Full Funnel Freedom

Stories can help you achieve sales success faster, because people love listening to stories. Unfortunately, most salespeople don't know how to tell impactful stories. Simply knowing that stories do drive results is not the same as being able to narrate them successfully.

Today's episode focuses on nine tips sales leaders can use to make their stories more compelling. Salespeople can also use these nine tips to have more impactful conversations with prospects, drive leads, and close more sales.

If you can tell an influential story, you'll be great at sales. It's as simple as that.

What You'll Learn:

- 9 tips to make your stories more influential

- The role of stories in sales

- How to format and structure your stories for impact

- Why you need to end every story with a question

- How to immediately hook your prospects at the beginning of a story

- The ideal length of a sales story

- The benefits of building a playbook for stories

- Exercises to improve your storytelling skills

You already know that you need to tell stories if you want to humanize your sales interactions. However, telling a good story does not come naturally to most of us, but fortunately, storytelling is a skill that can be learned. So whether you want to lead a sales team, get prospects to buy from you, or run better sales presentations, storytelling is the answer.

Links and Resources:

- Full Funnel Freedom is the official podcast of the IoT North Conference! Join us November 15-16 in Calgary by going to https://iotnorthconference.ca/. Listen for a discount code for 20% off your tickets!

- Full Funnel Freedom https://fullfunnelfreedom.com

- The Sandler Summit 2023 https://www.hamish.sandler.com/orlando

- Sandler on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sandler_yyc/

- Sandler in Calgary - www.hamish.sandler.com/howtosandler

- Connect with Hamish Knox on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamishknox/

- Sponsorship or guest inquiries - [email protected]

Chris Black is the Chief Revenue Officer at Jolera, and a passionate business leader with recognised expertise in building high-performance teams driven by a commitment to customer success. He focuses on the delicate symphony of people, processes, and technology to drive exceptional results.

In today's episode, we discuss the benefits of building a sales process based on proactive sales activities, and how focusing on quality over quantity results in consistently, reliably full funnels.

What You'll Learn:

- The value of quality over quantity in sales

- The Measurement-Inspection-Accountability sales strategy

- How to keep your team accountable without micromanagement

- The importance of implementing performance improvement plans

- Proactive actions that create full funnel freedom

- Why are most salespeople afraid to ask for help?

- The curse of knowledge in sales

- Chris' advice to his younger self on how to become better at sales

- The most effective sales discovery process

If you've been in sales for a while, you'll have noticed that meaningful engagements with prospects are far more influential than cold call volume. While it's tempting to assume more prospects, leads, and cold calls are the keys to success in sales, the quality of your funnel is even more important. The effort you put into building a high-quality funnel will be far more useful in the long run than filling the pipeline with unqualified leads.

Links and Resources:

- Jolera https://www.jolera.com/

- Connect with Chris Black on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-black-yyc/

- Gap Selling: Getting the Customer to Yes: How Problem-Centric Selling Increases Sales by Changing Everything You Know About Relationships, Overcoming Objections, Closing and Price by Keenan https://amzn.to/3PKApbM

- Talk Triggers: The Complete Guide to Creating Customers with Word of Mouth by Jay Baer https://amzn.to/3aV6AX0

- Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell https://amzn.to/3JINDnv

- Sales Management. Simplified by Mike Weinberg https://amzn.to/3SBKMRv

- Full Funnel Freedom https://fullfunnelfreedom.com

- The Sandler Summit 2023 https://www.hamish.sandler.com/orlando

- Sandler on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sandler_yyc/

- Sandler in Calgary - www.hamish.sandler.com/howtosandler

- Connect with Hamish Knox on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamishknox/

- Sponsorship or guest inquiries - [email protected]

What's the number one piece of advice you'd give your teenage daughters about dating? Can that advice translate into selling and sales leadership advice?

