Sales Is King

In How To Become A Rainmaker, by Jeffrey J. Fox, the author talks about the need to sell money rather than products or services. You are not selling medical devices, stocks, software, technology, services, etc. If you are doing it right, you are selling MONEY. What Fox is saying is to sell value instead of widgets. Dan, in this new episode, uses this as the launching point for this eye opening episode where he details the steps Sales Reps need to take to effectively sell value. Dan walks us through a new report by the RAIN group which states that nearly 60% of buyers find meetings with sales people useless. There are 5 key areas to where sales reps and sales leaders need to focus and improve to adequately grow in 2019: 1. Sell With Value 2. Train and Coach 3. Grow Existing Accounts 4. Improve Sales Management Effectiveness 5. Improve Time Management(e.g spend more time selling, man!) Turn on your CarPlay and listen now! 🚗

Like-ability, which used to be at the top of the list of sales rep requirements in the pre digital era is now turning into one of the biggest weaknesses for sales reps today. A new study by the Objective Management Group confirms this. Those reps that find themselves needing to be liked by the prospect or customer and that work in a producer role in a consultative, longer selling cycle role are outperformed by a wide margin by their counterparts who do not care about being liked. Tune in as Dan takes us through each of the categories and the score comparisons, the consequences for reps, and what we reps need to do to avoid this common downfall and turn things around.

A buyer calls up and says he has thoroughly researched all of the solutions available and believes you and your company may be just what he is looking for. He just needs a demo and a quote and he'll be good to go. Good news? Not really. Only 26% of deals are won in this scenario. In this episode, Dan reveals that some buyers may think they know what they need but the sales rep's job is to take a step back and diagnose the situation much like a medical doctor would with a patient that comes in asking for a particular drug. One of the most difficult sales moves is to pull(gently) the buyer potentially out of his 'journey' and into your sales process. There is a multi point approach that is required when a sales exec encounters this type of buyer: 1. Find out where the buyer is in the process 2. Uncover his motivations and reasons for believing you can help him 3. Shift/pivot into Discovery/Assess mode uncovering motivations/issues 4. Validate that you can in fact help 5. Use phrases like, 'help me understand..." and "have you considered...?" 6. Value/Gap Sell based on your Discovery

Dan returns from a short break with a high impact episode designed to give the power back to salespeople. With so much conversation around the power of the Buyer and the challenges facing Sales, it is easy to cede control of leverage in our sales process. Dan outlines a multi step approach for taking control and grabbing back the leverage from the buyers including: -highlight what the problem costs them today. what happens if this remains an issue? -turn the tables on risk -deliver info they did not previously know -sell value -differentiate -sales is an exchange-they benefit(mindset) -mine your current and happy customers -other income streams -principle of least interest -antenna always up -make sure this is a deal/client you want Grab your victrola and listen 🤴

Making excuses is the fastest way to derail your sales career. Making excuses is essentially giving yourself a pass for poor performance. Dan returns to the studio to detail the dangers of what he calls "excuse selling" which focuses on all of the reasons why you can't close more business; why you missed quota; your bad marketing department, etc. Dan delivers a passionate plea to drop your excuse selling and delivers a multi point plan to do just this: 1. get your head right 2. know there will be obstacles 3. create your plan to overcome obstacles 4. become self aware 5. own the losses as well as the wins 6. learn from both the wins and losses 7. take 100% responsibility Get you headphones on now and listen 🎧

Less than 2 out of 10 of us ever get invited back to a prospect for a second meeting. That means we are fumbling the first meeting. Our first chance is going to be our last chance if we don't get the first meeting right. Dan delivers a first meeting blueprint which will ensure that we dramatically improve our chances of a prospect moving through the buying process with us and ultimately doing business with us. The following key steps are required for success in the first meeting: - RESEARCH/HOMEWORK - YOUR SOCIAL PROFILE - SME - AGENDA - EARN RIGHT TO ASK QUESTIONS/CREDIBILITY - CONVERSATION OR MONOLOGUE - UNEXPECTED VALUE - INSIGHTS - UNCOVER A NEED - MINIMIZE RISK OF MOVING FORWARD - STATUS QUO BUSTER - BUYING PROCESS - RAPPORT The bottom line is that having success in a first prospect meeting requires a ton of upfront work and then executing against a well orchestrated game plan. Grab your 🎧 now!

It's not sexy, but patience is rising to the top of the key traits of the successful modern seller. Dan returns with another high impact studio episode which highlights the changing buyer requirements and increased complexity of the selling process which are pushing sellers to evolve and adjust their approach. There are no short cuts or quick fixes in the modern sellers toolbox and patience with the process, looking at the bigger picture and playing the long game are major keys to success in this Next Wave of Digital Commerce.

Really? We all remember Glengarry Glen Ross when Alec Baldwin rips his sales team for being weak, and how they should follow the ABC's of selling, specifically Always Be Closing. Fast forward to 2018. Should we be heeding this advice? Dan jumps headlong into the debate on what Sales needs to be focusing on to be most successful. What does closing actually mean in the modern buying process? Some believe we need to modify this phrase to Always Be Helping. I think Alec Baldwin and your sales manager would laugh you out of the room if you posed that back in the early 90's. Today it is certainly more appropriate but Dan creates his own definition of what we should always be doing in Sales today. Warning: Don't listen just before bed 🎧😉

Flash forward to December 31, 2018. You are at a New Year's Eve party with your spouse and closest friends. How will you feel about your 2018 sales performance? Think about it. In this bare knuckled episode, Dan delivers the blueprint for success during the remaining months of 2018. We all have time to add on to our current success so far this year and turn around our disappointments. Successful competitive runners typically call on a 'kick' to get them to dig deep and finish strong even when their bodies are tired. Similarly, in Sales, with 4 months to go, now is not the time to ease up. You are almost home, but much work needs to be done. Follow Dan's guidelines and make sure that New Year's Eve 2018 is a great night 👊 Get those headphones on! 🎧

A new Fast Company Article, http://ow.ly/aleN101e2iw contends that Sales is rapidly becoming a STEM(science, technology, engineering, mathematics) job. Dan takes us through the highlights of that article and then asks the question, which is more important, EQ or IQ? Or is it both? What do the brains of the top Sellers look like today. Dan walks us through his formula for what he calls "breakthrough selling", a place where the most sophisticated sellers live. Click play now for another comfort zone ruining episode. Don't miss it. 🎧