Michael Reddington, CFI, is an expert at moving people from resistance to commitment.

In today’s episode of The Salesman Podcast, Michael shares how salespeople can use disciplined listening, forensic investigation, and even some integration tactics to communicate better in our sales meetings.

Resources:

Michael on LinkedIn

DisciplinedListening.com

@InQuasive

Transcript

Will Barron:

Coming up on today’s episode of The Salesman Podcast.

 

Michael Reddington:

The moral, legal, and ethical approach to all the conversations is critical. The legalities are more specific and more binding in the world of interview and interrogation than there are in sales. I mean, certainly there’s anti-trust laws and things you can and can’t do in sales, but it’s much more finite and critical more often than not in interrogation. So oftentimes to your point, when people hear the investigative background, they typically jump to reading behaviour and asking questions, like that must be where the synergies really are. It goes so much deeper than that. The first thing that we talked about is be patient and let the conversation come to you. Anytime we focus or prioritise time over quality, quality suffers. So the ticking clock is the enemy of empathy.

 

What is Forensic Investigation? · [01:24] 

 

Will Barron:

Hello sales nation. My name is Will Baron, and I’m the host of The Salesman Podcast, the world’s most downloaded B2B sales show. On today’s episode, we have an absolute legend. We have Michael Reddington. You can find out more about him over at inquasive.com. On today’s episode, we’re getting into forensic investigation. What that means for you when you’re doing deals, how you get more out of your sales meetings, and a whole lot more. So let’s jump right into it. So today were getting into forensic investigation is going to help salespeople close more deals. So I feel there’s a in-depth conversation coming up here, Michael, but what is forensic investigation? Let’s start off from the very top of the pyramid here.

 

Michael Reddington:

Well, I appreciate you asking. And often when we get the question, what is forensic investigation, that stems back to the designation, which is certified forensic interviewer. And a certified forensic interviewer designation is a designation that we achieve much like an accountant would achieve their CPA or any other designation that’s out there that’s industry specific. So to the best of my current knowledge, the certified forensic interviewer designation is the highest available designation of expertise in the field of interview and interrogation. And one of the things that I’m most proud about is the diverse scope it applies to. So, it encompasses eight different texts or approaches to interview and interrogation. And really the goal is that anybody who passes the exam is to be considered as an elite expert in interview and interrogation. And as I jokingly like to say it, should be able to be dropped out of a helicopter into the middle of any conversation and conducting morally, legally and ethically successful interview or interrogation.

 

How Do Morals, Ethics, and Illegality Compare Between B2B Sales and a Typical Forensic Interview? · [02:40] 

 

Will Barron:

So, multiple questions already. But how does in B2B sales versus a typical forensic interview, I guess, for the police, CIA, whoever you’re working for, how does morals, ethics,

Sam Dunning is a marketing expert who has helped start-ups through to well-known brands get results via digital marketing strategies.

In this episode of The Salesman Podcast, Sam answers the common question of why B2B salespeople need to start creating content and the massive benefits of doing so.

Resources:

Sam on LinkedIn

WebDesignChoice.co.uk

Sam’s podcast – Sam’s Business Growth Show

Book: Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words

Transcript

Will Barron:

Coming up on today’s episode of The Salesman Podcast.

 

Sam Dunning:

You see people in your feed. They’re posting each and every day and they’re actually giving genuine insights. They’re saying, “Look, I spoke to this customer last week. They asked me about this. Here’s some tips.” Or they’re giving videos to actively help you, whether it’s sales, whether it’s marketing, all these different kinds of tips. And over time, I think, wow, they’ve got so much knowledge in this space and they’re openly sharing it without asking for the details from me. They must know what they’re talking about.

 

Sam Dunning:

So it goes without saying, you need to start creating content that’s going to be relevant to them and thinking about questions that clients are coming to you whether each day in and day out, and ways that you can bring insights, ways that you can bring value and mixing up your content. Not just doing text posts but doing a video and all sorts.

 

Will Barron:

Hello sales nation. My name is Will Barron and I’m the host of The Salesman Podcast, the world’s most downloaded B2B sales show. On today’s episode we have the legend that is Sam Dunning and he is the co-owner and sales director of Web Choice UK, which you can find over at webchoiceuk.com. And on today’s episode we’re asking the question, “Do salespeople need to create content and spoiler alerts?” Yes, of course you do if you want to have success in modern B2B sales.

