Inside Rule of 24, authors Robert D. Riefstahl and Daniel J. Conway show you how to not only survive, but thrive and dominate selling software in the new digital landscape. In this interview, you'll learn how the rules have changed —customers are more educated, resourceful and directive than at any other time in history. Future-proof yourself and your sales team, understand what’s coming next and how to deal with it.

About the Authors:

Robert (Bob) Riefstahl is the founding Partner of 2Win! Global, international training, consulting and software company specializing in complex product demos, presentations and demo video automation. The first 20 years of his career took place in the technology industry where he succeeded in sales and executive positions.  Since then, Bob has brought his demo expertise to over half of the top 400 technology companies in the world including firms like Microsoft, Google, IBM, Siemens, and Dassault (Dasoo). Bob is a keynote speaker, consultant, sales expert, author of the global best-selling book “Demonstrating to Win!”.

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Daniel (Dan) Conway is CEO and Partner of 2Win! Global responsible for leading the company’s vision and strategy.  Dan has spent over 20 years in the software and technology industry helping companies and agencies grow their business. Before joining 2Win! Dan held the position of Executive Vice President at Sungard, a leading international software enterprise.  As a former 2Win! Client, Dan gained a direct appreciation for the value of the 2Win! Portfolio and how it helps companies engage with their clients across all mediums (video, web and in-person demos and presentations) employing 2Win! Techniques to improve company revenue and profit. 

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In this episode, I talked with Jim Ninivaggi, Chief Readiness Officer at Brainshark. Our topic was about how first line sales managers can avoid extinction.

We started by talking about what the first line sales manager role entails. Jim said it was actually 5 roles:

Leader, Coach, Trainer, Recruiter, and Manager

Which of these roles do you see managers doing well today? Where are they lacking?

Most sales managers really play one role – manager of the forecast and pipeline. The aggregate and interpret the data that reps report to them, they massage the numbers before they push them up to the Chief Sales Officer or VP of Sales. While this is important, the missed opportunities are the coaching, training, recruiting and leading teams that the role also requires.

Even from a coaching point of view, many sales managers simply assume the role of “super rep” – they join calls not to coach – but to be the hero – which makes them just another rep. This remains a pervasive problem as reps are promoted into the role often with very little, if any, training to help them be successful in their new position. Lacking training in how to manage and lead their teams, they default to what they know - closing the deal. 

Our title starts with the words “avoiding extinction” – how are managers at risk for extinction?

Artificial Intelligence certainly puts sales managers at risk. Think about it. If their primary role is to gather and communicate the forecast and pipeline information, with artificial intelligence the forecast will no longer come from the field but from data.

Without that need for “human interpretation”, that role of keeper of the forecast goes away. And if that is the only role that differentiates a manager from a rep – the role is no longer needed.

So how do managers avoid becoming extinct?

Expand their role and develop their skills as coach and trainer to their teams. What gets in the way of these things happening, according to Jim is that these things are not expected, not inspected and managers often lack the ability.

To address these managers need both strategic coaching and performance coaching to be effective in their role.

Since I'm a believer in "learn 2 earn", and I would suggest that if sales managers are not getting the training that they need to be successful, they should be accountable for investing in themselves.

Technology, including AI, can help in these roles with things like:

Leveraging video coaching technology to allow for asynchronous coaching.

Using AI to help guide managers to where they need to focus on coaching.

Using AI to create “sales simulators” in the same vein as “flight simulators” – allow a rep to simulate a call – and the rep and manager review their performance together.

Delivering “training in a box” digitally to help managers deliver learning to their reps during regular sales meetings.

There was a lot of meat in this discussion, so please enjoy the interview!

About Jim:

Jim Ninivaggi, Chief Readiness Officer at Brainshark. Formerly an analyst, Jim led the sales enablement research practice at SiriusDecisions – helping, in many ways, to define the space, and working at the research firm for 10 years, while publishing 200+ research reports and briefs. He has more than 30 years of experience driving sales productivity and great tips, anecdotes and best practices to share.

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In this episode, I talk with Josh Miller, CEO of Deciding Edge and certainly the youngest CEO I have ever had the pleasure of interviewing. I have always been a believer that we should NOT box people in with our generational biases. I believe we can learn from anyone, anywhere and at any age.

During this segment, Josh and I discuss his Gen Z research in partnership with XYZ University. The study was conducted with over 1,000 Gen Z'ers, and the findings will likely surprise you, as they did me. And, like me, I think you will be inspired by Josh's passion and enthusiasm for the work that he does.

