Sales Today

Threatening to walk away from a negotiation might sound like a powerful tactic. But what happens when someone calls your bluff? In this episode of Sales Today, Fred Copestake is joined by Mark Raffan, the Negotiations Ninja, to explore why walking away from a deal isn't always the clever negotiating move people think it is. Mark challenges the common misconception that walking away is a negotiatio...

Having the best product or solution doesn't guarantee you'll win the business. So what really influences a customer's decision? In this episode of Sales Today, Fred Copestake is joined by Nick Buxton, founder of Value Led Growth, to explore the growing trust gap in B2B sales and why buyers are increasingly reluctant to take risks, even when a better solution is available. Nick introduces a simple...

Are your sales conversations too focused on your products and not enough on your customers' problems? In this special episode of Sales Today, recorded from a recent webinar, Fred Copestake shares seven practical shifts to help salespeople, particularly those in technical and engineering sales, have more commercially valuable conversations. Fred explores why product knowledge alone isn't enough, ho...

Being great at selling doesn't automatically mean you'll be great at leading salespeople. In this episode, Fred is joined by Kelly Riggs, founder of The Business LockerRoom and author of The Five Power Moves , to explore why the transition from top salesperson to sales manager can be so difficult especially when organisations provide little or no training for the new role. They discuss the five mo...

Sales coaching works. The problem is getting enough of it, at the right time. In this episode of Sales Today, Fred is joined by returning guest Kevin Beales, founder of My Sales Coach, to explore how AI could help solve that problem without trying to replace the human coach. They discuss the disconnect between what managers call coaching and what salespeople actually experience, why more technolog...

What really makes someone great at sales? In this episode, Fred is joined by Nigel Gracie to explore the three elements he believes sit behind sales performance: mindset, skillset and toolset and why mindset needs to come first. They discuss why self-awareness and emotional intelligence matter, whether empathy can really be taught (or faked!), and why understanding the person behind the buyer is j...

What really stops salespeople from making the call, asking the question or starting the conversation? In this episode, Fred talks with Christer B. Jansson about sales call reluctance and why it goes much deeper than simply not wanting to pick up the phone. They explore the thoughts and behaviours that can quietly limit sales activity, why fear of being "too salesy" can actually make sellers less u...

Manufacturing and engineering businesses do brilliant work. But are they always brilliant at explaining why customers should choose them? In this episode, Fred is joined by Andrea Wilson, MD of Support UK Manufacturing and founder of ManufacturingUK.org, to explore how manufacturers can communicate their value, build stronger relationships and ultimately win more business. In this episode: Why man...

What if salespeople understood what procurement teams are actually trained to do? In this episode, Fred is joined by returning guest Mark Schenkius , procurement expert and author of The Other Side of Sales and The Art of Spending Money Wisely , to look at sales from the buyer's side of the table. They discuss why procurement isn't simply about squeezing suppliers on price, why buyers think about...

What if discovery started before the first sales meeting? In this episode of the Sales Today podcast, Fred Copestake is joined by David Kreiger, founder and president of SalesRoads, to explore why many salespeople are getting prospecting wrong and how a discovery-led approach can completely change the conversation. Rather than rushing to pitch, David argues that great prospecting starts with resea...

Why should a customer choose you over your competitors? If the answer is "because we're innovative, experienced and provide great service" … there's a good chance your competitors are saying exactly the same thing. In this episode of the Sales Today podcast, Fred Copestake is joined by John Ravaris , author of Define Value, Drive Growth and founder of UVP Solutions, to explore what really makes a...

Why do perfectly confident people suddenly become nervous when they pick up the phone to sell? In this episode of the Sales Today podcast , Fred Copestake is joined by sales trainer and coach Anna Bates to explore how to make telephone selling simpler, more natural and far less intimidating. Anna shares her straightforward approach to phone conversations — from getting your mindset right before th...

Why complex sales are won by great investigators, not great presenters. Most salespeople think they've found a champion. In reality, they've found a friendly contact. In this episode, Fred Copestake is joined by Tom Stearns, go-to-market consultant and co-author of the bestselling book Graphic Sales, to explore one of the biggest reasons complex B2B opportunities stall. Together they discuss why r...

