Sales Secrets

No one can argue the world in which we live is a digital world. But, what does that mean for sales? Many people have interpreted digital sales to mean social selling and have argued social selling is and will be the only way to sell. Mario Martinez, CEO of Vengreso, argues that digital sales is more than just social selling, it's understanding where the customer is and meeting them there. Digital sales is a combination of all the tools sales reps have in their hands on. In this episode, Mario settles the debate on social selling and opens the listener's mind to new possibilities for selling in a digital world. In This Episode You'll Learn: The truth about social selling What is digital sales Statistics about how digital sales has changed the way we do business Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode: 113: The Truth About Social Selling w/Koka Sexton @Hootsuite 103: The Number One Thing That Drives Results With Social w/Cameron Brain @EveryoneSocial 97: Is Social Selling Dead?

In this emerging era of virtual selling, you can pursue strategies that previously would have been cost prohibitive. You can open up markets that would have proved elusive. You can run experiments that would have been expensive or difficult to run. All this is according to the best-selling book, Next Era Selling, co-authored by Britton Manasco. Britton visits the Playmaker podcast and discusses some of the key strategies outlined in his book that large organizations are executing on to move into the next era of selling. In This Episode You'll Learn: How to get front office fusion What separates the outside from the inside The state of specialization Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode: 110: Unraveling the Sales Technology Stack w/Lauren Chacon @ConstantContact, Deron Frye @PGi, & Jeff Skousen @Domo 14: Using Sales Operations to Drive Growth and Productivity w/Leaders from Apttus, New Relic, Xactly, and Splunk 107: How to Grow a Successful Field Sales Team w/Steve Benson @BadgerMapping

We might have had a little fight, Koka and I. Fight might be too strong of a word, a gentleman's disagreement is probably a better term. I started the debate with a post poking the bear declaring that social selling was dead. I felt my argument had some merit. I debated that the word social selling is confusing and the data is lacking to prove the worth of social selling. Koka saw the article and wrote a strong rebuttal and made some strong points. Koka and I started to speak offline and we decided we'd continue the conversation on the #Playmaker podcast. Thankfully, Koka and I came to terms and realized we have more in common than we thought. It's all captured here, check it out. In This Episode You'll Learn: How can you think about the value of social selling How should marketing and sales work together to deliver social selling What is the future of social selling Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode: 103: The Number One Thing That Drives Results With Social w/Cameron Brain @EveryoneSocial 97:

I love being sold. The other day this kid knocks on my door and I swear he could have been 15 but that's beside the point. He starts going into his sales pitch and I have to admit, it was CLEAN. I stood there and simply smiled. He probably thought I was some weird guy just standing there with a big grin on my face while he went on about bug spray, but he never said anything. After a few minutes, I stopped him and said, "Look, I have no interest in your product my man but I'd love to film you doing your pitch." We both decided that was kind of an odd thing so we parted ways with a handshake and left it at that. I know, I didn't buy the product but I still loved what I heard. It's a great feeling to be sold and it's an even a better feeling to be sold and then have the product or service deliver on its promise. That doesn't happen very often so when it does, you better be happy. When it comes to sales productivity tools, the mantra often seems "over promise and under deliver." Sad, but the

We all go through transitions in our lives and the same is true for businesses. Some business grow and some businesses shrink. Stan, Global Business Development Leader at VONQ, joined his company at the perfect time. A time when the business was ready to start thinking more strategically about building a proper inside sales team and Stan was the man for the job. Armed with the latest research and best practices from a myriad of thought leaders, Stand has begun a journey to figure out the best way to optimize an inside sales team by focusing on the three key levers of: People, Process, and Technology. In This Episode You'll Learn: The importance of people in an inside sales strategy and how companies should look to hire top talent How companies should consider structuring their organizations for optimal results What role technology should play in the transformation process

