[18:50] Elevator pitches are off-putting if not expected. Listen to people about their family, their pet, their finances, and their health. Don’t pitch before a relationship exists. Have a diverse, network of people you know. Treat them as good friends.

[24:06] Judy recommends making it a point to let people know you are humble about your success, and grateful for it. Show people you are a human being. Automation will not replace you. Please help me are three powerful words.

[27:40] Ask, “So, tell me, how are you doing?” This is much different from “How ya doin’?” Judy gives groups of three questions that can push discussions and decisions forward.

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