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

"For some reason, people are very open to connecting on social when they feel like it was an authentic and relevant conversation that they had."

Today my special guest is Koka Sexton. I found Koka on LinkedIn when I did some research around the concept of social selling, and I've learned a ton from him online through all his social channels.

Koka is one of the most recognized social marketing experts in the technology industry. With ten+ years of sales experience and a passion for social media, he has become the leader of the social selling evolution, a topic that he promotes through global speaking engagements and customer trainings.

His expertise extends beyond his knowledge of social networks like LinkedIn, Twitter and social marketing applications into his skills of using them to drive lead generation, create new opportunities, and engage customers.

I think we both got some great benefit from the interview and sure hope you do as well.

Social Selling

"Back when I first started into this, it was like Sales 2.0., and I got really fixated on this idea of social selling as a term and helping define it. I really used that as my platform, and because of that, I became more well-known in the space. My core principle was this idea of visibility creating opportunity, and that visibility created an untold amount of opportunity for me."

Can everything be done online?

This idea that you spend time online and building your professional brand – because it really does start off with an individual's brand, that's why they're doing this. How are they leveraging that brand to communicate and identify, connect and engage with these decision-makers? Once that interest is there, once there is a value to that buyer, how do you transition that offline?

There's many different ways to do it, but most of it is still very cut and dry. Once you've identified that this buyer has an interest and they're engaging with your content and you've had a few back and forths, at that point, it makes perfect sense to say, "Hey, let me get your email address" or "Hey, why don't I give you a call" or whatever that is to say, "let's get 30 minutes on the calendar and actually talk through some of this stuff."

I think that's where a lot of misconceptions are about this idea of social selling in that somebody is telling you that all this can be done online – then that's just e-commerce. That's not what, in my mind, social selling is.

The fastest way to get your foot in the door

I've defined social selling as leveraging your professional brand to fill your pipeline with the right people, insights and relationships. Once you've started establishing your expertise in a space, once you are positioning yourself as a resource to the larger ecosystem – to your buyers – that's how you're building this brand of yours, and obviously leveraging that brand in a way that allows you to connect with these decision-makers at a much faster pace.

It's going to be much faster to do these types of connections at this scale on a social network, than it is to be trying to send emails and get you on a phone call, because everybody's so busy. If they don't know your name or know your phone number, they're going to delete your email, not answer your voicemail or even answer the phone.

Do you believe in sharing the multi-dimensional side of the personality?

The short answer is yes. The longer piece of that is, I don't know how you can – I guess you can be successful if you don't do it, but I don't know how authentic the world's going to see you.

There's this old adage: People buy from people. And people are not one-dimensional; we are three-dimensional.

Mentions

Connect with Koka on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook

Visit Koka's website at http://www.kokasexton.com/

Learn about the Personal Conversation Method here: http://www.personalconversationmethod.com/

"Do the simple things first. When you're starting out, prospecting doesn't seem scalable, but it allows you to gain the insight that ultimately leads to you doing the scalable things right.

I like to say "prospect from success" – don't make things harder than they are. If you found an area in which you have been successful, a type of prospect or a prospect whose social network you can tap into, pursue that."

Today my special guest is Brendan Alan Barrett of Barrett Development. Brendan is a top sales producer who has generated millions of dollars in revenue. In addition to running his own sales organization in the civil engineering and construction industry, Brendan provides coaching and consulting to sales teams and business owners.

In this episode we talk about Brendan's sales journey, tips on prospecting for first-time sellers, his own prospecting process and why he decided to grow a personal brand.

If you're a solopreneur, first-time seller or a non-sales professional, you're in for a treat.

What is prospecting?

Prospecting is not about just driving people towards a purchasing decision; it's about marketing research too.

If you're a first-time seller, you have an idea of who your buyer persona is, but until you actually get in the trenches and start talking to these people, you might quickly find out that it's only a fraction of those people who from afar look like your ideal buyer persona, and now you're going to start to gain insight as to why. And so you can pivot your approach to focus just on those people.

