Salescraft Training: Selling for success

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Have you ever watched a salesperson enthusiastically explain everything their product can do, only to discover that the customer isn't particularly interested?

It's a common sales mistake. You know your product inside out, you're proud of its capabilities, and you want the customer to understand its value. So you explain feature after feature, hoping something will convince them to buy.

But more information doesn't necessarily create more interest. Sometimes, it simply makes the buying decision harder.

In this episode of the SalesCraft podcast, Graham Elliott explores why salespeople fall into the feature-dumping trap and how to focus conversations on what really matters to the customer.

You'll discover:

• Why product knowledge alone doesn't make you an effective salesperson.
• The difference between features, benefits and relevance.
• How irrelevant information can confuse customers and undermine trust.
• Why asking the right questions before presenting a solution is essential.
• A practical four-step approach: Problem, Relevance, Solution and Evidence.
• How to demonstrate your expertise by knowing what not to say.

The goal isn't to tell customers everything your product can do. It's to help them understand how your solution addresses a problem that matters to them.

Before your next sales conversation, ask yourself: Am I explaining what I want the customer to know, or what they actually need to know?

Follow the SalesCraft podcast for practical insights into sales conversations, customer relationships and improving sales performance.

Welcome to the podcast!

Support the show

If you have a sales problem you'd like to hear covered in a podcast, please contact me directly. Or, my sales training programme might help!

If you'd like help to improve your sales confidence, please jump onto my free (45 minute) on-demand webinar. I'll teach you three things you can apply immediately, including handling objections and closing a sale.

Graham Elliott

You can contact me at [email protected]

My website is www.salescraft.training

Please join my mailing list. You'll get all the news and latest offers.

Or... if you've found this helpful, please buy me a coffee!

Send us Fan Mail

When Your Best Salesperson Is Your Worst Problem

What happens when your top salesperson consistently delivers the numbers but creates problems everywhere else?

They win major accounts, exceed their targets and bring in valuable revenue. But they ignore the sales process, refuse to share information, make promises the business struggles to keep and expect management to turn a blind eye because of their results.

For many sales managers, this creates a difficult dilemma: how do you manage someone you can’t afford to lose, but can’t afford to let continue behaving this way?

In this episode of the SalesCraft podcast, Graham Elliott explores the hidden costs of high-performing salespeople whose behaviour damages team morale, customer relationships and the wider business.

You'll discover:

• Why strong sales results can become an excuse for poor behaviour.
• How one salesperson can undermine an entire team's performance.
• Why managers often struggle to hold their best performers accountable.
• Five practical steps for addressing the problem without unnecessarily losing a valuable salesperson.
• How to reduce your business's dependence on a single individual.

The challenge isn't simply to decide whether a salesperson is good or bad. It's to recognise the difference between individual sales performance and genuine value to the business.

Because if your best salesperson is making your business weaker, it's time to look beyond the sales figures.

Enjoyed this episode? Follow the SalesCraft podcast for more practical insights into selling, sales management and building better customer relationships.

Welcome to the podcast!

Support the show

If you have a sales problem you'd like to hear covered in a podcast, please contact me directly. Or, my sales training programme might help!

If you'd like help to improve your sales confidence, please jump onto my free (45 minute) on-demand webinar. I'll teach you three things you can apply immediately, including handling objections and closing a sale.

Graham Elliott

You can contact me at [email protected]

My website is www.salescraft.training

Please join my mailing list. You'll get all the news and latest offers.

Or... if you've found this helpful, please buy me a coffee!

Send us Fan Mail

"The customer is always right."

It's one of the most familiar phrases in business. But is it actually good advice for salespeople?

What happens when a customer tells you exactly what they want — but your experience tells you that what they're asking for won't actually solve their problem?

Do you simply agree and take the order?

Or do you have the confidence to challenge them?

