Predictable Prospecting's Podcast

For prospectors, referrals are important. When you're a business developer, it's helpful if you can engage clients to the point that they're willing to refer another business to you.

Today's guest is Brandon Bruce, the COO and Co-founder of Cirrus Insight. In today's episode, Bruce will be talking about the top of the funnel. Listen to the episode to hear what Brandon has to say about referrals and about the tips, techniques, and strategies that he's using in his own company that may also be useful for you.

Episode Highlights:

• Brandon's unusual height
• Brandon's company, Cirrus Insight, and what they do
• What Brandon has found does and doesn't work when it comes to prospecting
• When is the best time to bring up the topic of referrals with a client
• Incentives that can encourage clients to make referrals
• How making a job fun can help build energy and get people excited
• How customer feedback can lead to great ideas for improvements
• How to use personalization in prospecting
• The small batch approach, and how new technologies have improved it

Resources:

Brandon Bruce

Cirrus Insight

[email protected]

There are a lot of different things that you can try when you need to make more sales. But one of the most effective things that you can do to become a great salesperson is work on your leadership skills.

Today's guest is Deb Calvert, President of People First Productivity Solutions. In today's episode, she'll be talking about her new book, Stop Selling and Start Leading: How to Make Extraordinary Sales Happen. Listen to the episode to hear what she has to say about what buyers really want and how sellers can make sure that they deliver, and stay tuned for a special offer at the end.

Episode Highlights:

• Deb's interest in doing real research into what buyers really want, and how that led to her new book
• The surprises that Deb found in the course of researching her book
• The importance of sellers establishing credibility with buyers by doing what they say they will do
• The backstory on the co-authors that Deb worked with when writing her new book
• The 30 behaviors that buyers respond to when sellers adopt them
• How the behaviors Deb describes in her book apply in different stages of the funnel
• Deb's Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership that sellers can apply in their relationships with buyers
• How leadership behaviors can help sellers stand out from the crowd
• Deb's online e-learning course, and a special offer for podcast listeners

Resources:

Deb Calvert

People First Productivity Solutions

Stop Selling and Start Leading

For free access to Deb's online e-learning training course, Workplace Conversations, email a receipt for Stop Selling and Start Leading to Deb at [email protected]

You may not think of yourself a performer, but prospecting and performing have some important things in common. In both cases, it's important to get yourself noticed and stand out from the crowd. Today's guest is an expert in the art of getting yourself noticed.

Tsufit is a former lawyer who left the legal profession in order to become a performer. She has performed as a singer and a comedian, in the theater and on television. Now she is an author, speaker, and PR and marketing coach. Listen to the episode to hear what Tsufit has to say about getting noticed, attracting people, and the importance of a good story.

Episode Highlights:

• Tsufit's legal background and how it informed her work as a performer
• Where to start with getting noticed
• How communicating one-on-one differs from communicating with a room full of people
• The importance of being able to tell a story that interests people
• How to catch people's interest during the first 30 seconds of speaking to them
• Why you should start in the middle of a story, rather than the beginning
• How Tsufit's methods can work for enterprise sales
• The power of an authentic voice
• How you can create dramatic moments by doing the unexpected
• Why tone matters, especially when speaking over the phone
• Tsufit's free tip series
• How a well-crafted email can make a big difference

Resources:

Tsufit

Tsufit's Website

Step into the Spotlight

Spotlight Secrets: Free Tip Series

Step into the Spotlight: LinkedIn Group

My guest today is Matt Benati, the CEO, and co-founder of LeadGnome. As salespeople, we tend to focus on the perfect pitch, the hottest leads, and the smartest marketing strategies. With all this noise and bustle we forget that there is an existing client base that needs just as much attention as a new client. The best way to keep the lines of communication open with an existing client is to use automated systems.

LeadGnome is an automated email system that collects data from email replies. The information it provides allows companies to clean out contact lists and remind clients of changing contact information. Matt gives us an in-the-trenches look at automated systems. He also shares why he started LeadGnome and why automation is an important component of the future of sales.