If it's your first time prospecting…

Lower the bar. You don't have to go in there hard; you don't have to go in there bull-headed. You're just having a conversation with another human being. Let it just be that.

You start asking them questions; get them talking about them and as you have an authentic, legitimate conversation with somebody, bits of information and insight will come out.

You'll quickly be able to understand, "Hey, is this guy my prospective buyer? Maybe he is, maybe he isn't. If he isn't, maybe he knows 5 or 6 people that I should go talk to instead."

The main stumbling block in sales for entrepreneurs

I think it's very similar to my own experience in that we all have this preconceived notions about what it's going to be like to go interrupt somebody's day and try to generate a relationship out of thin air and how authentic can that be? We really question ourselves.

Still, a big portion of my business is built on prospecting, which is very much an interruption form of marketing. But when done right, it can lead into permission marketing – and that's ultimately the goal.

When I'm prospecting, it's not to sell; it's to qualify somebody first, exchange in a dialogue and then get them to give me permission to sell.

If I'm talking with somebody and they ask me, "Well how much would it cost to do x?" That's the grand slam. That's how it's supposed to happen.

The importance of following up

We're busy people. I think that's another thing first time sellers struggle with, is not having their messages, their voice mails returned, or their emails responded to.

It's not that they're not interested; it's not that they don't care or they think you're a dirtbag for bothering them. It's that they're busy, and there's a lot of white noise, and until you follow up and establish yourself as somebody whose message is legitimate enough and that they're important enough to continue to follow up with, you're not going to have that first conversation.

Sometimes it's that follow up it takes just to qualify them to continue pursuing them as a prospect so that you can win that permission to start selling to them, to enter into a discovery phase.

Mentions

Connect with Brendan on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook

Visit Brendan's website at http://startinphx.com/ and http://www.brendanbarrett.com/

Get in on Brendan's 7-day Sales Challenge at http://startinphx.com/closebiggersales/

"If we had taken 24 months to map out a perfect business plan instead of just pushing through and figuring out, building a plane while you're flying it, if we hadn't have done that, then we probably wouldn't have been successful."

Today my very special guest is a great personal friend of mine, Ian Daley. Ian has recently jumped into his own personal branding endeavor and I thought he could share what it feels and looks like to start to put yourself out there and create a personal brand.

In this episode Ian shares the process he went through building his brand, his why, how to take imperfect action and a lot more. It really was a pleasure having him on the show and I hope you enjoy our conversation.

Take Imperfect Action

"There's a lot of buzz around big data, analytics, all the things about plan, plan, plan – and those things are important. Planning and having a full understanding of the aspects of your business that you want to go into is key, but a lot of it's just sometimes blind faith and action."

Set Goals and Don't Stop Learning

"…Number 1, always have an appetite for continuous learning and number 2 is setting goals. That's what I started to deal with.

I always wanted to learn more about what I could do better and then always have a plan to get there. I think the goals thing is so important. We all have a winding road in getting there, but those two things, if you anchor yourself to that, I found that to be hugely impactful in my life in general, even outside of work."

Stick to the Fundamentals

"I think the big thing for me too – and it's not a word that jumps off on my website, but I'm a big fan of the fundamentals. I think as humans we tend to look for the advanced and the complex, and that's just how we're wired. Like, "what's the next big thing," or "what do we need to learn?"

But a lot of it comes back to fundamentals and for me it is keeping your mindset in the right place if you're going to achieve"

How Mentors Can Help You

"The barriers are always between our head. Every barrier that we face that's seemingly insurmountable has been broken through by somebody else, and is being broken through by somebody else right this very moment.

It's not that it's impossible; it's how you think about it. Is it really impossible or is it just in between your head?

If you're surrounded by people who are going to validate that, "Yes, that's impossible. Don't do it." Then you're going to believe that.

