Same Side Selling Podcast

On today’s episode, I talk to author, speaker and executive trainer Scott Mautz about modern-day leadership and what it really takes to lead today’s mostly millennial workforce.

Scott believes all great leaders can and should inspire their employee to find meaning and purpose in their work. Great leaders, he says, can unleash employees’ deepest desires for contribution by tapping into their values and instilling a sense of pride in the work they do.

On today’s episode, I talk to author, speaker and executive coach Michael Bungay Stanier about why the term coaching gets such a bad rap and why more organizations should embrace it. We talk about the mistakes leaders make when coaching others, and specific strategies to use in sales situations.

One of the key ingredients to running a successful business is being able to communicate effectively with your customers, employees and stakeholders. After all, what good does it do to have a great product or a revolutionary idea if you can’t communicate those products or ideas to others?

Being able to communicate effectively with an audience in a way that’s fresh and engaging is critical to your business success. But too often business leaders fall into a communication rut that winds up doing more harm than good. Instead of attracting people, they repel them.

My guest today says that when it comes to presenting their ideas, most business leaders fall short simply because they haven’t learned to shake things up. They adhere to the notion that “this is the way things have always been done” within their organization and they don’t take risks. To be effective communicators, business leaders need to break from the status quo and think about what their audiences need.

You’ve heard that creating content is important for your business. You’ve heard you need a list of subscribers to market and sell to. You’ve heard the money is in the list. But what if everything you’ve heard about content marketing and list-building is all wrong?

My guest today says most businesses need to re-think their approach to content marketing. They need to look at it from the point of view of the customer, from the perspective of the clients they want to reach, and not as another form of advertising.

Often times, clients ask me: what do I do if I work for an employer who is so focused on hitting a sales quota that the tenets of Same Side Selling get dismissed in favor of pitching and pushing a sale? How do you strike a balance between selling with integrity – an approach that always has the customer’s best interests at heart – and selling to meet an individual objective?

What is it about top performing salespeople who make them so successful? Is it charisma, product knowledge or luck that enables them to land the prized accounts? Does knowing the product inside and out matter more than likability? Or does personality trump expertise? Turns out, the answer lies somewhere in between.

My guest today believes all sales professionals can achieve amazing results if they develop key skills — listening, curiosity and patience — to help them understand their customers at a deeper level. It’s not enough, he says, to know your product or service inside and out. A successful salesperson gets to the heart of a customer’s problems and offers customized solutions to solve those problems.

On today’s episode, I talk to entrepreneur and sales expert Steve Benson about specific strategies for how you can become a top performer and the mistakes he sees organizations make that keep them from getting the results they’re after.

Have you ever been in the presence of someone who can make a room full of people hang on her every word? It’s as if she cast an invisible spell upon an audience with her charm and charisma. Have you ever wondered how she does it? How is it that certain people can command everyone’s attention so effortlessly, while others struggle to get noticed?

My guest today believes that everyone has the ability to influence others and communicate in a way that captivates and motivates audiences to take action. He's going to share with you his secrets to influence and how everyone can deliver better, more memorable presentations.

On today’s episode, I talk to author, speaker and master presenter Mark Jeffries about how to use what he calls the “BRAINS” of influence to get buy-in for your ideas and hungry buyers for your products and services. Mark shares some of the biggest mistakes speakers and presenters make when unpacking their ideas, and the insights he's gleaned from more than a decade on television.

We all know what it feels like to sit through a lackluster training listening to a disinterested speaker drone on and on about a topic he may know lots about, but just can’t seem to bring to life. On the other hand, we’ve also been witness to presenters who take the most dry, mundane material and make it feel fresh and exciting.

What’s their secret? How do speakers turn average talks into great experiences that leave audiences feeling inspired and energized?

It turns out, great presentation skills can be learned.

