Future-Proof Selling

Douglas Cole is an Enterprise Sales Leader at LinkedIn, an advisor with start-up accelerators in Canada and the U.S., and a part-time university lecturer at The Rotman School of Management and The Schulich Executive Education Centre in Toronto. If that isn't enough, he has also authored The Sales MBA: How to Influence Corporate Buyers. Doug joined the LinkedIn team because he believes in their vision and values, and he's committed to refining his craft as a leader. Doug's team helps B2B sales organisations thrive in our digital era. He is actively involved with internal education: as a faculty member of LinkedIn's Data-Driven University (DDU), creating professional development programs with institutional partners, and standing up a Mini-MBA for the global sales team. He's also on the leadership team that sets direction for LinkedIn Canada. “My career spans consulting, education, and sales. Three interests are at the heart of this journey. I like big picture thinking and analysis. That's the consultant in me. I like distilling first principles to help others improve. That's the educator in me. I like driving growth and rallying around a common purpose. That's the sales leader in me. In essence, I enjoy teasing out hidden sources of meaning in our personal and professional lives.” - Douglas Cole Key Points of our Discussion Douglas's new book The Sales MBA: How to Influence Corporate Buyers The general lack of Business Acumen in Salespeople The saturated knowledge economy Understanding the external dynamics Getting to know the organisational dynamics Nailing the interpersonal dynamics Becoming a strategist for the industry Becoming a change agent for the company Becoming a decision architect for the customer Choosing language and messaging carefully Behavioural economics in sales To connect with Chris, you can find him here on LinkedIn Find More on his book: The Sales MBA here

Dr. Christopher Croner received his BA in Psychology from DePaul University, and his Masters and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Dr. Croner is co-author of the book, Never Hire a Bad Salesperson Again, detailing his research and practice in identifying the non-teachable personality traits common to top producers. Dr. Croner developed the proprietary DriveTest® online sales test and The Drive Interview, both used for hiring “Hunter” salespeople. Using this method, he has helped more than 1,400 companies worldwide to hire and develop top-performing salespeople. Dr. Croner has served as an adjunct faculty member at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, teaching personnel selection in the Industrial Psychology Master of Arts program. His is is an active member of the Consulting Section of the Illinois Psychological Association and former Co-Program Chair of Chicago Industrial/Organizational Psychologists (CIOP). “In 2002, I discovered there was a lack of assessment tools specifically targeting Drive in sales candidates, so I set out to develop my own sales assessment test. After years of research, development, and validity testing, I developed The DriveTest®: The only sales assessment that is scientifically designed to identify candidates that possess the three non-teachable traits common to top producers. Want to start hiring top sales talent? Let me offer you a free DriveTest® right now. Visit: https://salesdrive.info/free-trial-request to access a free test.” - Dr Christopher Croner Key Points of our Discussion Chris's clinical psychology background and entry into sales The three key un-teachable personality traits that create “Drive” The cost and dangers of hiring on “gut feel” Best practice hiring processes to secure high performing hunters Tips to attracting high drive applicants in your ads Communicating culture and opportunity The well-constructed phone screening process The importance of a structured behavioural interview Designing the right interview questions The power of an assessment PRIOR to interview To connect with Chris, you can find him here on LinkedIn Find More on Sales Drive here

Ian Koniak is an accomplished sales coach, trainer and keynote speaker who helps B2B Account Executives perform to their full potential and crush their quotas by mastering the mindset, habits, and skills needed to perform at the highest level. Ian has been a top performing Account Executive for 19 years, with over $100M in career sales at Fortune 500 companies. He's led and developed teams, and was recently the #1 Account Executive in the Enterprise Select Division at Salesforce.  Ian is now on a mission to share his secrets to success with the sales community. Most recently Ian worked as a Strategic Account Director for the Enterprise West Sales team at Salesforce, where he partnered with their largest customers to help them drive growth, innovation, and success on the Salesforce Platform. At Ricoh, he led a team of 10 Sales Managers and 70 reps responsible for 60M Annual Revenue across hardware, software, and services. “After a near death experience, I started a coaching business to serve others and help them achieve incredible success. My mission is to share my learnings over 19 years in tech sales to help AE's perform their best.” - Ian Koniak Key Points of our Discussion Ian's impressive sales success story Discipline vs being “motivated” Mindset and personal development Getting in the habit of doing the hard things Steven Covey's time management quadrant Selling in a recession Innovatively creating opportunities in sales To connect with Ian, you can find him here on LinkedIn Or visit Ian's Website https://iankoniak.com/  to learn more

Dan Kijewski is Senior Director of Enterprise and Staffing Sales at Talent.com - a leader in the recruitment advertising and technology space. He is responsible for sales strategy, strategic planning, recruitment, marketing, product, and all activities required to grow the US Enterprise and Staffing team into a $25m+ business over the next 12months. Dan has 20+ years of sales experience, coupled with his recruitment expertise and deep knowledge of the current market. Dan shares his valuable insight on hiring sales talent in a candidate's market, and how both employers and candidates should approach recruitment processes in order to have the best outcomes for all involved.  “Small and Medium Sized Businesses especially (SMBs) need a plan to have a consistent pipeline of candidates at their disposal. In the current candidate market, they need to be prepared to lose people as well as learn how to bring on new candidates faster and expect these hiring challenges to continue for the foreseeable future.” - Dan Kijewski  Key Points of our Discussion Handling recruitment in a candidate's market The impact on HR leaders Culture and mental health focus The shift in how leaders need to treat their team Sales hiring and interview processes Key indicators (and red flags) to look for in an interview Customer success strategies To connect with Dan, you can find him here on LinkedIn Find More on Talent.com here

Brendan McAdams is Co-founder of Expertscape, a global directory of medical experts,  And also Founder of Kiinetics.  Kiinetics is a specialty B2B sales coaching and consulting practice with an emphasis on sales strategy and techniques, marketing, customer success and relationship management.  Brendan has particular industry experience helping healthcare technology companies advance their sales success into health plan, ACO and health system markets. Over the last 10+ years, Brendan has helped dozens of founders recognise, attack and overcome the very common challenges unique to early-stage startups: Fear of rejection Dealing with competing responsibilities Handling proposals and customer negotiations Managing the revenue expectations typical of an evolving product roadmap Navigating the complexities of developing a repeatable (and standardized) implementation and successful onboarding process Brendan has also written a book on sales fundamentals, SALES CRAFT, that outlines 50 fundamental sales skills, practices and ideas that every sales professional should consider as they work to improve their sales effectiveness. Key Points of our Discussion Why Founders “fear” the sales function  Key challenges for early stage startups Narrowing your ICP before building out the product The unique and powerful position of the Founder The importance of a good system and process Getting into the “expert mindset” Learning to say “no” to a potential customer Brendan's sales accelerator program To connect with, and learn more about Brendan you can find him here on LinkedInDiscover more about his offerings at Kiinetics.com

Andy Paul has been in sales for over four decades. In his professional career I've sold everything from computers to small businesses to complex communications systems that sold for tens of millions of dollars to some of the world's largest enterprises.  Andy has grown and managed large sales teams from scratch and coached average performers into being top producers. Andy closed hundreds of millions of dollars in products and services before starting his own company. Andy is ranked #8 on LinkedIn's list of Top 50 Global Sales Experts and more than 170,000 people have signed up to follow the knowledge he shares. His hit "Accelerate Your Sales" podcast was acquired by Revenue.io in 2020. Since re-named "Sales Enablement with Andy Paul", the show continues to inspire thousands of sales professionals each week. Andy has also written two award-winning sales books, "Zero-Time Selling" and "Amp Up Your Sales".  As a bit of an introvert, Andy was not your typical salesperson. His first employer didn't think he'd ever succeed because they believed he was “too analytical.” It's his different approach to sales that inspired his new book “Sell Without Selling Out.” A proven framework to increase win rates and shorten decision cycles without the salesy behaviours that buyers hate. Key Points of our Discussion Are salespeople getting better at selling? Or perhaps worse Ask better questions and make deeper connections Selling out vs “selling in” The four pillars of “selling in” How we should view and approach our careers in sales What type of seller is really going to make it big? Could processes and playbooks be a constraint?  Properly understanding the purpose and power of discovery The power of small talk The real meaning of providing value To connect with, and learn more about Andy you can find him here on LinkedInDiscover more about his offerings and his new book “Sell Without Selling Out” at andypaul.com