If you're going to put yourself around people that can say, "I've done it; it's actually totally doable," that completely changes your line of thinking."

Mentions

Connect with Ian on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn

Visit Ian's website at http://iandaley.com/

Bet On Me: Leading and Succeeding in Business and in Life by Annette Verschuren

Big Decision on the Horizon? Use This Two-Step Process by Ian Daley

The Greatest Networker in the World by John Milton Fogg

Mach2: The Art of Vision and Self-Motivation by Richard Brooke

Quote/Excerpt:

"This whole psychological side of performance is so important; it's half the game – it really is. Knowing the techniques behind what you need is certainly very important, but the psychological side is just as important."

Today my very special guest is Laura Baxter, an American opera singer, performance coach and professional speaker who currently lives in Germany.

In her coaching, she uses innovative approaches to help her clients master having a strong inner presence, while owning the room and exuding a dynamic and exciting outer presence. In her keynotes, she combines leadership and music together in such talks as the Karman Effect: A Strong Woman for a Strong Leadership.

She has just released her latest book, Dealing with Divas: A Mindful Approach to Improving Relationships in Your Business or Organization, in which she helps the reader master two things: 1) to remain calm, centered and focused while dealing with difficult people and 2) to reach his or her goal.

I really enjoyed talking to Laura and I hope you enjoy listening to our conversation as well.

Laura's work with Presence

My focus has become two things.

With presence, a very strong inner presence. How do you remain centered and calm and focused and absolutely confident in situations where you know you might either be attacked or you know that it could be a difficult situation where it really counts.

As well as the strong outer presence, so owning the room. How do you use your voice? How do you use the body language? How do you walk into the room and be noticed? That's where my work has gone.

How to develop your inner presence

The main thing about that is you've got to be centered and focused. There are several different methods that are built into that, but one of which – and it's probably the most well-known – is the deep breath.

One of the most important, most valuable things about the deep breath, one of the things that disables us to breathe deeply is our posture. In saying that – I mean everyone says, "Oh yeah, you've got to stand up straight," but the problem is if you stand up straight like a military standing at attention, you actually cut off your breath.

The most important thing about the posture is being able to be in a more aerobic posture, as if you're jogging, or as if you're moving around because you can then release the abs to have a deep breath.

The 4 most powerful states

In the book I talk about having a strong physiology in order to be centered in focused, how do you bring yourself into a really strong physiology, how do you bring yourself into a strong mental state, how do you bring yourself into a very strong emotional state as well.

The four most powerful states are the state of love, of gratitude – which is super important if you want to be successful – forgiveness and of play.

How to own the room

The HeartMath Institute in California discovered that every one of us has an electromagnetic field that we emit from the solar plexus of our body, from the heart area.

Basically one of the things I train my clients to do is control that emotion or emoting of energy in the sense that you can make yourself very large, in other words, really little to fill the room with your energy, or you can make yourself small in order to be recognized, in order to have that outer presence.

As soon as you walk into a room, one of the key elements is that energetic field.

Mentions

Connect with Laura on Facebook and Twitter.

Visit Laura's website at Voice4Leadership.com

Get Laura's book here: Dealing with Divas and Other Difficult Personalities

Quote/Excerpt:

"I always tell my clients, "The extra mile is not very crowded." If you learn to go that extra mile, you will be the thought leader. When you go home, people will say, "Oh wow, we need what you have!"

ARTICLE

Intro

Today my special guest is Lolly Daskal, author of The Leadership Gap.

Lolly is the founder of Lead from Within, a successful leadership firm that offers custom-made programs in leadership and organizational development. She is a leadership coach, speaker and has written for a handful of online publications, including Fast Company, Huffington Post and Psychology Today.

We talked about her story, how she found her uniqueness, her own gifts and strengths, how she broke through limiting beliefs from her childhood, her take on sales, and a whole lot more.

