The Sales Playbook Podcast

Building Your Network BEFORE You Need It

There are 3 areas of frustration that people convey to me with regard to their social network. 1) People seem a bit hesitant to want to chat with them in real time. Real time being a phone call, meeting for a cup of coffee etc. 2) People in their network are either hesitant or just plain non responsive to requests for introductions to other people within their network. 3) Their connections aren't transitioning into clients. While there are many reasons why this could be happening, one of the biggest reasons is that we haven't established enough trust and quite frankly . . . We might be approaching our network like in a "Hello, I don't know you, but would you marry me?" fashion when we should have been thinking . . . "COURTSHIP"! Today, I have lots of tips for you on how you can create a solid foundation so that you can eventually transition with a higher degree of success. Now I'm not going to give them all away here, because then you'd skip my podcast and then I blew off a Saturday night of television for nothing. So you'll just have to have a listen to find out the rest. :)

Your 90 Day Death Cycle!

Pardon the grim topic on this fine Friday afternoon but its something we all have to be conscious of. Now if you'll just scroll down to the handy dandy audio player, you can enjoy this 2 minute sales tip!

How To Avoid Being The Pigeonholed Vendor

Imagine, if you will, a client of yours that only buys one particular product or service from you while going to your competitors for the rest. Meanwhile, you offer those othere products and services. Congratulations, you have been "Pigeonholed" dude and in all reality, you probably didn't have to imagine because it happens every day! In this week's podcast, I offer 10 tips on how you can position yourself as the vendor of choice for mucho additional offerings. One thought before we dive head first into these tips is to begin every client relationship with a good, solid "keep in touch" plan. And yes, I know you've heard that before, but unfortunately most of us "seat of your pants" it and then play the lame card of calling to "check in".

The Why, What & When Of A Good Sales Mix

I come across way too many sales professionals who only cling to one or perhaps two different ways of approaching prospects. In today’s podcast we’re gonna “go there”! We’ll start with how I define an effective sales mix and 4 solid reasons why you should consider it. Next I offer several suggestions on how you can move beyond the phone as a stand alone new account acquisition strategy! Just for the heck of it, we explore some additional activities that most sales people dismiss as “marketing activities”. Note: I mention a cool book in the podcast that has helped me tremendously. It’s called Content Rules and you can check it out here Now all of these ideas are useless unless we tie a bow on that bad boy by exploring . . . When! I can tell you that it can be very challenging for us to juggle all the things we have going on in our world. I offer 3 scheduling strategies for you to navigate your world, on your terms 1) Money Hours Schedule: Here’s a free PDF with a sample money hours schedule I reference in the podcast. 2) The Moonlighting Strategy: Here’s a podcast where I explain this concept in full detail. Please circle back to this once you go through today’s podcast. Dealio? 3) The 1-7-30-4-2-1 Plan: A cool way to be more strategic with your activity Any who, I’d tell you more, but then you’d leave me all alone in my podcast and quite frankly it gets lonely in there!

How To Love Your Customers!

With Valentine’s Day just about here I thought it might be a good idea to talk about how to love your customer! I have several tips for you in this weeks podcast. First, we start off by acknowledging a few of the ways relationships (yes, even in your personal life) break down Next, we explore 7 ways to jumpstart your client relationships 1) The Power Of Surprises: Yep, I covered this one before and it won’t be the last time because surprises rock! I give several examples of how some firms I deal with have surprised me. I also share a few ways you can surprise your clients. Note: This is something that should also be discussed in your next team sales meeting by posing the question “In what ways can we continue to surprise our clients” 2) Find A Way To “Wow” Your Clients When You Drop The Ball: Mistakes happen, how will you turn things around? I offer a few examples to help get you thinking! 3) Understand That Sometimes People Don’t Tell You When They Are Upset: Its important you recognize the signs. Its also important that you understand that sometimes people vent about these things on Twitter, Facebook, their blog etc. Are you listening? 4) Make Your Client Look Like A Rock Star! I talk about the importance of continually offering ideas and resources. I also talk about a concept I call “resource positioning” and why I do this in every meeting! I mention a concept called “The Sales Listening Station” After you listen to the podcast, please circle back and click here for details on how you can set up your very own Sales Listening Station. And just because I’m human, I feel a need to point out that during this part of the podcast I mention that “There is no shortage of good ideas” I meant to say “There’s no monopoly on good ideas” What the hell was I thinking? 5) Be A Breath Of Fresh Air: This is your cue to inject your personality into your work. Just like when we were “dating” we need to keep things fun, exiting. 6) Make Sure You Have Great Communication: I talk about the power of questioning and how that improves your communication. A common needs analysis mistake. I reference the Mackay 66. Feel free to circle back and click here. 7) Understand The Courtship Never Ends I have some great content lined up for you if you will scroll down and have a listen. Now if you are not in the mood to further your growth this weekend, no worries. My suggestion would be to download this podcast on I-Tunes and allow me to be your educational companion during your drive time this week!

