It's Time to Sell Podcast: Strategies for 21st Century Selling

Chris Spurvey does a solo episode for the audience today. He does a quick walk through on his five-minute journal routine and why he believes it's important for every entrepreneur or sales rep to take part in it. The right mindset can be the difference between achieving your goals or just sitting on the couch. Chris explains to the audience the first thing he does in the morning and how he ends his night on today's episode.

Key Takeaways:

[1:10] This year Chris made the decision to become a morning person.

[3:05] The first thing Chris does when he wakes up is fill out a five-minute journal.

[3:45] Chris will be walking through his five-minute journal process on today's episode.

[5:50] What are three things you're grateful for?

[9:50] What would make today great?

[13:50] What’s your daily affirmation?

[15:45] At night, you end the journal by focusing on some of the good things that happened that day.

[16:25] How can I make my day better?

[17:10] Chris explains how he gets into a good mental state before going to bed.

[18:25] The energy that you put out is based on how much energy you currently have, which is why working out is so important.

[19:10] Chris connected with his co-workers and had a very insightful call.

[20:40] How could you have made today better? Chris didn't spend a lot of time with his family.

[22:30] Doing the five-minute journal everyday helps put consistency into your daily efforts.

[22:40] Remember, a successful life is a composition of successful days.

[23:20] Thank you so much for listening and look out for Chris's book coming out Labor Day weekend.

Mentioned In This Episode:

http://www.chrisspurvey.com/blog/how-i-became-a-morning-person

http://www.chrisspurvey.com/podcast/kimades

Kim Ades is the founder of Frame of Mind Coaching and works exclusively with highly driven entrepreneurs. Kim has a unique approach towards her coaching program where she works with her clients on a daily basis to help them achieve their goals. Kim shares some great insight on her number one biggest selling mistake, creating mini programs to test the waters, and why you need to be enthusiastic towards selling your products and services.

Key Takeaways:

[1:35] Look forward to Chris's new book coming out September 1st.

[2:40] How did Kim get into selling?

[4:10] Selling isn't just for extroverts or outrageously confident people.

[5:15] People who can connect with others make great sales people.

[6:45] You want your customers to love you.

[9:10] Kim shares one of her mistakes.

[17:00] Kim shares another story on winning a tough sale.

[19:30] You have to be enthusiastic with what you're selling.

[21:35] There's a direct relationship between writing and sales.

[23:00] Kim talks about her coaching company, Frame of Mind Coaching.

[25:10] If you want to get to a certain place, you have to work at it everyday.

[29:05] How can entrepreneurs take themselves to the next step?

[30:25] Create a smaller version of what you want to achieve and test the market.

[32:00] Kim recommends the book Scaling Up

[32:40] Number one tool Kim uses? Journal Engine.

Mentioned In This Episode:

http://www.chrisspurvey.com/

http://www.frameofmindcoaching.com/

To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink

Scaling up by Verne Harnish

http://www.journalengine.com/licensing/features

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-top-10-applications-i-use-stay-connected-fly-plus-bonus-spurvey?trk=prof-post

Charlene is a wellness coach, author, and speaker. Charlene had mentored Chris a number of years ago and they do a bit of catching up. Charlene talks on the subject of hating the idea of sales, why it's important to connect with the customer; not fire hose them, and why medication is an important part of Charlene's life. Charlene also recommends the book, How the World Sees You by Sally Hogshead and believes it's a great way to understand yourself better.

Key Takeaways:

[5:00] Charlene hated the idea of sales.

[6:30] We are always selling.

[9:00] In the beginning, Charlene would only talk about the product and not ask the customer any questions on what they wanted.

[9:40] Charlene lost about a 1,000 people by fire hosing them.

[11:20] Asking questions helps you get to know people and find out what they're looking for.

[14:10] Take the focus off yourself. Focus on the other person and connect with the other person.

[17:55] Charlene recommends How the World Sees You by Sally Hogshead.

[21:20] Chris recommends Amazon Prime.

[22:30] The one thing Charlene can't live without? Medication.

[25:45] Medication helps you take time out of your busy life.

[28:30] You can go to Chris's website to download a free chapter of his book, It's Time to Sell.

Mentioned In This Episode:

ChrisSpurvey.com

How the World Sees You by Sally Hogshead.