We really enjoyed our conversation that we actually have decided to record a follow-up episode, so be sure to click the subscribe button above!

Body of Article

On building her personal brand

"People that help others become thought leaders sometimes don't think of themselves as a brand."

"It wasn't until somebody asked me, 'Who are you, Lolly, in the world?' that I realized that I might be too much behind the scenes and not so much as a brand.

Then I created a website. I was like, 'What am I going to put on my website?'

Then I started to tweet about thing that were happening with my clients, but what should I say about my clients? So I was in this what's called an abyss. I wasn't sure how do I take what I do and create a brand from it."

"I had to find what was different about me, what made me successful, and create the brand from there. That's how it started, but I never knew I had to do that."

The nonlinear journey to success

"I got kicked out of a lot of boardrooms. I didn't get booked that often; I had to go to Europe to spread the message there about heart-based leadership and leading from within. It didn't matter how many people were in your organization that everybody was a leader and everybody can have a say and that's how you not only survive, but thrive.

…It wasn't until people saw the results that people started to trust it. It's not so much about how I come into an organization; it's how I leave an organization that matters.

If they make money, if I can take them to the next level, if I can keep their employees engaged in a high level, that's a win-win situation for them. How I get them there, at this point, they didn't even care."

Leading from within

"My unique thing is that lead from within; that every single person, no matter what position they're in, no matter what business they have, they are a leader. If you're influencing someone and you're impacting someone, I believe you are a leader in your life. And that message was something very unique to what I was saying."

"Lead from within is a very interesting concept because if I tell you that you can be the leader in any situation that you choose to be, listen to the words I used – choose to be. That means leadership is within you, but we don't always choose it.

I found that people didn't know what to choose. It's one thing to tell someone you're a leader; it's another thing to know how to show up."

Removing limiting beliefs that hold you back

"As a psychologist and a student of philosophy, what I have learned is that we are not born with limiting beliefs. We come in thinking we could do anything. If you ever look at a really young child, they do the most miraculous things because they don't think anything is going to stop them, so they take risks, they walk into walls, they eat dirt – they do everything, right?

And you're like, "What are you doing?"

There's nothing telling them they can't do it and it's a NO."

"We know who we are. But what I find is, those negative messages that we have now internalized and we keep projecting all the time, that if we don't own it, it owns us."

"Ask yourself, "Is that really true?" Because if it's not, it's time to get rid of it, because otherwise, it owns you. "

Lolly's view on sales

I believe sales is human-to-human connection; I don't think of it as sales. I don't think of I am going to sell you something. What I'm going to do is I'm going to bring you something that will impact your life for the better.

Mentions

Connect with Lolly Daskal on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Visit Lolly's website https://www.lollydaskal.com/ and https://www.theleadershipgapbook.com/

Quote/Excerpt:

"…I believe that what you see is what you get, or at least it should be. With Amy, you may find out some dirt about Amy – nobody's perfect. I'm OK putting myself out there, because when I've done that, at least on LinkedIn, people come forward. They connect with that.

They understand that as much as you want to put this beautiful, dazzling, perfect image out there, none of us are perfect – and that's OK. That's OK."

Intro

Today my very special guest is Amy Blaschka. Amy is a branding and positioning expert who creates highly engaging content for her clients.

She helps companies, as well as career professionals, position themselves for success. She helps her clients transform the way they communicate and connect.

In this episode we talked about about personal branding and the value of genuine relationships that lead to referrals. If you want to learn how to grow your business through these channels, listen and enjoy.

Take your relationships offline

"You're in sales, we're all in sales. It's really about relationships. Even though we all had very strong virtual relationships, there's nothing like meeting face-to-face. There's nothing like spending time together in person."

On putting yourself out there

That was about the time that LinkedIn came forward and offered the ability to write. At first it was more cathartic. It was, I'm going through this, I don't know, did anybody even read it? I'm putting it out there – who will even see this?

