Sales Made Easy

In this episode of Sales Made Easy, Harry and Colin Smith discuss the importance of listening and how it can improve relationships and sales. Colin suggested that most people believe they are above average listeners, but when asked if anyone had thanked them for listening in the last two weeks, most people's hands went down.

Colin explained that hearing and listening are not the same thing. Listening requires focus, concentration, and understanding. He suggested that to become a better listener, one should practice being present, remove distractions, and avoid filling every silence with words. Harry agreed, and concluded that by listening effectively, one can build relationships, create trust, and increase sales.

This conversation is about the difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is unintentional and happens without us doing anything. Listening is intentional and active, and requires us to really focus on what is being said. To demonstrate this difference, the speaker uses a piece of music, asking people to just listen to it, then listen to the guitar and piano, then listen to the vocals, and finally to just relax and be with the music.

When we listen to understand rather than just listen to reply, this opens up the conversation and we can pick up on subtle signals that can help us understand the other person better. For example, when talking about a competitor, we can pick up on whether they are really happy or unhappy with them. Listening with understanding can help us get a lot more out of conversations.

In this episode of Sales Made East, our guest, Monte Pedersen discusses the challenges of execution that many businesses face. Pedersen explains that while many businesses think they have a strategy, they don’t understand how to actually execute it.

He states that execution is the biggest obstacle to business performance or success and needs to be discovered. Pedersen explains that while strategic planning is often thought of as an abstract concept, it is actually a combination of strategy and planning. Strategy is the best guess of how to succeed and planning is the implementation of that strategy. Without execution, businesses will not be successful.

This episode is about the difference between strategy and execution. Strategy is the big picture of where an organization wants to go and how it will get there, while execution focuses on how to implement the strategy. Planning is a part of the execution process, but it is separate from execution. It is important to understand the difference between strategy and execution because it is easy to expect that senior executives and managers will know how to implement a strategy without providing the necessary guidance and instructions. Planning is a way for leaders to create concrete steps to reach their goals, but it is important to remember that it is part of the execution process and not the same as strategy.

In this episode of Sales Made Easy, Harry chats with Sheryl Mays about the importance of the customer experience. Create clients for life by providing a great experience for them.

Sheryl recently wrote her fifth book, Make the Sale, Memorable, which is a preview book that includes activities to help readers implement her strategies. She explains how focusing on customer experience can help businesses sustain their success, and shares examples of how famous brands use customer experience to extend their services.

In this episode, they discussing the importance of customer service and how everyone within a company is an extension of sales. Sheryl explains that customer service employees should not view their roles as unimportant - they should use their personality to show that they appreciate the people who are paying the bills. To illustrate this, she shares an example from the casino industry, where the valet staff are the first people that customers meet. She explains that they shouldn't just view their job as parking cars, but rather they should be seen as the first experience of the customer. Harry agrees that this is an important topic and that customer service employees should take their role seriously.

In this episode of Sales Made Easy, Harry talks to Andy Olen, a sales and leadership expert with over 20 years of experience leading sales teams and negotiating contracts worth $400 million. Andy shares insights from his book, The Trilogy of Yes, which focuses on connection, communication, and cooperation as key skills for inspiring customers to say yes.

Andy and Harry discuss the skills necessary to make sales easy. Andy emphasizes the importance of establishing a strong connection with customers and demonstrating your ability to understand and solve their problem. He also stresses the need for clear communication of the value proposition to inspire customers to say yes. Andy disagrees with the "always be closing" philosophy and believes that if the customer trusts you, closing should be easy.

Andy shares his experience from running political campaigns and how a candidate's biggest mistake is not asking for the voter's support. He encourages salespeople to ask for the business and think of it as giving the customer the gift of a closing request. Andy advises that asking for the business is important, as it removes uncertainty and allows the customer to make a decision.

In competitive situations where multiple vendors are involved, Andy believes that it is still important to call and debrief, even if the customer ultimately chooses another vendor. Harry suggests that salespeople need to create alignment and remove uncertainty when a customer has already expressed interest. Andy recommends using a summary close, where you review the customer's situation, outline the product's benefits, and then ask if the customer is ready to make a decision.