Are You Blessed Or Hanging In There?

How To Handle Q&A Effectively!

Like it or not, more and more decisions are being made by committee these days. And while you and I don’t have to be the next “Tony Robbins” when we get up in front of them, we had better know how to facilitate Q&A for maximum effectiveness. In this week’s podcast, we’ll address the following: 1) How to transition from presentation to Q&A 2) How to avoid the “crickets” when no one has a freakin question. Ever been there dude? 3) How to avoid a common mistake during Q&A. 4) How to buy a few extra seconds to enhance the quality of your response. 5) How to take a question and bring it to the next level. 6) How to wrap up your Q&A. These tips will prove valuable for small groups, large groups, webinars, lunch and learns, conference calls etc. Feel free to adjust them to fit your style, personality and even better, to the dynamic of the group you present to.

How To Strengthen Your Social Network

In this week's podcast we talk about 6 ways for you to strengthen your social network. 1) Embrace a Relationship Nurturing Mindset. Why you should consider an attitude of giving, unconditionally and without a scorecard. A suggest an awesome book on the subject too! 2) Begin Your Relationships With Impact: If you and I are connection #2000, how do we begin the process of standing out? How to create a dialog from the word "Go" 3) Become Visible and Give Relentlessly: If everyone has a story and wants to be heard, how can we leverage that? How to look for and leverage "Social Cues", that is things that can serve as a conversation starter. 3 kick ass ways for you to become a valuable matchmaker. 4) Expand & Cross Pollinate: The importance of connecting on multiple platforms. I offer two nifty ways for you to create new places for you to interact with your network. 5) Transition Virtual to Real Time: Relationships are so much more valuable when we move them off our computer screens. I offer several suggestions on how to this. 6) Continue to Nurture . . . with the understanding that things change and just because things don't transition today, doesn't mean they won't tomorrow. I offer a valuable Plan B. I have some great content lined up for you if you will scroll down and have a listen. Now if you are not in the mood to further your growth this weekend, no worries. My suggestion would be to download this podcast on I-Tunes and allow me to be your educational companion during your drive time this week!

The Personal Branding Checkup!

So how ya doing in the personal branding department? What are you doing to build this incredible brand called "You"? You see, when it comes to personal branding, most will agree its an important topic but the million dollar question quickly becomes "How does one create a compelling personal brand?" In this week's podcast, we are going to explore 5 areas for you to own in your personal branding journey. Note: You will want to stop this podcast from time to time and ponder some of the questions I present and you will definitely want to write down your answers and my suggestions in your journal. 1) How to create clarity with regard to your "main thing" 2) If people truly buy difference, how do you articulate yours? 3) Understand that the landscape of b2b and b2c has evolved to b2b2b and b2c2c in other words . . . consumers and businesses now want to talk with each other. I offer a 3 part question to help you own the concept that your brand must be able to sustain the inevitable talking behind your back, 4) Understanding the 6 Judgments that your personal brand must be able to survive. 5) The concept of an ongoing "courtship" with your audience. I have some great content lined up for you if you will scroll down and have a listen. Now if you are not in the mood to further your growth this weekend, no worries. My suggestion would be to download this podcast on I-Tunes and allow me to be your educational companion during your drive time this week!

Have You Learned Your Lesson

There are times in business where we set out to hit a certain target and we nail it. Other times we even go beyond the original goal and still other times where we miss the target completely. Our biggest take away from all of these experiences needs to be the "lesson"!