Patrick Baynes is CEO of Nerdwise who helps sales teams “Sell More Wisely.” Nerdwise is an  all-in-one sales enablement solution to accelerate each stage of the buying process from prospect discovery to outreach and acquisition. Clients get VIP access to list generation, campaign management, lead scoring and coordinated marketing activities. Nerdwise is used by leading sales teams including Sandler Training, BTI, RAP Index, DP3 Tech, Reflective Energy, Lynk Capital Markets, TechAdvisors and hundreds more. Patrick has been in the tech space for a long time, working at LinkedIn was his first job out of school and the perfect launch pad into the internet and software space. He was once told that if he was sliced open to see what he was made of, it would mostly be LinkedIn DNA. Following LinkedIn, Patrick co-founded PeopleLinx, the first employee-based social marketing solution for LinkedIn. The company was acquired in 2015 by Frontline. We discuss how companies can work smarter and grow faster by leveraging the latest marketing systems, technologies and best practices. Key Points of our Discussion The challenges of choosing the right tools  Bringing sales and marketing together  Introducing new tools to help productivity Nailing the foundation of your processes Correct targeting and outcome-driven messaging  Email Sequencing and automation Managing our conversion rates once we win a meeting with a prospect Reviewing and removing any unnecessary steps in your process Nerdwise services and software for sales teams To connect with, and learn more about Patrick you can find him here on LinkedInAnd learn more about Nerdwise software and services here

Nicolas De Swetschin is Commercial Director and the sportsman of noCRM. He joined the adventure to lead the sales team and develop Their partnership and resale program.    Nicolas has 15 years' experience in sales and international business development within software and value-added services companies. Management of complex sales and new business development.   Specialising in business development, international sales, channel management account management, product marketing and sales strategy.    ….Helping SMBs of any industry close more deals

For the past 35 years, Chris has been participating in software startups as a founder or at the very early stages of development. His focus has been on consistently creating and taking to market simple products that can be used successfully the first time they are touched, without taking a course or needing to read a manual. Chris fully believes that the most powerful part of any software system is the human being that we inappropriately call a “user,” and that the value key in software is to let the computer do what it does well in order to free up human potential. The reality of serial dialing is that the average person can't make more than 75-100 outbound dials a day to their intended targets, which may result in 6-8 conversations with decision-makers. ConnectAndSell can make that same number of dials in less than an hour. The result? Within 2-5 minutes ConnectAndSell allows you to speak with one of your intended targets: Conversations On Demand. Since 2007 ConnectAndSell has helped sales representatives at nearly 1000 companies, including hundreds of technology startups and several Fortune 500 companies, overcome the challenges of getting people on the phone.  Chris's solution helps companies grow their revenues faster than it's practical to grow their sales teams, by allowing existing reps to have more sales conversations in 90 minutes than they would otherwise achieve in an entire week. Key Points of our Discussion The problems faced in outbound prospecting Calls vs Emails Manufacturing trust using the human voice The danger of top talent leaving if pushed too hard The importance of organic growth in sales capability Chris shares how Connect And Sell is working within his own team How to handle the “Ambush” feeling of cold calling Chris gives some great live examples of cold calling techniques To connect with, and learn more about Chris you can find him here on LinkedIn and learn more about the power of Connect and Sell

Joseph Fung is a graduate of the University of Waterloo's Computer Engineering program, and is a very successful five-times tech company Founder and CEO. Joseph is passionate about Helping technology businesses hire sales professionals who deliver from day one.  His company Uvaro, is a tech sales career accelerator. Helping kickstart careers in Tech Sales across North America. Sister company Kiite is a sales enablement platform offering sales playbooks, templates, and a bunch of free resources and tools to help sales teams better organize, and deliver results. We discuss how to source and develop sales talent, reduce the churn, reduce ramp up times and improve productivity and sustainability.  Key Points of our Discussion The problem of a lack of training in new hires How long it typically takes a new rep to ramp The reality of team retention and performance stats The cost of making the poor hires and a lack of coaching Recruiting methods, the rights and wrongs How we should approach hiring and onboarding Internships and various other avenues Tools for building cheat sheets for your sales team Investing in sales enablement To connect with, and learn more about Joseph you can find him here on LinkedIn

World renowned Corporate Storyteller and Pitch Alchemist Donna Griffit has helped over 1000 startups, corporates and investors raise hundreds of millions of dollars and accelerate their sales with a personal touch and unmatched messaging savvy, in any industry, at any phase. “The hardest thing for a company is to explain to people what they do and why it matters. I see startups spending tens of hours – if not weeks and months – struggling to get the right words out – and ending up with messages that simply don't get the desired results. With investors, customers or partners – you only get one shot! You must make it a good one.  I'm here to help you make it a GREAT one! There's nothing I love more than helping a company cut through their bits and bytes, cracking the DNA of their story and turning it into captivating messages that wow. Let's make some messaging magic happen for you.” - Donna Griffit, Corporate Storyteller   Key Points of our Discussion Why there's such a buzz about storytelling How and why storytelling was born The importance of structuring your messaging The “deconstructed user story” Building metaphors into your structure and storytelling The importance of listening in long complex deals Researching your customer before a meeting To learn more about Donna and her company visit her website https://www.donnagriffit.com/ and you can find her here on LinkedIn

Scott Leese is one of the top startup sales leaders in the US. Through domestic and international consulting as a strategic advisor, he has trained an army of salespeople and sales leaders thousands strong. Leese puts his nearly two decades of sales and leadership experience to use as the CEO/Founder of Scott Leese Consulting, Surf & Sales, and Thursday Night Sales. Scott Leese Consulting was founded with a concentration on companies scaling from $0 – $25m ARR. Armed with years of industry experience and a proven track record of success, Scott focuses on a scalable approach to: sales strategies, processes, people, and infrastructure. Based in Austin, Texas, Scott is a 3-time winner of the Top 25 Inside Sales Professionals by the American Association of Inside Sales, 3-time author, and a highly sought-after consultant, advisor, leader, and sales trainer. While learning both the fundamentals and higher strategy of sales, Scott Leese's students come away motivated and empowered. He has helped create many successful organizations and has shaped thousands of individuals into highly sought after sales leaders. His areas of expertise include: sales and leadership seminars, consulting and coaching, public speaking events, conferences, sales training, and more! Today we discuss the themes behind Scott's new book - More than a Number: A leader's Guide. Key Points of our Discussion Scott's new book - More than a Number Scaling a founder-let startup The approach leaders should take going in to a new role The seldom talked about underbelly of being the VP of sales Managing the pace and pressure of sales leadership Hiring and nurturing sales talent Personal branding and networking as a great recruitment tool Sales ops and sales enablement To learn more about Scott and his company visit the website scottleeseconsulting.com and you can find him here on LinkedIn

