Expert Tips & Actionable Insights

The pressure on Olympic athletes is staggering. One false start can send a sprinter or hurdler home. That’s all it takes to destroy more than four years of labor and dedication — and yet, these incredible athletes come back after another four years of hard work.

Prospecting is the lifeblood of any sales career, but too often other activities eat into plans to introduce ourselves and establish credibility with targeted decision-makers. We talk a lot about creating value-based conversations, but to get to those talks, you must devote the time needed to nurture prospects in different stages of engagement. Here’s where a sales cadence comes into play.

Let’s go old school with a quote from the Greek philosopher, Socrates: “Life is full of questions. Idiots are full of answers.” More than 2000 years later, his standard of reasoning holds true especially when it comes to meeting with a prospective buyer. We want to avoid coming across like an idiot by having all the answers. Instead, it’s the buyer’s perspective that we need to discover.

“The largest misconception about communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” George Bernard Shaw In a recent ValueSelling Associates/Training Industry survey, two-thirds of executives said sales reps calling on them are not effective communicators. That is an unacceptable grade attributed to a group of professionals whose primary job is to communicate and connect with buyers.

Remember the old adage of the elevator sales rep? The long and short of it is this: An elevator company hires a salesperson. He immediately identifies all of the new construction in his territory and goes after everything, relentlessly — only no opportunities move forward.

“More than 50% of US college graduates, regardless of their majors, are likely to work in sales at some point,” according to an article in the Harvard Business Review. Yet, how prepared are they to effectively communicate with executives? What will separate the outstanding salespeople from those who struggle and bumble along?

There are numerous reasons some sales professionals better predict the future than others. They stay up on current events and trends to quickly recognize hot or cooling markets. They accurately analyze data to project industry trends and competitor positioning. And, they regularly engage with decision-makers to discover business pain points and their remedies.

As we enter a new year, it’s a time to reflect on the past and set goals for the future. This year especially, most of us are ready to turn the page and focus on what’s ahead. Here’s our advice to get you motivated, invigorated, and ready to start the new year!

Are you finalizing plans for your company’s sales kickoff meeting? While your vision is likely to include inspiration, learning, recognition, and team building, often sales kickoff events don’t live up to expectations. To top it off, Gartner research finds that B2B sales reps forget 70% of the information they learn within a week of training, and 87% will forget it within a month.

When it comes to business acumen, how well does yours measure up to a busy executive’s expectations? Do you have a firm grasp on their industry? Their specific business issues? Such deep understanding requires deep learning, and that requires deep research—and dedication to continuously build a knowledge base.

Setting yourself apart from your competitors should be one of the first things you do regardless of what you are selling. People always want to know how you’re different, especially if you charge a higher price point.

Too many sales executives get caught up in their Linkedin numbers, the followers, the contacts, the likes – but a network, like everything in sales, should be measured on its ability to produce results. To get the best results, to even perhaps get past the limits of the human brain and the Dunbar Number, there are three things a sales executive must be deliberate and consistent about with their Linkedin Network.

I was told by a friend recently it’s been scientifically proven that our concept of time speeds up as we age. I wonder if that is why it seems there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done including making sure I continually expand my mind.

Predicting the future is never easy, given conditions can shift and new disruptions emerge a moment’s notice. There are, however, some trends in sales that we expect to continue or gain momentum, including strong adoption of automated, artificial intelligence-based sales tools, the need for solid sales coaching, and a return to business communications basics.

As you well know, 2020 had a tremendous impact on sales leaders, salespeople, and learning and development professionals. The rapid shift to virtual selling and the collapsing delta between B2B and B2C buying behaviors fundamentally changed how most of us interact with customers and prospects — and the results weren’t always pretty.

GUEST: Geoff Atkinson, Founder and CEO of Huckabuy

GUESTS: Ken Grohe, President & Chief Revenue Officer at WekaIO

GUEST: Udi Ledergor, CMO of Gong.io

GUEST: Adam Springer, Founder at StartupSales

GUEST: Justin Hartanov, Chief Commercial Officer of Syndigo

GUEST: Josh Fonger, CEO of WTS Enterprises

GUEST: Gerald Zankl, CEO and Co-Founder of Kickscale

GUEST: David (Ledge) Ledgerwood, Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Add1Zero

GUEST: Darin Dawson, Co-Founder and President of BombBomb

GUEST: Jonathan DeYoe, Founder and CEO of Mindful Money and President of DeYoe Wealth Management

GUEST: Darin Dawson, Co-Founder and President of BombBomb

GUEST: Mike Pastore, Director of Custom Content at Technology Advice and Host of the B2B Nation Podcast

