Sales Tales - A podcast sharing epic stories that get you through your sales adventure.

In this conversation, Josh and Dave discuss the critical elements of a successful sales process, emphasizing the importance of a structured selling system and effective communication. Donald Kelly, founder of the Sales Evangelist, highlights the challenges faced by modern sales teams, particularly in prospecting and engagement strategies. The discussion also delves into the necessity of consistenc...

This episode is for you if you want to make your first meeting with a prospect more meaningful. When you get in front of a prospect, are you trying to build a relationship or are you trying to bond and build rapport? Heather Snyder, co-founder of ProMode.ai, career salesperson, and mentor to female sellers, teaches us that those are two different things. She also knows that this key step presents...

Have you ever felt that your sales pipeline will buckle under the weight of a couple of questions? Many reps and managers are scared their pipeline isn't "real." Dave shares his four pipeline questions with us that will help us keep our pipeline fresh, and keep our conversations brief and honest. Learn: How to accelerate dialog when discussing your pipeline. How to hold yourself accountable to mor...

In this episode of Sales Tales, Dave and Josh examine the function of business development within the wider sales org. You could say BD is the hardest role in sales. At the same time, many organizations struggle with culture and keeping their roles stocked with talented people who can execute consistently. Why is that? In this episode, learn: Why the BD role is so important. Why we don't treat...

Do you do email prospecting? Are you doing things that are preventing prospects from ever seeing them? EMAIL FAILS: Jay Schwedelson tells us the MULTITUDE of things we are doing wrong. You'll be surprised how many of them are easy fixes. Jay, Dave, and I focus on: Subject line cheat codes that increase your open rate Email copy DON'Ts that will help you warm up leads Calls to actions that...

Have you ever heard a pricing objection? Have you ever been told your product or service is too expensive? Many times, when it comes to dealing with the investment in your stuff, you are getting in your own way. In this episode, we talk about: 1. Handling budget in the right order 2. Talking to prospects who are willing and able 3. What we're often doing wrong

Salespeople get in their own way all the time. Markku Kauppinen, CEO of FinxS Assessments, says that it's because we put too much pressure on our buyer to adapt to our preferred communication style. In this episode, you'll learn: How to quickly assess your buyer's preferred communication style and channel What signs to look for to better interpret how they will respond What things are...

Dave Blake, CEO of ClientSuccess, works with organizations constantly on how to turn challenges into growth opportunities. His meeting with Dell didn't get off to a solid start. His consultant began showing a presentation...on a MacBook. You'll have to hear how Dave got his team out of it. He teaches us that sometimes a tough challenge can be the best time to strengthen a relationship if y...

Joe Ingram helps salespeople get that next deal. He says that people don't always need to like us to buy from us. He teaches us that getting people to like us is secondary to building trust. To build trust, you've got to get results. Joe tells an epic story about the mental shift that happened to him when calling on a prospect in the automotive industry. In this episode, you'll learn:...

Have you ever sold something that didn't work? It's easy to let service disruptions or product blind spots take us from "we can do anything" to "we can't do anything." It can affect your mindset. Dave Doherty and Josh Shirley unpack how salespeople conduct calls differently when they let disruptions put them into a mindset of limitation versus a mindset of possibili...

Do you have excited prospects who disappear when it's time to decide? How do you know when you're finished qualifying a prospect? Hear Dave and Josh take a common benefit for many solutions and explore how to take an intellectual curiosity to an emotional impact (when there is one). In this episode, you'll learn: How to help your prospect do their 'own math' when gaining financ...

Are you an under-resourced Rev-Ops professional? Are you using Rev-Ops correctly? If you are a Revenue Operations professional, how do you know you support your staff? Rosalyn Santa Elena tells Rev-Ops this: "Your job is to know the business and know the customer better than anyone else. In order to enable and support the life-cycle, you have to know how it works." Rosalyn Santa Elena is...

90% of every interaction with another person happens below the surface - or at the subconscious level. One method of understanding what happens inside that 90% is Transactional Analysis - developed by Eric Byrne in the 1950s. On today's episode, Dave and Josh break down sales interactions using Transactional Analysis. In this episode, you'll learn: 1. How some beliefs that serve you can al...