Kasey is a personal branding authority and growth strategy coach who helps Founders harness the power of what makes them unique, in order to build high growth businesses with impact.  Her expertise is in early-stage growth strategy, demand generation, personal brand growth and relationship building at scale. Attract ideal customers, impress potential investors, and connect with other industry influencers. Kasey began her affinity for the startup life by working on political campaigns where she realized she thrives in chaos, and loves the challenge of being perpetually in over-her-head. “I founded A Better Jones with a mission and a dream to help founders build successful, high-growth businesses. And over the years, I've learned that my specialty is in helping founders and their teams leverage what makes them different to develop smart, scalable growth strategies that play to their strengths in every way. For years, my winding career journey made me insecure. It made me believe that my story, my work, and my expertise weren't as impactful or impressive as those with a straight path. Bullsh#t!  I've learned to harness my unusual story and my personal triumphs to build a more authentic, impactful, and inspiring personal brand that connects with my audience and builds my business. And now, that is what I help other founders do.” -  Kasey Jones Key Points of our Discussion The role of personal branding for salespeople Building relationships and trust at scale The cost of failing to build your digital presence Company brand vs personal brand Targeting senior executives via LinkedIn Hooks in your LinkedIn descriptions and about section Using social media to better understand your prospects How to approach it if you feel like personal branding is “Bragging.” To learn more about Kasey and her business visit her website abetterjones.com and you can find her here on LinkedIn

Adam Rubenstein is a serial entrepreneur, salesman, and sales manager. As an entrepreneur, he has centered all of his businesses around sales. While he will always use CRMs he wanted a better way to capture what matters most in sales — the human interactions. The conversations, the phone calls, the lunches.   Adam is Co-Founder and CEO of Traq365. A company that leverages AI to effortlessly convert sales conversations into objective buyer insights, improving sales processes and revenue projections, while accelerating B2B sales.  “I wanted technology to help my teams master the sales narrative. So I got my developers together and built a new sales tool for the future of sales. A system for mastering the human narrative in sales. Traq365 starts with a place to store your notes and emails, files, and recorded conversations. Then Traq365's AI scans for opportunities, risks, tasks, highlights — things that are actionable, things that matter. And marks them as Insights.” - Adam Rubenstein Through machine learning, the more you work with Traq365, the smarter it gets. The Insights you create with the AI build a map of the narrative you create over time - with each prospect, for every sale...the ones you win, and the ones you don't.” - Adam Rubenstein Key Points of our Discussion Overseeing sales conversations in a remote selling environment Reaching the buyer through over-crowded channels Getting more creative in prospecting and process Culture and professional development Some of Adams fundamental tips encouraged within his team How time-poor sales leaders can easily monitor sales calls AI and machine learning to gain valuable sales insights Creating more accurate forecasts leveraging AI Identifying and comparing characteristics of win/loss conversations Sales as a science vs sales as an art To learn more about Adam's company, visit his website www.traq.ai, and you can find him here on LinkedIn

Frank Cespedes teaches at Harvard Business School and for 12 years was Managing Partner at a professional services firm. He has worked with many companies on go-to-market and strategy issues, and has been a Board Member at consumer goods, industrial products, and services firms.  He has written for numerous publications, and is the author of six books including Aligning Strategy and Sales which was cited as “the best sales book of the year” (Strategy & Business), “a must read” (Gartner), and “perhaps the best sales book ever” (Forbes).  His newest book is Sales Management That Works: How to Sell in a World That Never Stops Changing (Harvard Business Review Press, 2021). According to Frank, business development and growth are core leadership responsibilities. But the impact on sales activities of new buying processes, e-commerce, big data, and other megatrends is often misunderstood.  We discuss how to separate signal from noise and the implications for hiring, training, performance management, and relevant sales models. Key Points of our Discussion Examining the non-linear buying process The important and often misunderstood changes in sales management Selling in the omni-channel buying world  The data and metrics we SHOULD be tracking Sales hiring and cross-functional interviews Specialisation and the division of labour The poor ROI of sales training and development Leveraging inside sales Busting pricing myths. Framing value with pricing To learn more about Frank, visit his website frankcespedes.com, - where you can also pre-order his new book. For more great insights you can find Frank here on LinkedIn

David Ledgerwood is Managing Partner of Add1Zero, who provide lead-to-close sales execution for B2B tech-enabled services companies ready to leap from 6 to 7 digits of revenue. His career sales have topped US $40M, with an average deal size in excess of $150,000. David has sold software and services for more than a decade and helped several companies grow into the mid-7 figures. David headed up Sales and Services for Gun.io for three years, during which time he booked staff, oversaw more than 100,000 hours of development, and helped 10x sales. David's career began in professional services at PwC where he carved out a niche as a Bash developer. If you've received a package or deposited a check, there's a pretty decent chance some piece of code David wrote was somehow involved. It was pre-web, and they were saving the world from melting down in Y2K. David then moved into private media for a major publishing company right about when Web 2.0 started to eat newspapers and periodicals for lunch, which gave him a front row seat to disruption and honed his taste for entrepreneurial pursuits. In 2007, David moved from New Jersey to Nashville to start a company. They got to a $500K run rate before the Great Recession “chewed them up and spat them out.” He never lost the startup bug. David moved into EdTech and built his business development chops. He moved into a COO role, consulted, mentored, and coached. In 2015, I joined Gun.io. David is back in the Founder game for his (lucky?) 13th startup. Key Points of our Discussion The typical challenges for B2B services businesses trying to scale How David and his team at Add1Zero provide lead-to-close sales execution Effectively identifying your core business in a consultancy/agency setting Separating out software reselling and consulting services Smart sales hiring to support a sustainable scaling process Multi-channel outbound marketing and prospecting The importance of sales enablement materials and content Building systems to maximise call time, not proposal writing time To learn more about David, visit his website add1zero.co, and you can find him here on LinkedIn

John Smibert is a B2B Sales Specialist, Change Agent, Challenger, Coach, Trainer and Speaker. John has led sales teams to success for over 20 years. He achieved 25 annual Sales clubs with IT Multinationals selling to large banks, telcos, Federal & State Government and the manufacturing industry. “I work with companies who recognise the old way they sell is no longer effective and they are seeking to transform to new, more productive sales models. I strive to be one of the most switched on old heads in the rapidly changing world of B2B sales. Specifically I help my clients to stop selling products and services and start leading their customer to positive change that enables them to reach valuable new horizons.” - John Smibert _____________________________________________________ Wayne Moloney works with businesses and salespeople to increase revenue and profits, and gain competitive advantage. With the rapid changes occurring in the way buyers engage with sellers, companies need to adapt their sales and business strategies, and how they engage with their customers to be successful. Through one-on-one mentoring, coaching and online training, Wayne helps to develop and implement strategies and sales models utilising Lean principles that improve efficiencies and increase profits. John and Wayne join me to discuss the themes found in their new book “The Wentworth Prospect,” which is a very unique and informative sales book written in the form of an engaging and entertaining novel. Key Points of our Discussion John and Wayne's new book, The Wentworth Project Sales Management: The required approach Sales Process and NOT selling the product Discovery and disruption Effective customer engagement Talking in the customer's language Developing appropriate content along the sales process Tackling “No Decision” by identifying hidden decision makers and influencers To learn more or purchase the book visit their website EDVANCE here https://edvance.sale/ For more great sales insights and content you can find John Smibert and Wayne Moloney on LinkedIn.

