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Business Insights & Strategies From Experts: Unveiling Simple Truths Behind Success. I’m always grateful for Reviews and remember to Subscribe
Episodes
Sunday Dec 01, 2019
Sunday Dec 01, 2019
#SteveNorman had a long and eventually successful career in sales and sales management for the like of Dell and Targus in APAC. He opens up about the challenges he faced when he failed and what it taught him about managing his own career and making himself recession proof as a salesperson.
We move on to the lessons that helped him learn as a manager and how behaving counterintuitively helped him develop a reputation for being the manager top sales performers wanted to work for.
We cover recruitment extensively because both of us have seen the destruction to companies and personal catastrophes that come about because of bad or lazy hiring practices. We explore the impact of structured vs unstructured interviews, career pathing and the impact of not building your bench for all your key positions. He answers the critical question, "What do I do when I realise I have found a superstar?"
We dig deep into why and how to codify your sales process so that you can hold people to account and then we dig into why MoFu matters so much.
MoFu is the middle of the funnel. Have you ever noticed how managers bang on about prospecting and as soon as you get a deal in the pipe they're asking when it will close> This management myopia misses the magical middle of the funnel where all the really hard work needs to be focused. Steve exhorts us to slow this part of the process down and we share over a dozen crucial questions you or your salespeople are NOT asking that they have to get answered. Failure to get these answered explains why 47% of opportunities end up in "no decision" and never close and why 83% of first meetings never go to a second meeting.
This will also keep you out of the free consulting trap, help you stay detached from the outcome. I introduce one tip that will help you reduce your lose rates or improve your early disqualification rates by 70%+ saving you enormous amounts of time, money and resources on deals you could not win.
Steve and I discuss building a compelling business case by reverse engineering the buying process and codeveloping the buyer's roadmap to execution, helping you to win more sales, earn trust, win control over the buying process and move towards a qualified decision through authenticity.
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If you are the owner or CEO of a technology company in the £10m-50m revenue range, and your goal is to grow your business and achieve real, sustainable hypergrowth with highly engaged and highly productive employees and clients who stick with you year after year, let’s schedule time for a brief conversation.
To book a 1 to 1 with me or check out my 250+ podcast interviews with some of the best salespeople, sales leaders, sales psychologists, founders and entrepreneurs, trainers, coaches and authors click here - https://linktr.ee/marcuscauchi
Sunday Nov 24, 2019
Sunday Nov 24, 2019
Jaques Sciammas
Demonstrate value in the first 2 minutes or the #CXO will be needed elsewhere, urgently. #CSuite executives welcome great salespeople and have NO TIME TO WASTE with peddlers and product pushers. They don't care who your investors are, how long you have been in business and they don't care to see PowerPoints of your ugly kids (your product range).
They have problems. Can you help fix them? If you can't, get lost.
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If you are the owner or CEO of a technology company in the £10m-50m revenue range, and your goal is to grow your business and achieve real, sustainable hypergrowth with highly engaged and highly productive employees and clients who stick with you year after year, let’s schedule time for a brief conversation.
To book a 1 to 1 with me or check out my 250+ podcast interviews with some of the best salespeople, sales leaders, sales psychologists, founders and entrepreneurs, trainers, coaches and authors click here - https://linktr.ee/marcuscauchi
Sunday Nov 24, 2019
Sunday Nov 24, 2019
This is THE #HeadTrash episode
#PaulLanigan is a failed software engineer, failed salesman, raconteur, photographer, film maker, confused father, middling husband and all round good egg. He is the author of SoftTalesHardAsses and the longest serving international #Sandler Franchisee. I first came across Paul in 2003
We discuss head trash in all its glory - attachment, demotivation, limiting beliefs, mismanagement - and our journeys through it, facing it today and the work we do with our clients to help them through theirs.
If I'm being honest, I quickly realised the best way to deal with my own head trash was to find someone who was just as messed up as me in a particular area of sales, and then get paid to fix us both. Turns out this is a good business model. I want to thank all of my early client in particular for the lessons you taught me and the help you afforded me to better understand the human condition, and for funding my decadent lifestyle.