GUEST: Dr. Terry Wu, Owner of Neuromarketing Services

GUEST: Jessica Rhodes, Founder & Co-Owner at Interview Connections

GUEST: Carla Intal, Insights Analyst at LinkedIn

GUEST: Jeff Coyle, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at MarketMuse

GUEST: Mark Ebert, SVP at 6sense

GUEST: Nick Casale, Director of Sales at Sendoso

GUEST: Ameer Jumabhoy, Co-Founder and VP of Consumer Technology at UTU

GUESTS: Pablo Dominguez, Operating Partner of Sales and Customer Success at Insight Partners Matthew May, Senior Advisor at Insight Partners

GUEST: Stephen Denny, Managing Director at Denny Leinberger Strategy

GUEST: Mickie Kennedy, Founder & CEO of eReleases

GUEST: Kyle Duford, Executive Creative Director of The Brand Leader

GUEST: Todd Caponi, speaker, trainer, podcaster, coach, and author of The Transparent Sales Leader

GUEST: Seth Marrs, Research Director at Forrester

GUEST: Chester Santos, U.S. Memory Champion & Author of Mastering Memory

GUEST: Rene Zamora, President at Sales Manager Now

GUEST: Cherilynn Castleman, Managing Partner at CGI Executive Coaching and author of “What’s in the CARDS?”

GUEST: Robbie Traube, Chief Revenue Officer at Zuora

GUEST: Vanessa Judelman, Author, Leadership Coach and President of Mosaic People Development

GUEST: Julius Solaris, VP of Marketing Strategy, Events at Hopin

GUEST: Dr. Jim Karrh, Consultant and Professional Speaker at Karrh & Associates and Author of The Science of Customer Connections

GUEST: Carlos Nouche, Natalie Pitchford and Lisa Schnare, ValueSelling Associates

GUEST: Carlos Nouche, Natalie Pitchford and Lisa Schnare, ValueSelling Associates

GUEST: Michael Hubbard, Senior Vice President of Customer Success, Services and Support at Smartsheet

GUESTS: JP Clement at boomtime Word of Mouth Marketing

GUEST: Angeley Mullins, CMO & CGO at Latana Brand Tracking

GUEST: Todd Abbott EVP Corporate Development at Mediafly

GUEST: Mike Maynard, Owner of Napier Partnership Limited

GUEST: Erik Newton, VP of Marketing at Milestone

GUEST: Robbie Kellman Baxter, Strategy Consultant at Peninsula Strategies

GUEST: Sheila Kloefkorn, President and CEO of KEO Marketing

GUEST: Lisa McLeod, best-selling author of Selling with Noble Purpose and Founder of McLeod & More

GUEST: Chelsea Martin, Co-Owner of Noms Bake Shop

GUEST: Dr. Saksham Sharda, CIO and Creative Director at Outgrow.co

GUEST: Sebastien van Heyningen, President of Central Metric

GUESTS: Chris Smith, Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), and Matt Richards, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Aqua Security

GUEST: Kristina Jaramillo, President at Personal ABM

GUESTS: Lisa Schnare, ValueSelling Managing Partner and Carlos Nouche, ValueSelling Associate and Visualize Vice President

GUEST: Allison Metcalfe, CRO at Demandbase

GUEST: Jill Rowley, GTM Advisor and Limited Partner at Stage 2 Capital

GUEST: Darrell Amy, Author of the Best-Selling Book, Revenue Growth Engine: How to Align Sales and Marketing to Accelerate Growth

GUESTS: Mark Donnigan at d-launch

GUEST: Evan Knox, CMO at Caffeine Marketing

GUEST: Patrick Baynes, CEO of Nerdwise

GUEST: Roderick Jefferson, Vice President of Field Enablement, NETSKOPE

GUEST: Tony Guarnaccia, Founder and Owner at Results Trained

GUEST: Asa Hochhauser, VP of Sales for McGaw.io

GUEST: Ana Raynes, CEO at Simplified Impact

GUEST: Sarah Hicks, SDR Manager at Predictable Revenue

GUEST: James Scherer, VP of Growth at Codeless

GUEST: Iqbal Jumabhoy, Founder/CEO at BlackBook Technologies

GUEST: Chris Dickey, Founder and CEO at Visably

GUEST: Dan Morris, Managing Partner of Mindracer Consulting

GUEST: Heenle Turner, Vice President of Content and Consulting at The ALL IN Company

GUEST: Moeed Amin, Director and Founder of Proverbial Door

GUEST: Nick Amabile, CEO at DAS42

GUEST: Jason Reichl, CEO of Go Nimbly

GUEST: Tim Parkin, President at Parkin Consulting

GUEST: Mary Shea, Global Innovation Evangelist at Outreach

GUEST: Margot Bloomstein, author of Trustworthy and Brand & Strategy Consultant at Appropriate, Inc