Robert Danger Workman is a 40-year veteran in face-to-face, day-in and day-out selling. He has published numerous sales training/human development programs and spoken to thousands of sales reps nationwide and internationally. His consistent track record as #1 in sales includes Top Producer titles from companies with 800, 300 and 100 reps, but also includes being fired while producing consistent superlative results – for making too much money. Robert has gone from having his phone turned off and his gasoline card seized at gas stations to purchasing Ferraris by writing a single check. Robert's highly anticipated second book, Hired Gun II: Both Barrels, is a sales bible and an entertaining journey through the highs and lows of an outrageous and hilarious successful professional career in sales.  Robert's latest book Selling - The Most Dangerous Game, provides step-by-step advice and the wisdom salespeople need to ensure that adversity and politics don't destroy a high-performance sales career. Key Points of our Discussion Roberts latest Book “Selling - The Most Dangerous Game.” Worrying hiring trends in startup B2B sales companies Robert's take on “The Hired Gun” How salespeople can become indispensable Personal development to future-proof your career Robert shares some examples of closing big ticket deals Robert's latest book “Selling - The Most Dangerous Game,” offers the step-by-step advice and the wisdom salespeople need to ensure that adversity and politics don't destroy their high-performance sales career. To learn more about Robert, visit his website hiredgun.us, and you can find him here on LinkedIn

Celebrating the 100th Episode of The Future-Proof Selling Podcast!!! Very pleased to welcome Tony Hughes back to the show - fitting as he was my very first guest 99 amazing episodes ago. This time he is joined by the brilliant Justin Michael for a value-packed discussion on technology, AI and taking a glimpse into the not-so-distant future of B2B Sales. Together Justin and Tony have penned a unique new book “Tech Powered Sales”, which is a mindblowing read from two of the industry's best. Tony Hughes Tony is an international keynote speaker, best-selling author, professional selling educator, award-winning blogger and the most read LinkedIn Author globally on the topic of B2B sales leadership. He is co-founder of Sales IQ Global and also ranked by Top Sales Magazine as the most influential person for professional selling in Asia-Pacific. With 35 years of sales and business leadership experience, Tony is an experienced CEO and company director having served as Director of Sales for public corporations, and as the Asia-pacific Managing Director for a number of tier-one global technology companies. He teaches 'modernized selling' within the MBA program at the University of Technology, Sydney and has taught for other universities. Justin Michael Over the last 20 years as a top producing technologist and consultant, Justin developed word-of-mouth only methods that have made him one of the most sought-after talents globally. Currently serving as a Futurist for Tenbound and Vendor Neutral, he is host of podcasts Quantum Leap and Beyond Sales Development. Justin is Co-Founder of HYPCCCYCL, the first B2B Esports community focused on go-to-market cross-training™️. Through invite-only competitions, members participate in active learning which is proven to increase hard skill retention to 90%. Key Points of our Discussion Tony and Justin's book “Tech Powered Sales.” Failure rates and challenges in enterprise sales Adapting to today's technology in order to succeed The danger of misusing automation technology Setting up a sales team from scratch today The essential technologies for B2B sales A day in the life in the future Intent data and the advanced stack Calling (phone) automation technology Advanced targeting via “trigger events.” Both Tony and Justin are very active on linkedin, follow them for more great content and insights for modern sales success now, and into the future. Tony Hughes LinkedIn Justin Michael LinkedIn

Stu Heinecke is a hall-of-fame nominated marketer, famous Wall Street Journal cartoonist, bestselling business author and the father of contact marketing. His Book “How to Get a Meeting with Anyone” was a huge hit, and more recently he has released a book called “Get the Meeting.” Contact marketing is a fusion of marketing and selling in which bold and original forms of marketing are used in support of high-level sales approaches to VIP accounts and prospects. Stu has a lot of incredible methodologies around getting in front of key decision-makers. Stu has won meetings with Presidents, CEO's and Celebrities. Key Points of our Discussion Stu's marketing and cartooning background Stu shares a campaign that's getting 100% response rate “Get the Meeting” through retargeting The “pocket campaigns” Contact marketing examples getting 6 figure deals Profile scrapes and deep personalisation ROI and record-breaking campaigns Stu's online course How to Get a Meeting To learn more about Stu, visit his website stukeinecke.com and you can find him here on LinkedIn

Karen Tisdell is ranked one of the top LinkedIn Trainers across Asia Pacific in 2018 and 2019. Karen began writing LinkedIn profiles in 2009, facilitating LinkedIn strategy sessions on how to reposition your career and attract the work you want. Karen has since worked with many businesses to empower employees to broaden brand footprint and attract and retain clients. Key Points of our Discussion The Edelman Trust Barometer Profile writing with authenticity Karen's profile picture recommendation Addressing your customer's needs in your profile Demonstrating value and expertise Creating content around customer feedback Optimising your news feed and monitoring conversations Why Leaders should utilise LinkedIn Practical tips on types of content, post introductions and hashtags Video editing and captioning tools To learn more about Karen, visit her website, or connect with her on LinkedIn

Scott Milener is Founder and CEO of IntroSnap, an innovative company with a unique slant on helping sales teams and individuals get in touch with influencers, and targeted prospects that are otherwise difficult to reach. Scott and his team started IntroSnap to enable professionals to connect in a more effective and personal way, while being a force for good in the world. Scott and his associates have been in Senior Sales roles in top SaaS firms including Oracle Marketing Cloud, TripActions, BlueShift and Lattice Engines. They saw over and over, first hand, the time and money spent by sales and demand gen and sales teams to drive pipe and increase win rates. Each day, buyers are inundated with non-personal emails that all look the same, and coffee mugs they never asked for. The result is that buyers are harder to engage than ever before. Tune in for a more effective and impactful way to get their attention. A must listen for SaaS sales leaders and their teams. Key Points of This Discussion Today's challenges in SaaS sales How many touchpoints are now in a sale? Winning meetings is one thing, then what? Discovery, personalisation and Demo's How to run a great meeting, and what not to do Setting a meeting agenda with your customer How to get key decision-makers to your next meeting Scott shares the story behind his company IntroSnap Learn more about IntroSnap on their website https://www.introsnap.com/ And you can find Scott here on Linkedin

Sam Capra is a sales student who has worked in the B2B sales space for 20+ years in various sales roles as a contributor, leader and trainer. Sam's experience spans across various industries from Industrial early in his career, to SaaS the past 10+ years working with Startups to Enterprise level organisations. Sam currently leads sales efforts for flexEngage, an innovative SaaS company out of Orlando, FL. Sam decided to pursue his passion of helping others and founded Sales Samurai, a podcast dedicated to helping B2B sales professionals grow and evolve in their profession. Sam likes to give salespeople real, tactical tips they can utilise in their day to day processes. A must listen for SaaS sales leaders and their teams. Key Points of This Discussion Should we cold call a prospects mobile phone? How salespeople should be utilising LinkedIn Hiring salespeople and interviewing processes Targeting, discovery and qualification Getting to the “real” customer problems Deal management and navigating the buying committee Learn more about FlexEngage on their website  And you can find Sam here on Linkedin

Joe Paranteau is a practicing Sales Director for Microsoft where he has held positions for over 17years. A keynote speaker, coach and sales thought leader, Joe has led nearly 30K sales meetings in his 28-year career with Fortune 500, SMBs, and startup businesses.  Within a five year span, he sold more than $1B in revenue, which motivated him to share his insights.  In his first book, Billion Dollar Sales Secrets, he shares fifteen themes to help inspire people to rise to meet today's challenges, ignite their dreams and success. Growing up, Joe was embarrassed by his thrift store clothing, and the rusted family car.  His family was poor, and as a child he painted rocks to sell as paperweights to neighbors, his first sales gig at 8 years old. Joe learned to hustle hard to get ahead in life, and it's the backbone of his success today. Key Points of This Discussion Joe's motivation behind his book Billion Dollar Sales Secrets The challenges Joe is seeing in sales today The #1 skill salespeople and leaders need to bring to the market Mindset and resilience: Think big, execute small The mental health toll of the pandemic Scaling up your operations and sales teams Tools and technologies to assist salespeople Learn more about Joe on his website jparenteau.com The Billion Dollar Sales Secrets book is available here on Amazon And you can find Joe here on Linkedin

