In sales you will find that we love to talk about our products. And why not? It's good to be passionate about what you sell. And sometimes that passion takes over and we talk about our differentiators - our differences from the competition. This could be features and functions of our products or it could be your company and all it has to offer customers.

One of the competitive differentiators that is often overlooked is the sales conversation itself. Yes the conversation. How you prepare and how you execute on it. This episode is the beginning of a 4 part series on how you do just that.

On the one hand as a new sales rep you are usually trained on your message - how to talk about your products, explain the features, functions and benefits. And most reps are eager to get out there and drive those conversations. However sometimes our enthusiasm and adrenaline can get in the way and literally cause us to talk our way out of an opportunity.

There are several ways you can do, two in particular include:

• Literally talking too much - driving a one-sided conversation that makes it all about you and your product and not the customer

In this episode I touch on some examples of both and how they had the potential to change the direction of a sales, as well as some insight to make you self aware as you engage in sales conversations.

You have a ton of "leads". Some from marketing, some from a 3rd party list, some that have been sitting in your territory for years. You may have 100's or even 1000's of these leads in your territory. The problem is, while they may be leads, many of them are not opportunities. How do you "work" those leads and identify the quality opportunities? That's what qualifying is all about and it's a critical part of the B2B sales cycle. Executing the qualifying process early and thoroughly can keep you on the leaderboard.

Jake Szyndlar began his career in law enforcement and made the switch to software Sales. Jake shares his insight into the interview process from the lens of someone who has interviewed many new reps. Jake also provides some detailed perspective on a "Day in the Life" with special emphasis on prospecting and "touchpoints".

Understanding the sales pipeline is the easy part; "working" the opportunities through your sales pipeline takes technique and skill.

Listen as guest Ken Valla, President of the Valla Group, provides insight on how pipeline is often viewed today, and some things to consider to as you get into sales and have to manager your own pipeline. This includes:

• Active management of your pipeline

The sales pipeline is the mechanism for managing and measuring your sales progress and ultimately your success as a new or future seller.

You heard about the Sales Cycle and the steps that a sales rep goes through to move an opportunity fro prospect to close. What about the Buyer side? Does the buyer go through the same steps? Not exactly. They do however go through their own series of steps when they make a purchase decision, and successful reps are very cognizant of what this buyer process is. 

The Sales Cycle is something that you will intrinsically follow once you are in sales. And while there are many interpretations of what a sales cycle is, they all have a very similar structure. You will be provided with some detailed information on the sales cycle with some clear examples of why each step is important to understand as you begin your sales career.

A continuation of the last episode where we dive into simple approaches to change the outcome of a sales conversation. This is a continuation of a conversation with an inside sales rep sharing his insight and tactics to changing the outcomes of a cold call.

The Inside Sales "floor" is your typical starting point for Sales. Gain real world insight from a current Inside Sales rep working for a high tech company including the first few days on the job, and what you need to know to differentiate yourself from the start.

This episode will focus on the Interview with the hiring Sales Manager. It will provide insight on how to approach the sales interview and some things to keep in mind during the interview itself.