Paul and I argue about whether it is possible to motivate anyone to do anything, ever. I say so. He says yes. What do you think? (Hint - he's wrong)
Paul draws a very interesting parallel between excellence in sales and excellence in photography. If you've not come across a very special blog #HumansOfNewYork, check it out.
This episode has a bit of rum language and the recording quality is not great because my broadband at the office has plummeted to 0.2Mb upload speed and Paul proved why he should have left IT development by his own technical ineptitude. Sorry about that. The content is still fantastic and you'll be an absolute cretin not to listen to the end. Get stuck in. Comment. Subscribe. Share.
And if you know someone who would be a great guest on #TheInquisitorPodcast please refer them to the url "marcuscauchi.podbean.com" or to your favourite episode(s).
Thanks for listening. Tell your friends, Tweet and make someone's day by giving them the gift of a tag and a share to an episode today.
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If you are the owner or CEO of a technology company in the £10m-50m revenue range, and your goal is to grow your business and achieve real, sustainable hypergrowth with highly engaged and highly productive employees and clients who stick with you year after year, let’s schedule time for a brief conversation.
To book a 1 to 1 with me or check out my 250+ podcast interviews with some of the best salespeople, sales leaders, sales psychologists, founders and entrepreneurs, trainers, coaches and authors click here - https://linktr.ee/marcuscauchi
Monday Nov 18, 2019
Monday Nov 18, 2019
#MarioMartinezJr has been selling B2B for the past 22 years. He has recently merged 5 companies to form #Vengreso which is quite a feat. This interview is about digital selling. In a world where many senior executives are still holding back their business because they are stuck in traditional sales, Mario's message is a call to action for ambitious salespeople and business leaders. Last year 70% of the 220+ senior executives he met, still had serious doubts about the value of internet based technology to help drive sales. Many were still focused on activity based metrics like number of dials, presentations made, demos given instead of leading indicators that allow salespeople to know for sure where they are going right or wrong.
We explore the idiocy of the battle between the silos in business. Marketing, sales, customer success, customer experience, customer service, service delivery, finance and operations are all, one in the same to your customer. Drop the ball anywhere along the way and your business will suffer as their experience suffers.
Some ranting on both sides about the paucity of communication from salespeople who were using free marketing badly offline and have brought their shoddy practices to the online/social arena. Never forget this:
"Free marketing isn't free. The cost of free marketing is all the people who will never do business with you" - Dan Kennedy
Seriously folks, remember LinkedIn is like flirting down the pub. If you walk up and ask if someone fancies sleeping with you, mostly you'll get ignored or slapped. If you use #LinkedIn well you can make a small fortune from there. And if you run a sales team, make sure they get some proper training either from Vengreso or #SamRathling
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If you are the owner or CEO of a technology company in the £10m-50m revenue range, and your goal is to grow your business and achieve real, sustainable hypergrowth with highly engaged and highly productive employees and clients who stick with you year after year, let’s schedule time for a brief conversation.
To book a 1 to 1 with me or check out my 250+ podcast interviews with some of the best salespeople, sales leaders, sales psychologists, founders and entrepreneurs, trainers, coaches and authors click here - https://linktr.ee/marcuscauchi
Wednesday Nov 13, 2019
Wednesday Nov 13, 2019
#DaveMattson, CEO of #SandlerTraining, multiple best selling author and 30+year veteran (I know he doesn't look it!!) of the #SandlerSellingSystem chats to me about what works and what doesn't in training.
We explore the mistakes we've made, the bad choices leaders and L&D folks make, why training succeeds and why it fails. Dave talks about technology, sales enablement and we raise some uncomfortable questions about the criminal waste and missed opportunities because training is poorly delivered, poorly planned and not reinforced.
Dave is spearheading the transformation of Sandler from an #ILT #InstructorLedTraining operation to one that utilises ILT, audio, video #microlearning, #gamification, voiceapps, #voiceskills.
