222.8K
Downloads
567
Episodes
Business Insights & Strategies From Experts: Unveiling Simple Truths Behind Success.
I’m always grateful for Reviews and remember to Subscribe
Episodes
Tuesday Mar 15, 2022
Tuesday Mar 15, 2022
Ian Meharg delivers impact by focusing on what is real and controllable. He challenges you to focus on the how you get things done. We dig into how buyers really buy, why buyers really buy, and why you're missing more than hitting your prospective customers' buying triggers. Are you exploring what happens if …
It does/doesn’t go ahead?
Who…?
Can trip you up?
Has another agenda?
What kind of drama can you expect? How do you prevent it?
Who can help you? Who will fan the flames?
Who cares enough to put name to it and will make it happen?
Where can you uncover untapped potential for your customers?
So many excellent questions, make sure you bring a notepad and a pen. Listen more than once. A class act.
Contact Ian via LinkedIn on linkedin.com/in/ian-meharg-5574631
--
Drop me a note. Say hi. If you want to improve your sales results predictably and with certainty, email marcus@laughs-last.com
Thursday Mar 10, 2022
Thursday Mar 10, 2022
John Smibert, co-author of bestselling #TheWentworthProspect, silver medal winner at the #TopSalesAwards 2021, #TSA21, and more than 30 year veteran selling complex, high value, multi-decision maker, strategically important technology enterprise sales. He's seen and perpetrated the good, the bad and the ugly. We chart his journey, the impact having a coach and mentor early in his career has had on his personal performance and his approach to management.
We offer insights into the causes of failure in enterprise selling and how to prevent them, work around them and eventually turn them into strengths. A frank, pragmatic approach to leading and building competent, reliable, consistent high performance enterprise sales teams.
If you want a synopsis of The Wentworth Prospect by John Smibert, Wayne Moloney and Jeff Clulow, type "Synopsis" in the comments
Contact John via linkedin.com/in/smibert
Websites:
-
salesleaderforums.com (Company Website)
-
edvance.com/the-book (B2B Sales Novel)
Twitter: johnsmibert
--
Get in touch if you want to be my guest on #TheInquisitorPodcast via marcus@laughs-last.com
Curious to understand how being part of the right ecosystems can help accelerate complex, high ticket, multi-stakeholder enterprise sales and increase the certainty of winning by more than 10x email me with "BP/Smibert" in the subject line
Wednesday Mar 09, 2022
Wednesday Mar 09, 2022
Nadja Komnenic head up sales for bootstrapped scale up, LEMlist. She is an elite sales leader who has helped LEMlist grow from $0 to $10m in ARR in 4 years. We discuss her approach to hiring, developing and listening to her people.
She is competitive, driven, ambitious and truly collaborative. She discusses the importance of demonstrating vulnerability as a manager to encourage individuals in her team to have a voice, and reach their full potential. In a time when 15% of salespeople are reported to be hitting quota, Nadja's team are ALL achieving or exceeding quota consistently. Her people innovate once they have some basic skills. Her onboarding and training is practical, their process is developed through guided questioning, experimentation, intentionally allowing people to fail and learn. She ensures they have permission to speak freely, innovate, experiment because she recognises failure as her best teacher. She lets them fail in role in the moment, and is there to support them if they ask for help. She's ready to step in if the business is at risk of failing, and then when they have enough to work out their own solution, she steps back and hands them the pen.
She also breaks down taboos and walls. It's got her into trouble in the past but is serving her well in her current role. And what is exciting to see is Nadja is a shining example of just how far, how fast and how much can be accomplished by one person with the correct support, challenge and investment by leadership, in talent. Nadja beat the odds given her likely career path growing up when she did in Serbia. Yet in 6 years has made a speedy rise into management and sales leadership.
A rare quality is how she is passing on her depth of understanding of why people behave the way they do to her team. Her coaching on the job, in the moment, at the point of need is a quality you see in only around 2-6% of managers
This interview is a beacon of hope for the future. Nadja represents the best of the future of sales leadership and management. If you are new to management or aspire to rise to such a position, you would do well to listen to his episode. If you are an old school command and control style manager, listen to the difference in how Nadja manages, and the environment in which she and her team work.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES: Nadja is growing her team so, if you want to work for a great boss in a fast growing company where you can develop your career and never be pressured to hard sell or pressurise a prospect so your investors can make a worthless valuation target, drop her a line. Remember, she gets strangers to engage every day, so be creative, memorable and relevant in your approach to her.
Contact Nadja via linkedin.com/in/nadjakomnenic
--
I am looking for more interesting guests. Could you be one? Do you have someone you're itching for me to interview? Let me know and send me details at marcus@laughs-last.com
Thursday Mar 03, 2022
Thursday Mar 03, 2022
Shelley O'Donovan gives a deep dive on building the soft skills that give leaders resilience and their team confidence. She shares several leadership triage approaches. We dig into psychology, values, and beliefs. As always, Shelley is great value for your time.
Contact Shelley via linkedin.com/in/shellyodonovan
Website: authenticinfluencegroup.com (Company Website)
Twitter: ShellyOdonovan
--
Contact me via DM or marcus@laughs-last.com
Saturday Feb 26, 2022
Saturday Feb 26, 2022
"Buying is difficult. It's a salesperson's job to help their buyers navigate complexity," Kevin Dixon spent 20 years at Ericsson and achieved the status of top salesman so many times he got to keep the trophy. One year he hit 1012% of his profit target and was the highest paid person in Ericsson, worldwide.