David Dulany is the Founder and CEO of Tenbound; a research and advisory firm focused and dedicated 100% to sales development performance improvement. The Sales Development industry has exploded over the past few years, however, expertise in the subject is still rare. David has a long sales history and has put his expertise on paper in his book “The Sales Development Framework.” Tenbound helps revenue leaders and reps hit their pipeline and sales numbers through program assessments, playbook designs, SDR and SD manager training and coaching and Events such as Sales Development Conferences, Training Programs and Webinars. David truly sees sales development as a strategic imperative, not an entry level position or an afterthought. His three fundamentals for building a strong and successful SDR team? People Process Technology Check out Tenbound's upcoming events, webinars and resources on their website and their current offer to take a quick sales development survey and receive a free book. Key Points of This Discussion David's background and journey into SD and his firm The impact the current market is having on SDR programs Combining tools and technology with the human elements The importance of a clear process for SD teams SDR roles as a focused career path and who is suited to the role Team structure and alignment with marketing Skills leaders need to successfully drive the SD team David's book and upcoming webinars and events A must listen for SDR's and particularly SaaS companies with a program that might not be generating the desired ROI. The Sales Development Framework book is available here on Amazon And you can find David here on Linkedin

James Harper is the Founder of AgencyFlare, a gritty outbound sales agency that has learned to “punch above their weight class” when it comes to outbound sales. When James was a teenager, his step-father told him to get a sales job because James could sell anything. Fifteen years later, James realized that sales was actually his calling. Since 2015, James has sold over $3.5 million worth of B2B marketing services and has sold two companies that were both 100% bootstrapped from the ground up. Through his career, James noticed a major lack of quality sales companies that focused on cold prospecting and lead-generation, that also had a passion for providing true actionable B2B sales content: and thus, AgencyFlare was born. Throughout this episode we cover a lot of ground on today's best outbound practices and practical tips to help win more qualified meetings and sell with authenticity. Key Points of This Discussion James background and journey into sales AgencyFlare and the Company philosophy Mistakes sales teams are making with cold prospecting Being genuine and more authentic in a virtual setting Quality vs quantity outreach and personalisation Cost implications of a metrics-driven approach to prospecting Sales team culture and how it's overlooked What a good sales process looks like today Segmenting top, middle and end of funnel processes James' virtual selling tips Specialisation and setting reps up for success Practices to get meetings with the right people Identifying the “real” customer pain points A must listen for startups and tech companies who have a high focus on numbers and metrics. To learn more about AgencyFlare here www.AgencyFlare.com And you can find James here on Linkedin A freebie for salespeople! Subscribe to James' monthly outbound sales report here www.outboundsalesreport.com

Known as the Heavyweight Champion of Story, Rajiv 'RajNATION' Nathan is Founder of Startup Hypeman, helping growing companies not suck at telling their story so they stand out to their audience, stand apart from competitors, and break through in their category. He was named an "Agent of Change" by Huffington Post, has given a TED Talk, and been featured in Inc, Forbes, and more. He's also a hip hop artist, yoga instructor, and host of the popular show Startup Hypeman: The Podcast. We talk about standing out and avoiding the head to head product/feature war.  He has an effective framework he calls Que PASA, it's about narrowing in on your specific clients and their biggest challenges and then developing your messaging and approach to that. Raj has been kind enough to share with our listeners his Que PASA pitch guide. Access your free copy here https://www.startuphypeman.com/steven Key Points of This Discussion Winning customers through storytelling Rajiv's Que PASA pitch framework The importance of the fundamental elevator pitch Framing your messaging: Problem, Approach, Solution, Action Being careful with ROI Selling Rajiv's shares his suggested discovery call format The typical pitch structure and how it should be done A must listen for startups and tech companies looking to scale up their salesforce and stand out in a world where it's difficult to win on product and features alone.  To learn more about Raj and his company visit www.startuphypeman.com  And you can find him here on Linkedin

Head of sales enablement for the APAC region, with 15 years experience at Salesforce.com. Phil and his team enable their account executives, business development teams and sales leadership to find more pipeline, execute transformational sales journeys, and become trusted advisors to their valued customers.  Aligned tightly to sales leadership priorities, they onboard new hires, coach sales teams and deliver messaging, product and skills training programs across their sales hubs in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and India.  Phil is passionate about enablement strategy, enabling enablers, and attracting more people to the noble profession of enablement. Key Points of This Discussion Phil's impressive career and journey into Sales Enablement Phil's recent LinkedIn article “My Sales Enablement Lessons Learned in 2020.” Executive selling - establishing credibility, and gaining trust Why everyone needs an individual elevator pitch Why Leaders need to be coached to coach Specialisation - and the 4 key pillars involved in sales enablement Curricular design and structure Building content/tools and assets Content delivery and managing a room Stakeholder engagement Understanding the needs of the customer's customer Delivering sales enablement programs virtually Excellent value for any sales or business leaders looking to launch or expand upon a sales enablement program within your company.  To learn more about Phil and Salesforce, you can find him here on LinkedIn

Alex McNaugten, Founder of “Sales Leaders” and “Apprento” is passionate about solving New Zealand’s sales and revenue operational capability gaps, and building RevOps for globally ambitious organisations who want to scale

Mike Maynard is a long term marketing expert of over 20years based in the UK. Mike is the MD of the Napier Agency - who are a $7million marketing and PR company focused on helping B2B tech companies. Mike is a self-confessed geek who loves talking about technology. He believes that combining measurement, accountability and innovation with a passion for communicating, ensures Napier delivers great campaigns and tangible return on investment. Mike began his career as an electronics design engineer, working for companies ranging from GEC-Marconi to DDA, developing products from complex radar systems to Kim Wilde’s mixing desk. Mike later joined IDT Inc, an American semiconductor company, making his move into marketing when he switched from European Applications Manager to European Marketing Manager. In 2001 Mike acquired Napier with Suzy Kenyon. Since that time he has directed major PR and marketing programmes for a wide range of technology clients. He is actively involved in developing the PR and marketing industries, and is Chair of the PRCA B2B Group, and lectures in PR at Southampton Solent University.  Mike offers a unique blend of technical and marketing expertise, and was awarded a Masters Degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from the University of Surrey and an MBA from Kingston University. In this episode we talk about the evolution of B2B marketing, current trends and the importance of sales and marketing alignment. Key Points of This Discussion The background of Mike’s agency - “a baptism of fire” The evolution of B2B marketing over the last 20yrs The best and worst things that have happened in marketing The key components of a solid B2B marketing function The importance of sales and marketing alignment Mike shares an example of a successful sales and marketing campaign Targeting and ABM (Account Based Marketing) trends How Mike uses LinkedIn to generate leads in B2B tech What salespeople should be doing with marketing in today’s climate The impact COVID has had on print publications E-book campaigns and leveraging your company blog Getting control of your relationship with prospects The importance of marketing automation tools Check out Mikes company Napier Agency and you can find him here on LinkedIn. Mike has also launched a new podcast “Marketing B2B Technology.”