Episode highlights:

• How LeadGnome came to be.
• How automated messages help a business keep clients informed.
• The useful information automated messages provide.
• Automation's role in bringing marketing and sales together.
• Building an influence map and how automation makes that easier.
• The service LeadGnome provides to their clients.
• When to implement an automated system in your business.

Resources:

LeadGnome

Matt Benati's email

It's important for prospectors to understand the entire funnel, not just the top and middle of the funnel. Today's guest has a breadth of knowledge for the entire funnel and a particular focus on frontline sales, leadership, and managers.

Dave A. Brock is the CEO of Partners in EXCELLENCE, a California-based consulting organization that focuses on helping clients develop and execute business, sales, marketing, customer service, and new product strategies. Dave is also the author of Sales Manager Survival Guide. Listen to the episode to hear what David has to say about frontline sales.

Episode Highlights:

How Dave got started in the area of sales performance

How too many apps and tools can be detrimental to sales performance

Why the sales manager needs to be part of the plan when implementing a new tool

A sales manager's role, and how that can be leveraged to maximize the performance of each sales person.

The qualities that make a great sales manager

The importance of determining a process that works before bringing in automation tools

Why it's necessary to focus on fundamentals and the ideal customer profile

Dave's new book, Sales Executive Survival Guide, coming out in May

Resources:

David Brock

Dave on Twitter

Partners in EXCELLENCE

Partners in EXCELLENCE Blog

Sales Manager Survival Guide: Lessons From Sales' Front Lines

A 5-minute quick listen on the 2 universal mistakes we make when holding conversations with buyers.

Being an entrepreneur doesn't always stop with creating one successful business. Some entrepreneurs make a business out of creating different businesses. Today's guest is a serial entrepreneur that creates businesses and sells them.

Mansour Salame is an engineer by training, and he is currently the CEO and founder of a company called FrontSpin. However, Mansour says that he doesn't think of himself as an engineer or a salesperson so much as he thinks of himself as a person who can find value for customers and clients. Listen in to this interesting interview to hear Mansour's insights about growth and scaling.

Episode Highlights:

• Mansour's first job out of college as a project manager, and how that led to his introduction to sales and startups
• The importance of understanding a client's needs in detail
• How to put a process in place that you can scale to the level of growth that you're at
• How process can be divided into two categories: search mode and scaling mode
• How Mansour is scaling processes at his current company now
• The importance of improving and tweaking the process to make it more successful, even when in scaling mode
• Why considering the customer's process is necessary when creating your own processes
• How measuring metrics and benchmarks fit into both search and scaling modes
• How scaling without first figuring out the process can lead to low morale and other problems
• How sales messaging needs to change as you scale
• How a trend toward personalization affects production and scalability

Resources:

Mansour Salame

FrontSpin

When it comes to sales having the right team in place makes all the difference in the world. Today's guest is someone who understands how to create and build a team with the right people. He understands building a brand and creating and nourishing the company to scale.

Today's guest is Paul Fifield the chief revenue officer for UNiDAYS a student affinity network that connects verified global students with relevant brands and services. Paul and I go way back. We've known each other for years and worked together in the early days. This is a great episode where we talk about how to grow a team and to build a team that consists of the right people.

Episode Highlights:

• When Paul first arrived in New York, he read Marylou's book and then hired her as a consultant.
• The importance of hiring. A brilliant process won't work without the right people.
• If you've hired great, people you can actually get a lot wrong in your business and still be okay.
• Getting the right people into your business that are brilliant when it comes to your business.
• As businesses scale, the early processes will break and need to be refined.
• Having a hiring process and predicting who will be successful in your business by using systems.
• Paul talks about some of the things you should look for when creating a business development team. You need people who can create great emails and have writing skills.
• These people also have to have great phone skills and be articulate.
• To save time, and find the right fit design your entire hiring process to look for the skills.
• By doing this you can probably discount 75% of your applicants.
• Also have a voice call and set up a scoring system look for things like voice clarity and vocabulary, plus the energy levels of the person.
• What you're hirers are in-role, check to see if you got your testing right.
• Paul's current business is focusing on generation Z. They engage with all types of different brands who want to reach this demographic.
• Paul believes in splitting roles to create predictability.
• Initiating conversations, tone of voice, and not "being in sales".
• Paul has a two-week training class for his new hires. He also tells a funny story about how one of his new hires prospected Jeff Bezos.
• When your team isn't too big you can scale fast.

