Breaking Sales

Have you ever looked in the mirror and questioned your success or how you created it? You created expectations and standards for how your conversations should flow, how to judge conversational progress (good or bad), and defined an endless list of "do's and don'ts." In some circles, you are considered successful. But it's a road less traveled –and few do – when you consider giving up the familiar...

Success in sales begins and ends with your ability to connect with prospects in need of your offering. Some circles call it hunting. Others prefer a more distinguished description – business development. Experts everywhere tell you what, how, and when to do it. Consistency is key. Here's the bottom line: if you want to get better at connecting with prospects, think and manage your behavior. Listen...

Are you making assumptions that could agitate your prospects? In this 180 Conversation, Dan and Kiley break down a set of email outreaches that might not sit well with the recipient.  If you have ever used the phrase, "…maybe this isn't a priority for you right now" then this episode is for you!

In the journey to high-performance, you need a scoreboard. Without it, you have no idea what's working or not and how to make adjustments for better results. In this episode, Pam and Kiley dive into the uncomfortable conversation of metrics. You'll learn why they're so important, why we might not like them, and why you need to pay close attention to what you're NOT measuring.

Do you have expectations of your prospects? In this 180 Conversation, Dan and Kiley share what happens when you expect a response from your cold outreach. In the end, your expectations may be killing your chances of getting a response.

Credentialing yourself is about elevating yourself on a pedestal. It mostly happens when pride collides with insecurity. Instead of impressing the recipient, it leaves them feeling skeptical and unimpressed. If you want to impress, double down on your questions and learning. Take a genuine interest in the other person. In this episode, Dan and Kiley explore the issues with credentialing and break...

Are you using language that makes you sound desperate in your prospecting outreach? In this 180 Conversation, Dan and Kiley share a prime example of what it looks like when you show up trying to convince, persuade, or push your prospect. Spoiler alert–it doesn't get you a meeting.

Tired of asking questions and receiving surface-level answers? This episode is for you. Over the past three years, Dan has listened to 100s of recorded prospect conversations, and behavior trumps skill. Yes, it's critical to prep your questions before any conversation so you have a roadmap of what you want to learn. But it's your ability to become self-aware and self-regulate five specific behavio...

Do you sacrifice your credibility to make your outreach stand out? In this 180 Conversation, Dan and Kiley break down an outreach that starts out promisingly but ends with a chicken sandwich. Confused? So was the prospect. Listen in as Dan and Kiley explore what happens when you try too hard to stand out and why using frivolous tactics is never the solution.

What do you do when a prospect says they're not willing to share information with you? In this Conversation Dissection, James Chalmers, Senior Advisor at Moneta, joins the show to share his experience with a distrusting prospect. As Kiley and Dan take James through the exercise, they explore how you can proceed with empathy and detachment in these interactions, while paying attention to the red fl...

What would happen if you could seize the moment instead of squandering it? Instead of contemplating all the things that could go wrong when you risk reaching out to a prospect, ask an important question, or push back in a conversation – think deliberately about what could go right. In this episode, Dan and Kiley discuss how to experience a steadier grip in the moment to push yourself, expand outre...

What happens when your cadence is well-timed, but your content misses the mark? In this lively 180 Conversations episode, Dan and Kiley analyze a series of two emails to demonstrate how your approach can minimize the prospects' perception of your value and expertise – and get them to ignore your outreach. Hint: stop making the outreach about what you want – no one cares. Your prospect only cares a...

Work-life balance sounds great, but does anyone ever truly achieve it? In this episode, Kiley and Lappin180 Coach, Pam Evanson, introduce the concept of work-life integration to describe the symbiotic relationship between personal and professional life. You'll learn how to prioritize and stick to your goals, structure your time for optimal efficiency, and employ discipline and accountability to ge...

With email outreach, a few important tweaks can radically transform your results. In this 180 Conversation, Kiley shares the before and after versions of a client's prospecting email, while Dan breaks down the adjustments to highlight what works and what doesn't lead to better engagement.

You can take failure and identify with it as a permanent label or use it as nothing more than temporary feedback. Focusing on failure causes failure. The more you measure your worth through an outcome, the more pressure you place on yourself, and the higher the likelihood of procrastinating the actions you need to take to achieve success. In this episode, Dan takes a quick deep dive on reframing y...

If you want your prospect to consider making a change to you, they're going to have to embrace some discomfort as they think differently about their business. Think of your own life and business. Do you solve all of the issues that cause you pain? Of course not. Sometimes, it's easier to live with what you know versus what you don't. The familiar versus the unknown. Your prospects are the same. Li...

Would you refer business to someone you've never met or spoken to – not knowing anything about their reputation or character? When your first touchpoint is asking someone to network, it can give the impression of scarcity. The approach might attract other scarcity-minded professionals, but it rubs others the wrong way. In this episode, Kiley and Dan share a similar experience of someone who wanted...

When it comes to high-pressure sales conversations, your mental game is everything. Have you ever wondered how elite athletes and other top performers can quickly bounce back from mistakes to perform in the clutch? Let's take the mystery out of mindset. In this episode, Dan and Kiley reveal the power of anchor and activation thoughts to influence how you react or respond in prospect meetings. List...

Where you find yourself 12 months from now is up to you. For most people, New Year's resolutions are made to be broken. Without a plan or process in place to achieve success, it's easy to quit, make excuses, and fail. In this episode, Dan and Kiley offer meaningful suggestions to get more out of your business (and life) in the new year. It begins and ends with the process you build and hitting inc...

Have you ever had a sales experience where it was so obvious that your prospect would be better off making a change to you – but they didn't? In this episode, Dan draws a parallel to sales from a story in Chip and Dan Heath's book,  The Power of Moments . The story is a powerful example of how the obvious can be hard to see when habits, biases, and perceptions go unchecked. Discover how the positi...

Setting and pursuing goals can be tedious. To change your results – you first have to change the way you look at things. Simply committing to more discipline, hard work, and a better attitude isn't going to cut it. In this episode, Dan and Kiley go deep on four transformational paths that will add energy, fulfillment, and momentum toward whatever it is you want to achieve or experience in 2022. Li...

The end of the year is a natural time to pause and reflect on your performance – what went well, what didn't, and what you want to continue. In this 180-episode, Dan tells Kiley about Stop-Start-Continue, an exercise he uses to prioritize the adjustments he wants to make going forward. To get started, all you need is a journal, honesty, and no judgments. High performers embrace this kind of self-a...

In an industry where the average new business sold per year can range from $100K to $200K, two producers (sales professionals) are averaging $600K every year in new sales. Everything about their approach is different, and it's paying off big with their prospects. Join me as I talk with Barry and Byron from MJ Insurance. They share why mindset is foundational to their success – and how they've lear...

This episode with Dan and Collin Henderson is a mindset masterclass. Collin is an authority on high-performance mental conditioning and the author of  Master Your Mindset . His teachings are embraced by leading organizations, including Nike, Salesforce, and Microsoft. Dan and Collin share powerful advice for mastering your inner dialogue, building confidence, overcoming imposter syndrome, and visu...

Do your thoughts lean negative or positive before reaching out to a prospect or asking a tough question? How much time do you waste debating the consequences of screwing it up versus getting it right? Do you torture yourself crafting round after round of the perfect email? Welcome to loss aversion, a common human bias where the urge to avoid pain is twice as strong as the pleasure of what you coul...