David is an accomplished top enterprise practicing salesperson, currently in sales and business development and global strategic accounts at Adobe in New York. Despite his fast-paced and high pressure position he has managed to pen an excellent book “Game of Sales.” Prior to Adobe, at AdRoll, Amazon and Google, David helped major brands leverage advertising solutions spanning search, display, video, mobile, and emerging technologies.  Before Google, David was a Business Development Executive at IBM, where he built six strategic partnerships to deliver new enterprise offerings. Also at IBM, David was part of a small strategy consulting practice where he developed and delivered partnerships, go-to-market strategy, product strategy, competitive analysis, channel enablement, business model strategy, global solution design, consulting practice development, and growth strategy. In this episode we talk about the “Game of Sales” and David offers a lot of advice to salespeople on how to embrace and advance their careers in what is a challenging profession.  Key Points of This Discussion The history behind David’s book “Game of Sales” Tough conversations with customers and the “challenger sale” David’s approach to prioritisation and effective time management  How to build an “automatic pipeline”  The importance of understanding and mitigating risks in a sale The key foundations for a successful career in sales David’s advice on sales calls for new business How to avoid “Horrible Meetings” How to avoid a customer going “dark” after a successful meeting The dark side of sales - how to cope with uncertainty and change Check out David’s book “Game of Sales” and you can find David here on LinkedIn

Karl Sice is Country Business Leader for ANZ at Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, the multi-national communications, collaboration and network solutions corporation. He has 20+ years’ experience in leadership and business development in IT and financial services, with roles in industry powerhouses Dell, Sun Microsystems, Staples, Gartner and American Express. Karl is an extremely passionate frontline sales and business leader with a contagious energy. This episode is absolutely packed with valuable insight and advice for leaders, take the 30mins to listen to the full episode, it’s very energising. Key Points of This Discussion Karl’s career journey in the world of Tech Tips on moving into a new leadership role in technology today The “colleagant” opportunities in today’s business operations Shaping a culture rather than focusing on results The importance of extracting input from all of your team members Managing the pressure of tech business leadership Bursting out of the 13 week bubble and planning longer term Using your CRM data as an informative reverse coaching tool Effectively working with your superiors and offshore stakeholders We talk about people, recruiting and hunting for the right attitudes People management 101 - no surprises, trust and transparency A must-listen for current or aspiring leaders of any B2B sales team; but in particular those in the tech space will get a lot out of this. Learn more about Karl’s company Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, and find him here on LinkedIn

Thomas Vanderkin is Global Account Manager for Lenovo, responsible for some of the largest Telcos and Solution Integrators. Over the years as a ‘hobby’ he has also developed a wildly popular personal brand -  Vanderkinverse. His videos and reviews appear on YouTube, LinkedIn, and other social media channels with millions of views, and over 30,000 followers on LinkedIn.  Thomas began his career at GE Capital leasing PCs, then moved to Wachovia mortgage division, and then to the IBM Personal Computer Division, which was later to become Lenovo. He has held various roles in Lenovo including software engineering, project management, and sales. He has several technology articles published and two U.S. patents. In this episode we talk about how his personal brand came to be, why the content is so popular, and how his brand supports his career in sales.  Key Points of This Discussion Thomas’s background and personal brand How Thomas’s huge LinkedIn following emerged The business benefit of building a personal brand Developing a rapport with people over social media Tips for salespeople to begin and improve their social presence A deliberate approach to building a quality network Leveraging other channels alongside LinkedIn Tom asks me about my own experience with LinkedIn Tom’s final thoughts and advice for salespeople starting out on LinkedIn Check out Tom’s YouTube Channel here, and find him here on LinkedIn

Dan Pfister has been a marketer for over 20 years and has spent thousands of hours testing and implementing a very wide variety of sales growth strategies.  In total they’ve generated over 50,000 customers and have allowed him to work with brands like Fidelity Investments and Tony Robbins (see below). Though many strategies have generated outstanding results for Dan, nothing in his experience has generated revenue faster or more predictably than WinBack. It was the strength and reliability of WinBack that motivated Dan to found Strategic WinBack and become an evangelist for this under-valued and under-appreciated sales strategy. During this discussion Dan shares his expertise and advice on best practice WinBack, backed by some very compelling numbers and statistics.  Key Points of This Discussion The value of winning back past customers The cost of customer losses to companies if left unaddressed The best way to approach and re-engage with customers  How to best utilise the information your past customers offer Are there customers that we should just let go?  WinBack vs prospecting new customers WinBack ROI statistics  Why aren’t more companies employing WinBack as a strategy? Why past customers are in many ways your best prospects Learn more about Dan’s company Strategic WinBack, and you can also find him here on LinkedIn.

Andrew Sykes is founder and CEO of Habits at Work, a training company based in Chicago that arms revenue-responsible teams with conversation skills and high-impact habits. He is a master of conversation who helps salespeople and organisations sell more, faster, and keep customers happy, longer.  He grew up in South Africa where he qualified as the youngest actuary at the time and, starting at the tender age of 22, built one of that country’s largest healthcare consulting businesses. As a professional salesperson of 25 years, Andrew has studied and practiced the art of habit creation in organisations and in his own life.  This work culminated in the Behavioral Research and Applied Technology Laboratory (BRATLAB), whose team of psychologists and actuaries seek to understand which habits really matter to sustain high-performance and organisational growth, and how to help people to practice those habits.  He co-authored The 11th Habit, a book that shows how to design a company that makes it easy and natural for employees to prioritize and care for themselves, and perform at the highest level as a result. Andrew is a Lecturer of Entrepreneurship at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and part of the Kellogg Sales Institute Executive Education Team where he teaches the award-winning course “Entrepreneurial Selling,” ranked by Inc. Magazine as one of the “Top Ten” courses in the United States. Key Points of This Discussion The importance of conversation mastery in the age of technology  How the art of conversation can give salespeople a winning edge Recognising the different types of conversations The power of the reconnaissance conversation in sales Andrew shares some examples of best practice approaches Respecting the buyer and listening before we pitch The concept of the pathway conversation   The key components of a milestone conversation What Andrew believes the future of sales looks like Leveraging powerful customer feedback     You can find Andrew here on LinkedIn.

Doug Brown is a highly acclaimed revenue growth expert in revenue expansion, and sales optimisation. He began working for his family business at the age of three, and has since started and built over 35 companies. During college at Berklee College, Northeastern University, and Salem State University,  Doug supported himself by selling music equipment to colleges, universities, corporations, and some of the world's biggest bands such as Aerosmith, Boston, Billy Joel and The Eagles among others. He served over 12 years in the US Army, during which he was awarded the battalion's most distinguished soldier award graduating 2nd his class. Doug then became the top-selling sales representative for a 2-billion-dollar company and went on to start his own consulting and auditing company. Across 14 countries Doug has consulted, coached, advised, and trained thousands of people in business, including Enterprise-Rent- Car, Nationwide, Intuit, Proctor and Gamble, and CBS. His greatest professional success has been increasing a company's close rate by 862% and revenue growth by 116% within four months.   Doug also served as an independent president of sales and training for companies of Tony Robbins, Chet Holmes, and Russ Whitney. His efforts have collectively generated over 500 million dollars in sales - his last client generated 3 million dollars in new sales in 5 weeks and had an increase in revenue of 15 million dollars over the past 5 years. Currently Doug helps companies with $5M+ in sales revenue to expand and optimise. He also helps other B2B business coaches and consultants to grow their business – to achieve a higher profit and to enjoy their life. Doug’s book  Win-Win Selling, unlocking your Power of Profitability by Resolving Objections became an international bestseller in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, and the Philippines. It’s a unique must-read for anyone who sells, or wants to communicate on a higher level and have win-win outcomes. Doug has also developed a quiz to help salespeople determine their objections-handling style and how it could be improved.  During this podcast, Doug shares his practical perspectives on objection handling and getting to the root of the problem with your customers.  Key Points of This Discussion About Win-Win Selling and resolving objections  Dealing with the human side of an objection How people’s belief system can invoke objections How salespeople should get curious and not offended  Doug shares some examples of getting to the real problem A more successful approach to cold calling Choosing language based your customer’s language Tracking numbers, metrics and following up

Patrick Butler is CEO of Information Security Specialists Loop Secure. He has had a long and successful 13 year career with the company, having started out as an account manager in sales, and working his way up to the C-suite. You could say he knew the business like the back of his hand...until COVID hit suddenly and forced rapid change.  Patrick joins me on the Future-Proof Selling Podcast to share the Loop Secure journey of how they reacted to the pandemic, and the steps they took to transform their business in a very short space of time.  What did they do to pandemic-proof their business and outshine competitors? Key Points of This Discussion Patrick’s Company Loop Secure  What Patrick and his company did to survive the shock of COVID Steps to pandemic-proof and remote work-proof a business When pivoting, who should be involved in the decision-making process? The impressive reactions of Loop Secure team members Webinars as a means of communicating new offerings The situation for Loop Secure now, six months on The importance of alignment between all divisions Click through to learn more about Loop Secure, and you can also find Patrick on LinkedIn.