A business owner friend of mine shared a story about his anxiety when his daughters matured into dating age. He didn't know what he would say to her, so he reached out to another business owner with an older daughter. His advice was simple, "Tell them not to listen to what the boys say; watch what they do."

Tune in to learn how that statement translates to sales, and why sales leaders need to watch their team members' actions instead of listening to what they say.

What You'll Learn:

- Dating advice that's applicable to leading a sales team

- Watch actions, not words, when managing salespeople

- Why approval-seeking behavior often leads to broken promises

- How to hold your team accountable

- Why it's better to be respected than liked

- The benefits of embracing the trust-but-verify approach

- The first step to building trust is setting clear expectations and consequences

You're probably familiar with the overused cliche, "Actions speak louder than words." The general reasoning behind this expression is that we should judge people by what they do, not by what they say. The same is true for dating as well as sales leadership.

Resources:

- Full Funnel Freedom https://fullfunnelfreedom.com

- The Sandler Summit 2023 https://www.hamish.sandler.com/orlando

- Sandler on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sandler_yyc/

- Sandler in Calgary - www.hamish.sandler.com/howtosandler

- Connect with Hamish Knox on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamishknox/

- Sponsorship or guest inquiries - [email protected]

Adam Boyd is the Principle of the Northwood group, a business consulting firm that provides consulting services for small and mid-market businesses on sales and sales leadership. He works with owners, presidents, sales leaders, and CEOs who won't settle for mediocrity, focusing on designing, building and installing processes and systems for sales growth.

Tune in to learn why sales leadership is the loneliest role in the organization, the benefits of keeping things simple, and why you shouldn't hire a salesperson until you absolutely need to.

What You'll Learn:

- Must-haves to consider before hiring a salesperson

- Why sales leadership is the loneliest job in an organization

- Burst your targets with an autonomous sales team

- What to do when struggling to build an autonomous sales team

- Practical tools for direct, clear, honest conversations

- The benefits of keeping things simple in sales

- The main reasons why sales training fails and how you can fix it

Most organizations believe hiring a new salesperson might be the solution to all their problems. But that might actually make things worse. Why? Because hiring a salesperson too early is the fastest way to distract the organization and waste both money and time. Adam Boyd reveals that the only time you are allowed to make your first sales hire is when you have a process that clearly outlines how you acquire customers and close deals.

Links and Resources:

- Adam Boyd's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/theadampboyd/

- Northwood Group - https://thenorthwoodgrp.com/

- Leadersforum.co - https://leadersforum.co/

- Full Funnel Freedom https://fullfunnelfreedom.com

- The Sandler Summit 2023 https://www.hamish.sandler.com/orlando

- Sandler on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sandler_yyc/

- Sandler in Calgary - www.hamish.sandler.com/howtosandler

- Connect with Hamish Knox on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamishknox/

- Sponsorship or guest inquiries [email protected]

Traditionally, account management was all about having lunch or golfing sessions with important customer contacts. But customers today expect more. They want an intermediary that can close the gap between their interest and the opportunities present in the market. They also expect account managers to provide meaningful value beyond what they sell. In today's episode, we'll go through proactive account management activities and strategies that are essential for creating full funnel freedom.

What You'll Learn:

- The main elements of proactive account management

- How salespeople can take advantage of expansion opportunities

- The difference between customer service and account management

- Ways to leverage an alumni network for business growth

- Expansions calls and why they are so important

- Best practices for effective quarterly reviews

- The dos and don'ts of client introductions

- The drawbacks of traditional account management

- How sales leaders can instill an expansion mindset into their salespeople

One of the fundamental elements of account management is proactivity. This seems rather obvious, yet far too many sales leaders and account managers leave too much to reacting to customer actions. As an account manager, your job is to build a solid understanding of where your existing accounts can go and how you can help them get there.