My guest today is best-selling author and speaker Rob Jolles. Rob is a former corporate trainer who draws on his 30-plus years of training experience to "teach people how to change minds. His programs on influence and persuasion are in global demand, reaching organizations in North America, Europe, Africa, and the Far East. And in showing clients not just 'how to' but also 'why to,' he stirs individuals and companies to create real, lasting change.”

Rob has developed a proven process that helps presenters lead workshops and seminars, as well as keynote presentations, that are informative, engaging, inspiring and memorable.

Today we’re going to talk specifically about how to run seminars and workshops and the biggest mistakes companies make when it comes to corporate training and presenting.

I know you're going to love this discussion, and you're going to learn a ton from Rob Jolles on this edition of Grow My Revenue!

Listen to this episode and discover:

· Why it’s critical that curriculum developers collaborate with presenters to create engaging and effective trainings.

· Why decision makers need to attend the very trainings they sign-off on.

· What speaker bureaus look for when hiring speakers and presenters.

· Why 15-second sound bites no longer cut it.

· And so much more…

Episode Overview

As a longtime trainer for the Xerox Corporation, Rob Jolles knows the importance of process for delivering workshops and keynotes that are engaging and leave audiences members wanting more. It doesn't matter whether you're presenting to a group of 4 or 40, the principles of great speaking are the same: deliver value that educates and entertains, while letting the audience know that you understand their issues.

From the start, a speaker should let audience members know "What's in it for me?" (often referred to by its acronym ‘WIIFM’), Rob says.

“We don’t know who’s in that little group of seven,” he says. “I always like to throw in a little ‘WIIFM’… and not just, ‘What’s in it for you?’ but maybe how what I’m going to talk about is going to help you on the job, and perhaps help the company you work for.”

In other words, set the audience’s expectations.

More importantly, by having a process you can follow to deliver key ideas and take-aways, a speakers and presenters can monitor what’s working and what’s not.

“When you have a process, you have a way of measuring what you’re doing. When you can measure it, you can fix it. The process that we used was called the UPPOP,” Rob says.

In this episode, we talk about:

· What UPPOP stands for and why it works.

· How to prime audience members for ‘the ask.’

· What all decision makers need to do when booking speakers or trainers.

· Why blaming the audience for inattention is a bad idea.

· Tools the best speakers use in their presentations.

· The biggest mistake presenters make when preparing their presentations.

“At the end of the day, it isn’t about all the information that you crammed in,” Rob says. “It’s people finishing that presentation and going: ‘You know, I like that CEO. I like that guy in accounting, and I love working here, and I want to do what they just asked me to do.’”

Tune in for all of these nuggets of wisdom, and more, on today's Grow My Revenue with Rob Jolles.

For full show notes and other resources, please visit: http://www.ianaltman.com/podcast/rob-jolles/

We’ve all been on the receiving end of pushy, sleazy sales tactics that make us want to run for cover. It doesn’t feel good.

Nobody wants to be around a salesperson whose sole focus is to convince a prospect that they need what the salesperson is selling. Instead, buyers appreciate salespeople who know the kinds of problems they solve, and show an interest in learning about their clients’ problems to see if what they have is an appropriate solution. Genuine interest in your prospects' needs – as well as understanding that your solution is not suited for every problem – not only creates trust, it’s the foundation for future referrals.

And that’s what I talk about in today’s episode of Grow My Revenue: three core elements that will help you achieve greater business success when it comes to working with potential clients.

Plus, I'll share with you my F.I.T. strategy, as well as the specific questions you should be asking prospects to determine whether the two of you are indeed a good fit for each other. Listen in for those topics and more on this special solo edition of Grow My Revenue.

Listen to this episode and discover:

· What exactly F.I.T. is and how it can be used to ensure amazing results.

· Why you should be focused on the types of problems you solve and not the products or service you sell.

· Why everyone is not a good fit to work with you.

· The right way to ask for referrals.

· And so much more…

Episode Overview

In my many years in business, there’s one common mistake I see salespeople repeatedly make that prevents them from achieving the sales success they’re after. And that's this: rather than identifying and articulating the problems they’re good at solving, sales people spend all their time trying to convince prospects that their solutions are the best solutions. That’s a lousy strategy.