While Millennials remain a focus given the fact that they will make up 50% of the workforce by 2020, Gen Z is coming right up behind them and it is NOT too early to get ready.

I started by asking Josh what inspired him to become an entrepreneur at 16 years old.

Josh nails down the definition of Generation Z.

We discussed the research and studies Josh has been doing on the topic.

Josh shared some of the biggest insights that came out of his recently published white-paper. I found some of the research very surprising!

We talked about effective sales strategies to use for Gen Z members of your team.

Finally, I closed by asking Josh about his goals for 2018.

Download your copy of the research report here.

About Josh:

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Josh Miller is a 16-year-old student, entrepreneur, and thought leader on Gen Z. He currently serves as the CEO of Deciding Edge and Director of Gen Z Studies at XYZ University. He has spoken in front of some of the powerful leaders in the business world, been mentored by top executives, and discussed marketing strategy with Fortune 500 companies.

His work has been featured in prominent national publications. Equipped with a passion around leadership, entrepreneurship, and philanthropy, Miller founded Deciding Edge with the mission of creating a platform for organizations to better understand how to recruit, retain, and sell to Generation Z. As a regular 16-year-old, he enjoys playing basketball, tennis, and spending time with friends and family. He lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

In this episode, I talked with Ken Lundin. Ken is hosting the B2B Sales Summit, which we discussed in the interview. He was gracious enough to collect 28 of the top speakers to supercharge your sales activities by bringing you the whole experience free of charge. No pitches just pure content - it's an irresistible opportunity. Remember, learners are earners so take advantage of this incredible chance to jumpstart your B2B Sales Success. REGISTER NOW.

Here is what you will learn about in my interview with Ken.

For most listeners, their sales year has just kicked off, and for those listeners who are half-way through their sales year, Ken's nuggets of advice apply to you too.

Ken started off by sharing his actionable advice about the steps that salespeople both individual contributors and their managers do to set themselves up for success.

For anyone looking to fill their pipeline with more qualified sales opportunities, Ken shares his thoughts on the top priorities to focus on to get you there.

The sales cycle is often misunderstood, and Ken and I talked about the most misunderstood aspect of the selling process.

Learn what a salesperson or their sales manager can do today to improve their sales in the coming year.

Hear from Ken about why he decided to create The B2B Sales Summit kicking off on February 6, 2018.

Ken told me what surprised him most when interviewing some of the top sales influencers around the world.

Enjoy the interview AND REGISTER NOW for the B2B Sales Summit for FREE!! 

Event Dates: February 6, 2018, to February 14, 2018

• There will be 3-4 interviews made available each day.
• Daily sessions will be live for 24 hours and then the next set of videos will be released.

About Ken Lundin:

Ken made his sales bones by delivering $26,000,000 in contracts in under 9 months and being a part of a management team recognized as 1 of INC 500 Magazine’s fastest growing companies for 3 years in a row driving sales from under #2 million to $77 million in just 4 years.  Today, he is a consultant for Span the Chasm, helping deliver sustainable sales growth for companies under $100 million in revenue and the Host of The B2B Sales Summit. 

Curt Redden and Courtney Walsh are the co-authors of GOING PRIMAL, A Layered Approach to Creating the Life You Desire. 

In this episode, we talked about A PRIMAL Approach to Accelerate your Sales Career! 

I started by having Curt and Courtney tell me what this Primal thing is all about.

They talk about the idea behind the book and why they decided to work together on the project.

Based on Curt's years of great work in the area of learning and development for salespeople, Curt shares his advice about what salespeople need to do to improve their sales results.

Learn why attitude and perseverance is necessary now more than ever if you want to be the best in sales and in life.

We closed by talking about the best piece of business advice that Curt and Courtney want you to know about.

Order Curt and Courtney's book HERE.

Enjoy the interview!

Bios:

Curt Redden is a speaker, talent-development and sales training expert, and author of 3 books on sales and leadership excellence.  His most recent work, Going PRIMAL, is co-authored with colleague Courtney Walsh. Curt has spent more than twenty-five years working to support and encourage employees as they strive for success. He currently is the head of global talent development for UPS Capital. He is also certified by the Association for Talent Development as a master trainer and performance-improvement consultant.