Michael Humblet is obsessed with designing, building and scaling sales engines. Founder of Chaomatic, a company focused on unlocking and maximizing revenue growth, and trusted by over 230 companies.    He is a seasoned sales strategist who served in a number of different Sales Leadership functions. Michael Humblet is the host of The Sales Acceleration Show, the sales and marketing focused Q&A show on how to accelerate your business.   Following a recent video Michael shared called The Truth Behind Sales - Dealing with the lake of rejection, we got together to discuss the techniques and qualities salespeople need to keep swimming and find success, despite all the “NO’s” we experience on a daily basis.    Key Points of This Discussion The three keys to a great salesperson Danger of progressing deals too quickly The two questions every salesperson should ask themselves Sending prospects deliberate and specific information in steps Building trust - especially in large corporate deals The impact of the freedom of choice How do salespeople deal with the fear of “No”? Focusing on the “why now?” and “next steps.” Visit his website for more about Michael, and you can also find him on LinkedIn.

Michael Haynes is the Founder and Principal Consultant at Listen Innovate Grow. He has also penned a fantastic book of the same name which is a guidebook to help startup’s and SME’s acquire and grow new B2B customers.  For over 20 years, Michael has worked with companies ranging from micro-businesses to large corporates across Australia and Canada to develop and implement customer strategies and programs to drive business growth. Particularly in these trying times if you’re struggling to make risk-averse buyers want to buy, need tips on retaining customers, or need to develop more sought after business offerings, this is a valuable episode.  Key Points of This Discussion How SME B2B’s should go to market in the ‘new normal’ Understanding the risk assessment and decision making process Recognising opportunities, and being growth oriented in a changed market The three levels of listening  Sales and marketing alignment in executing changed strategy Balancing existing customers, and new client acquisition A client of Michael’s who is cutting through with innovation Creating, or adjusting the business plan with adaptability Empowering effective leadership mindset and team culture Effectively implementing change and overcoming roadblocks World-class change management and execution Michael’s playbook Deciphering the business buyer Visit the Listen Innovate Grow website for more about Michael and his company, and you can also find him on LinkedIn.

I am joined by Tim Sleep and Sean Garvey of Odgers Berndtson, Australia’s fastest-growing retained Executive Search firm. Recently the company conducted a study where they asked 50 country, regional and global Managing Directors of Software and Services companies about their last six months’ experiences in Australia and New Zealand.   They collated their findings into a whitepaper titled Technology Sector MD Insights - The opportunities and challenges of the crisis. How is it affecting our business?    A very pertinent topic for our discussion, and high value for all leaders, especially those in the technology sector.   Tim Sleep Managing Director Aus & NZ - Odgers Berndtson   Specialises in the technology and professional services sectors, helping build exceptional Non Executive and executive leadership teams. Over 25 years’ experience in senior executive roles across retail, IT and professional services.    Sean Garvey Partner & Head of Technology Aus & NZ - Odgers Berndtson   Leads the execution of assignments at the Country leadership level for Software Vendors, and has worked extensively building executive leadership teams for System Integrators, Digital Platforms, and Telecommunications companies. Sean has over 20 Years’ experience in executive search, during which time he has worked for the largest multinational firms. Key Points of This Discussion The nature and scope of the technology sector study The raw honest concerns of sales leaders and country MD’s  How decision-making processes have changed, and who’s buying How are teams managing their sales activity? Balancing underperformers against underperformance Mental health awareness becoming part of the weekly cadence The extent of leader empathy towards their team  Communication fatigue - even during lockdown  Cracking the code of innovative new ideas The benefits of executives being more available   Is face to face really better than online? How teams are finessing the zoom world Death of the hero leader The qualities of an effective leader today  Headcount versus productivity Some of the best remote management ideas that were shared or observed during the survey Learn more about Tim and Sean and download their whitepaper here.

Master storyteller, author and sales mastermind Mike Adams returns to the Future-Proof Selling podcast with...you guessed it, a plethora of valuable experiences and insights around the concept of story-listening in sales.  Mike is an expert facilitator and story consultant who has helped numerous national and international companies, across many industries, to tap into story-powered sales.  Before working at Anecdote, Mike was the CEO of The Story Leader and had leading marketing and sales roles at Schlumberger, Siemens, Halliburton, Spotless, and GM Minerals and Energy. Mike has sold more than $1 Billion worth of products and services and has spoken at many major conferences around the world.  Key Points of This Discussion Mike’s early emergence into sales  The epiphany of recognising storytelling as a problem solving tool  Listening to your customers comments in order to seek stories Changing the nature of sales conversations  Having a deeper conversation with your customers An example when story-listening won Mike a multimillion dollar deal The consequence of sticking to standard sales talk Stories that help your customers close deals Handling objections as a story-listening opportunity Anecdotes program for sales organisations - “Storytelling for Leaders.” Visit the Anecdote website to learn more about Storytelling for Leaders, and you can find Mike on LinkedIn.

Pree Sarkar is an executive recruiter, career coach, author and keynote speaker. LinkedIn rated him in the Top 1% Recruiters for Search Excellence and Talent Pipelining. Prior to recruitment, he was a top performing account executive and sales director with Fortune 500 companies, including Xerox and FedEx. Since 2008 he has been advising leaders and professionals at global technology companies and pre-IPO start-ups to help them build winning teams and great careers. We really need to up our game and fight smarter and harder for the roles we really want. How can sales executives and management manage their careers more proactively.     Key Points of This Discussion Current trends in career management The impact of digital transformation on sales careers The the keys of a solid 2020 career management strategy  How to best present yourself on LinkedIn  Managing your career through COVID  Tips on demonstrating significant value in your CV Pree’s 4 step recruitment process  The importance of a strong personal brand Creating a ‘market map’ or career prospecting list How to approach your prospective future employers   The two pillars to consultative interviews Creating interview influence and connecting with your employer What not to do as an employer conducting interviews The most powerful way to communicate value in an interview Visit the website to learn more about Switch and you can find Pree on LinkedIn.

Jeroen Corthout from Antwerp, Belgium is Co-Founder of leading CRM Software Salesflare, developed specifically for small to medium B2B. The company is known for making CRM ‘human.’ We discuss what’s important in a challenging tight market, and how salespeople can take this as an opportunity to become more productive in a remote selling environment.   Some Key Points of This Discussion Jeroen’s background and launching Salesflare   The complications for Salespeople trying to utilise a CRM Efficiently curating information yet making CRM human How Salesflare works by populating contacts and reducing data entry  Creating audiences and automated email sequences  Prospecting and following up in a personalised way at scale Requesting reviews and valuable feedback from customers  Why remote selling is really a great thing for the industry Maximising productivity through remote selling Leveraging data to create opportunities  The biggest issues salespeople face with remote selling How remote selling can help us be more human and authentic What SaaS and tech companies can do now that face-to-face events are gone Virtual event software options and opportunities The challenge of building pipeline in an economic downturn Jeroen’s personal advice on wellbeing when working from home Visit the website to learn more about Salesflare and you can find Jeroen on LinkedIn.