Links and Resources:

- Digital HR Leaders Podcast https://www.myhrfuture.com/digital-hr-leaders-podcast

- Full Funnel Freedom https://fullfunnelfreedom.com

- The Sandler Summit 2023 https://www.hamish.sandler.com/orlando

- Sandler on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sandler_yyc/

- Sandler in Calgary - www.hamish.sandler.com/howtosandler

- Connect with Hamish Knox on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamishknox/

- Sponsorship or guest inquiries - [email protected]

Jen Franklin is the Vice President of Sales and Employee Experience at Medallia. She is a collaborative cross-functional GTM leader with over 20 years of experience growing and leading sales teams. Jen's experience is centered around bringing technology that has an impact on human behavior to market for high-growth organizations. We talk about the productive sales capacity framework, the drawbacks of holding onto 'dead' leads, and what needs to be done to close the gender gap in sales and sales leadership.

What You'll Learn:

- What is productive sales capacity

- The concept of experience management in sales

- Why you need to treat your employees the same way you treat your clients

- How to set up your sales team for success

- Women in sales: How to help close the gender gap

- Best practices for strengthening a skinny sales funnel

- The difference between coaching and managing in sales leadership

- The shift from sales reps to trusted advisors

- The drawbacks of holding on to 'dead' leads

- Success mindsets for successful salespeople

- How to navigate difficult conversations using the MEDDIC framework

What counts in productive sales capacity is not how many sales reps are in a team, but how many of them are ramped and productive. If a new sales rep joins the team, the focus now turns to how fast you can get them to full productivity. Finally, you don't want to lose a high-performing sales rep because we all know how expensive turnover can be.

Links and Resources:

- Medallia.com https://www.medallia.com/

- NAWSP - National Association of Women Sales Professionals https://nawsp.org/

- WITS - Women in Tech Sales https://www.linkedin.com/company/women-in-tech-sales-wits/

- Adam Grant - Books, Podcast, TED Talks, Newsletter, Articles https://adamgrant.net/

- Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell https://www.trilliondollarcoach.com/

- Hunters and Unicorns https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hunters-and-unicorns/id1535460339

- Digital HR Leaders Podcast https://www.myhrfuture.com/digital-hr-leaders-podcast

- Full Funnel Freedom https://fullfunnelfreedom.com

- The Sandler Summit 2023 https://www.hamish.sandler.com/orlando

- Sandler on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sandler_yyc/

- Sandler in Calgary - www.hamish.sandler.com/howtosandler

- Connect with Hamish Knox on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamishknox/

- Sponsorship or guest inquiries - [email protected]

Is your sales strategy built around creating demand or fulfilling demand? Do your customers come to you believing you can solve all their problems, or do you hound them with calls hoping to close a meeting? Tune in to learn why it's better to create demand than fulfill demand in sales. Discover how sales leaders can squash limiting beliefs such as the seasons of prospecting fallacy.

What You'll Learn:

- The difference between demand creation and demand fulfillment

- How to create demand for your product or service

- Limiting beliefs and how they impact your team's success

- How to get past the seasons of prospecting fallacy

- Your prospects will always have problems that need fixing

- How to improve your credibility using strategic questions

Although used interchangeably, demand creation and demand fulfillment are totally different sales approaches. The most important question is, which business are you in? As a sales leader, it's crucial that your team operates from a demand creation standpoint, because to really grow your business, you need to stop fulfilling demand and start creating it.

Links and Resources:

- Full Funnel Freedom https://fullfunnelfreedom.com

- The Sandler Summit 2023 https://www.hamish.sandler.com/orlando

-Sandler on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sandler_yyc/

- Sandler in Calgary - www.hamish.sandler.com/howtosandler

- Connect with Hamish Knox on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamishknox/

- Sponsorship or guest inquiries - [email protected]

Michael Stark is the Sales Director at Welco Expediting Limited, one of Canada's largest distributors of industrial plant processing equipment. Mike is also a business development and sales growth strategist who's passionate about supporting focused and productive teams to build client-focused eco-systems. We discuss why massive turnover in your sales team can be a good thing and what to do when a salesperson leaves your organization.