Why telling people isn't enough to change behaviour Sales organisations spend millions every year on training, yet many still struggle to see lasting improvements in performance. In this solo episode, Fred Copestake explores one of the biggest misconceptions in sales development: the belief that training and coaching are the same thing. Using questions supplied by Bec Turton from My Sales Coach, F...

Why Quarterly Business Reviews should be about customer value, not sales pitches Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) are supposed to strengthen relationships, demonstrate value and identify future opportunities. Too often, however, they become little more than product presentations. In this episode, Fred Copestake is joined by Celia Sanchez Garcia (Celia SGAR), Founder of Vendor Manager Hub, to disc...

Take the free Collaborative Selling Scorecard https://collaborativeselling.scoreapp.com/ Winning new customers is only half the story. The real commercial advantage comes from helping customers achieve the outcomes they were promised, long after the contract has been signed. In this episode of Sales Today, Fred Copestake is joined by customer success expert Anika Zubair to explore what sales profe...

Free Collaborative Selling Scorecard If you would like to assess how your sales approach aligns with today's buying environment, you can take the free Collaborative Selling Scorecard: https://collaborativeselling.scoreapp.com/   In this final episode of the Sales Today mini series, Fred brings the threads of the series together and explains the deeper issue sitting underneath many of the challenge...

If you would like to assess how your sales approach aligns with today's buying environment, you can take the free Collaborative Selling Scorecard: https://collaborativeselling.scoreapp.com/   In this episode, Fred explores a frustration shared by many engineering and technical businesses: You've invested in sales training. The team enjoyed it. The ideas made sense. But six months later… very littl...

Free Collaborative Selling Scorecard If you would like to assess how your sales approach aligns with today's buying environment, you can take the free Collaborative Selling Scorecard: https://collaborativeselling.scoreapp.com/   In this episode of the Sales Today Podcast , Fred explores one of the most important moments in any sales conversation. It's not when the customer agrees to a meeting. It'...

Take the Collaborative Selling Scorecard: https://collaborativeselling.scoreapp.com   In this episode of the  Sales Today Podcast , Fred Copestake explores a pattern he often sees in engineering-led sales organisations: What he calls The Engineering Super Ego . Despite the provocative name, this isn't a criticism of engineers. In fact, it comes from one of their greatest strengths: deep expertise,...

Take the Collaborative Selling Scorecard: https://collaborativeselling.scoreapp.com Connect with Fred: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredcopestake Watch Fred's FREE YouTube Course: Sales Mastery for Engineers: https://bit.ly/Sales-Mastery-For-Engineers Watch the full mini series playlist here   In this episode of the Sales Today Podcast , Fred Copestake tackles a challenge that many engineering and...

Take the Collaborative Selling Scorecard: https://collaborativeselling.scoreapp.com Connect with Fred: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredcopestake Watch Fred's FREE YouTube Course: Sales Mastery for Engineers: https://bit.ly/Sales-Mastery-For-Engineers Watch the full mini series playlist here   Most engineering businesses already have strong products, strong expertise, and strong technical capabilit...

Take the Collaborative Selling Scorecard: https://collaborativeselling.scoreapp.com Connect with Fred: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredcopestake Watch Fred's FREE YouTube Course: Sales Mastery for Engineers: https://bit.ly/Sales-Mastery-For-Engineers Watch the full mini series playlist here   In this episode of the Sales Today Podcast , Fred Copestake explores one of the most frustrating realities...

Take the Collaborative Selling Scorecard: https://collaborativeselling.scoreapp.com In this episode of the  Sales Today Podcast , Fred Copestake explores one of the most common frustrations in engineering and B2B sales: Why do so many deals eventually come down to price? While it is easy to blame procurement pressure, competition, or tighter budgets, Fred explains why pricing pressure is often onl...

In this episode of the Sales Today Podcast , Fred Copestake challenges one of the most accepted assumptions in B2B and engineering sales:   That an RFP or tender represents the start of an opportunity.   The reality?   By the time an RFP reaches your inbox, many of the most important decisions have already been made.   Fred explores why tender-led sales processes often create pricing pressure, red...