Mental Selling: The Sales Performance Podcast

Sales is all about relationships. It’s about getting to the final result of making the deal and getting the new customer achieve their desired outcomes. But what we are too often missing is realizing that the sales discovery phase is the most important (even compared to the late-stage negotiation) to developing trust and rapport and, ultimately, eventually earning the deal. It’s about uncovering s...

If you’ve been in sales for awhile, you’ve seen all of the methods for sealing the deal. In a modern sales environment, the sales strategies of the past (throwing a net and seeing what you can catch) can still have their place. However, with the influx of sales tools, throwing a spear to catch exactly what you need is the modern approach. Hear our conversation with Jamie Shanks, author of Social S...

Another day, another salesperson gone. Lost to a toxic workplace. Or a lack of empathy. Or misalignment. What if your sales team could increase retention? What can you do to decrease churn? Is it even possible with the traditionally high turnover of sales? The key lies is empathy. 🗝️ This week, Ronda Robinson, Founder of Robinson Alliance Group, joins me to discuss recruiting and retaining salespe...

Your sales journey is like a book. There are different chapters for different stages and each unwritten page is just another part of the process that hasn’t happened yet. Everyone starts their book at a different stage. Some are the team’s A-Players that were born for sales. Others need some coaching. Regardless of where the book begins, the next chapter relies heavily on the sales leader involved...

Growing a sales team isn’t hard. Growing a sales team that’s successful and feels comfortable in their role… now THAT'S a challenge. And it really comes back to the leadership of the team and the work they are willing to do to take their people to the next level by bringing confidence and humility to every interaction. Hear our conversation with Karin Hurt, CEO and Co-Founder at Let's Grow Leaders...

It’s 2022 — why is there still a gender gap in sales? Studies definitively show diverse sales teams generate more revenue. So... what’s the hold up? My guest today is Lori Richardson, the Founder of Score More Sales and a passionate champion for #WomenInSales. She’s an author, in-demand speaker, and one of the most popular sales coaches at Harvard Business School. Lori also serves on the advisory...

Customers dread being sold to. It's no different for B2B buyers than it is for anyone else. In fact, research shows that buyers now spend only 17% of their time actually buying. Since that's often divided among many potential suppliers, you might be getting 1% to 5% of their time. What are you going to do with your small fraction of your buyer's time? On this episode of Mental Selling, we speak wi...

A salesperson today is vastly different than the one you’re probably imagining right now. It’s not all about making the sale anymore — It’s about providing a solution that will be mutually beneficial to seller and buyer. But as we have transitioned to more of a virtual approach, it’s important to not lose those valuable customer connections along the way. Hear our conversation with Tony Alessandra...

Sales is one of the only professions where we allow it to be defined by the people who do it badly. Top salespeople are ones who earnestly want to improve life for their customers. When purpose driven sales becomes part of the culture and bigger than the transaction- and your ‘true north’ is improving life for customers- you’ll actually wind up making more money. Successful salespeople want to kno...

What is it that your customers truly want and value beyond the basic transaction? And what happens when companies give 'non-traditional sales roles' more responsibility for uncovering new sales opportunities with customers? When we change our mindset so that customer service and sales become one and the same, then everyone within the company can comfortably and confidently embrace more of a sales...

Company culture, communication and resilience are not just an internal concerns; they also directly affect your daily interactions with clients and, ultimately, your ability to meet and exceed sales goals. But how do you take them from concepts to action plans? And how can you measure progress and impact along the way? And how do you prevent it from being back-burnered by 'the urgent' of the day?...

The handwriting's been on the wall for a while. We’re all inside sales now. Probably 10% of account executives are going back to the office after this pandemic's over. Everyone else is selling virtually. The technology is there, and companies are eager to use it. That said, technology alone can't solve sales problems. Technology and sales enablement tools have to improve efficiency. The tools you...