What You'll Learn:

- How massive turnover in your sales team can be a positive thing

- Main reasons for high turnover among sales teams

- What to do when salespeople start leaving your organization

- Best practices for strengthening a skinny sales funnel

- How to predict turnover on your sales team

- How sales leaders address low confidence in their sales teams

- Self-care tips for sales leaders

- Mike's advice to his younger self on proper leadership

Although the common belief in sales is that turnover in your team is a bad thing, anytime a salesperson leaves the team, you get the opportunity to upgrade your talent. Top-performing sales leaders understand that turnover is a necessary evil because it sets high expectations and eliminates tolerance for mediocrity.

Links and Resources:

- Connect with Michael Stark on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelstarkbusinessdevelopmentsalesexecutive/

- Welco https://welco.ca/en

- Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen by Dan Heath https://www.amazon.com/Upstream-Quest-Problems-Before-Happen/dp/1982134720

- Full Funnel Freedom https://fullfunnelfreedom.com

- The Sandler Summit 2023 https://www.hamish.sandler.com/orlando

- Sandler on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sandler_yyc/

- Sandler in Calgary - www.hamish.sandler.com/howtosandler

- Connect with Hamish Knox on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamishknox/

- Sponsorship or guest inquiries - [email protected]

Your salespeople's biggest fear is not that they will "damage" a client relationship; your salespeople are afraid that the relationship they think they have with a prospect or client might not exist at all. But here's the thing; your salespeople can't damage relationships that don't exist. And until they assert their right to ask questions, the relationship will only ever exist in their heads.

What You'll Learn:

- How salespeople can create strong relationships with prospects

- Why salespeople need to stop assuming their relationships with prospects

- Building rapport and trust in sales

- Tips to get prospects to tell you the truth

- Key indicators of genuine sales relationships

- The foundations of a long-lasting client relationship

- Why a true relationship transcends the sales interaction

A genuine relationship is a give-and-take interaction between two parties. Yet, that's not usually the case for most salespeople. They will assume a relationship exists when the prospect/client answers their calls, returns their voicemail, or agrees to set up meetings with them. But that's just an indicator that your salesperson needs coaching.

Links and Resources:

- Full Funnel Freedom https://fullfunnelfreedom.com

- The Sandler Summit 2023 https://www.hamish.sandler.com/orlando

- Sandler on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sandler_yyc/

- Sandler in Calgary - www.hamish.sandler.com/howtosandler

- Connect with Hamish Knox on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamishknox/

This week, we have Oscar Trimboli on the show to talk about listening for sales leaders. Oscar is a bestselling author of 'Deep Listening' and the host of an award-winning Apple podcast by the same title. Through his work, Oscar uses the gift of listening to bring positive changes to homes, workplaces, and cultures worldwide.

What You'll Learn:

- The importance of listening skills for sales leaders

- The five main levels of listening

- Understanding the art and science of listening

- What is system-oriented listening?

- Why leaders should always listen for context instead of listening for content

- The benefits of giving your team freedom to come up with ideas

- How to listen for the unsaid

- The differential between speaking speed and thinking speed

They say communication is 50% speaking and 50% listening. But why is listening never taught in leadership training programs? Only 2% of leaders have ever received training on how to listen. This is so unfortunate, because leaders typically spend at least 64% of their day listening. If you want a faster career progression, you better learn how to listen and be willing to receive new information.

Resources:

- Oscar's website https://www.oscartrimboli.com/

- Deep Listening: Impact Beyond Words by Oscar Trimboli https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Listening-Impact-Beyond-Words/dp/099537774X

- Oscar's LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscartrimboli/

- The Sandler Summit 2023 https://www.hamish.sandler.com/orlando

- Sandler on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sandler_yyc/

- Sandler in Calgary - www.hamish.sandler.com/howtosandler

- Full Funnel Freedom https://fullfunnelfreedom.com

- Connect with Hamish Knox on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/hamishknox/