Is there a wrong enneagram type for a sales role? Jim Gum teaches us that all people place a different emphasis on thinking, feeling, and acting. In this episode of Sales Tales, he helps us understand how the enneagram can be an enlightening methodology to help you understand your customers AND the people you work with. Sales Tales Episode 28: Jim Gum - Enneagram for Salespeople, Where Communicati...

David Mattson went on his first sales call with David Sandler 30 years ago. He almost quit. In Episode 27 of Sales Tales, David Mattson returns to give David Doherty and me a series of vignettes about selling. In this series of Tales, you'll hear: How to spot red flags that appear before losing a client How manager and employee coaching is supposed to sound Mattson's epic story about the d...

David Mattson, CEO of Sandler (LinkedIn is his client), tells us why. He also says there's a HUGE upside to sales - if you're an AE, AD, BDR, SDR or Sales Leader, it will brighten your day. Mattson reminds us that you sell what you sell every day - but your buyer doesn't buy what you sell every day. This reality is what makes salespeople necessary. Sales Tales Episode 26: David Mattson...

Sellers - Have you ever been physically threatened while selling? Jesse Marseille decided virtual selling was for him after he got a shotgun pointed at his face during a door-to-door sales call. He leads growth at Truebase.ai today and helps David Doherty and Josh Shirley understand some areas where salespeople may be over-automating using today's time-saving tools. Guideposts for automation p...

Mike Montague was fired in front of 3000 people by Billy Idol.  Saying he recovered and stuck the landing is an understatement. Mike comes onto Sales Tales to tell us that "you don't get better at sales by winning; you get better by losing and surviving." About AI, Montague says: "Imagine an assistant doing work for you, but they've read the whole internet." A sales tra...

How do you create the healthy selling habits needed to hit your target? In this episode, Dave Doherty and Josh Shirley discuss why sellers can't stop at "goals." We have to create an excellent system to hit goals. A proper system comes from productive habits.  Many of these habits aren't what we want to do but what we need to do - so how can we get them started? James Clear wrote...

Regarding LinkedIn, there's a good chance you're doing it wrong. Steve Watt, Director of Market Insights at Seismic, helps us rethink what we're doing to make social selling work for us. He says educating and inspiring are essential: learn how to be a magnet, not a bullhorn. What is social selling? How can you make it work for you? In this episode, you will learn: How to do a proper pr...

Salespeople: How do you get leads from networking events? Do you find networking events (happy hours, meet-ups, associations - i.e., prospecting in large groups outside of trade shows) productive? Do you often leave frustrated and empty-handed? If you want them to work for you, you can't wing it.  Hear great sales fails from David and Josh that will give you an idea of what to do after you get...

Salespeople: You don't have to know it all. Shawn McCarrick, CEO of Sifted, walks us through the three phases of building a SaaS business when you're the first company in your market. Hear great advice on what to do when your competition finally catches up to you. Sifted is a data science company that invented the 'logistics intelligence' category. They help small parcel shippers c...

Salespeople: Your Company's Biggest Differentiator is you. Are you getting too many "maybes" when you present? Josh and Dave unpack obstacles we put in our way: not knowing the prospect's budget, making it "too much about us," and not being prepared. In this episode, you will learn: How to avoid putting too much pressure on your prospect and yourself. Many things stoppi...

A new selling conversation is between two people who don't trust each other. How do you build trust when there isn't any? Sales Tales Episode 18 - Relationships vs Rapport - How to be a trusted advisor to prospects and clients In this episode, you will learn: Why relationships aren't the same thing as rapport. Which tactics are for building relationships, and which are for rapport. Why...

Have you ever lost a sale to someone you haven't met?  Josh and Dave relive some of their most significant sales fails, focusing on reaching decision-makers. Often, in our sales process, we reach a point where we lose line of sight to the pursuit, only to find out later that what we thought was a done deal was ruled out weeks ago by..."Mr Wizard." In this episode, you will learn: Six...