Breaking Sales

In this Snippet, Pam and Dan explore the power of process in transforming your sales results. You'll learn how to scale your prospecting efforts and build a consistent, high-performing sales machine. We'll break down how to tackle prospecting in an organized, consistent way, and why daily habits reduce stress.   If you're ready to take your sales game to the next level, listen to this snippet, and...

More and more salespeople are spending too much time and energy trying to find the perfect prospecting message—a silver bullet that guarantees success. The truth is that the real key to effective prospecting is not in the message itself, but in how we frame our goals and expectations.  You can't control most things in life, including how your prospect responds to your messaging. However, there are...

Are you spinning your wheels, feeling like you never have enough time? Think having a wide-open calendar would mean more freedom? Think again. Dan and Pam are about to challenge everything you thought you knew about managing your time.   Resident time-management expert Pam sits down with Dan to unpack two crucial questions:  1. Does your schedule represent where you are today, or where you want to...

There will be a time where enough is enough. When all of us in sales look back and say, "What were we thinking?" And we ask, "Why would anyone accept a 20 percent win standard from 20 percent of the population?"    Let's start questioning the sales norms and redefining how we measure success. It will be up to you to decide what level you'll play at.    Will convention and the current misguided "ex...

If you had one chance to build trust with someone, would you choose the path of sharing your competency or seeking to understand their point of view?    Common sense would dictate that most will choose "seeking their point of view," but why then during conversations does it so often switch? How many times have you caught yourself telling the other person what they should do, or sharing your expert...

It's no secret: many salespeople dread participating in RFPs (request for proposals). Many feel they are unfair, unclear, inefficient, and otherwise difficult. However, with more businesses adopting RFPs as part of their decision-making process, it's crucial that sales professionals know how to approach them.    More importantly, the problem may be less about the process and more about your mindse...

While control provides us with a sense of comfort and security, it doesn't benefit us to keep an iron grip on every aspect of our lives. If you want to create something new, different, or special in your life, you'll have to learn to embrace things that you can't control and trust what you can.    In this episode of Breaking Sales, Kristie and I discuss different perspectives on control, and how t...

How do we make sure we remain accountable to ourselves and our commitments when faced with discomfort?   Continually evolving ourselves and our mindset is essential to propelling our lives, careers, and businesses forward. Sustainable change requires a steady adherence to processes and principles that may sometimes be uncomfortable, but encourage long-term personal growth.    In this episode of Br...

Language is one of the single most important factors in shaping human behavior and psychology. The words we choose dictate how we think, how we behave, and what experiences we have, positive or negative. How do we use our words to control our own thoughts and approach new situations with clarity and confidence?     In this episode of Breaking Sales, Dan continues his discussion with Dr. George S....

High performers often cite their routines and sleep habits as essential ingredients to improving cognitive ability, productivity, and other aspects of performance. It's no different when we think of having meaningful conversations as leaders, teammates, or sales professionals. Powerful communication is no accident, and it can be learned.    In this episode of Breaking Sales, Dan continues his conv...

Have you ever wondered what it would take to add some cognitive and behavioral horsepower to your routines and activities? Or what really influences the choices that you make?    In this episode of Breaking Sales, Dan sits down with Dr. George S. Everly, Jr., a highly accomplished psychologist, researcher, and author whose work spans multiple scientific disciplines. The conversation explores the n...

How has honest but difficult feedback helped shape the individual members of the Lappin180 coaching team for the better? In this behind-the-scenes episode, Dan, Pam, and Kristie share the stories behind the toughest feedback they have ever received, and how it has helped them learn, grow, and achieve better outcomes. This conversation highlights why feedback is so essential to personal and profess...

Our innate instinct to label things as bad may have worked to protect us 20,000 years ago, but it often works against us in today's modern world. How are people that work in the most high-stakes roles able to keep their composure despite the elevated sense of urgency?    In this episode of Breaking Sales, Dan shares how his recent conversations with pediatricians treating the sickest children have...

How can you be certain that your day-to-day activities are helping you achieve your goals? Additionally, how do you identify opportunities that you may have missed, so you can capture them the next time around?   In this snippet, Pam shares why metrics are fundamental to knowing whether or not you are growing in your business, and what metrics you need to understand whether or not you are making p...

High-performance is heavily influenced by your choices. There are studies that suggest that those who seek immediate gratification are less successful than those who delay gratification.    Do you sacrifice the present for the future? Or do you give up the future to indulge in the present? This is not an easy question.    Join Dan and Pam as they explore how our choices either promote or hinder ou...

Your prospects are constantly being sold to, and as a result, they have developed a series of biases that help them filter out what conversations are going to be helpful or harmful to them. This reaction is primal, based on instinct that dates back tens of thousands of years. Even a referral from a trusted source may not be enough for them to let down their guard. What can sales professionals do t...

Get to know the Lappin180 team in this bonus episode of Breaking Sales. In this candid conversation, you'll get a behind-the-scenes look at coaching and gain insights on how teams operate and build relationships over time. Dan, Pam, and Kristie share their journeys to becoming coaches, the dynamics that allow them to function as a team, and reminisce about some of the successes and challenges they...

Sharing your credentials with prospects may seem like a strong way to demonstrate your value, but in reality, leaning on your past accomplishments to convey your worth stems from insecurity and scarcity. Worse, while your prospective clients may be able to gain a lot from your experience and expertise, putting it at the forefront of your conversations to prove your capability and worth may actuall...

Assertiveness and persistence can add value to a conversation, but only if aligned with helping the other person assess their circumstances more honestly. Neither should be practiced to advance your agenda. How do you know when it is time to slow down and assert?    In this episode of Breaking Sales, Dan continues his conversation with management consultant Kirsten Markley, to explore how curiosit...

It's human nature to revert to our routines when under pressure. If you've been taught to sell or position value, then you've grown accustomed to defaulting to your expertise when pressured by the prospect. You lead with competency in hopes the prospect will eventually "get" your point. Unfortunately, this doesn't work as often as we'd like, and it often leaves us feeling disconnected and chasing...

Explaining why your product, service, or expertise is a better alternative isn't enough. Decisions are not made based on benefits alone. There might be many "pros" in your prospect choosing to do business with you, but it's the perceived risks, discomfort, and hurdles that will hold them back.  In this episode of Breaking Sales, Dan and Pam continue their exploration into the psychology of decisio...

The purpose of any traditional sales conversation is to help the prospect objectively assess and debate how or if they should make a change to your product, service, or expertise. This requires enough self-awareness to minimize their biases, identify their attachments, and control their fears. Does your current conversation process and strategy account for this? In this episode of Breaking Sales,...

In a world filled with endless distractions, willpower is our first line of defense against procrastination, and one of the greatest tools we have to accomplish our goals. But is willpower a finite resource, or one that we can learn to manage, grow, and expand?   In this snippet, Pam shares how she uses willpower to manage distraction, and offers an approach to discipline that you can use to stay...

What you achieve, create, or experience in your professional and personal journey is reflective of your mindset. When decoding the world around you - your thoughts follow a thinking pattern. This routine dictates the actions you take, or don't take. So if you want to achieve, create, or experience something more or different - strengthen your mindset. Gratitude is a simple and powerful place to st...

Is gratitude simply an altruistic way of thinking? Does it have a tangible impact on the challenges we face, and the relationships we attract and build each day?    The answer - yes! It strengthens you and those around you.    In this episode of Breaking Sales, Dan sat down with Chris Schembra, a gratitude expert and the author of WSJ bestseller Gratitude Through Hard Times to discuss. Chris share...