In this episode, Graham Elliott explores the idea of trusted-adviser selling and why great salespeople shouldn't simply be order-takers. Your role isn't always to give the buyer what they've asked for. Sometimes, it's to help them see the problem differently and make a better decision.

You'll discover:

• Why salespeople can become too agreeable
• The difference between listening to a customer and agreeing with them
• Why the customer's description of their problem isn't necessarily the real diagnosis
• Four situations where you should consider challenging the buyer
• How to challenge assumptions without damaging the relationship
• The Acknowledge → Challenge → Explain → Explore framework
• Practical language you can use when you disagree with a customer
• Why being willing to risk a sale can actually increase your credibility
• How to become a trusted adviser rather than simply an order-taker

The goal isn't to prove that you're smarter than your customer.

Your customer knows their business. You bring your experience, expertise and perspective.

Great selling happens when those two things come together.

Before you simply agree with your next customer, ask yourself:

Am I agreeing because it's right for them — or because I want the sale?

Because the customer doesn't always need a salesperson who tells them what they want to hear.

They need someone they trust to tell them what they need to hear.

About Graham Elliott

Graham Elliott is a sales trainer and coach who helps salespeople and sales teams improve their sales performance by having better conversations, asking better questions and becoming more effective communicators.

For more practical sales insights, subscribe to the SalesCraft podcast.

Welcome to the podcast!

Support the show

If you have a sales problem you'd like to hear covered in a podcast, please contact me directly. Or, my sales training programme might help!

If you'd like help to improve your sales confidence, please jump onto my free (45 minute) on-demand webinar. I'll teach you three things you can apply immediately, including handling objections and closing a sale.

Graham Elliott

You can contact me at [email protected]

My website is www.salescraft.training

Please join my mailing list. You'll get all the news and latest offers.

Or... if you've found this helpful, please buy me a coffee!

Send us Fan Mail

What if the problem with your closing technique is that you're trying to close everyone in the same way?

You've had a great sales conversation. The prospect understands the problem, sees the value and appears ready to move forward.

Then you ask:

"So, shall we go ahead?"

And suddenly, they hesitate.

In Part 3 of the DISC for Better Sales series, Graham Elliott looks at how understanding behavioural preferences can help you adapt the way you move a buyer towards a decision.

You'll discover:

• Why the close shouldn't feel like a sudden event at the end of the sales process
• How different DISC behavioural preferences can influence the way people make decisions
• How to give a D buyer control without losing control of the sale
• How to turn an I buyer's enthusiasm into action
• How to give an S buyer the confidence to move forward
• How to give a C buyer the evidence they need to make a decision
• Why you shouldn't assume that knowing someone's DISC style tells you exactly what they'll do
• The Control → Possibility → Confidence → Evidence closing check
• Why asking "What's the logical next step?" can be more effective than trying to force a traditional close

DISC isn't a closing technique.

It's a framework that can help you become more flexible in the way you communicate, understand what your buyer needs and make the next step easier.

Don't try to make every buyer fit your sales process. Adapt your sales process to the buyer.

This is Part 3 and the final episode of the DISC for Better Sales series.

Understand the buyer. Ask better questions. Adapt your approach.

Welcome to the podcast!

Support the show

If you have a sales problem you'd like to hear covered in a podcast, please contact me directly. Or, my sales training programme might help!

If you'd like help to improve your sales confidence, please jump onto my free (45 minute) on-demand webinar. I'll teach you three things you can apply immediately, including handling objections and closing a sale.

Graham Elliott

You can contact me at [email protected]

My website is www.salescraft.training

Please join my mailing list. You'll get all the news and latest offers.

Or... if you've found this helpful, please buy me a coffee!

Send us Fan Mail

What if the objection that's costing you the sale isn't the objection you're hearing?

"Send me some information."

"I'll think about it."

"We'll need to discuss it internally."

These sound like objections, but often they're symptoms of a concern the buyer hasn't fully expressed — or that you haven't uncovered.

