Breaking Sales

What happens to your brain when a prospect says something you didn't expect to hear? In this episode, Dan and Kristie explore why even seasoned sales professionals can freeze up or panic when conversations take unexpected turns, and the specific preparation process that prevents it from happening. You'll learn why conversation resilience isn't about personality or experience, how top performers bu...

Why do prospects choose competitors even when you clearly have the superior solution? In this episode, Dan and Pam uncover a critical gap that's costing sales professionals deals every day: the failure to understand what prospects actually mean by the descriptive words they use. Through real client examples and personal experiences, they reveal how making assumptions about terms like "innovative,"...

What if the secret to higher closing rates isn't better techniques, but better preparation? In this episode, Dan and Kristie break down one of the most common mistakes they've observed in client calls: professionals who force conversations instead of letting them unfold naturally. Drawing from extensive study of recorded sales calls, they reveal why experienced salespeople often jump too quickly t...

What if your sales success has more to do with luck and timing than actual skill?  In this conversation, Dan and Pam tackle the uncomfortable truth that many sales professionals are operating in the dark—putting substantial effort into their pipelines without tracking the metrics that reveal whether their efforts are actually working. Pam shares her humbling story of going from a top performer to...

Are you proud of the nos you're getting? Most sales professionals celebrate any rejection as progress, but here's the uncomfortable truth: there are nos you should feel accomplished about, and then there are nos that are filled with regret.  In this episode of Breaking Sales, Dan and Pam break down the critical difference between an easy no and a hard no. You'll discover why making prospects work...

What separates high performers from everyone else when it comes to prospecting? It's not their message, their experience, or their market. It's how they think about the activity itself. Most sales professionals make the critical mistake of allowing their feelings in the moment to dictate whether they follow through on their prospecting commitments. They convince themselves that how they feel right...

Pain today or pain tomorrow. That should be the mantra for anyone trying to achieve or create something new and different in their life. Mark it #1 for sales professionals trying to achieve at a high level.  High performance demands you pick your pain. Most sales professionals avoid the daily discomfort of prospecting, asking tough questions, and taking risks—only to experience crushing long-term...

What if the biggest factor in whether someone makes a change isn't their current pain?  Most sales professionals are obsessed with the present. They dig into problems, poke at pain points, and highlight what's broken today. But Dan and Pam reveal what they're missing: human beings don't change because of where they are. They change because of where they're going. This episode explores future narra...

There's a devastating invisible force awaiting you in every prospect and client conversation you have, and you hold the key that either lets it out or keeps it at bay. The good and bad news - it's all controlled by you.  In this episode, Dan and Kristie explore how anxiety shows up in sales conversations and why it's such a performance killer. Through real client stories, they reveal how trying to...

Every closing technique you've been taught is training your prospects to resist you. While you're focused on "Always Be Closing," your prospects are running in the opposite direction, "Avoid Being Closed." The harder you push, the further they pull away. It's a losing game. In Part I, we revealed why traditional closing tactics backfire and the three stages prospects go through when debating chang...

Traditional closing tactics focus on winning the deal—but that's not the process your prospects and clients experience. They experience a process that requires them to debate change. If you want to get better at closing, then you'll need to master the process that your prospects go through. The ABC, or "always be closing" method, is great for the movies, but detrimental to your real world conversa...

In this revealing second part of our conversation with Lappin180 and top commercial real estate advisor Emily Smith, we dive deep on one of the most damaging barriers to successful selling: - anxiety, and how detachment is a practical and proven way to reduce the thoughts that hold you back.  Emily shares the remarkable transformation that occurred when she stopped trying to control things that sh...

After 12 successful years in commercial real estate, Emily Smith thought she had the perfect formula: be the most prepared, most knowledgeable person in every room. Then she started working w/ Lappin180. In this candid conversation, Emily reveals how she completely transformed her approach by letting go of the "expert" persona that had defined her career. She shares the humbling process of recogni...

Do you view your calendar as a constraint or an asset? In this episode, Dan and Pam discuss why your relationship with time is the foundation of high performance. They explore the zero-sum approach to time management, revealing why traditional time blocking doesn't work for most sales professionals and how to build the discipline to stop re-prioritizing in the moment. Learn practical strategies to...

When was the last time you sat comfortably in silence during a sales conversation?  In this episode, Dan Lappin and Pam Evanson explore the transformative power of giving prospects space to think. You'll learn:  Why jumping in to fill every pause can cost you valuable insights  Practical techniques for creating space in your conversation, and  How to practice the art of detachment from labeling in...

What hidden patterns from your past might be limiting your sales performance? In this candid episode, Dan and Kristie share personal stories about how childhood experiences shaped their approach to business conversations. Dan reveals his journey from seeking validation to finding freedom in authentic interactions, while Kristie discusses reframing her view of tension from something negative to a p...

Have you ever felt like you were chasing the day? You know, that gap that exists when you set out to achieve or create something new, but you're unsure if the different routines and actions you're investing in will pay off. Your days include more uncertainty than normal because the new and different actions feel like you're taking a step back, not forward.   In this episode of Breaking Sales, Dan...

WARNING: Part II of this conversation might make you uncomfortable—especially if you've been in sales for more than 10 years. When Dan asked a room of veteran salespeople with multiple 7-figure deals under their belts when they last practiced their sales conversations, the silence was deafening. Not a single hand went up. These same professionals tell their children to practice constantly to impro...

What separates sustainable high performance from occasional success? Often, it's not the big moments, but the small daily practices that create the foundation for excellence. In this final episode with MJ Insurance Chief Growth Officer and President of Benefits Consulting Andy Vetor, we explore how intentional routines enable us to maintain focus, energy, and impact across multiple demanding roles...

Ever notice how the more attached you are to someone's success (kids, friend, client, or prospect), the less likely they are to listen to and take your advice?  Through stories from sales, leadership and parenting, MJ Insurance Chief Growth Officer and President of Benefits Consulting Andy Vetor talks about how slowing down and asking questions actually helps the other person take ownership of imp...

Do you know what it's like to stay unwavering and fully committed to asking questions and seeking to understand the other person's perspective, versus sharing expertise or having all the answers? That powerful shift from no longer making yourself the lead character in the conversation, and instead allowing the other person to take on that lead role. This is exactly what long time client and friend...

Ever wonder how you can learn to embrace those uncomfortable moments? You know— the ones that light the path toward where you want to be headed verses where you currently are. Whether a difficult conversation, new routine, or some new action.    In this episode, Pam and Dan break down: What's really happening in your head during those pivotal moments Why labeling something as "hard" versus "uncomf...

When was the last time you felt truly confident in a high-stakes sales conversation—not just trying to project confidence, but actually feeling it? In this raw conversation, Kristie reveals what happened when she realized her "proven track record" wasn't good enough. You'll learn the exact process she used to recognize when she was operating from fear versus authentic confidence, specific techniqu...

How do you fight off the anxiousness that floods in at times during your prospect and client conversations? The feeling  that causes you to jump to solving, use filler words in moments of silence, and to back off of asking good, meaningful questions? In Part II of our conversation, Tim Filewicz shares his experiences in learning how to trust his voice of objectivity and detachment, and how he trul...

How do you learn to trust a completely new approach or skill when the stakes are high?  In this episode, Lockton VP Tim Filewicz shares how he transformed his mindset from seeking to be liked to embracing a peer to peer role, where the priority is to help his prospects and clients feel positive tension as they decide on change.    You'll learn how to break free from the "friend zone" in your clien...