 

Will Barron:

Everything that we talk about in this episode is available in the show notes over at salesman.org. And with that said, let’s jump right into it.

 

Selling Skills Versus Content Creation Skills. Which One is More Important in This Day and Age? · [01:25] 

 

Will Barron:

Okay. So in today’s episode, we’re going to get into why salespeople need to create content. And I might be making a presumption here, so I’ll tee up that presumption with this first question Sam. In the world that we’re currently living in, people working from home, content seems more important than ever, from my perspective, is… Which is more important to create new revenue? Is it the skill of creating content or is it the skill of being able to, for example, sell on the phone?

 

Sam Dunning:

It’s a tough question and I’m not sure if there is one specific answer. I think… I mean, If we start from scratch, I think in the future, possibly content could be… I always say content is key because it’s a big part of what I do. And perhaps if I start with a little story about myself Will, it might give us some context and help the audience understand how it...

On this week in sales we’ll be looking at: 

* Why you’re more likely to have a CEO jump on your sales call because of the pandemic * Why sellers don’t influence buyers as much as they think they do* We’ll discuss a new study that shows that almost half of CRM data is complete rubbish

And much more! 

This Week In Sales hosts:

* Victor Antonio – Youtube.com/user/salesinfluence* Will Barron – Salesman.org/Youtube

Topics:

33 percent of sales leaders say they’ve “clawed” their sales results back to a significant recovery

The Brooks Group asked leaders how the lingering effects of 2020 were shaping their current and future sales planning activities –

* 33 percent have clawed their way to a significant recovery.* But most sales leaders indicated that their sales formula will need to continue to be tweaked well into the new year in order to effectively profit as the pandemic drags on.

https://brooksgroup.com/sales-resources/whitepapers/sharpening-your-competitive-edge-during-the-pandemic

Sellers have little opportunity to influence customer decisions

* Gartner research finds that when B2B buyers are considering a purchase‚ they spend only 17% of that time meeting with potential suppliers. * When buyers are comparing multiple suppliers‚ the amount of time spent with any one sales rep may be only 5% or 6%.

https://www.gartner.com/en/sales/insights/b2b-buying-journey

Product-based Sales Training Market to Grow by $ 4.21 billion by 2024

* Product based sales training a growing trend* Growthing emphasis on “micro learning”

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201111005746/en/Product-based-Sales-Training-Market-to-Grow-by-4.21-bn-During-2020-2024-Industry-Analysis-Market-Trends-Market-Growth-Opportunities-and-Forecast-2024-Technavio

Study: Half of all businesses believe that the quality of their CRM data is somewhere between “very poor”and neutral

* Over a third of participants claim to have no CRM data management process/one that is “ineffective”* 27 per cent also report that bad data costs them ten per cent or more in lost revenue annually. Almost half of participants actually believe their systems are so poor that they cannot even estimate bad data’s effect on revenue.

https://www.thedrum.com/news/2020/11/11/poor-quality-crm-data-costs-enterprises-revenue

Mailchimp sends billions of emails a month for millions of users. 

Mailchimp scanned billions of emails delivered by their system (where campaign tracking was activated,

Niraj Kapur is a sales trainer with over 25 years of experience. He has trained large corporations like Barclays and Sainsbury’s and over 300 SMEs on sales strategies, techniques, and selling with integrity.

In this episode of The Salesman Podcast, Niraj gives us multiple strategies to help deal with the “I don’t have the money” objection.

Resources:

EverybodyWorksInSales.com

Niraj on LinkedIn

Book: Everybody Works In Sales: Here’s What You Need To Know To Achieve Success In Your Career

Book: The Easy Guide To Sales For Business Owners

Transcript

Will Barron:

Coming up on today’s episode of The Salesman Podcast.