To Sell Is Human by Daniel Pink

The 30 Laws of Flow by Charlene Day.

http://charleneday.com/

DOV GORDON helps small business owners attract more quality customers in less time.

Without a steady, predictable consistent stream of the customers you really want, your business gives you frustration – not satisfaction, pride and freedom.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

In this Fireside Chat Dov goes into his 6 steps to creating a Consistent Flow of Clients.

Here is the link to Dov's free download: http://dovgordon.net/bepaid

I cannot recommend this enough!

Time and time again great entrepreneurs say they started their sales careers on accident and a need of their own led them to create a product. As a computer science major, Jon Ferrara found his first job selling computers easy but then after creating his own CRM system he was forced to find more creative ways to promote his product with no marketing budget. His proven strategies are unique and smart. Will his new plight to trojan horse Nimble into businesses that need it become his next triumph?

Key Takeaways:

[3:00] Reflections of today’s business atmosphere

[5:03] Selling was a dirty word

[6:03] A 50% margin on computers at the time

[6:57] Selling is really about serving other people

[7:40] Goldmine was the outlook and salesforce of its generation

[9:00] Convincing businesses they needed a contact management system

[10:50] Dancing with your customer is crucial

[11:49] Reaching out to editors and writers with regard to your product

[13:51] It’s more powerful when other people talk about your product

[14:14] The Five E’s of social business

[17:12] The Dunbar limit in your brain

[18:50] Less than 1% of businesses use any type of CRM

[22:03] A relationship platform the builds itself

[23:07] Nurture your influencers network

[24:40] Nimble smart contact app free

[26:30] Stop what you are doing and re-identify yourself on social platforms

[27:59] Share content that will help other people grow

[29:02] Reach out to Jon and feed him with your interaction

[29:47] Jon likes the classics marketing books

[31:25] The new apple watch is my tool for health

[32:58] Sign up for Nimble and use the mobile and browser app

Mentions:

Nimble

It’sTimeToSell book

SocialSalesLink

@nimble

Evernote

ThinkandGrowRich - Napoleon Hill

HowtoWinFriendsandInfluencePeople - Dale Carnegie

Positioning - Jack Trout

TheNewRulesofPRandMarketing - David Meerman Scott

@jon_ferrara

ChrisSpurvey’sJonFerraraepisode

DOV GORDON helps small business owners attract more quality customers in less time.

Without a steady, predictable consistent stream of the customers you really want, your business gives you frustration – not satisfaction, pride and freedom.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

In this Fireside Chat Dov goes into his 6 steps to creating a Consistent Flow of Clients.

Here is the link to Dov's free download: http://dovgordon.net/bepaid

I cannot recommend this enough!

Marketing and sales are the most often forgotten aspects of a properly functioning,  profitable business. As entrepreneurs and business owners we are selling everyday even if we don’t formally code it as sales. Making money from selling your product is not a sin and you would be wise to learn methods that make your selling efforts more effective. Reading J.V.’s book and attending his business academy are great places to start. He is a storyteller, a numbers guy and a sales professional who will make a great mentor for you. He has big visions and wakes up everyday with a purpose; to make a difference in this world, not just to make money.

Key Takeaways:

[4:03] Podcasts are the best thing to ever happen to entrepreneurs

[5:43] A sales guy from the beginning

[8:27] Grassroots product manufacturing

[11:22] The moment you get money for sales

[14:13] Running the business by the numbers

[15:40] More money was going out then was coming in

[16:39] My first sales came from necessity

[18:38] Finding the central issue is the key

[20:54] We computerized a 7 figure business on a 386

[23:15] Flip the down feeling into a positive action

[24:30] Conscious Focused Action

[24:44] Numbers, the amazing difference and the sales component

[27:22] Knowing where you want to go and taking actions focused on your destination

[28:30] Daily, wake up with a purpose and no more than 3 priorities

[29:45] Measurable results to accomplish in one day

[31:22] The LinkedIn article

[31:55] Free video’s about the chapters of Conscious Millionaire

[33:21] People are tired of “I just want to make money”

[33:56] JV’s favorite tool Schedule Once

[35:18] Health and Fitness for Busy Entrepreneurs reality show

[36:30] Conscious Millionaire Business Academy

[38:05] Contact J.V. at the website

Mentions:

It’sTimeToSell

ToSellisHuman

ConsciousMillionaire: GrowYourBusinessbyMakingaDifference

HowIBecameaMorningPerson

ScheduleOnce

SurveyMonkey

Chrisspurvey.com/jvcrum

For the last few months I have been publishing on a consistent basis via the LinkedIn publishing platform. My goal in doing so is to simply share my thoughts and stories about sales and the sales mind-set.