If you would like to get the #MySandler #skills app pop along to the Skills & Games on the #AlexaApp dropdown FOR FREE, go get it now
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If you are the owner or CEO of a technology company in the £10m-50m revenue range, and your goal is to grow your business and achieve real, sustainable hypergrowth with highly engaged and highly productive employees and clients who stick with you year after year, let’s schedule time for a brief conversation.
To book a 1 to 1 with me or check out my 250+ podcast interviews with some of the best salespeople, sales leaders, sales psychologists, founders and entrepreneurs, trainers, coaches and authors click here - https://linktr.ee/marcuscauchi
Monday Nov 04, 2019
Monday Nov 04, 2019
#AlTepper founder of #TepFu is a master of #lazymarketing. Self-styled as the Barry White of marketing, 2 portly old geezers discuss the difference between #disruption and #innovation.
Disruption is aligned to innovation but they are different. Innovation is enhancing what already exists. Disruption is doing something completely new. You win battles by not fighting the battle but by picking the terrain. In business you can out-spend or out-position your competition
Al has developed a 3 step process called conversation mastery:
- Brand Mastery - developing the most incredible story is about winning the first mile
- Content Mastery - bring imagination to your content. Don't be bland. Stand apart
- Campaign Mastery - weaponise your brand and your content strategies into effective campaigns that will attract the people you want to come towards you
Meet your prospective customers where your objectives meet their objectives.
Know your "WHY". Why you do what you do. Know why they care - their Why. Where they cross over is where the emotional connection is made.
We explore why ego causes the disconnect between marketing and sales. Sales is JUST A SUBSET OF MARKETING. It's vitally important but it is part of marketing. This needs to stop!! NOW!! Stop encouraging the culture where everyone in sales and marketing is out for themselves. Align everyone towards a common goal - making and keeping the customer happy. Emerson's law of compensation tells us that if you help enough other people get their needs met, you will in turn get your needs met too.
Al commits a wonderfully refreshing heresy and tells you why what you are measuring in your marketing reflects more about your ego than what really matters. Marketing is a conversation. If you are not having more subsurface conversations, your marketing isn't working.
We explore developing #ImplementationContracts with clients. Listen to the end to learn more. They are a stroke of genius!
Contact Al on:
Al’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/altepper Websites
- tepfu.com (TepFu can help - Find out more)
- freebusinessgrowth.xyz (Want Free Business Growth?)
- bnioptima.com (Grow a South Herts Business?)
Phone
- +44(0)208 123 5138 (Work)
Email: al@tepfu.com Twitter:
If you would like me to interview someone specific for the podcast, please email me on marcus@laughs-last.com. Please like, comment and share the interview with Al and please subscribe now.
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If you are the owner or CEO of a technology company in the £10m-50m revenue range, and your goal is to grow your business and achieve real, sustainable hypergrowth with highly engaged and highly productive employees and clients who stick with you year after year, let’s schedule time for a brief conversation.
To book a 1 to 1 with me or check out my 250+ podcast interviews with some of the best salespeople, sales leaders, sales psychologists, founders and entrepreneurs, trainers, coaches and authors click here - https://linktr.ee/marcuscauchi
Thursday Oct 24, 2019
Thursday Oct 24, 2019
"If you don't like change you are going like irrelevance even less" - Eric Shinsake
#AnthonyIannarino is the author of 3 best selling books #TheOnlySalesGuideYoullEverNeed #TheLostArtOfClosing and #EatTheirLunch. He is also author of TheSalesBlog. Anthony speaks a world of uncommon sense.
We discuss the many and significant shortcomings of many modern sellers who are well intentioned but misdirected. At 25, Anthony experienced a serious illness that prevented him from driving for over 2 years which gave him time to study everything he could about selling and sales.
His book "Eat Their Lunch" is a masterpiece for every salesperson who occupies a place in a crowded, competitive, commoditised market and wants to displace incumbent competitors.
Anthony discusses the importance of uncovering what your customer values and shows you how to elevate your selling significantly so you engage with them where they are. His message pares away the distractions salespeople create to have conversations with prospects about the implications of not changing. The prospecting cadence he describes is elegantly simple and effective to help you break into accounts so you can displace incumbents.