Effective sales is not about persuasion or coercion, it’s about getting to the truth as quickly as possible.

Today, I’ll show you a better approach to selling – the F.I.T. strategy – that “disarms” prospects and leads to better results. You'll learn:

· Why ‘persuasion’ sales tactics backfire.

· The types of questions you should be asking during sales conversations.

· What you’re doing to turn away ideal clients (you may not even realize it!) and what to do instead.

· The exact thing to say to referral sources or existing clients when asking for a referral.

When you listen in, you'll hear the kinds of questions that disarm prospects who may be thinking you’re just there to sell them something.

You'll also hear how the old methods of sales no longer work, and specific steps to take to have more productive, insightful sales conversations on this edition of Grow My Revenue.

For full show notes and other resources, please visit:

http://www.ianaltman.com/podcast/ian-altman-fit-antidote-pushy-selling/

We all know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of bad marketing. We come across tasteless ads, intrusive pitches and condescending emails that make us wonder: Why do marketers think it's OK to treat customers like that?

And here's one of the biggest challenges: because of marketing automation, people think it’s OK to send out stupid and bad marketing because, since it’s not taking up someone’s time, who cares right?

My guest today is Bob London, former corporate marketing exec and founder of Chief Listening Officers, a B2B marketing firm that creates strategies that 'speak to the customer.' He's spent a lot of time wondering how it is that companies become so out of touch with their audiences. In the age of automation, 'stupid marketing' has gotten so out of control, it almost makes him wonder if the companies who produce terrible marketing campaigns ever listen to what their customers have to say.

The short answer is 'no.'

"You actually have to go and talk to customers" if you want to understand their needs and wants, Bob says.

Today we’re going to talk specifically about how stupid marketing makes it hard for salespeople to do their jobs, why it's critical to get out of the office and talk to customers, and our biggest marketing pet peeves to date.

"It’s like the Chinese Zodiac," Bob says. "Every year it’s something different."

I know you're going to love this discussion, and you're going to learn a ton from Bob London on this edition of Grow My Revenue!

Listen to this episode and discover:

· What stupid marketing is and how it undermines a company's reputation and sales.

· Specific examples of stupid marketing and what makes them stupid.

· Why it behooves companies to talk to customers.

· What not to do when it comes to email or network marketing.

· And so much more…

Episode Overview

Before starting his own company, Bob London spent a big chunk of his career in corporate marketing. That meant he spent a lot of time in brainstorming sessions, sitting around conference tables with other marketing people just like him.

“In marketing and sales, you develop something called a 'buyer persona' – hopefully, in conjunction with actual buyers, hopefully not in brainstorming with people who all look and sound like each other,” Bob says.

"And there is zero chance that anyone in that room… can come up with the answer of what the customer really wants and needs unless you go out and talk to them."

But so many marketers fail to do that. In fact, they know very little about their buyers because they don't listen to their customers.

"There’s this big exposé about Hubspot from a guy who used to work there, and he makes the point that the people who are behind a lot of the emails are only using their own persona, which is: just graduated from college, maybe a journalism degree, probably played on a sports team, very high energy, very positive," Bob explains. "Too many exclamation points. That’s their persona."

In this episode, we talk about:

· What a 'buyer persona' is.

· How to open up a conversation with potential clients so you don't become a victim to stupid marketing paradigms.

· How not to make connections on LinkedIn.

· The worst email Bob ever received and what he did.

· Why companies need to pay more attention to how they market if they want to increase sales.

“It’s the company’s responsibility to arm the sales people with stuff that matters to the customer," he says. And to do that, "You actually have to go and talk to customers.”

Tune in for all of these nuggets of wisdom, and more, on today's Grow My Revenue with Bob London.

For full show notes and other resources, please visit: http://www.ianaltman.com/podcast/bob-london-marketing/