 

Niraj Kapur:

But a lot of people will say, “Oh, my budget’s limited,” at the very beginning. Now, if that’s the case, it means you simply haven’t provided enough value to that person. Or you haven’t asked the right questions and really found out what their concerns are. As salespeople, by nature, we want to talk. You want to talk as soon as possible. What I see the biggest mistakes I see people make on this level of the process is they’ll talk brief, maybe ask one or two questions and then rush into their product self. It’s I’m asking questions, then I’m recapping their answers so they know I’m listening to them because salespeople are terrible listeners. They know I’m listening. I’ll recap. Then I’ll start talking about the value of I offer. That’s a process most salespeople do not understand.

 

How to Respond to the “I Have a Limited Budget” Objection · [01:34] 

 

Will Barron:

Hello sales nation. My name is Will Barron and I’m the host of The Salesman Podcast, the world’s most downloaded B2B sales show. On today’s episode, we have Niraj Kapur. He is a bestselling sales author and sales consultant as well. You can find out more about Niraj over at everybodyworksinsales.com. On this episode, we’re getting into what you should do, what you should say, what your process should be when a buyer turns around to you and says, “Hey, well, I’m sorry. I’ve got limited budget.” Everything that we talk about in this episode is available in the show note over at salesman.org. With that said, let’s jump right into it. Okay. In today’s episode, we’re getting into what to do when a buyer turns around and says, “Hey, sorry, Will. Sorry, Niraj. I’ve got limited budget. No budget.” What we need to… How we essentially rebuttal that and what the underlying message that’s been shared of us is. To start the conversation, is a buyer saying, “Will, Niraj, I have limited budget” an excuse? Or is this a legitimate kind of objection that can be put in our path as a B2B salesperson?

 

“A lot of people will say, “Oh my budget’s limited,” at the very beginning. If that’s the case, it means you simply haven’t provided enough value to that person or you haven’t asked the right questions and really found out what their concerns are. If they mention it after say, a 20 to 25-minute meeting, either face to face or over Zoom, and all of a sudden budget is limited, then it means there’s a chance the budget is there, but maybe there’s something else you have uncovered.

Ralph Barsi is Global VP of Inside Sales at Tray.io and a well-respected sales thought leader.

In this episode of The Salesman Podcast, Ralph shares the steps that you need to implement to become unsackable in your B2B sales role no matter what your market or the wider economy is doing.

Resources: 

Ralph on LinkedIn

Ralph on Twitter

RalphBarsi.com

Tray.io

Book: The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter, Updated and Expanded

The Sales Learning Curve 

Transcript

Will Barron:

Coming up on today’s episode of The Salesman Podcast.

 

Ralph Barsi:

Number one or very high atop the list would be your outcomes and results and the consistency of how you deliver those outcomes and results. It’s easy for me to look back along my career path and easily call out, even from the early days of my career, who I have thought as A-players.

 

Will Barron:

Hello, Sales Nation. My name is Will Barron and I’m the host of The Salesman Podcast, the world’s most downloaded B2B sales show. On today’s episode, we have the legend that is Ralph Barsi. He is the VP of global inside sales over at Tray.io. Now on today’s episode, we’re getting into a topic which, is well, it’s incredibly important right now in this up and down, topsy-turvy uncertain world that we’re living in, in this uncertain economy that we’re living through. We’re diving into how you can become an unsackable salesperson. Everything that we talk about in this episode is available in the show notes over at Salesman.org. With that said, let’s jump right into it.

 

Is it Feasibly Possible to Become an Unsackable Salesperson? · [01:17] 

 

Will Barron:

Now, on today’s show, we’re going to get into a topic that I don’t know the answer to this question, but I’m going to pose it to you anyway and this is what we’re going to discuss on today’s show. I’m going to ask you how to become unsackable as a salesperson. So the place to start with this Ralph is, is that physically, feasibly possible?

 

Ralph Barsi:

Anything is possible. So it is possible and feasibly possible. I don’t know if I have the answer to the question either, Will, but what I can do is just share from my experience characteristics, attributes, traits that I have noticed over the years of people who I think are indispensable, or as you say, unsackable. That’s a great word.

 

The Most Important Elements of Becoming an Unsackable Sales Professional · [02:15] 

 

Will Barron:

Yeah. I think when we prepped the show, you used the word indispensable. I feel like that is what a manager would describe a salesperson as, but a salesperson being slightly selfish in the self, but probably thinking, right, how can I crush my quota and how can I become unsackable? A business consultant would probably say anti-fragile or all these fancy ways of describing the same thing. But with that said, Ralph, if it’s feasibly possible, we’re both positive thinkers here, clearly, if it’s feasibly possible, what is, it starts you off of a bang, what’s the most important element of becoming unsackable as a sales...