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Courtney Walsh uses her position as a communication and talent-development professional to help others achieve a healthy work-life balance. Originally from Daytona Beach, Florida, she now works for a Fortune 50 company in Atlanta, Georgia. When she isn’t working, Walsh enjoys spending time outdoors and testing out new culinary creations. She received a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida and has earned numerous professional certifications in learning and development.

LinkedIn

For more information on Curt Redden or Courtney Walsh, please visit: www.primalsuccess.com

In this episode, I talked with Leslie Grossman, author of the book Link Out: How to Turn Your Network into a Chain of Lasting Connections.

So, I was curious. We all know LinkedIn but I started by asking Leslie what she meant by Link Out.

We also talked about:

When it comes to trust, the most effective ways to build trust with a customer or client.

How many people find typical networking ineffective in making sales, yet they force themselves to do it. Leslie tells me why she thinks that happens.

The most important communication skill you need to master to be successful in sales.

You will also learn how to build your own entourage, which Leslie delivered a TEDx talk about.

Finally, I closed by asking Leslie to share her advice to women looking to move into leadership roles.

Enjoy the interview! 

About Leslie:

Leslie Grossman is an award-winning entrepreneur who advises, trains and speaks on business development, leadership, and marketing, Her most recent book Link Out: How To Turn Your Network into a Chain of Lasting Connectors (Wiley) puts a spotlight on building trusted relationships to achieve your goals.

She is the founder of Leslie Grossman Leadership and speaks throughout the world about how trusted relationships transform your business and career.  After leading a marketing agency for 12 years,  Leslie created the Women’s Leadership Exchange, the first national conference series to propel the businesses of women business owners and professionals reaching more than 65,000 women through more than 100 live events and online programs.  Leslie is an executive coach and Chair for Vistage International, the largest peer advisory board organization in the world.   She is on the adjunct faculty for The George Washington University Center for Excellence in Public Leadership and coaches entrepreneurs and women executives to break-through to the top by building relationships and transforming habits that dilute their leadership potential.  Grossman’s previous book SELLsation! How Companies Can Capture Today’s Hottest Market: Women Business Owners and Executives made her a popular speaker on business development for companies like Aetna, Axa, NorthWestern Mutual,  IBM, Best Buy, American Express, and IKEA.

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In this episode, my guest is Stephen Walsh, CEO of AndersPink. We focused our discussion on the art of content curation. You probably already know that part of your social selling strategy includes using content to connect and engage with new buyers. Contrary to what many "experts" tell you though, you don't have to create your own content. If you are able to do that at some point great but when you are first starting out, it just isn't that easy. Your job is to sell, right? Plus, not everyone has the time, inclination or talent to write blog posts. There are other ways to create content like recording audio tips, hosting webinars, etc. but that takes time too. That's why I like this topic. You can learn to curate content like a boss in ways that help you to engage with buyers and positions you as a thought leader in your field.

Stephen and I discussed:

What content curation is and what it has to do with social selling.

Why sharing other people's content is a good idea. Learn how it helps you.

Learn tips for finding great content fast without losing your day to the internet.

How you can be more targeted in how/when you share content with more than just the folks in your network. 

How you should think about social selling and content curation as a team sport. You don't necessarily have to do it all on your own.

Finally, we talked about the FANTASTIC new ebook that Stephen and his team put out on this topic. More than theory, this is a "boots on the ground" field guide you will reference again and again. I've already read it twice! You'll find specific strategies that you can put into practical application right now to improve your results when curating and sharing content.

Enjoy the interview!

About Stephen:

Stephen Walsh is the CEO and CoFounder of AndersPink. Stephen is passionate about helping sales teams stay smart, share better content, grow their business and keep learning every day. He's has worked in learning, sales, and marketing for over 20 years. He co-founded Kineo, an elearning company, ran sales and marketing and grew it to a $20m business before selling it. He's a co-founder of BuzzSumo, a leading content discovery tool and of Anders Pink, a new tool to help social sellers with content curation. He's written 2 books on learning and selling and is a regular blogger and speaker.

Connect info:

twitter: @stephentwalsh

LinkedIn

m: [email protected]

w: website

Kurt is the Chief Sales Officer at Vengreso, and he has been an early evangelist of the use of LinkedIn and social selling strategies in the sales process. We started off talking about how Kurt defines social selling, which depending on who you talk too has different meanings.

During the interview, you'll learn why salespeople need to be incorporating social selling approaches into their current sales process, and what happens if they don’t. Surprising there are still a lot of naysayers and fence sitters who haven't begun integrating social networks into their selling strategy.

