Lightning Round: Top 10 Things You Need to Do to Drive Sales BEFORE Year End

Question: Kelly from Austin asks, "Hey Meridith and Mark — I've been missing my numbers all year, it's killing my confidence. Now this government shut down, combined with the holidays—where and how can I get momentum?"

Book: A Mind For Sales Mark Hunter

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Lightning Round: Top 10 Ways to Build Your Personal Brand

Question: Lisa from Austin, TX asks, "This year I've been trying to make my presentations more engaging. How do I know if my story is connecting — or if I'm just talking too much?"

Book: Stories that Stick by Kindra Hall

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Lightning Round: Top 10 Ways to Increase Your Sales Effectiveness

Question: Peter asks, "As sales continues to shift from a traditional B2B supplier perspective (products focus) toward a more retail customer centric focus, I'm very interested to know if it would be more effective for field sales teams to understand their business partners' buyers or key decision makers' KPIs (excluding monetary incentives)? By doing so, they could better collaborate and align their strategies to help those buyers or decision makers achieve their KPIs, while also driving sustained growth for all involved."

Book: Endless Customers by Marcus Sheridan

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Lightning Round: Top Ways to Increase Customer Retention

Question: "Hi Meredith and Mark, this is Jenna from Chicago. Our sales team is crushing quotas, but customer churn is rising. How can we balance new business goals without losing the customers we already have?"

Book: Perspective by Meridith Elliott Powell

Lightning Round: Top 10 Ways to Follow-up Without Being Annoying

Question: Renee from Montreal asks, "I'm a VP of Sales at a growing SaaS company. Marketing generates a ton of leads, but my team says they're not qualified. What's the best way to get sales and marketing aligned without constant finger-pointing?"

Book: They Ask, You Answer by Marcus Sheridan

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Lightning Round: Top 10 Things that Kill a Deal Before the Proposal

Question: Darren from Austin, TX asks, "I've been in sales for 15 years and lately everything feels harder. The scripts, the follow-ups, even the buyer conversations that used to work just fall flat. How do I rewrite my sales playbook to connect with today's buyer without feeling fake or pushy?"

Book: Sell Without Selling Out by Andy Paul

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Lightning Round: Top 10 Ways to Sell More in 4th Quarter

Question: Christine in Denver asks, "We're great at signing new clients, but I feel like we lose momentum right after the deal closes. What are the best practices to keep customers engaged and excited during the first month?"

Book: Never Lose A Customer Again by Joey Coleman

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Topic: The "Danger" of Selling Into One Vertical

Lightning Round: Top 10 Ways to Retain Customers

Question: Jordan from Chicago asks, "I have had a bad year. I sell into Manufacturing and I have five major clients. I have taken such perfect care of them, my competition could not get in. But this year, out of nowhere, my largest got new leadership and changed vendors without even telling me? There is no way I can replace that revenue. Any advice?"

Book: Eat Their Lunch: Winning Customers Away From Your Competition by Anthony Iannarino

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Lightning Round: Top 10 Favorite Sales Tools

Question: Rowena from the British Virgin Islands asks, "I'm active on LinkedIn but I'm not seeing results. I'm so frustrated. I listen every week so I'd ask experts should I double down on posting more or is there a smarter way to turn my online presence into real sales conversations?"

Book: 'Fanatical Prospecting' by Jeb Blount and 'The LinkedIn Edge' by Jeb Blount and Brynne Tillman

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Lightning Round: Top 10 Mistakes that Are Killing Your Pipeline

Question: Mike from San Diego asks, "Our company is growing fast, both organically and through acquisitions. We're great at landing new business, but I'm worried our customer retention is slipping. How do I get my team to focus on both?"

Book: Never Lose a Customer Again by Joey Coleman

👀 Read the BLOG for this episode.