Andy's insights on sales and leadership training provide valuable lessons for anyone looking to improve their sales skills. By focusing on connection, communication, and cooperation, and asking for the business when appropriate, salespeople can inspire customers to say yes and close more deals.

Andy Olen is a Sales & Leadership Trainer and a High-Performance Coach.

In this episode of Sales Made Easy, we also navigate the tricky terrain of LinkedIn connections and how to build relationships organically without being pushy. Harry shares practical tips on how to establish trust and provide value without the pressure to sell. Don't miss out on his unique approach to selling oneself to oneself and the powerful effects it can have on personal and professional growth.

As an added treat, we invite Julie Lokun, our esteemed guest, to share her thoughts on the contrasts of transactional and consultative selling. Join us as we dive into the nuances and benefits of each approach.

So, grab your headphones and get ready to soak in the wisdom of Harry Spaight as he teaches us how to sell and make money with dignity. Stay tuned for an episode filled with invaluable insights, actionable strategies, and an unwavering commitment to ethical sales practices.

In this episode of Sales Made Easy, Harry Spaight speaks with Devin Johnson, the CEO of Kennected. Devin tells his story about his youth and finding purpose in life despite some incredible challenges as a teenager. His father spent time in prison while his mother had to leave her job to care for her cancer-stricken daughter. That left Devin with the "opportunity" to learn how to earn an income, first with sneakers and then creating websites.

Devin shares some of his battles with the scarcity mindset and how he still works at the mindset of "abundance". He is a fan of Napoleon Hill and Gary Vaynerchuk and is setting the bar pretty high today with his successes mounting up.

Do you feel like the odds are against you? We often compare ourselves to people who seem better off than us but the reality is, we are still better off than most. Listening to the story of Devin Johnson and what he has done so far with an abundance mindset is pretty incredible. In this podcast From Sneakerhead to CEO with Devin Johnson, we discuss his background, his sales.

Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich and Bob Proctor are mentioned with the abundant mindset that Devin has developed.

For more on Devin

https://www.linkedin.com/in/leadflow/

https://kennected.org/about/

From Construction Worker to Selling Success with Duane Dufault. Duane joins the Sales Made Easy podcast and we discuss the journey of learning to sell and becoming successful by working hard and looking at fails as learning.

Duane is one who takes the craft of selling seriously. He works hard at it himself and helps his clients do the same. He also chimes in about staying focused and doing what needs to be done in order to grow the business, versus getting pulled in a lot of different directions that don’t lead to the real destination.

For more about Duane and how he serves his clients, he can be found at his website https://www.duanedufault.com/productled-sales-coach and here on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/duanedufault/

How do you feel about making sales calls? Are you intimidated about the idea which causes you to shrink back from the idea of making some calls to prospects?

Making outbound calls or sending emails and engaging people can be a challenge. We are all bombarded with “scam likely” calls and way too many emails that many shrink back from doing what will help them grow their business.

In this episode,  Outbound Calling With a Serving Mindset, Jason Bay shares his insight as a master of outbound calls. There is a ton of value he provides in this conversation, this is just a glimpse of it below.

“I think that's super important and that's something that I'm really fascinated with prospecting. It's so important. Like when you pick up the phone and make a call to a prospect, or you send an email or you reach out on LinkedIn, what's that experience like for them to be on the receiving end of that?

Because you're not the only person reaching out to them. So how do you stand out? How do you do this in a way that feels good, you know, to do, how do you do this in a way that's effective because outbound is getting much harder.”

Website:

https://outboundsquad.com/

Bio:

Jason Bay is Founder & CEO at Outbound Squad™. He’s on a mission to help reps and sales teams turn complete strangers into paying customers. A few of their clients include reps and sales teams from companies like Zoom, CBRE, Medallia, Xfinity, Gong, and many more. Sales is the only "adult job" he’s ever had. And he’s done everything from selling house painting services door to door, running outbound call centers, to helping thousands of reps master cold outreach.

Ken is a fractional executive specializing in aligning teams and systems to grow sales and increase profits. With over 35 years of experience, he can identify where leaders are stuck and put processes in place to measure key targets, improve communication, and get things moving forward again. He believes that everyone wants to be appreciated, do work that’s exciting, and be part of something greater than themselves. Connect with Ken at 616-822-2998 or [email protected].