SALES with ASLAN

This week on #sALESwithASLAN we discuss the mistake all #salesreps make when prospecting. We are born self centered and as sales people we continue to think about ourselves first. What if we could learn to learn about the person we are trying to “sell” and actually deliver value on the opening call by focusing our solution to a perceived gap in their understanding or a perceived need. Learn how ma...

Former EVP of Sales, John Ferguson and current Adjunct Professor at DePaul University is an industry expert on sales management and sales coaching. John brings his 30+ years of selling and managing experience to #sALESwithASLAN to unpack the 6 steps of sales management and the 3 key functions of sales management: 1. Lead 2. Manage 3.Coach #salesmanagement #salescoaching 

Just a message from us to you to enjoy the long weekend.  Happy Fourth of July to all of you and please drink responsibly ;-)

We take questions from our audience on #sALESwithASLAN and we were recently asked "how selling into regulated industries where you cannot take notes, cannot send customized materials, etc can be overcome?" Marc Lamson joins me this week to discuss some tips that we have learned over the years that will prove helpful for those in those highly regulated industries such as pharma and financial....

 This week on #sALESwithASLAN, I am joined by author and technical sales expert Chris White whose website www.demodoctor.com is a great resource for sales engineers and those that lead and work with them. Chris’ new book The Six Habits of Highly Effective Sales Engineers promotes team selling, better discovery, practicing your craft and many other habits that blend well in to any selling prof...

As we approach the close of the first half of 2019, many sales leaders and sales reps are beginning to feel the stress of the 2nd quarter coming to a close. This week on sALES with ASLAN, we are joined by Marc Lamson who helps us unpack the difference between good and bad stress, how to manage the stress we do feel and how to leverage the #serenityprayer which simply states that you have the wisdo...

This week on sALES with ASLAN, we are joined by long time sales expert, Susan Simon who has mastered a 3-part process for self-evaluation. In this episode we discuss ways to build “muscle memory” in our selling process how to define what good, great and even terrible might look like, and how to prepare step by step. Any sales rep listening knows that there is always room for improvement and Susan...

Today we dive deep into the concept of conversational discovery vs. the interrogation tactics that so many of us use in our discovery meetings with clients. John Cerqueira who has close to 20 years of client facing experience helps us define what it means to humanize the selling process by focusing on what is important to the client. First focus on the problem they are trying to solve and only tal...

Tom Stanfill, CEO at ASLAN Training and Development joins me today to uncover the good, the bad and the ugly of objection handling. First, we define what it means to help customers answer their questions of  "Are objections good or bad?" Well we believe it is both. With hundreds of accounts and thousands of meetings under his belt, Tom has observed many of pitfalls and thus has a lot of exper...

This week on sALES with ASLAN, one of our listeners, Matt, asked us to help him #LandandExpand within his accounts. Our president Marc Lamson and I discuss the  aspects of cross selling in two main parts: selling additional products and services within our accounts and also asking for referrals with our accounts. Don’t miss out on learning about these key ways  expand our presence in our...

If you've listened to sALES with ASLAN before, you know all about our Other-Centered® Selling approach. This week, we really personalize this concept with the incredible story of John Cerqueira who was 80 floors up when the planes hit the twin towers. How did John react at that moment when chaos rained down all around him? John, who is the author of “Hero Sandwich: A True Story”,  talks about...

It's the age-old question: If you could do one thing to create the most likelihood of success, what would it be (and would you, could you do it)? This week we look at the 2004 study entitled Flawed Self-Assessment: Implications for Health, Education, and the Workplace by David Dunning, Chip Heath and Jerry M. Suls and try to decipher the one thing that successful sales people do: Seek feedback. To...

This week on sALES with ASLAN®, we discuss investing in the front lines with business owner, consultant, and sales leader, Randy Riemersma of Span the Chasm.  Those of us who have been at this awhile have war stories and we hope there's a few pointers you can take away from our conversation.  Make sure you comment down below or email scassidy@aslantraining.com with ideas for future episo...

Author and Sales Leadership Coach Bobbi Kahler joins me this week on sALES with ASLAN to discuss what she overcame early in her life when she was diagnosed with a catastrophic speech disability.  Bobbi talks about the need for mentors and coaches to get through the tough speed bumps in life.  She also tells us why she never has said she couldn't do something. You can also learn more in B...

Tom Stanfill joins us this week to discuss how to make it easier for our customers to understand our solutions and methodology.  We can do this through the use of references, word pictures, and by telling stories.  If what you are selling sounds too complicated, your customer is less likely to buy. If you would like to learn more on this topic read our blog by Tom called The Art of Simpl...

This week we dive headlong into sales resolutions for the new year. We discuss practicing your sales craft, choosing your prospects and customers wisely and how to outwork our competition. This particular podcast is a great compliment to our blog called 7 Questions and 7 Resolutions to Sell more in 2019. #salesstrategy #salesstrategy

In the spirit of March Madness, this week we look at the obvious and not so obvious examples of NCAA coaches who focus on key areas of players (or rep) development and how this ties into sales coaching. We will also discuss how to help our sales reps and sales leaders communicate more effectively. This week's topics include joint accountability, taking time to coach, leaders connecting with player...

As we continue our deep dive into sales leadership on sALES with ASLAN, we focus our attention on one of the 3 hats that leadership wears: coaching.  The first question we ponder is who do you coach since you cannot coach everyone, there just isn’t enough time. Coach those with a desire to be coached.  The best coaches or catalysts avoid the two main problems. They give the appropriate a...

In our latest learning opportunity here on sALES with ASLAN, we turn our attention away from the sales reps and focus on the leaders that help them succeed. Leadership is accomplished on a 1 to 1 basis as we seek to motivate at the individual level.  We as leaders need to measure in 4 dimensions vs the standard 2.  Most leaders measure revenue and activity. But we need to measure results...

This week we continue our deep dive into the alarming trend that is taking place in the marketplace. Why are 53% of reps are missing quota during an economic upturn? And why has this trend been in decline for 5 straight years? In this episode we take a look at how reps can shift the mindset of "what’s in it for me" to "what’s in it for my customer". Stop and ask yourself: Does your customer feel t...

It dropped again. Not the stock market or consumer confidence. No, the number of reps hitting their quota declined …for the fifth year in a row. It’s unprecedented. It’s now at an all-time low of 53% while the stock markets hit record highs. The bottom line is that half of all sellers are failing, and it’s getting worse. Something’s amiss.  Why is this happening?  This week on the sALES...

Welcome to the inaugural episode of our sALES with ASLAN podcast series where each week, we start by highlighting our favorite Ales and Beers and then move into current trends and topics that keep sales professionals up at night.  In this episode, we start at the beginning with how ASLAN came to be a successful sales training company.  Our two founders tell stories about the genesis of t...

The sALES with ASLAN Podcast Series is intended to be a light and fun way to talk about a serious subject: selling.  Buyer behavior has changed dramatically over the last several years, and salespeople have failed to change with the times.  Our commitment is to help organizations "bridge the gap" in their sales force execution. To do that, we focus on the improvement of sales and service...