My success has varied, so I decided to explore and study others who were having success with the platform. Success leaves clues, and I went in search of the clues.

This search led me to a connection with Glenn Leibowitz. Looking at Glenn’s profile, I saw we had much in common. We are both using LinkedIn publishing as a means to express ourselves and help others in the area of our passions: for me, sales; for him, writing.

But what floored me was the fact that his posts have gotten just shy of 400,000 views! I knew I had to learn more from this guy.

So I reached out and connected with him, which led to a conversation this week, during which we dove into his tips for better LinkedIn publishing. Glenn has published 50 posts on LinkedIn and has helped his coworkers publish another 140 or so posts.

The key tips Glenn expressed are:

What do you want to be known for?

We need to be clear about this and fashion our content strategy around these areas, so that people will get to know us for writing on these topics. A positive byproduct of this is that we will be more focused and productive in our posts.

Who is your target audience?

LinkedIn is enormous and covers a wide variety of areas. LinkedIn Pulse is segmented by channels, such as leadership, careers, social media, and so on.  Audiences follow channels based on their interests. Know your audience, and speak to that audience.

What is your content calendar?

Decide on the frequency of your posting, and be consistent. There is a balance between posting too little and posting too much. Glenn suggests posting weekly. The more consistent we are with publishing, the more our audience will learn to expect our posts on that schedule.

What topics should you write about?

The more we publish, the more ideas we will have for publishing. While he is on the move, Glenn uses the basic note-taking app on his iPhone to capture ideas for posts. He has published an excellent post (link) in which he lists sixteen types of posts that will generate ideas.

Write, edit, and publish

We are all busy, and many professional bloggers hire people to write posts for them. This is OK, especially for a busy entrepreneur.

Get the word out

You can alert LinkedIn’s editors that you’ve posted an article by tweeting a link to your article and including in the tweet the phrase “tip @linkedinpulse.” Glenn suggests that if this does not work the first time you should try again. Perhaps even more importantly, Glenn suggests that we add category tags to our posts. His key point is that, to get any significant traction outside our network of connections and followers, a post must be tagged by LinkedIn Pulse. In this way, the post will be displayed to viewers who have subscribed to LinkedIn’s channels and will have an opportunity to go viral.

The best way to attract the attention of LinkedIn’s editors is to write good content and be consistent.

Early in life, Jill knew she wanted to become an entrepreneur but had no idea that she would have to include sales in her daily activities. She resisted until confronted with the fact that her vision could not be realized until she cast aside her negative perception of what sales entailed. After rising above the fear and focusing on learning the skills and techniques good sales requires, she made her living earning revenue from top companies. The beauty of gaining a clear understanding of a subject is that you are now qualified to share that knowledge with others which Jill does by way of her website and award winning books.

Key Takeaways:

[3:06] Sales is the lowest profession

[3:45] I’ll do it but only for 1 year

[6:00] There are good selling techniques?

[8:00] Jill fell flat on her face, in the lobby

[11:50] You have a choice to get up or stay down

[13:03] He gave me the competitor's proposal

[15:24] Like most of us Jill was scared

[16:53] Social proof existed before it was online

[17:30] Stay focused on the business case

[19:14] First’s - Websites and Newsletters

[20:48] Jill has a passion for the entrepreneur

[23:23] Bringing in a savior

[25:07] You will waste time and money by abdicating sales

[26:52] My books solve problems

[31:31] Your Brain at Work book

[33:00] Backdrop & Anti-Social apps

[35:40] Jill Konrath contacts

Mentions:

Score

SellingtoBigCompanies - Buy the digital version

SnapSelling - Dealing with crazy busy people

AgileSelling - Getting up to speed in sales

YourBrainatWork

JillKonrath

In this fireside chat Chris Spurvey host of It's Time to Sell Podcast chats with Julio Viskovich. Julio is the Vice President of Marketing for rFactr. Julio is a social selling advocate. Chris asks Julio what sales looks like for him today and they discuss the Xerox sales approach amongst other things.