He describes the signs which make accounts ripe for displacement:
- Complacency
- Entitlement
- Apathy
- Lack of communication
- Systematic misunderstanding
- Unaddressed systemic challenges
We talk about how you earn the position of a genuine trusted advisor. You build trust and you offer good, relevant advice. You have to be interesting, think deeply, well-read and capable of being a trusted advisor. He discusses how to help the individual salesperson perform better in front of the customer, when it really matters.
This is a genuinely important conversation with a master of what works sustainably in the real world of competitive selling. Lack of accountability and consequences are at the root cause of non-performance of individuals and businesses. Take personal responsibility for your own learning.
As managers you must be willing to enforce learning and study as part of every salesperson's role or you deserve what you tolerate. Use the resources available to you to help your team improve. Build a culture of learning, of accountability, of personal responsibility, eliminate excuses and stop tolerating low standards of personal performance. Impose your will on the outcome that is needed.
"Stop focusing on measuring lagging indicators. They are an autopsy" - Anthony Iannarino
Focus behaviour on what matters. Measure that. Do your research. Make sure your salespeople do their research. Be better informed than your competition. Be better informed than your prospects so that you can help them understand why and how they need to change. Ensure your salespeople are planning, well organised, rigorous in their productive behaviours making more time available for selling, disciplined about prospecting because they only have 2 functions - create opportunities or advance opportunities towards a decision.
Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn
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If you are the owner or CEO of a technology company in the £10m-50m revenue range, and your goal is to grow your business and achieve real, sustainable hypergrowth with highly engaged and highly productive employees and clients who stick with you year after year, let’s schedule time for a brief conversation.
To book a 1 to 1 with me or check out my 250+ podcast interviews with some of the best salespeople, sales leaders, sales psychologists, founders and entrepreneurs, trainers, coaches and authors click here - https://linktr.ee/marcuscauchi
Tuesday Oct 22, 2019
Tuesday Oct 22, 2019
#SteveHall has carved a place for himself by helping others sell to the C-suite. He helps CEOs unblock the bottleneck to growth when sales have stalled.
We explore why ineffective salespeople so often get stuck in sales Siberia, the traps many create for themselves by over reliance on one or other social media channel and why so many have bloated pipelines full on non-opportunities, stalled deals, prospects who tell them they need to "think it over" and why forecasts are little better than a finger in the air.
He shares excellent ideas on how to break this pattern and reverse your sales fortunes by engaging with the people in your target accounts who can make things happen and find budget where none currently exists.
Steve is another grizzled old sales veteran of complex, high ticket international sales, helping solve strategic problems for C-suite executives.
We discuss why most salespeople behave like a drunk travellers back from Magaluf who insist on showing photos of their holidays to unwilling strangers! It's not pretty and it's not clever! This interview is a great precursor to my next interview with #AnthonyIannarino which explores how to #displaceincumbentcompetitors
You can contact Steve via LinkedIn
or via his website executivesalescoaching.com.au
or via his email steve@executivesalescoaching.com.au
and Twitter on @stevehallsydney
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If you are the owner or CEO of a technology company in the £10m-50m revenue range, and your goal is to grow your business and achieve real, sustainable hypergrowth with highly engaged and highly productive employees and clients who stick with you year after year, let’s schedule time for a brief conversation.
To book a 1 to 1 with me or check out my 250+ podcast interviews with some of the best salespeople, sales leaders, sales psychologists, founders and entrepreneurs, trainers, coaches and authors click here - https://linktr.ee/marcuscauchi
Thursday Oct 17, 2019
Thursday Oct 17, 2019
#NickJones has gone from start up to exit in the past 15 years. He built his business entirely through #internationalsaleschannels. The #alliances and #partnerships he built allowed him to scale and grow fast, establishing highly influential relationships through the Middle East and Africa within governments, education systems and infrastructure.
He focused on working with a small group of special forces partners. He helped them sell, to make money and they have been loyal, highly productive and taken him into their best accounts. He invested time in making them successful, teaching them how to sell what his company produced.