Founder and CEO of Boxxstep, he's a grizzled old sales veteran with an axe to grind against the insanity of current sales, sales management and sales leadership thinking. We got on like a house on fire!
Kevin says, "Discovery is contrived and biased to get the answers you want". Instead, he advocates in depth buyer discovery, tracking:
- Who else is involved?
- What do they care about?
- What are the dynamics between them?
- How are you tracking the prospect’s business problems?
- How are you tracking needs and criteria?
This stuff is obvious, but too often overlooked, ignored or rushed. Failure in these areas means you don't show up when you need to be, you aren't informed, so you don't bring value. 3 big no-no's that will cut your close rates by as much as 87% are:
- Lack of coverage
- Lack of engagement
- Don’t learn from every engagement
Contact Kevin via linkedin.com/in/kevindixonuk
Website: boxxstep.com (Company Website)
Twitter: boxxstep
--
Drop me a line on marcus@laughs-last.com if you are committed to delivering #businesscertainty #buyersafety #salesnobility, you might want to explore joining our #strategicalliance.
Tuesday Feb 22, 2022
Tuesday Feb 22, 2022
Wayne Moloney is the co-author of #TheWentworthProspect, a business novel tracking the seller's journey through her largest opportunity. Her mentor dies and is replaced by a terrible manager. Luckily her mentor left her a playbook on how to do it well.
Wayne and I unpack what's wrong with enterprise selling and what works in the real world. Bristling with usable content including the EDVANCE system.
Contact Wayne via linkedin.com/in/waynemoloney
Websites:
-
edvance.sale/ (The Wentworth Prospect)
-
waynemoloney.com (Company Website)
--
Contact me on marcus@laughs-last.com
Tuesday Feb 15, 2022
Tuesday Feb 15, 2022
Andy Champion is a breath of fresh air in tech sales leadership. Have a listen to understand why. He's not alone. I have been fortunate enough to meet several through #TheInquisitorPodcast. Andy, and leaders like Tom Schodorf, Tom Castley, Gerry Hill, Andy Shaw, Mark Herbert, all carry an air of calm. They exude an air of steady,, reasoned intelligence. You know that their decisions won't be rash or rushed. Neither do they dither. And they are always fair. They love their people. And their people love them because they feel safe and that their backs are covered.
In this episode, Andy explores some common sales leadership blindspots that are creating obscene amounts of unnecessary work, duplication of effort and wasted spend. We focus your attention on the right end of 3 very serious, widespread and persistent problems that you are probably familiar with.
We dig deep into the impacts of underinvestment in management, short term thinking in leadership and investors, lack of focus on moving performance of the mediocre middle, why failing to identify your mobiliser is probably losing you deals. We dive into how quota over-assignment is fuelling #TheGreatResignation. According to a study by TalentLMS, as many at 72 % of employees in the Tech sector will be looking to change roles in 2022 and many looking to leave corporate life and even leave the industry.
We are in for a tumultuous few years ahead. How are we preparing our managers for what's to come?
So much to consider in this episode. Bring a pen and paper and listen a couple of times. Please @tag a friend who would benefit from this.
***************************************************************
Join us at Sales A Force For Good #SAFFG -
Identify YOUR Blindspots
Which widely help beliefs do we as salespeople and management hold that aren't true, and do us harm?
1700-1800 UK - 24th February. Learn more here - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12530021/
***************************************************************
Andy is growing his team so if you are looking for a kick start to your career in a great company with a fantastic team and leadership that actually has your back, drop Andy a line over Linkedin on linkedin.com/in/andychampion
Website: highspot.com (Company Website)
Twitter: andrewchampion
--
Contact me at marcus@laughs-last.com.
Check out my articles on Medium (here's an understated example that fits nicely with the theme of this episode - https://procustomer.medium.com/is-your-leadership-a-bunch-of-horses-arses-7f2c9e1ae0ab)
Saturday Feb 12, 2022
Saturday Feb 12, 2022
What is #HybridSelling? Why should you care? How should we be defining hybrid selling?
How does the E.V.O.L.V.E. framework help you to focus on your highest value activities?
Fred Copestake, founder of Brindis, a growth consultancy, has made his #HybridSellingHealthCheck available for free here https://hybridselling.scoreapp.com/ . How do you stack up?
Fred's new book, "Hybrid Selling" is out now - https://tinyurl.com/HybridSelling
He's also author of "Selling With Partnering Skills"
Contact Fred on linkedin.com/in/fredcopestake
Website: linktr.ee/fredcopestake (Links)
Twitter: FredCopestake
--
Contact me on marcus@laughs-last.com if you fancy getting jiggy on your sales operation
Tuesday Feb 08, 2022
Thursday Feb 03, 2022
Thursday Feb 03, 2022
"I'm a product of the Rainbow Revolution. Nelson Mandela spoke to me. He told me I was responsible to make a difference. He inspired me, ... he inspired a nation to see what was possible in an inclusive culture in this great country", says Richard Doherty, founder of ScaleUp Consulting. Caught up in the optimism immediately following the end of apartheid it framed Richard's career.
He helps founders drive predictable scale. We explore some interesting questions that lead to blindspots and missed opportunities.
- Who are your people?
- Who is really on your team?
- What are the crucial conversations your people need to be having?
- Are you leading the people in your ecosystem?
- What is the impact you have on those you lead when you're ambiguous about your purpose?
Contact Richard via linkedin.com/in/rhdoherty
--
Get in touch with me on marcus@laughs-last.com