Salescraft Training: Selling for success

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Most salespeople think deals are won or lost at the closing stage. But the truth is, by the time you’re trying to “close,” the buyer has usually already made their decision emotionally.

In this episode, we break down why great salespeople rarely rely on pressure, scripts, or traditional closing techniques — and why the best reps focus instead on discovery, trust, clarity, and understanding buyer psychology early in the sales process.

You’ll learn:

• Why closing techniques often create resistance
• The real reason buyers ghost or delay decisions
• How weak discovery leads to late-stage objections
• What top performers do differently throughout the sales conversation
• How to create natural commitment without sounding pushy

If you’ve ever felt like deals are slipping away at the end of the process, this episode will help you understand what’s really happening — and how to fix it earlier.

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

Stress can be the unseen reason a good sales conversation turns awkward, especially when you are close to the decision. I dig into the moments when pressure starts to leak out as impatience, silence, anger, micromanaging, or that sudden urge to people please and why clients feel it immediately. When they sense you are under strain, trust wobbles, and without trust the deal slows down or dies. 

We look at practical stress management for salespeople, starting with awareness: learning your personal “tells” so you can catch stress early rather than getting swept up in it. I also bring in DISC personality types as a useful lens for understanding how different behavioural styles show stress and how that affects communication. Then we move into what to do before a face-to-face meeting: take a breath, take the pressure off the deal, and lean on clarity. Clear outcomes, clear next steps, clear owners, and clear timelines reduce anxiety and help you lead the conversation calmly. 

Sales is also leadership, so I talk about recognising stress in other people too, especially your clients. If they are overloaded, forcing the meeting can feel pushy and damage rapport. A simple, respectful reschedule can build goodwill and set you apart from competitors, while still keeping the deal under control. We finish with options for tough moments, including bringing someone with you and tag teaming so you can buy thinking time without losing momentum. 

If you want calmer meetings, cleaner communication, and more consistent results, hit subscribe, share the episode with a colleague, and leave a review so more people can find it.

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

Leadership style is easy to talk about and surprisingly hard to live out when targets are tight, deals are complex and your team is watching your every move. We take a clear, practical look at common leadership styles and what they mean day to day in sales leadership: authoritative direction when you need a shared vision, coaching when you want people to grow, and the moments where a firm decision matters more than endless consensus.

We also get into the commercial reality that sits underneath “great selling”. If your team controls pricing, they need to understand margin, costs and profitability, otherwise you can win business that actually loses money. From setting expectations on discounting to reviewing the health of deals, we talk about what a good leader pays attention to and what a weak leader often misses.

Finally, we tackle the people side: empowerment, trust and the fine line between supporting someone and micromanaging them. You’ll hear a simple post-call review approach that builds confidence instead of fear, plus ways to balance team development with performance pressure so the business becomes sustainable, not just busy.

If you found this useful, subscribe for more on leadership and sales management, share the episode with someone stepping into management, and leave a review with the leadership style you’re trying to strengthen next.

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 salespeople hear “We need to think about it” and assume the buyer needs more time.

Usually, that’s not the real problem.

In this episode, we break down the psychology behind one of the most common — and misunderstood — phrases in sales. Because buyers rarely say what they’re actually thinking.

“We need to think about it” is often a polite way of saying:
• “I’m not fully convinced”
• “This feels risky”
• “I don’t know how to justify this internally”
• “I’m still uncertain”

You’ll learn why top salespeople don’t treat this as an objection-handling problem — they treat it as a certainty problem.

We cover:
• Why buyers delay decisions even when they like your solution
• The emotional drivers behind hesitation and indecision
• How weak discovery creates late-stage stalls
• The hidden role fear and internal politics play in B2B sales
• Questions elite sellers use to surface doubt early
• How to create urgency without pressure
• Why pushing harder usually makes buyers pull away

If you’ve ever had a deal that looked positive… only to suddenly stall, ghost, or disappear after “We’ll think about it,” this episode will help you understand what’s really happening beneath the surface.

Because most stalled deals aren’t information problems: They’re emotional certainty problems.

Support the show: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2378857/support

If you have a sales problem you'd like covered in a future episode, contact Graham Elliott directly or learn more about Salescraft Training.

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

Pressure has a way of shrinking your world. You stop breathing, you grip tighter, and suddenly you’re managing everything while trusting no one including yourself. That’s why this conversation with John Malora landed so hard for me: he’s lived in environments where “close enough” is not a standard, from testing systems for Mars rover missions to coaching leaders who feel stretched thin and stuck on autopilot.

We start with John’s unconventional journey into the US space programme and what test engineering teaches you about leadership clarity. When leaders obsess over steps, they create micromanagement, confusion, and low trust. When leaders define the objective, describe what success means, and keep the team aligned to the vision, people make better decisions and ownership rises. We also dig into the idea that rest is not a reward, it is part of how humans are built. Space to decompress, creative outlets, and protected relationships are practical tools for handling pressure and keeping your confidence intact, especially in changing times.