Kurt shared his perspective on how an organization successfully implements a social selling strategy. He also shared tips for the individual sales contributor. 

Content is widely promoted as a key part of any social selling effort. But it is fiercely debated about whether salespeople should create their own content. Kurt shared with me where he stood in the debate.

Lately, the “this or that strategy is dead” crowd has been rising up to suggest that social selling dead and that it doesn’t work. I asked Kurt what he thought about this… do these people have a point or is it simply click bait to get people reading their posts?

Kurt recently teamed up with other businesses to form a new company – Vengreso – to provide an array of services related to digital sales transformation. He told me what was behind his decision and what is Vengreso bringing to the world of social selling?

Finally, Vengreso has a new social selling boot camp starting on Sept 19. Kurt told me what people can expect to learn when they participate in the program.

Peeps, I want you to know that I’m an affiliate partner of Vengreso because I often have individual sales contributors or small business owners looking for social selling help. Since I mostly work with larger teams, I wanted to be sure I had a great place to refer folks too that I’m unable to support. So, go to my blog or company website and you will find program details there. Use my link to get yourself registered for the program.

Thanks and enjoy the interview!

Kurt Shaver is a co-founder and Chief Sales Officer of Vengreso. Kurt is an expert at getting sales teams to adopt new sales tools and techniques. Through a successful career in technology sales, Kurt learned what it takes to reach B2B decision makers. In 2011, Kurt recognized that LinkedIn would be the next great sales technology and that it would require expert training. He pivoted his business and now has over 10,000 hours of experience training corporate sales teams like CenturyLink, Ericsson, and TelePacific Communications. Kurt is the creator of the Social Selling Boot Camp and he frequently speaks at corporate sales meetings and conferences like Dreamforce, Sales 2.0, and LinkedIn’s Sales Connect.

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In this episode, I talked with Jasmine Sandler about The Importance of Social Branding and its intersection with Social Selling in Delivering Results.

I asked Jasmine to start by giving me the deets on how she got to where she is in her career today.

We discussed:

Jasmine's perspective on the intersection between Social Branding and Social Selling, and what she means by that.

You'll hear tips on how to build a successful social brand presence.

You learn why Social Branding is for everyone, and your social brand is useful for anyone from Entrepreneur to Executive.

Discover how the Social Branding of the Individual Executive supports a company's brand strength.

Jasmine provides tips for executives branding themselves online.

Finally, Jasmine talks us through a client case study, so you can understand the process she uses to help people build their brand. 

Enjoy the interview!

About Jasmine:

Jasmine Sandler is a Google awarded Author, Senior-level Consultant and Keynote Speaker on Online Branding for global organizations and C-level executives. She is the Founder and CEO of Agent-cy Online Marketing, a NYC-based Social Media and Search Agency serving global brands including: CitiBank,  Private Jet Card Comparisons, Fly Home Jets,  Tuescher Chocolates, Diamonds International, Almod Diamonds and The Shade Store.  She writes on SEO and Social Media Strategies for Fast Company, LinkedIn, Entrepreneur.com, SearchEngineJournal.com and ClickZ.com. She has a dual MBA in Marketing and CIS and is a former IBM Marketing executive. Her passions are Speaking, Singing and Hockey.

In this Women in Sales Leadership episode, I talked with Erin Bush. She is the Director of Revenue Operations at SalesLoft, the platform for modern sales engagement.

A Walker 2020 report revealed that by 2020, customer experience will overtake price and product as a key differentiator. There is no doubt that experience is a key priority for many organizations. Forrester reported that 72% of businesses say that improving the customer experience is their top priority. In a blog from NewVoiceMedia, their recent research indicates that companies lose more than $62 billion due to poor customer service. That's a big problem!

I talked with Erin about SalesLoft defines customer experience and who is involved in the experience process. From their point of view it is a team effort between Marketing, Sales and their Customer Success team.

We talked about:

How the teams work together to create seamless experiences.

How they make sure that the team is well informed and hand-off points are clearly defined.

How technology and systems are key to a successful workflow.

Enjoy the interview!

About Erin:

Erin Bush is the Director of Revenue Operations at SalesLoft, the platform for modern sales engagement. In this role, she works with Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success to create systems to more efficiently prospect, win, onboard, and support customers.

Erin is a veteran sales leader in the Atlanta startup community.  An innovator in sales operations, Erin specializes in building a connected sales practice utilizing modern sales technology.