But over time, I realized it was a way to connect with people. That there were folks out there that would read something and it would resonate with them.

What do you write about?

"I tend to write the way I speak. Very conversational, and I try to pick themes that are personal to me because I think it's best when you write about something that is meaningful to you.

I mean, I can write about anything, but really, it's going to be more meaningful if it's something that's personal.

A lot of folks shy away from that, but I believe that what you see is what you get, or at least it should be. With Amy, you may find out some dirt about Amy – nobody's perfect. I'm OK putting myself out there because when I've done that, at least on LinkedIn, people come forward. They connect with that. They understand that as much as you want to put this beautiful, dazzling, perfect image out there, none of us are perfect – and that's OK. That's OK."

Amy's ideal client

I would say somebody that has a good idea of who they are and what they want to be, but they're having trouble articulating that.

Mentions

Connect with Amy Blaschka on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Visit Amy's website https://www.rbpconsulting.org/

Check out More Intuitive

We all seem to know what we're good at. Some people are very creative; some people are very knowledgeable and know how to impart that knowledge in a good way; some people are people-oriented, some people are not.

I think you have to look at what are your qualities? If you're not sure what it is in business, look at what it is in your personal life.

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Today my special guest is Janet Benedict, also known as The Canadian Networker. The Canadian Networker helps small businesses and direct sales businesses connect through various means including monthly meetings, networking showcases, speaker events and more.

In this episode we touch on a handful of things like sales, entrepreneurship, and finding your unique proposition, but Janet also shares some deep detail about what's happening behind-the-scenes in her personal life and the struggles she overcame.

I am sure you will get a lot of value out of hearing her story and how she got over her hardships and went on to become a success.

Janet's personal story

"I've always been a nurturing person – that's who I am. Mom, grandmom – you know, the whole thing. I've always given freely of myself and so that is something that's always been in me. If I can share something to somebody and it's going to help them further their business, then it's my moral obligation to do it, to give it to them!

…But I think for a long time, because our family life changed so dramatically and I needed to get out there and do more, I was always afraid that I would be seen as maybe not a strong business person because I still have to make sure everything's taken care of with him, and that he's OK…So I think what it was for a long time is I used my husband's condition as an excuse to not take myself seriously.

…I never really grieved the situation. You think of grieving when somebody's passed on, but this is a totally different person now. My strong guy isn't there anymore. It's a different person. I never allowed myself to grieve that loss; I went from wife to caregiver."

How do you monetize networking meetings?

"There is not a lot of income in doing a networking meeting…Where I found my revenue has come from is some of the courses, the other teachings that I do, I'll bring in. I'll do a workshop and people will pay to come to that."

Janet's outlook on sales

"Actually, I'm very comfortable with sales. My whole thing when it comes to networking and putting yourself out there is about building relationships.

People are going to do business with people they know, like trust – we've all heard that a zillion times. If you come across too salesy, and I think we'd probably all been in a situation where somebody's walked up to us and they've grabbed their business card and basically thrown it in your face…we just back off, because it's like, 'Hey, listen, I don't even know who you are.'"

"Always remember it's about the other person."

How do you know you're passionate about what you do?

"You'll know you're passionate when you get up in the morning and you can't wait to get at what it is you do – that's when you'll know you're passionate. I think when that happens, you know that you're doing the best possible job you can."

Mentions

Connect with Janet on LinkedIn and Facebook, or email her at [email protected]

Visit Janet's website http://thecanadiannetworker.ca/

Learn more about The Successful Sales System here

"We all hear – we hear the words that other people are saying. But our active listening skills aren't great. I don't think that's deliberate, but I think most of us, we live in a busy world. As someone is talking to you, you're hearing the words, but are you really listening?

Are you listening to their tone, or reading their body language? Or are you just getting ready for a response?

I think that's the part that we miss very often."

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Today my guest is Sarah "Sally" McCabe. Sally is an expert on empathy and empathy in the workplace.