Relationships are not a one and done situation. You wouldn’t consider someone a friend if you spoke to them once and then didn’t hear from them again for years. Customer relationships are no different. If you create that initial contact, only to move onto the next lead shortly after, you’re setting yourself up for massive amounts of customer churn. You’ve spent time with a customer to identify a p...

"Everyone acts like prospecting is binary- there's sending and not sending. It isn't. It's more than that. It's sending WELL vs. not sending well." -Ryan O'Hara What’s the best differentiator you have for standing out to prospects? It’s got to be the intricate, well-researched template you use, for sure… Or is it? 👀 Buying is individualistic now, which means sellers need to embrace the artistry a...

New sales leaders often feel as though all they do is put out fires. What they need to learn is that coaching is fire prevention. In this episode, I speak with Kevin Eikenberry, Chief Potential Officer at The Kevin Eikenberry Group, about empowering top performers to become great sales leaders. Join us as we discuss: - The blurry line between personal and professional development - 'Will versus sk...

When a liberal arts major sits down and thinks about their future career, very seldom does it include a future in sales. But sales isn’t like it used to be — the typical salesperson today is also quite often an unintentional salesperson. The sales force of today must be deeply empathetic, curious and committed to filling needs. But how do we flip the narrative to attract these kinds of people? We...

Bringing customer value through a sales approach of asking better probing questions for sales. The questions to ask on a sales call that boost efforts to build rapport with customers. How understanding the probing questions to ask on a sales call and honing better sales prospecting techniques that include asking open ended questions builds rapport with customers. Master Facilitator and Business As...

Top-performing salespeople- do they make great sales managers? Well, it depends... New sales managers can struggle and stumble if they don’t address a fundamental challenge in their new job: The mindset that worked for them as top performing sales people won’t work for leading and motivating sales teams. And the key to their success as managers is how they shift and develop their coaching mindset...

Most economic indicators point to a strengthening economy, now that the pandemic is beginning to wane with the widespread rollout of vaccines. That begs the questions: Is your sales team ready to compete by creating value, not by describing product? Businesses are sitting on piles of cash. People are ready to spend now. But Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) is real. Is your sales team truly ready to comp...

As the COVID-19 pandemic crosses the one year marker, what’s working today for sales teams — and what innovative sales strategies are connecting with customers? Integrity Solutions CEO, Mike Esterday, explores what we’ve learned in the past year, how customers are different today, and how the sales function is seen as the key to recovery for most organizations. Virtual selling, which in truth has...

How one leader's experience is perhaps part of a broader trend for coping with the challenges brought on by COVID-19. Our discussion with Principal Financial Group’s Gary Karthauser who explores how he’s adapting his leadership style to the challenges of leading teams in a pandemic. One seasoned leader’s insights into how values-based leadership and coaching provides a solid foundation for getting...

Most organizations are quickly coming around to the view that virtual training is a must-have — given its obvious benefits. You might be relatively new to it and find yourself doing more virtual because of the crisis times we’re living in. Or maybe you’re more experienced — but you’d love a quick primer on some fundamentals. Seasoned trainer Johnny Walker has just that — with a look at how virtual...

In adversity lies the most opportunity. Opportunities arise in challenges and how you approach incoming storms. If you can step in and be a problem solver for your customers, you move yourself from being a vendor to a trusted advisor. See how finding sales opportunity during times of adversity requires shifting focus from selling, toward building connections with colleges and customers to set up f...

Technology alone can't solve what ails the selling process in so many sales organizations. Mistakes so often made by salespeople today are based on simple mistakes grounded in false assumptions and beliefs about people, selling and buying. Our podcast interview with George Bronten, founder and CEO of Membrain and author of the new book 'Stop Killing Deals'. Our conversation with George explores hi...

What’s the art of quiet influence — and how can you excel at it? Learning how to exercise influence is vital in many work situations today — on teams, with customers, in flat organizations, and especially when you don’t have formal authority but you need to drive strong results. The latest podcast from Integrity Solutions features practical tips from the front lines — in an interview with Jocelyn...