His early days in channel sales were held back by managers who thought like everyone else, lacked imagination and actually harmed the trust he'd built up with him partners who then refused to take him into their end customers. That was the catalyst that drove him to set up his own business. From humble beginnings to $hundreds of millions in annual revenues, Nick learned to scale a business without the wheels coming off.
He tells his story, and discusses what worked, what didn't the challenges any scale up will face and what you need to do to stay focused, on track and keep your profits healthy.
Nick is now semi-retired and looking for his next project. Together we are looking for 8 scale up technology companies who want to grow at 200%+ per annum year on year to achieve over $1billion in annual sales over the next 8 years
Channel sales is THE toughest sales role there is in sales bar none. Take a look at what an average channel manager has to do ...
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If you are the owner or CEO of a technology company in the £10m-50m revenue range, and your goal is to grow your business and achieve real, sustainable hypergrowth with highly engaged and highly productive employees and clients who stick with you year after year, let’s schedule time for a brief conversation.
To book a 1 to 1 with me or check out my 250+ podcast interviews with some of the best salespeople, sales leaders, sales psychologists, founders and entrepreneurs, trainers, coaches and authors click here - https://linktr.ee/marcuscauchi
Tuesday Oct 08, 2019
Tuesday Oct 08, 2019
#DaveBrock, former theoretical physicist, author of best selling #TheSalesManagerSurvivalGuide and globally renowned sales and growth expert discusses what's wrong with sales and how to fix it. Be prepared for a trip into the world of Schrödinger's sales manager!
#SalesManagers receive less than 5% of the investment in their training than salespeople receive. Yet their negative impact on a business can easily be 10x the negative impact of a bad sales hire. And a bad sales hire can easily cost a business 35 to 125x their salary.
Let that sink in for a moment!
Sales Managers can cost a business 350x to 1250x their salary! It doesn't make sense to be HIGHLY selective in who you hire as a sales manager, does it? Think about it, if you hire a bad manager, who is most likely to leave - your weakest or your strongest salespeople? And when they go, who will they take with them to your competition? Your best customers. Is that what you really want?
Dave and I discuss in depth the problems with #salesleadership, #salesmanagement and #sales. We dig into #saleshiring, #onboardingsalespeople, #salestraining, #salesmanagementtraining. We explore the misconceptions of management, the disconnects between sales and HR, sales and marketing, sales and management. And we uncover the real #silverbullet, the #magicdust in sales management ...
#DisciplinedExecution
Yes, it is as painfully obvious as that. Do the basics well over time and mean it. Say no to extraneous, superfluous, shiny stuff to free up time for what actually matters.
This next fact should make you want to retch if you own or run a business. Dave's research suggests that the #TimeAvailableForSelling in most organisations is as low as 9% and averages just 12-21%.
In an era when fewer than 45% of salespeople worldwide are hitting quota, with 67.9% at or below 60% of quota, it's time to take a good, long, hard look in the mirror and ask, as management, what are we doing to be sales prevention officers?
With the best of intentions, initiatives intended to drive performance, drive data capture, drive reporting, constant interruptions, increased complexity, have taken salespeople away from their core functions - prospecting, speaking to customers, advancing and closing sales.
Subscribe to Dave's newsletter/blog. It contains a golden nugget of raw, uncommon sense #PartnersInExcellenceBlog every time it hits your in box. Dave also recommends the #FarnamStreetBlog (fs.blog) and having subscribed I wholeheartedly recommend it too. Once you learn how to sell invest ALL your time in learning about people and how they function, think and what makes them tick. FS.blog is packed with outstanding material on how people think, what drives behaviour. Dave, thank you for this amazing recommendation.
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If you are the owner or CEO of a technology company in the £10m-50m revenue range, and your goal is to grow your business and achieve real, sustainable hypergrowth with highly engaged and highly productive employees and clients who stick with you year after year, let’s schedule time for a brief conversation.
To book a 1 to 1 with me or check out my 250+ podcast interviews with some of the best salespeople, sales leaders, sales psychologists, founders and entrepreneurs, trainers, coaches and authors click here - https://linktr.ee/marcuscauchi