We touch on a handful of topics, including personal branding and sales, but we focused more on empathy – how to develop a higher level of empathy, the prerequisite to empathy and what stops us from being empathetic towards others.

We also talk about how we, as entrepreneurs and sales-minded professionals, should be applying more empathy to our lives in a very genuine way that attract ideal clients to ourselves.

Below are a couple of excerpts from the episode:

How to develop empathy towards others

"Really listen. Put your cellphone down. Turn your screen away when someone's talking to you.

We've all done it. If you get a phone call or if someone comes into your office and is talking to you, don't check your email. Don't even be tempted. Give people your undivided attention. It really makes a difference."

What prevents us from being empathetic towards others

"If listening is a prerequisite to empathy, I think one of the killers is judging. We do it. Based on our beliefs and wherever those beliefs come from.

We all have certain beliefs and people that don't believe the same things we do often we think are wrong.

Opening our minds to the fact that maybe they're not wrong. Maybe they're doing the best that they can with the information that they have. Just understanding that people don't feel a certain way to hurt you or to disagree with you – they're doing the best that they can! I think that if we just accept that, then it's OK."

The importance of empathy in sales and entrepreneurship

"Sales is about relationships, about people and about connecting. You're solving problems that keep people awake at night." And if you can't empathize with them regarding those problems, you're not going to come across as genuine, and potential customers will find it difficult to connect with you.

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I think you'll extract some great value from this episode. It actually is very much in line with my new program: The Successful Sales System.

If you want to know if The Successful Sales System is right for you, schedule a free consultation call here: https://calendly.com/chrisspurvey/let-s-chat-about-you/

Mentions

Connect with Sally on LinkedIn

Visit Sally's website, Compassion 2 Compliance here: http://c2cgroup.net/

In this short episode, I was interviewed by a gentleman named Rob Shore, host of Wholesaler Masterminds. I talk about my sales journey, how to deal with self-doubt and how gratitude can help you become a better salesman.

Share this episode with your network!

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http://ctt.ec/bj0mU You need to identify your desire and steadily work towards it because that's what success is all about. http://bit.ly/2oLdG2Z

http://ctt.ec/dd9cN The results in our lives typically are a direct reflection of our attitudes http://bit.ly/2oLdG2Z

Show notes

[04:45] How I began my sales journey

[07:08] The desire to succeed

[08:52] Knowing what you want

[10:05] Gr-attitude

[14:30] The miserable salesman

[15:50] Your paradigms

[17:49] Taking yourself out of the box you put yourself in

[20:20] Dealing with self-doubt

Mentions

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

We're Our Own Worst Enemy: The Danger of What Goes on Between Our Ears with Chris Spurvey

Today my special guest is Lyndsie Barrie. Lyndsie is a financial consultant for Barrie Financial Consulting where she helps parents earn smart, save more and create their own successful futures.

We had a great conversation around personal branding, finances, the benefits of coaching and how to keep yourself focused on your goals.

Share this episode with your friends!

Click to Tweet

http://ctt.ec/2Z0b2 It's good to be very clear about your message, but it's also good to be very clear about who your message is for. http://bit.ly/2oLmU1H

Show notes

[03:52] Lyndsie's journey

[07:00] Sales and being a good fit for your customer

[08:05] Various approach to sales

[10:51] Hiring a business coach

[14:30] Personal branding and being an author

[19:31] An overview of 39 Keys to Money Success for the 39 Forever Mom

[21:20] Money Management Tools and Resources

[25:51] Focus on your goals and avoid the Shiny Object Syndrome

[32:55] Where to find Lyndsie

Mentions

Visit http://barriefinancialconsulting.ca/ and https://www.the39forevermom.com/

Connect with Lyndsie on Twitter and LinkedIn

39 Keys to Money Success for the 39 Forever Mom by Lyndsie Barrie

The Wealthy Barber Returns by David Chilton

The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

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