Sales Secrets

Customers are king and nowhere is that more apparent than in the casino and gaming industry. The retention and treatment of a customer can make or break a company. In this episode, managing partner Cory Morowitz talks about his experience consulting companies on the importance of the customer in the gaming industry.

Transparency is a buzzword but it’s still important. Great companies have figured out a way to be transparent but also be private. Transparency doesn’t mean telling everything but it does mean open and honestly. In this episode, David Karp talks about transparency and how great companies use this tool to be successful.

Account management has been around a long time but it’s changing every day. There are emerging trends that are forcing leaders of account management to change the way they do their job and it’s a good thing. In this episode, Suneal Rao talks about trends in account management and the secrets great companies are following to win with this important sales function.

Inside sales is growing at incredible rates and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. Many companies struggle to figure out how to change their typical outside sales motion to an inside sales motion. In this episode, Jeff Knowlton from Softchoice talks to us about how to effectively scale an inside sales team.

Change is hard. Nobody likes it but it is something that we all have to deal with every day in sales. In this episode, Sharlene Dozois from Cision talks about her experiences with change and how she’s managed teams through that change to be successful.

Why do sales reps always want to talk about themselves? It’s because they are comfortable with that. It’s hard to learn about the customer, their problems, and their industry but that’s exactly what great salespeople do. They spend more time on the customer then they do themselves. In this episode, Chief Business Development Officer Lori Langholz talks to us about her discoveries of moving from a question-based sales to an insight based sale.

We've all sold for a long time but many of us have not taken the time to step back and think about what are the principles that make us successful in our day-to-day selling. In this episode, Joe Haynie from JCI talks to us about three enduring sales principles that have shaped his career and help to make him a successful sales leader

Pre-call planning is one of most important tasks we overlook in sales. Many sales reps want to simply get on the phone and do their thing, but more and more reps are finding that shoot from the hip approach is not working. In this episode, we dive into how Jeff Boyle from Cision coaches his team to think about pre-call planning: - Research the contact & their company - Check your CRM system - Explore on LinkedIn (Contact & Company Page) - Competitor overview - Plan for the call

There are a lot of salespeople in the world but not every salesperson really wants it. To win at sales, you have to dive deep into yourself and really decided if you want to really get better at what you do or not. Don’t talk the talk if you’re not ready to walk the walk. In this episode, we talk about how some of the greatest salespeople in the world are successful.

Front-line managers are oft-forgotten and they shouldn't be. In this episode, Natalie Bering from Service now talks about how to support managers by coaching them, maximizing your 1:1 time with them, and focusing on their professional development.

September 11th was a terrible time for many people and the US as a whole. For many people, it was a day they will never forget as it changes their lives forever. In this special episode, we talk to inside sales executive Jim Donovan about his experience on 9/11 and how his life was transformed.

If you don't hire and retain you will wither and die in today's market. The problem most people don't know how to do this. In this episode, we discuss how to select candidates, on-boarding, and training.

We need to change the way we sell. We can't sell our products anymore. There are two many products but there are not enough solutions. Buyers have problems and they need solutions but not in the way you think you need them. We need to change the message in sales to get buyers to change vendors/product. Salespeople tend to focus on the gain by asserting to the customer that they will save $x money (but this isn’t the best way to create change or motive a buyer to take a risk, i.e. buy your product). Salespeople should shift focus to the loss, which motivates people to be more risk-seeking/risk-taking to improve their situation. So rather than claiming (A) “we can save you 10% (framed as a gain), you should claim (B) “you are spending 10% more than you should be (framed as a loss). In this episode, we talk about prospect theory and how it can help you move from product selling to solution selling.

Sales Operations is a known function for many organizations but it is often underutilized. In this episode, we discuss how sales operations can be most effectively utilized by using big data, understanding the customer lifetime value, and collaborating with other parts of the organization.

Sales Development is an important role in many companies but many teams still struggle to figure out how to coach and train reps to be successful. In this episode we discuss the importance of sales development and the top three skills needed to be successful. Conversation starter Lead Management Qualified lead/opp transfer to sales

Let me guess, your sales pipeline isn't moving as you'd like it? Nobodies is. The question is how do you get it unstuck? Most people think you need to run fancy reports and have hours of conversations and although those are important things the most important thing about talking to customers is often overlooked. In this episode, we dive into the importance of talking with customers when trying to understand why your pipeline is not moving.

Everybody knows relationships make or break the sale but how do you build relationships to be a successful salesperson. In this episode, Sr Managing Director at JLL, Steve Steinmeyer talks about the power of relationship selling and how you can start to build relationships to help you sell more.

In this episode, Gabe talks about using text messaging in your day to day sales activities to help you sell more.

There are multiple ways to communicate with prospects and potential buyers. As salespeople, we often get comfortable with the methods we know best which are phone and email. The problem with this is, if you're using those methods probably everybody else is as well. What can you do differently? What methods will help you stand out from your competition? In this episode, Thomas Parb from SMS Magic joins us to talk about texting and how you can best use it to optimize the sales cycle.