In Part 2 of the DISC for Better Sales series, Graham Elliott explores how understanding behavioural preferences can help you recognise potential sources of resistance and, more importantly, ask better questions.

You'll discover:

• Why your first response to an objection shouldn't necessarily be to overcome it
• How different DISC behavioural styles may experience different sources of hesitation
• What a buyer's questions, pace and changing behaviour can tell you
• Why silence doesn't necessarily mean rejection
• How to use DISC as a hypothesis generator, rather than trying to label or "read" the buyer
• The Pause → Hypothesis → Question framework for uncovering what's really behind an objection
• How better questions can turn resistance into a more productive sales conversation

DISC doesn't give you a crystal ball, and it certainly doesn't allow you to read someone's mind.

What it can give you is another lens through which to understand your buyer — and a better way to decide what question to ask next.

Don't overcome the objection. Understand it.

This is Part 2 of the DISC for Better Sales series.

In Part 3, we'll look at how to use DISC to adapt one of the most important parts of the sales conversation: the close.

Welcome to the podcast!

Support the show

If you have a sales problem you'd like to hear covered in a podcast, please contact me directly. Or, my sales training programme might help!

If you'd like help to improve your sales confidence, please jump onto my free (45 minute) on-demand webinar. I'll teach you three things you can apply immediately, including handling objections and closing a sale.

Graham Elliott

You can contact me at [email protected]

My website is www.salescraft.training

Please join my mailing list. You'll get all the news and latest offers.

Or... if you've found this helpful, please buy me a coffee!

Send us Fan Mail

Are you selling to every prospect in the same way?

One buyer wants the bottom line. Another wants to build a relationship. Someone else needs time to think things through, while another wants the facts, figures and evidence before they'll move forward.

The problem isn't necessarily your sales process. You may simply be communicating in a way that works for you, rather than the way your buyer needs.

In this episode, we'll take a look at how an understanding of the DISC behavioural model can help salespeople recognise different buying preferences and adapt their approach accordingly.

You'll discover:

• The four DISC behavioural styles and what they can mean in a sales conversation
• Why "difference" isn't necessarily "resistance"
• How your own preferred communication style can get in the way of a sale
• What different buyers may be looking for from you
• How to adjust your pace, language and information without changing what you're selling
• A simple four-question DISC Buyer Check you can use in your next sales conversation

DISC isn't about putting buyers into boxes. It's about becoming more flexible in the way you communicate with them.

Because great salespeople don't sell the way they want to sell. They communicate in the way their buyer needs to buy.

This is Part 1 of a three-part series exploring how DISC can help salespeople understand buyers, uncover resistance and improve their ability to close.

Welcome to the podcast!

Support the show

If you have a sales problem you'd like to hear covered in a podcast, please contact me directly. Or, my sales training programme might help!

If you'd like help to improve your sales confidence, please jump onto my free (45 minute) on-demand webinar. I'll teach you three things you can apply immediately, including handling objections and closing a sale.

Graham Elliott

You can contact me at [email protected]

My website is www.salescraft.training

Please join my mailing list. You'll get all the news and latest offers.

Or... if you've found this helpful, please buy me a coffee!

Send us Fan Mail

What if one of the biggest problems in sales is that we're trying too hard to sell?

Too often, salespeople enter a conversation thinking about their pitch, their product and how they're going to close the deal. They ask questions, but they're really just waiting for an opportunity to start talking.

In this episode, I'll take you through a different approach: stop selling and start exploring.

You’ll discover how better questions can uncover what the customer actually needs, why you shouldn't rush to solve a problem, and how simple follow-up questions like “Tell me more” can transform a sales conversation.

Because the best salespeople aren't necessarily the ones with all the answers.

They're the ones who stay curious long enough to find the right questions.

Welcome to the podcast!

Support the show

If you have a sales problem you'd like to hear covered in a podcast, please contact me directly. Or, my sales training programme might help!