Resources:

• Paul Fifield on LinkedIn
• UNiDAYS
• UNiDAYS Corporate Site
• UNiDAYS Recruiting Video
• Paul Fifield Of Ceros - Does "Predictable Revenue" Work?
• VP Sales North America Job Description Video
• Senior Account Executive Job Description Video
• Sales Development Representative Job Video
• Predictable Revenue
• From Impossible To Inevitable: How Hyper-Growth Companies Create Predictable Revenue
• How Google Works
• Sales Acceleration Formula
• HubSpot
• Reed Hastings
• Jeff Bezos

Troy Kirby is a sports business consultant who builds relationships and revenue for sports organizations. He is the owner of Tao of Sports where he consults for B2B vendors, professional teams, and college athletic departments. He also hosts the Tao of Sports podcast.

We have a really interesting conversation on today's show. Troy comes from the world of sports, and he is an expert in sports sales. He is going to share some of his great stories in the area of sales, education, where he came from, and what he was trained for. He is also going to share his sales experience from the perspective of focusing on engaging people and getting them to come to his events.

Episode Highlights:

• When people give you time and opportunity it is a gift, and you need to give back.
• Stand up comedy and open mic night helped Troy become relatable.
• If you have a speaking opportunity. Go and screw up. The whole idea is to get practice relating to people.
• Listen to other people and be interested in what they do. Build a relationship that way.
• People want to do business with people who listen to them not talk at them.
• Change your mindset and have a yes mentality.
• Troy ended up having a great conversation interviewing the Octomom and allowing her to talk more and treating her with equity and respect.
• Qualifying people by how much money they have, yet they might be a great source of referrals.
• If someone tells you not to do something, they probably don't know what they are talking about.
• Troy is known in the sports industry as the sales ticket guy.
• Take an active investment in other people, but also take a chance on yourself.
• Play the long game and really knock the cover off the ball. Plan for the long term.
• Do the work in advance and build your contact over time. Don't use other people as an excuse for not achieving.
• How we are overly entertained. Put the time in your business, and it will yield out so much more.
• The importance of the daily commitment to the process. It takes time to build relationships and work and work that system.
• Thinking outside of the box and getting people to come to your events. Troy shares his red turf story where the turf could be seen from space.
• You have to be able to tell a story, sell a narrative, and believe in yourself. Take risks and don't be threatened by what you are doing.

Resources:

• TAO of Sports
• Troy Kirby on LinkedIn
• @SportsTao on Twitter
• Robert Cialdini
• Matt Harper

Shimon Lazarov the CEO of LiveCoach is here today to talk about you as a person. I focus on sales and spend a lot of time focused on the ins and outs of the sales process, but the person behind the sales matters too. Shimon is here to shed some light on coaching and the importance of having a coach.

Coaching can increase productivity, success, and life satisfaction. Ongoing coaching is usually more useful than a one-time coaching session. Finding and connecting with the right coach for you isn't that easy. Shimon created LiveCoach to connect coaches and clients through an easy to use online platform.

Episode Highlights:

• Business coaching versus life coaching. People work with coaches to accomplish something that they don't know how to do or to be held accountable, so that they follow through or to aspire to new horizons.
• People usually prefer a coach over a peer to help them be held accountable.
• Some people only need specific help for one thing. Other people want accountability or they want their life to be better.
• There is a link between something in life bothering people and their work success and productivity.
• Personal and professional success are interrelated.
• How coaches have neutral objectivity and your best interest in mind.
• The more neutral a coach is the better and more effective that coach will be.
• The LiveCoach platform can help you find a coach by describing your situation or you can be matched through their algorithms.
• You can talk to several coaches for free to help find the best coach fit for you.
• When you start talking to people, you will be surprised by the amount of insights that you will get.
• Shimon suggests talking to as many coaches as you can.
• Many coaches do a questionnaire or a review as prep work. Some part of the initial work will be reflection about what you want to achieve and gaining clarity.

Resources:

• LiveCoach
• Shimon Lazarov