Sales Throwdown

Networking. You either love it or you hate it.

Or you may think you don't have to do it.

But the Sales Throwdown team quickly show that there are many ways of networking. So you might be doing it without even realizing it. But are you doing it in the best way possible? (Also, you should probably be doing it in some way. Just saying.)

In episode 18, we talk about how each of us networks. We all do it a little differently. We don't even think about what networking is the same way. But we've all learned ways to maximize our success with our different approaches.

Some of the differences are because of our DISC personality profiles. And some of our differences are because of our very different industries. So there should be at least one or two things that anybody can take away from this episode and start utilizing in their own networking process.

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Full disclosure, this is a happy hour episode, and we've imbibed some stronger than usual adult beverages.

So this one is a little less structured than usual. But it may be the most valuable one yet.

Maybe.

The main topic we wanted to cover is the importance of planning. In case you haven't noticed, 2019 is almost over. So if you're not planning for the next year, you're probably already behind.

Knowing what your goals are, how to get there from where you are, and what has and hasn't worked in the past will set you up for a successful year. And the data and knowledge that makes those plans easier should be getting collected throughout the year.

Somehow, the conversation wanders to the pros and cons about commission and pay structure. An equally important subject, just not what we were planning.

However, it does lead back to planning in that hiring managers and up should have a really good understanding of the needs of their salespeople and set up the pay structure accordingly. They are the people bringing in the business. They should always have a reason to be motivated, whatever that means for a particular industry or company. And that motivation should be enough to not only lead them to continued success, but to keep them as part of your team. If they don't have enough support and motivation, they'll go be successful for somebody else.

This kind of planning also ensures that your company has more than just one great salesperson. Because nothing (and nobody) lasts forever, so why would you want only one superstar on your team?

So this episode is for salespeople and their bosses. Or the salespeople that will be moving up and will be in charge of these things soon. It's time to change the culture of letting salespeople hang out to dry.

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What makes a good leader? Is it respect? Is it having people do what you say?

Or is it being a part of your team?

It's not an easy question. There are many aspects to leadership, all equally important.

In this episode, we discuss what leadership, especially sales leadership, looks like to us. And we talk about how using DISC can be a huge benefit in a leadership role.

Due to Clint's promotion, this is a very important and relevant topic to him right now. He has a team under him, and he is having to marry his background and knowledge in sales and DISC to a wider spectrum of leadership.

While we all know how important efficient leaders are to the success of a company, it's not so clear what makes a leader most efficient. That is what we hope to help clear up in this episode with our audience and ourselves.

If you are interested in learning more about your own personality and what qualities you can hone to be a great leader, email us at [email protected] for more information on the DISC personality spectrum and where you are in it.

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There are a number of ways you can define ego.

And no matter how you define it, knowing more about your own ego can only benefit you.

In sales, there is a huge stigma that all salespeople have a huge ego. And that may be true for many. But whether it is a strong sense of self worth or just plain cockiness, we should all take time for introspection.

Is your ego helping you? Is your ego driving clients or people away?

In this episode, we discuss what ego means and how we view it in our own lives. Al teaches us about Freud and what ego means according to his theory of the human psyche. The rest of us are trying to keep up, but longly held beliefs about what we think ego means makes it difficult.

However, we all agree that ego definitely focuses on the self, both positively and negatively.

At the end of the day, regardless of how well you understand psychoanalysis and psychology, getting to know yourself better can only help you in both sales and life.

There are many ways of doing that, and we think DISC is one of the best starting points out there.

If you would like to find out where you fit in the DISC personality profile spectrum and how you can best use this information in all aspects of your life, email us at [email protected] for more information.

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In the fourteenth episode of our Sales Throwdown podcast, we talk about fear.

Fear, limited beliefs, negative emotions, low confidence.

All of those emotions that make it harder to make that first phone call or get out of the car to walk into a new office.

We talk about the fears that we each deal with. And we talk about how to push past fear and the negative mindset that makes selling harder than it has to be.

Our different DISC personalities are on full display in this episode, but there's one thing we all have in common. We all have something that could hold us back if we let it.

But learning about DISC, gaining experience, and general maturing has helped us grow past being limited by those fears. Not that they're not still there. We've just learned how to push past them.

If you want to get started on this journey but don't know where you are on the DISC personality profile spectrum, email us at [email protected]. The more you know about your own personality, the easier it will be to estimate where others fall on the spectrum, and the better your communication will be with them.

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It may be hard to imagine that you're going to have to turn clients away. But sometimes, you do.

In this episode, we discuss when and how to say no to clients and prospects in sales conversations.

And this very important subject is being discussed because of a conversation that Clint had with one of our awesome listeners, Brian. (Thanks, Brian!)

We also get to hear about a difficult situation in Clint's career.

Long story short, somebody who is not a salesperson brought in a potential client without Clint's knowledge or oversight, and Clint has to figure out how to navigate this unexpected occurrence and turn it into a win for the company.

Or not.

He is particularly good at figuring out if a client is right for them and vice versa. So even after the time that has already been spent on them, he may have to go for the no if the fit isn't right on both sides.

Although the theme in this episode isn't as clear cut as usual, there are a lot of great nuggets to take away.

We discuss how difficult it can be to ask the questions that can lead us to having to say no to clients. And it's uncomfortable.

But it's more important to say no in the right situations than it is to say yes to a bad fit.

Because we are all in different corners of the DISC spectrum, we have different ways of tackling this. Luckily, with the work we've done on learning about our personality profiles and our experience, we're now in a place where we can usually handle this smoothly and painlessly.

And even after saying no, we've gotten to a place where we may still be able to provide value to these clients, even if we can't work with them.

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Most of us were taught to NEVER talk about it.

Most people cringe having to ask about it.

But if you're a salesperson, it's unavoidable. And it shouldn't be taboo! At least not in business.

This week, we discuss how to talk about money and budget in sales conversations.

While it makes some people uncomfortable, it is unfair to both you and your potential clients to not get the money conversation out of the way in the very beginning of the business relationship.

It has taken some time and practice, but knowing DISC has helped each one of us in the Sales Throwdown team a lot in figuring out the best way to have this potentially awkward conversation with people. There are ways of approaching the subject without scaring potential clients away and not finding out what you both need to know until it's too late.

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In our eleventh episode, we discuss how important it is to uncover the pain a prospect probably has so that we have a better understanding of how we can help them.

In our tenth episode, our Sales Throwdown team discusses how important it is to set expectations in every possible sales situation. According to John, it is the Jedi Mind Trick of sales conversations. Without it, every interaction is capable of derailing.

In our ninth episode, we talk about sales prospecting, how we all do it, and why some of us love it and some of us don't.

Every salesperson knows that they need to go out and get clients in some way or another. But what is the best way, and how do you make it more successful?

Each one of us has a different process. And those differences occur both because of our personalities and because of our different industries. So keep both of those things in mind as you listen to us describe what prospecting looks like for each of us.