There are a lot of reasons why companies win and lose. Some of the reasons are simple and some are complex but either way, it's never easy to become a great company. In this episode, Gabe breaks down some of his experience consulting other companies and he gives his advice as to why some companies win and some companies lose.

Acquiring new leads, moving them down the funnel, and closing the deal; this is the life-blood of any company. However, the complicated nature of strategy and execution often makes it the most broken process of an organization. How do you optimize this process in order to get the most out of your sales funnel and strike a balance between innovation and consistency? In this episode, Gabe Larsen talks about the nuts and the bolts of getting your process right, top to bottom.

Account-based marketing is a buzz word but how do you actually do it and should you do it? In this episode, Gabe breaks down the term account-based marketing into a three simple step process to start doing this motion correctly.

Video in sales is all the rage but does it really work and should you use it? In this episode, Gabe Larsen talks about the secrets to using video and how, if done right, video can be a game-changing technology for you to use in your sales prospecting efforts.

I have nearly 1000 connection requests in my LinkedIn inbox (990). I'm not popular I'm just months behind because I promised myself I would do a personalized note for every response. I just looked at 990 requests and found that 142 of them had a note for a total of 14%. 14% of connection requests have a personalized note. . . hmmm interesting Should we or should we not personalize connection requests on LinkedIn? The answer should be yes. In this episode, I dive into why connection requests are personalized and why you should take the time to personalize every connection you make.

Everybody needs the formula to sell more and sell better. The problem is that is exactly what people lack.

Everyday people get confused with the term account-based and what it means for them. No matter what you call it, strategically prospecting to your target accounts is an important part of marketing and sales and if you do it right, you can sell more. In this episode, Gabe Larsen talks about account-based marketing and the three steps you should focus on to be successful with this hot trend.

Every sales person has conversations but not every sales person has mastered the art of the conversation. Most sales people don't even have the ability to listen to their own phone calls let alone analyze and break them down. That's now changing. With the introduction of conversational intelligence companies are now able to have systems record calls and analyze them for you. In this episode, Roy Raanani, CEO of Chorus.ai, talks about conversational intelligence and how companies are using phone calls to increase sales.

You might think the handoff between sales and sales development is working, right? I mean it might have a few problems but overall it's okay right? Wrong. It's totally broken and if it needs to be fixed ASAP. Sadly, there is no magic potion but there are a few things you can do to make it better. In today's episode, Gabe Larsen talks about the Discovery Score and how you can use it to make the discovery call better for your organization.

The art of mapping accounts is just that, an art. It's something that sales people have done for decades and it's not an easy task. In this episode, SVP of sales at Lucid, Dan Cook, talks to us about how companies are mapping accounts to improve their pursuit strategies and ultimately their sales.

Chat is a so hot right now it's crazy. The problem is most people are jumping on the bandwagon and buying chat problems but nobody knows what to do with them or how they are impacting the way we sell. In this episode, Billy Bateman from ChatFunnels talks to us about how chatbots are changing the way we sell and how you can success with them. How to deploy a bot and not lose your sales team. How to approach the continuous optimization of a chatbot. How to measure the success of a chatbot.

Most sales and marketing leaders struggle to understand what ABM is and how they can do it effectively in their organization. In this episode, Shari Johnston talks about her ABM experience and the secrets every leader needs to master in order to win with ABM

Every SDR team makes mistakes. Some make more than others. However, there are three mistakes almost every SDR team makes and they are killing the productivity and capability of SDR departments all over the world. In this episode, Becc Holland talks about these three mistakes and gives tips for companies to overcome them.

Everybody wants to hire better people but most people don't spend the time to really think through a strategy on how they can hire better. In the recent months, we've sat down and built our own hiring model on a shoe-string budget. In this episode, we dive into that strategy and some of the early results.

Everybody needs to hire great sales people but not everybody can. Sales hiring is not just about the art of sales it's also about the science of selling and great leaders understand they need a balance of both. In this episode, Brett Morris, CEO of PerceptionPredict discusses the how you can make your hiring process more objective to ensure you successfully hire super stars.

How can inside sales leaders be better, faster, and cheaper to help their companies transform and successfully go-to-market? What is the next generation of sales organization bringing to the table to facilitate the ever-changing landscape? In this episode, Philip Andersen, Partner & Managing Director at BCG, discusses how sales teams can build an integrated sales & marketing engine using inside sales techniques and processes.

If you’re in sales, it’s only a matter of time before someone tells you to “work harder” or “we need more activities (dials, emails, voicemails, social, mailers, etc).” But is this really the silver bullet to hitting your number in sales? Just work harder? If every sales reps works harder, will they crush their quota and hit their number? Or should sales work smarter by doing more research and having more insights on every lead they contact? Brandon Bornancin, Founder of Seamless.ai, and Gabe Larsen, VP of Growth at InsideSales.com, discuss whether sales should work harder or work smarter to improve their contact rates. Gabe and Brandon will go over tips, tricks, and techniques, on how sales can effectively prioritize their leads to improve their selling motion.

