Rethink The Way You Sell

Prospecting can be simple if you’ll only let it. Today, my guest is Art Sobczak, and he’s going to show you how to keep it that way. Ignore the distractions. Remember the fundamentals still work and have worked forever. There are new tools available every day, but selling is still selling. Manage your mindset, manage your expectations, be realistic, and plan accordingly. Art is an author, a speake...

Once you’ve acknowledged the fact that opportunity creating isn’t a one-and-done scenario, you need to put together your plan. How will you start the conversation? How often will you reach out? What data or content will you use to justify the conversation?  Prospecting is not an improvisational exercise simply repeated over and over. It’s a well-orchestrated campaign with a beginning and a logical...

Can you realistically spend the majority of your time at work doing your job? There is a lot of prep work that goes into the prospecting process. You need to know whom you’re trying to reach, how you’re going to get a hold of them, how to organize your data, and plan your approach. It’s startling to me how many companies I work with leave it up to their reps to do all this work on their own. You w...

Today’s episode is a replay from the archives of the Deeper Thought podcast. I sat down with Andy Racic to discuss whether or not prospecting is all about luck. Andy starts by writing about how his mom would pay him for finding four-leaf clovers the yard when he was a kid. There’s a clear parallel here to prospecting today. Do you really just randomly reach out and hope to get lucky? There has to...

Prospecting is not a one-time event. At the very least, it’s a campaign; while the very best insist it’s a lifestyle.  For a lot of sellers, the expectation is that you're supposed to pick up the phone, deliver the perfect message at the perfect time to the perfect person, and make a sale.  I wish it were that easy. Cramming an entire sales process into a single sales call is not the point, and wh...

Most sales teams are not doing enough proactive prospecting. You’re not lazy or ignorant, you’re just not doing what you know you need to do.  It’s understandable. Putting yourself in front of strangers is a daunting task, but you have to overcome that gap between knowing what needs to be done, and actually doing the work. I’m here to help. In Season 3 of the Rethink The Way You Sell Podcast, I’m...

One of my favorite places in the world is a clearing in the woods at a golf resort. There’s a labyrinth laid out there intended for walking meditations and mindfulness. It’s beautiful, peaceful, and the subject of today’s episode of the Rethink The Way You Sell Podcast. This is inscribed on a plaque right before you enter: “The labyrinth is a metaphor for our journey through life. Its path leads t...

Can you ever be good enough? It seems like every time you succeed, the counter resets to zero, and your company just asks for more. How do you keep your swagger, or more importantly your composure, when it feels like there’ always more to do. It’s frustrating. That’s what I’m talking about today on the Rethink The Way You Sell Podcast. Success is a difficult thing to judge, especially if you feel...

A winning mindset is about more than just staying positive. It’s about more than hope, confidence, or even determination. It’s about belief; belief you can make the sale; belief that you can make the sale again; belief that if you stumble, you’ll get back up and be even better for the next call.  On todays episode of the Rethink The Way You Sell Podcast, I’m going to talk about how top salespeople...

I’ve been working hard to eliminate the word “convince” from my vocabulary, and on today’s episode I’m telling you why. First of all, it sets the wrong tone.  More importantly, it represents a gross misunderstanding of what selling is. Fundamentally, when you try to convince someone of something, it’s something akin to an argument. You’re trying to use facts and logic to make a point and that’s ba...

Why do some salespeople make it so hard to buy? My friends Liz Wendling and Larry Levine stop by the show today to discuss when the sales process actually gets in the way of the sale. It’s really not that hard.  ✧ Do what you say you’re going to do. ✧ Keep processes simple. ✧ Have logical next steps. Do you realize that you’re training your customers how to do business with you? Are you thinking a...

I’ve seen countless reps search for the perfect thing to say to the perfect person at the perfect time, and miss the whole point. Consultative selling is about an exchange of ideas, not the reciting of a few well crafted lines. On today’s podcast episode, I talk about how top performers don’t just sell, they create the environment to buy. 🔎 they start by making sure there is emotional engagement...

For years, we’ve been lied to. We’ve been told “leaders are readers.”  That’s only a partial truth. There’s a difference between knowing what to do and actually executing, and that’s where real leadership lives. Leaders aren’t just readers, they’re doers.  That’s what today’s podcast episode is focused on. What do you think about your own habits and disciplines around execution? “I’ve got to read...

“How you do anything is how you do everything.” You may have heard this before. Camille Clemons and DeJuan Brown are not the first to say it, but they graciously spent a few minutes with me to talk about what it means to them and how it impacts their respective day-to-day routines. How do you hold yourself accountable to the little things, especially knowing that they add up to really big things?...

Top salespeople start by thinking about what needs to happen. Most other sellers just start asking for directions. This is an important umbrella concept to recognize, and that’s what today’s episode of the Rethink The Way You Sell podcast is all about.  Instead of looking for an instruction manual or a paint-by-numbers guide, you must start by identifying the objective and what needs to happen. Is...

Everybody who performs at a high level has some means of evaluating their current performance. It’s important to know what’s actually going on in real time so you can identify where you’re strong and where you have some room to improve, and that’s what I’m talking about on today’s episode of the podcast. Do you ever go back and replay sales calls in your head after you’re done with them? It only t...

If we go back to Covey, and Habit #1, being proactive means taking responsibility for your outcomes. You’re the captain of your ship.  But you can only control what you can control. You need to recognize when things are outside of your control, and adjust your mindset accordingly. Trying to overreach that sphere of influence won’t do you any favors. On today’s episode, I speak with my friend Andy...

The very best salespeople know that the buck stops with them when it comes to revenue results. Sure, there are other important aspects of the revenue cycle, but ultimately the seller is judged on a revenue number, and it’s a binary outcome. Today’s podcast outlines what it means to take ownership of your outcomes. They don’t blame others when the revenue isn’t there It boggles my mind that someone...

Season 2 of the Rethink The Way You Sell Podcast is all about intangibles, and Mike Hook wrote a killer LinkedIn post about intangibles that I just needed to speak with him about. In the post, Mike shared the dirty little secret for how high performers get things done 9it’s actually seven little secrets). Here they are. Set your ego aside Have conviction Admit when you’re wrong Live what you speak...

It takes about 10,000 hours of dedicated practice to master a skill. How often do you actually practice your sales craft? No, really… I don’t mean the hours you spend at work, and it’s a stretch to even count webinars and podcasts. I mean dedicated practice. Making sales calls, writing email copy, talking shop… That’s the normal stuff that you end up getting credit for. What about role playing?  W...

One of my favorite aspects of having a podcast is getting to talk to really smart people about a specific area of their genius. Luigi Prestinenzi is one of those people, and this is one of those conversations. ”Fundamentally, what separates top performers have a relentless pursuit of excellence. It’s in everything they do. How they develop their skills, how they focus, how they condition their min...

To top performers, selling is not just a job to help pay the bills, or a side hustle to make a quick buck. It’s who they are and how they identify.  It’s clear to me that they see a bigger picture than their colleagues. Selling is a career and a lifestyle. That’s what today’s podcast episode is all about. They’re inspired by the work they do and the solutions they create. They don’t get caught up...

At any given moment, can you affirmatively state that what you’re currently doing is helping you achieve your larger goals? The great Jim Collins said that if you have more than three priorities, you have no priorities. In a world of shiny objects and things that sound good, are you making sure you’re able to focus on the things that will actually get you where you want to go? On today’s episode o...