On this week in sales we’ll be looking at: 

* Why you should challenge your sales target if it looks ugly for 2021* A study that shows that 66% of Sellers Would Rather Clean their Bathroom Than Update Their CRM System* How Hub-and-spoke might be the future of selling-from-home

And much more!

This Week In Sales hosts:

* Victor Antonio – Youtube.com/user/salesinfluence* Will Barron – Salesman.org/Youtube

Topics:

Forrester – Sales Leaders: Don’t commit to unrealistic numbers for 2021 

The analysts stated that the worst thing sales leaders can to do is to sign up for an unrealistic number for 2021.

https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6717493416818683904/

By 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions between suppliers and buyers will occur in digital channels

Gartner expects that by 2025 80% of B2B sales interactions between suppliers and 60% buyers will occur in digital channels of B2B sales organizations will transition from experience- and intuition-based selling to data-driven selling, merging their sales process, applications, data and analytics into a single operational practice

https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/future-of-sales-2025-why-b2b-sales-needs-a-digital-first-approach/

Research: How Virtual Teams Can Better Share Knowledge

Despite many tech companies announcing that workers could remain remote going forward, leaders like JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon have called employees back to the office.

https://hbr.org/2020/11/research-how-virtual-teams-can-better-share-knowledge

Digital content management for sales.

Next stage is developing content to meet the customer’s on their journey using AI.

https://seismic.com/

Study: 66% of Sellers Would Rather Clean the Bathroom Than Update Their CRM System

90% of sellers complain that parts of their job take longer than they should. The top areas listed were –

* entering notes in the CRM system (35%)*  updating or working in multiple systems (34%)*  and sales training activities (31%).

https://www.forbes.com/sites/quickerbettertech/2020/11/04/on-crm-would-you-rather-clean-your-bathroom-or-update-your-crm-system-guess-what-a-study-found/

The Next Step in Recording Conference calls.

Simple GUI, records on both sides and then uploads the individual video files, allows live call ins.

https://riverside.

Michael Hanson is the founder of Growth Genie, a sales consulting company that helps sales teams book more qualified meetings.

In this episode of The Salesman Podcast, Michael shares what he calls the “ultimate sales cadence” and the principles behind its success.

Resources:

Michael on LinkedIn

GrowthGenie.co

The Ultimate Sales Follow Up Cadence – infographic

Gong.io – Provides a sales conversation intelligence platform created to improve calls and demos for sales teams.

Apollo.io – A data-first sales platform 

Transcript

Will Barron:

Coming up on today’s episode of The Salesman Podcast.

 

Michael Hanson:

I think the big thing is getting the messaging right. So I think if you think I’m just going to do 30 steps and because it’s 30 steps, that the messaging can be rubbish. Actually, because I do this high volume approach, I feel like the messaging actually becomes even more important. I slightly differ with the LinkedIn and email approach. I think it is good to get a meeting on that call and the only reason is because the phone is actually an interactive channel.

 

Will Barron:

Hello, sales nation. My name is Will Baron and I’m the host of The Salesman Podcast, the world’s most downloaded B2B sales show. On today’s episode, we have the legend, Michael Hanson. You can find out more about Michael over at Growthenie.co. And on today’s episode, we’re getting into the ultimate sales cadence. We’re going to explain what a cadence is, what goes in the beginning, the middle and the end of it. Does it even end? That’s the type of question I ask Michael in this episode and there’s a tonne of value if you’re doing any outbound outreach. Everything we talk about on this show is available in the show notes over at Salesman.org. And with that said, let’s jump right into it.

 

What is a Sales Cadence? · [01:20] 

 

Will Barron:

Right, so we’re going to dive into the ultimate outbound sales cadence and we’ll get into how we can define that, what that means in a second and how we can justify the title of this podcast episode. But Michael, for people who aren’t familiar and this would’ve been me four, five years ago. I wouldn’t have been familiar with a sales cadence when I was selling medical devices. What is a sales cadence, what does that term mean?