If you'd like help to improve your sales confidence, please jump onto my free (45 minute) on-demand webinar. I'll teach you three things you can apply immediately, including handling objections and closing a sale.

Graham Elliott

You can contact me at [email protected]

My website is www.salescraft.training

Please join my mailing list. You'll get all the news and latest offers.

Or... if you've found this helpful, please buy me a coffee!

Send us Fan Mail

Ever walked into a sales meeting and felt like you were the outsider?

Maybe the people in the room are more senior than you. Maybe you’re selling into an industry you don’t know well. Or perhaps your personality and communication style are completely different from the people sitting across the table.

In this episode, I'll explore how to sell effectively when you feel like you don’t quite belong — and why trying to “fit in” can actually make you less effective.

You’ll discover how to use curiosity instead of pretending to have all the answers, prepare better questions rather than another pitch, build credibility without trying to impress, and turn being an outsider into an advantage.

Because you don’t have to be the person the room was designed for.

You need to be the person who can help the people in that room solve a problem.

Welcome to the podcast!

Support the show

If you have a sales problem you'd like to hear covered in a podcast, please contact me directly. Or, my sales training programme might help!

If you'd like help to improve your sales confidence, please jump onto my free (45 minute) on-demand webinar. I'll teach you three things you can apply immediately, including handling objections and closing a sale.

Graham Elliott

You can contact me at [email protected]

My website is www.salescraft.training

Please join my mailing list. You'll get all the news and latest offers.

Or... if you've found this helpful, please buy me a coffee!

Send us Fan Mail

Most of us think we're good communicators. But too often, we're not really listening — we're simply waiting for our turn to speak.

In this episode, we explore some of the communication habits that can make a real difference to how you connect with other people. From slowing down and becoming genuinely curious to understanding body language, matching energy and having the confidence to say what you mean, effective communication is often less about saying more and more about doing the simple things better.

We'll also look at why shorter stories can be more powerful, why pre-apologising for your own opinions can undermine your message, and why communication is a skill that needs to be practised out loud — not just understood in theory.

A practical and thought-provoking look at how small changes in the way you listen, speak and respond can lead to much better conversations.

Welcome to the podcast!

Support the show

If you have a sales problem you'd like to hear covered in a podcast, please contact me directly. Or, my sales training programme might help!

If you'd like help to improve your sales confidence, please jump onto my free (45 minute) on-demand webinar. I'll teach you three things you can apply immediately, including handling objections and closing a sale.

Graham Elliott

You can contact me at [email protected]

My website is www.salescraft.training

Please join my mailing list. You'll get all the news and latest offers.

Or... if you've found this helpful, please buy me a coffee!

Send us Fan Mail

You don't need a management title to be a leader. But how do you influence people when they don't actually report to you?

In this episode, I'll explore the challenge of leadership without authority — the situations where you're responsible for achieving an outcome but depend on other people to make it happen.

From project teams and cross-functional working to sales, HR and everyday workplace relationships, many of us need to influence people without being able to simply tell them what to do.

I'll discuss the difference between authority and influence, why being responsible without being in control can be so frustrating, what makes people choose to follow someone, and why agreement doesn't always mean commitment.

This isn't a lesson in leadership theory or a list of management techniques. It's a conversation about the reality of trying to lead when nobody is actually obliged to follow you.

Perhaps the real test of leadership isn't what happens when people have to listen to you. It's what happens when they don't.

Welcome to the podcast!

Support the show

If you have a sales problem you'd like to hear covered in a podcast, please contact me directly. Or, my sales training programme might help!

If you'd like help to improve your sales confidence, please jump onto my free (45 minute) on-demand webinar. I'll teach you three things you can apply immediately, including handling objections and closing a sale.

Graham Elliott

You can contact me at [email protected]

My website is www.salescraft.training

Please join my mailing list. You'll get all the news and latest offers.

Or... if you've found this helpful, please buy me a coffee!