Commitments are hard in every part of life and sales is no different. Committing people in the right way can make or break a deal so taking this principle lightly is a bad idea. In this episode, Michael Tuso talks about why commitments are not working and how they can.

Every sales rep is looking to have more meaningful conversations. Whether it’s with a new lead they’re hoping to get in touch with, or with a potential buyer who has gone cold. There is a plethora of strategies on how to acquire more conversations. With terms such as: cadence, sequence, follow-up, and outreach being thrown around like a chopped salad, it’s difficult to know what methodologies actually deliver results. After reviewing 479,140 sales activities, we discovered the four laws that will increase your connect rates as well as conversations. Join Gabe Larsen, VP of Growth at InsideSales.com, as he discusses these four laws. Showing you how to build a cadence that delivers real results. Learn: The four laws to build a successful sales cadence Tips and tricks on building cadences for different sales situations What 1,456 different sales cadences tell us about conversation rates

What is AI and why is it important? Today there is a lot of talk about artificial intelligence but many people still struggle figure out how it can benefit their sales team. In this episode, we'll be addressing the mistrust in AI, how is AI being used in sales today, and what are real life examples of how it's benefitting us. Demystifying the AI Black Box

Not sure how to tell your story? Look no further than this podcast episode. In today's episode, Amiet Director of Business Development at Digital Brew talks about how to tell your story using proven principles and best practices with v

Sales technology continues to advance and leaders are looking for the next thing that will provide the growth for their organizations. Some sales technology will become commoditized in the future but the thing that will differentiate tools is data. Data provides a differentiator but not just any data. Collective intelligence is data fueled by all all users for the greater good of the group. This type of data will be key in sales and marketing to continue to fuel the data economy.

Sales Development is one of the biggest trends in sales and it is here to stay. To win at sales development you need to master five plays according to Dan Gottlieb from TOPO. Those plays are developing a repeatable and prescriptive live call framework, focus SDRs on multi-threading within target accounts, design SDR onboarding activities for their role, leverage sales engagement filters for time management, and try an offer that is 100% valuable to the prospect.

We all know how to build an inside sales team right? Well maybe but not when it comes to running an inside sales team in EMEA. Do the same rules apply as they do in the US? Can reps prospect just like they do in in the US? What about GDPR? How does it work between countries? These are all good questions and topics we covered with Christian in this podcast about unique aspects of inside sales in EMEA.

Sales activity consistently spikes at the end of the month, but what managers don’t know is that this is costing them money. While sales reps stuff any opportunity, no matter how bad in the pipeline at the end of the month, win rates drop over 51% (from InsideSales.com research). But how do you manage pipeline hygiene and wean sales reps off of bad behaviors like opportunity stuffing or sandbagging? Enter Artificial intelligence (AI) for forecasting and pipeline management tools. AI can quickly scan and analyze billions of data points on CRM transactions and their outcomes, as well as external data to come up with predictions that are 30% more accurate than regular pipeline reviews. This makes it much easier to produce realistic revenue projections that are based on hard data, and seamlessly navigate weekly pipeline review calls.

Don't pay your sales reps commission? You've got to be crazy! Well that's exactly what Mitch Little has been teaching and practicing for years and the funny thing is, he's seeing some pretty powerful results. Mitch has taken a non-traditional approach to sales by not paying his reps commissions but rather paying them a high base salary and letting the numbers take care of the rest. Although, somewhat controversial Mitch explains his ideas on the podcast and makes a case for everyone else to consider.

When it comes to sales, most sales people think if they don't drop their price they won' win the deal. In this episode, we talk about sales differentiation and the 19 easy-to-implement concepts to help salespeople win deals while protecting margin.

AI is here in full force and a lot of companies are talking about it but is it real and what can it do to help sales people sell more? In this episode, we talk about how AI is disrupting sales, how sales is being automated, and why sales people should care. How AI is disrupting sales – the age of implementation of new technologies Sales is being automated, but not as much as we think – the human element of AI Data, analytics, correlations: The importance of CRM systems and sales data hygiene What is a Data Scientist anyway? Why modern sales organizations need a Data Strategy person

Not every sales leader has the luxury of picking who he or she get's to work with and that can make things really difficult. If you inherit a sales team what should you do and how can you best perform? In this episode, we dive into how great leaders manage to be successful when they inherit a sales team that may or may not be the best.

Sales is not going anywhere but it is changing. What does the future of sales look like and how can you get ahead of it? In this episode, we talk about the next generation of sales people and how they can be successful.

Experiments are a must in sales. You can't guess and expect to be right all the time. In sales testing is the new normal and great sales reps and managers find a way to successfully test everything they are doing to find optimal ways to be successful. In this episode, we dive into the concept of experimenting and talk about how great reps find a way to test their way to success. https://blog.insidesales.com/sales-productivity/sales-experiments-importance/

Salesforce has become a special company and every once and awhile they will open the doors and let us understand their secrets of success. In this episode, we dive into how to build a sales development team the Salesforce way.