 

“Essentially, (sales cadence) it’s the steps that you need as a salesperson to reach someone.” – Michael Hanson · [01:35] 

 

Michael Hanson:

Yeah. I think it’s a good question and I definitely made the mistake myself of thinking everyone knows what a sales cadence is because some people call it a sequence. Essentially, it’s the steps that you need as a salesperson, to reach someone. So there’s different types of cadences. So you may have a cadence for a cold lead that you’re trying to turn into a sales opportunity or a qualified meeting or maybe you’ve already got someone in the pipeline, you haven’t spoken to them for a while, they’ve gone cold and you’re trying to get them onto another meeting. And then essentially, you’re going to come up with a formula, right? It’s steps that you’re going to use across particular channels.

On this week in sales we’ll be looking at: 

* Whether it’s finally the end of the line for B2B sales calls* We’ll be looking at a recent “the state of deals” report that suggests that B2B decision making is happening faster than ever before. * We’ll uncover how sales enablement works in a socially distanced world

And much more!

This Week In Sales hosts:

* Victor Antonio – Youtube.com/user/salesinfluence* Will Barron – Salesman.org/Youtube

Topics:

The End of the Line for Sales Calls?

70% of B2B decision makers say they are open to making anew, fully self-serve or remote purchases in excess of $50,000, and 27% would spend more than $500,000.

The amount of revenue generated from video-related interactions has jumped by 69% since April 2020. Together, e-commerce and videoconferencing now account for 43% of all B2B revenue, more than any other channel.

https://www.happi.com/contents/view_breaking-news/2020-10-24/the-end-of-the-line-for-sales-calls/

PandaDoc Releases State of Deals: 2020 Summer Edition

Post-pandemic buyers are making decisions much faster: The time to sign a document from March to June decreased to 2-3 hours, a steep 53% drop from January when the median time for a recipient to complete a document was about 6-7 hours.

Despite the expectation for slower sales as a result of the pandemic, the completion rate on deals from April to June jumped to 67% – the highest average completion rate on PandaDoc.

The volume of deals initially decreased early on in the pandemic, but rebounded and were up overall by 38% in June.

https://www.pandadoc.com/library/ebooks/state-of-deals-2020-summer-edition/

Accenture Completes Acquisition of B2B Sales Firm N3

“Bringing N3 into the Accenture family will better enable us to help companies influence purchasing decisions at critical stages,” said Manish Sharma, group chief executive of Accenture Operations.

https://martechseries.com/sales-marketing/sales-intelligence/accenture-completes-acquisition-b2b-sales-firm-n3/

Microsoft Ignite showcases first Project Cortex AI tool for SharePoint

Enterprises might use it to automate the processing of requests for proposals (RFPs) or service contracts to filter out those that don’t meet requirements, or to pay expenses claims based on scanned receipts.

https://www.cio.com/article/3575861/microsoft-ignite-showcases-first-project-cortex-ai-tool-for-sharepoint.html

The Future Of Travelling Is Immersive

Dustin Siggins is the founder of Proven Media Solutions. He helps clients accomplish their media and branding goals by intentionally placing their brands in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Associated Press, and many other targeted outlets.

In this episode of The Salesman Podcast, Dustin explains what “earned media” is and how salespeople can use it to get in front of their buyers and increase their thought leadership.

Resources:

Dustin on LinkedIn

@DustinSiggins

ProvenMediaSolutions.net

Transcript

Will Barron:

Coming up on today’s episode of the Salesman Podcast.

 

Dustin Siggins:

Earned media is when you get your name in the press or your company’s name in the press. If you see the Washington Post, there’s an op-ed by someone, some thought leader like Mark Cuban. That’s earned media.

 

Dustin Siggins:

50 per cent of consumers increase their trust in your brand after reading something positive. 44 per cent will lose trust when they read something negative, and Bospar, which is in the technology space, did a national poll, found that 19 per cent of consumers will visit your website after seeing you mentioned once in the press.