Aaron McCormick should have been a casualty of his upbringing, “destined,” as he says,” to be crippled by almost every externally imposed and therefore, self-imposed limitation you could imagine.” Raised on the south side of Chicago, in poverty by a single mother with no education, deserted by a father who was likely an undiagnosed bi-polar schizophrenic, and tightly controlled by an extreme fundamentalist religion that allowed no personal freedom whatsoever, including getting a college education or playing sports, Aaron ultimately defied those expectations of failure. In fact, he succeeded spectacularly! With no college education, beginning in his low twenties, he became a hugely successful corporate enterprise software salesman, making millions of dollars for his employers and himself, climbing from company to company until he was honored with the prestigious “Best of IBM” award bestowed on only 1% of the company’s 400,000 employees. Along the way, he also earned an MBA (without an undergraduate degree!) We discuss Aaron’s life and sales approach in depth : His early life and challenges. The unlimited opportunities of the sales profession. Having the right mindset and looking inside yourself. Being the sovereign of your own life. Aaron’s sales philosophy which saw him generate massive success. Being the CEO of your territory. Prioritising opportunities systematically. Getting inside your prospect’s head and uncovering their pain. Focusing your efforts on the best and biggest opportunities. Doing deep research on fewer prospects. Crafting effective and concise messaging. Running the Discovery meeting. Analysing the audience. Identifying the Assassin in the room. Dealing with fear and the current lockdown challenges. Discover more about Aaron and his book Unbounded.

Tom Pisello, The ROI Guy, is a serial entrepreneur, popular speaker and author, focused on value marketing and selling. Tom's new book, Evolved Selling - Optimizing Sales Enablement in the Age of Frugalnomics (available on Amazon) is a follow on to The Frugalnomics Survival Guide - How to Use Your Unique Value to Market Better, Stand Out and Sell More (available on Amazon). Some Key Points of This Discussion Why Tom focuses on ROI. Why we need to build and quantify value. The power of Discovery assessments in building the business case for change. Walking into customer interactions with a hypothesis of their potential problems. Aspects of "The Challenger" sales and how to implement it effectively. The power of Socratic dialogue to help customers become more aware Closing for a Discovery meeting vs a Product Demo How slowing down early in the sales process actually speeds up the whole sales process How sellers must help customers to buy How there are still positive opportunities in this difficult market How Mediafly helps companies to guide customers, turbocharge presentations and produce business cases to be more effective. Why pain is a stronger motivator than gain. Check more about Tom’s company and latest book Evolved Selling and the Mediafly solution for presentations.

Karen Tisdell is ranked one of the top LinkedIn Trainers across Asia Pacific in 2018 and 2019. Karen began writing LinkedIn profiles in 2009, facilitating LinkedIn strategy sessions on how to reposition your career & attract the work you want. Karen has since worked with many businesses to empower employees to broaden brand footprint, attract & retain clients. Key Points of our Discussion Using LinkedIn to build touchpoints with our potential clients. Substituting face to face contact with digital interaction. LinkedIn as a demand generation tool. The right approach to nurturing prospects on LinkedIn. The explosion in LinkedIn activity since lockdown. Key LinkedIn functions for salespeople. Researching our prospects and relevant content. Using LinkedIn messages. Focusing on customer problems not our solutions. Presenting ourselves as industry experts not sales professionals. LinkedIn prospecting cadence. To learn more connect with Karen on LinkedIn

Jason Cutter, CEO of Cutter Consulting Group, is an author, podcaster and sees himself as a sales success architect for companies and individuals. Even though he didn’t have a sales upbringing or background (his bachelor’s degree is in Marine Biology), he knows what it takes to be successful in sales. His new book – Selling With Authentic Persuasion  - is focused on helping anyone in sales transform from Order Taker to Quota Breaker. In This Discussion: What authenticity means in the sales profession. Self-awareness and being human in sales. The keys to long term sales success. Jason’s journey into sales and his early experiences. The importance of our intention. People don’t buy drills, they buy holes! Uncovering underlying customer needs. The Sales Success Iceberg. Why even top performers need ongoing coaching and development. A high level overview of Jason’s new book Authentic Persuasion.   Jason’s Links: Main Hub/Link: www.jasoncutter.com CCG Website: https://www.cutterconsultinggroup.com/ Authentic Persuasion: https://authenticpersuasion.com/

Paul Ross is an author, speaker, Master Hypnotist and Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming.  He teaches already successful 6 and 7 figure professional salespeople and entrepreneurs how to easily add multiple 6 figures to their revenue through the power of subconscious selling. This is a really interesting episode that delves into the modern sales techniques top sellers are using, that can leave traditional sales methods well behind.    Key Points of our Discussion: Reframing what we sell away from products to decisions and good feelings. Why we should consider ourselves ‘decision service technicians’. How most sales presentations are boring and don’t engage customers. How to get audiences focused. How we can align ourselves with our customers vs being in an adversarial position. Techniques for destroying objections. Utilising pattern interrupts. Reframing cold calling to sharing opportunities. Reframing prospecting conversations. Qualifying leads effectively. Check more about Paul Ross and his book at the following links. To learn more about Paul Ross visit his website and find his book Subtle Words That Sell on Amazon.

David Masover is a global sales thought leader and sales process expert. He is also the author of several sales books. David is back on the Future Proof Selling podcast to discuss his four level sales process that has made a significant positive impact on the organisations he works with.   Some key points of our discussion: Getting field input into your sales process. Involving other key stakeholders. Process iteration and buy in. Implementing new sales technology. Sales coaching and reinforcement. Learn more about David and his company via his website, and/or connect on LinkedIn

Qwilr was co-founded in 2014 by designer Dylan Baskind and ex-Googler Mark Tanner, who were friends since high school. Dylan became frustrated when trying to win new business — he wanted to make sure he was putting his best foot forward but found it risky to put so much time into each proposal, meaning days of waste if he didn’t win business. Mark saw the coming future of productivity tools during his time at Google and together, they agreed to work on a new way to create, design and send proposals and business documents. Prior to starting Qwilr, Mark Tanner worked as a Business Development lead for Android & Google Play. Have you considered how important the presentation of a quote or proposal can be to a sale?  Key points of our discussion The challenges of traditional proposal generation methods How Qwilr has re-imagined proposals leveraging the cloud The importance of the “engagement” phase of the sales process Improving conversion rates with effective proposals and collaterals The challenges of reaching members of the buying committee Using interactive proposals to progress B2B deals Thoughts on effective remote selling How Mark manages his global sales team For more about Mark’s company visit Qwilr Contact Mark at mark@qwilr.com or connect with him on LinkedIn

Bill Wooditch’s journey started out as a long-haired, beer-drinking failure. Crippled by fear, he couldn't seem to sell water to a dying man in the desert. His biggest fear of all was selling himself short and not living up to his full potential.  By adjusting, adapting and mastering the art of authenticity, empathy, and relentless activity, he transformed fear from being his worst enemy, into his greatest secret weapon.  Bill became the top salesman at a Fortune 500 company in less than 2 years, a top producer for two consecutive years at the 6th largest insurance brokerage firm in the world, and then went on to create his own multi-million-dollar company. He’s also the author of “Always Forward” and “Fail More,” a Wall Street Journal bestseller.  We discuss : Bill’s personal story and how he turned his life around. The importance of momentum. How his success was driven by relentless focus on activity, execution and personal improvement. The importance of maintaining activity even when you have success. Being present and alleviating uncertainty with clients. Being proactive when working-from-home. Key methods from Bill’s two books. Having ‘Walk Away Power’. Find out more about Bill at www.billwooditch.com.