Then we get into the messy reality of teams: giving feedback to a leader, staying curious instead of judgemental, and separating data from drama when emotions run high. We talk communication styles, why people miss each other even with good intent, and how tools like DISC and the Enneagram can help you tailor your message so it actually lands. John also shares a free resource designed to shift you from judgement into curiosity and build awareness.

You can find John Mollura's free Navigator's Master here. It provides three questions to help shift from a mindset of judgment to curiosity. 

If you found this useful, subscribe, share it with a leader or teammate, and leave a review so more people can find it. What’s one outcome you need to get clearer on this week?

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

Leadership is not a title you get given. It is the behaviour that makes other people want to follow you, trust you, and do great work when nobody is watching. I start by separating leadership from management: one can enforce process, but the other has to create belief in a vision and help a team feel part of it, especially in a sales environment where pressure is constant.

From there I work through five leadership traits I rely on. We talk about being the example and why integrity is the real currency of influence. We dig into consistency and how unpredictable moods create a workplace where people hide mistakes. There is also a memorable Apollo-era story that shows exactly what not to do. I share simple routines that kept me steady while running sales teams, plus a practical tweak that helped me model work-life balance by stopping late-night emails from landing in other people’s inboxes.

We then get into active listening as a leadership skill, not a soft extra: how to listen to understand, ask better questions, and defuse issues even when you cannot solve them immediately. Finally we look at communication and adaptability during uncertainty, including how to keep people informed and focused without fuelling panic, and how to stay calm, assess scenarios, and adjust course.

If you want a clearer, more human approach to leadership that improves retention and performance, subscribe, share this with a manager who needs it, and leave a review with the trait you are working on right now.

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 biggest leadership test isn’t when things go well, it’s what happens right after someone messes up. I talk through the leadership habits I’ve found make the difference between strong teams and workplaces where people go quiet, cover up errors, and let problems spread. If you manage a sales team or you’re moving into sales management, you’ll recognise how quickly fear can turn into lost revenue, damaged trust, and constant firefighting.

I also dig into staff retention and why the “revolving door” is so costly. When salespeople keep leaving, clients lose that steady relationship they value, onboarding never ends, and the manager gets dragged into recruiting, training, and territory coverage gaps. I share what that looks like in real life, especially in large regions where you can’t simply redistribute accounts without creating more problems around workload, reward, and focus.

From there, I get practical about leadership communication: the power of making people feel heard, how real listening diffuses tension, and why it’s rarer than most of us think. I also explain how I build alignment with a clear vision and regular team rhythm, then tell a coaching story where a simple shift, “act like you already have the role”, transformed someone’s professionalism and trajectory. If you want better performance, stronger culture, and a safer way to handle mistakes without lowering standards, this one will give you tools you can use immediately.

If it helps, subscribe, share it with a manager who needs it, and leave a review. What’s one leadership habit you wish your last boss had practised?

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 separates top salespeople from everyone else isn’t how hard they push—it’s how well they guide.

In this episode, we break down how elite sellers stay in control of conversations without ever coming across as aggressive or pushy. You’ll learn how to set clear agendas, ask smarter questions, handle tangents smoothly, and keep deals moving forward with confidence and clarity.

If you’ve ever felt like your conversations drift, stall, or end without a clear next step, this episode will give you a practical framework to lead naturally—while still building trust and rapport.

Control isn’t about pressure. It’s about structure. And when you get it right, selling feels a whole lot easier.

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

AI-driven search is already shortlisting suppliers for buyers, and that changes how we earn attention in sales. I break down what these systems look at and how we can improve our odds with visibility, reviews, and solid face-to-face process. 
• why AI shortlisting can help motivated buyers while hiding missed opportunities 
• how AI defines “best” through context and objectives 
• what data drives recommendations such as reviews, ratings, specs, and behaviour 
• why social proof now carries more weight in discovery 
• when to ask for reviews and recommendations for the best response 
• how sponsored placements and platform rules can shape visibility 
• why qualification still matters even with AI-sourced leads 
• responding publicly to negative reviews to build trust 

Please remember to like and subscribe. Please give me a review, please comment. 

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 deals don’t fall apart at the close—they fall apart in the discovery call.

In this episode, we break down a step-by-step playbook for running the perfect discovery call—one that builds trust, uncovers real problems, and naturally leads to a sale without pressure.

You’ll learn why most discovery calls fail (and feel rushed or поверхностный), and how top performers take control by setting the right frame from the very start. We walk through exactly how to move beyond surface-level questions and into deeper, more meaningful conversations that reveal what’s really driving your prospect’s decisions.

We cover:

• How to fully understand your prospect’s current situation
• Why the first problem you hear is rarely the real one
• How to uncover the true impact of a problem (and build urgency)
• The role emotion plays in every buying decision
• How to define a clear, compelling future state
• How to qualify opportunities without making it feel like an interrogation
• And how to transition smoothly into the next steps without pitching too early

If you’ve ever felt like your deals stall, prospects go quiet, or you’re “doing everything right” but not closing—this episode will show you exactly what’s missing.

Key takeaway: When discovery is done right, the sale becomes a natural next step—not something you have to push.

🎧 Next episode: Sales in the age of AI

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!