 

Will Barron:

Hello, sales nation. My name is Will Barron, and I’m the host of the Salesman Podcast, the world’s most downloaded podcast on B to B sales. On today’s episode, we have the legend that is Dustin Siggins. He is CEO over at Proven Media Solutions, and you can find him over at provenmediasolutions.net. On today’s episode, we’re getting into earned media. What it is and how you can use it to take your sales career to the next level, how you can use it to differentiate yourself from other salespeople by building a halter of trust in the media both big and small. We’ll get into all this. Everything we talk about, as always, is in the show notes of this episode over at salesman.org. With all of that said, let’s jump right into it.

 

What is Earned Media? · [01:20] 

 

Will Barron:

New topic, interesting topic for the audience. We’ll look at how to leverage earned media and use this to accelerate sales and our thought leadership personal brand, and all that good stuff. But let’s start at the very beginning here for anyone who isn’t familiar with this term because [inaudible 00:01:31] sales people and sales leaders as opposed to I guess marketers and PR. What does earned media actually mean?

 

“Earned media is when you get your name in the press or your company’s name in the press. If you see the Washington Post, there’s an op-ed by some thought leader like Mark Cuban, that’s earned media” – Dustin Siggins · [01:38] 

 

Dustin Siggins:

Earned media is when you get your name in the press or your company’s name in the press. If you see the Washington Post, there’s an op-ed by some thought leader like Mark Cuban. That’s earned media, that op-ed. Or an interview if you do with a local press, that’s earned media. Earned media is getting into the newspaper, on a radio interview, a podcast interview, anything along those lines.

 

The Definition of Press in this Current Day and Age · [02:10]

 

Will Barron:

The follow up from that is, and I don’t know if there’s even a definition for this anymore, but what does the press mean? Because 20 years ago it’d be Wall Street Times best ...

Victor Antonio is the author of 13 books on sales and motivation and recently launched the Sales Velocity Academy platform that boasts 500+ videos. He recently published Sales Ex Machina: How Artificial Intelligence is Changing the World of Selling.

In this episode of The Salesman Podcast, Victor explains what artificial intelligence actually is, how it’s changing sales, and how it’s affecting all parts of our modern lives.

Resources:

Victor on LinkedIn

SellingerGroup.com

Victors online sales training – SalesVelocityAcademy.com

@VictorAntonio

Book: The Infinite Game (192 GRAND) by Simon Sinek

Transcript

Will Barron:

Coming up on today’s episode of The Salesman Podcast.

 

Victor Antonio:

2015, there were about, I think 700 marketing technology companies promoting AI. 2020, the number is up to 7,000. If you look at what’s happening today, the customer journey is all about going online and trying to find what they want before they call us. Let’s define the customer journey. The customer journey for me is this, I’m triggered by something, I need to get a new microphone for my studio, trigger. I hate the quality, I’m triggered. I go online. I begin to look at all these different resources then I start kind of narrowing options, right? Okay. I got this brand, this brand, look at this brand, look at that spec and start really narrowing it down and maybe I get to the 90% line of making a decision.

 

Will Barron:

Hello, Salesnation. My name is Will Barron, I am the host of The Salesman Podcast, the world’s most downloaded B2B sales show. On today’s episode, we’re talking about AI artificial intelligence with the legend that is Victor Antonio. And from that we talk about Victor’s book, Sales Ex Machina, his training product, everything we talk about as available in the show notes for this episode over at salesman.org. So with that said, let’s jump right into it.

 

AI and Machine Learning in Sales · [01:30] 

 

Will Barron:

And on this episode, I want to get into I’ve got your book here, Sales. Every time I read this, every time I see Sales Ex Machina, I always want to say Sales Ex Machina. I don’t know if this is something that people pronounce the book wrong occasionally, but since the film came out with a similar name, I’ve been saying the same. But I want to get into AI in sales and I want to start off the show by asking you, Victor, a massively loaded and leaded question, is AI real? Are the artificial intelligent computers planning the demise of the universe right now as we speak. And we can kind of backward from this and see what that means for salespeople.

 

Victor Antonio:

Absolutely. We’re talking end of the days here, Will. End of days. What’s interesting, my background is I started out in engineering and one of my first jobs was working at Honeywell on a torpedo system and that had what they call an expert system, kind of an AI interface, an algorithm to it, and it was a pattern recognition system. If you think about torpedo, obviously it’s underwater, it’s looking for patterns on the outline of a submarine to a time. And that’s why,