Companies have made significant investments to date in tools and technologies to enable sales. Usually, the core of this investment is a CRM system deployed with high expectations of streamlined selling and new insights. Unfortunately, CRM systems are rarely fully utilized and often fall short of these expectations. What is needed beyond the CRM to help sales organizations unleash additional sales growth? In This Episode You'll Learn: What organizations need to think about before they buy technology What are optimal sales technologies every company should have What mistakes do sales leaders make when buying technology Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode: 64: The Harmony Theory: A Marketing and Sales Acceleration Formula w/Dan Murdoch @WorkMarket 53: Unraveling the Sales Stack: What 600 Sales Leaders Say Are Must-Haves 14: Using Sales Operations to Drive Growth and Productivity w/Leaders from Apttus, New Relic, Xactly, and Splunk

Some people talk and other people do and Lee Bartlett is a doer who is a proven entity when it comes to sales. Lee has eat and slept sales for years and now he's taken the time to dump all of his best stuff into his book The Number One Best Seller - a masterclass in professional selling. In this episode, we go rapid fire Q&A with Lee and ask him the toughest questions we could think of. Let us know what you think. In This Episode You'll Learn: How can reps hit their number What is social selling and what is it not What does it take to become a number one best seller Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode: The Number One Best Seller EP 104: The Science of Sales Transformation w/Ken Krogue EP 105: Selling to Zebras w/Jeff Koser @SellingToZebras

There is a lot of talk about sales and a lot of that talk is just talk, it doesn't lead to action. Sales reps need advice that is actionable, repeatable, and ultimately they need advice that leads to success. That type of goodness is hard to come by these days so it's a breath of fresh air to hear people talking about what sales reps really need rather than what people think they need. Dianna Geairn & Shawn Sandy host The SellOut Show, a show focused on boots-on-the-ground conversations with real people talking about real results. Dianna and Shawn joined the Playmaker podcast to talk about some of their learnings and must do's for sales reps to be successful. In This Episode You'll Learn: What is the number one tactical thing sales reps can to do be successful today How can sales reps navigate the many sales acceleration systems offered to them Top books every sales reps should read Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Shawn's LinkedIn Dianna's LinkedIn The SellOut Show EP 103: The Number One

What ever happened to field sales? Do companies still utilize it and is it still effective? The answer as always is, it depends. Field sales is a powerful go to market strategy but it is often misunderstood and can therefore lack organization and structure . In this episode, Steve Benson, CEO of Badger Mapping, discusses his expeirence as a field sales rep and some of the top challenges fields reps face when trying to reach their sales goals. In This Episode You'll Learn: What are the primary responsibilities of a field rep What are the biggest challenges of sales reps How are organizations solving these problems Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Badger Mapping EP: 100 Mind Boxing EP: 105 Selling to Zebras

Every company does things differently and success can look different depending on where you are. One thing that stays constant is change and it's probably the thing that companies have the hardest time with. Change unfortunately is one of the fundamental principles of success and if companies can't get this right, they won't succeed. In this episode, Dov Hirsch, chief strategy officer at Prospect Cloud, talks about practical ways companies should be thinking about growing. In This Episode You'll Learn: What role does change have in growth How important is it to start with why How to think practically about growing your team or company Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Dov's LinkedIn Playmaker Facebook Group InsideSales.com

It’s hard to believe, but most companies close only about 15 percent of their sales deals. This means that salespeople spend 85 percent of their time to no avail. What can they do? The answer lies in identifying zebras, prospects that are perfect fits for a salesperson’s deal — not just from a product or service basis but also in terms of corporate values. In this episode, author and CEO, Jeff Koser explains the ideas behind Selling to Zebras and how this concept can change businesses. In This Episode You'll Learn: What is the idea of selling to zebras How can organizations start identifying target accounts Why it's important for organizations to sell to zebras Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Selling to Zebras Selling to Zebras ebook Jeff Koser

Companies spend thousands of dollars on sales acceleration technology and many technology implementations fail. How is that possible? Organizations don't realize that the keys to success revolve around change management and the ability of an organization to create a structure where change can actually happen. In this episode, founder and president of InsideSales.com, Ken Krogue, discusses the five steps to sales transformation. In This Episode You'll Learn: The importance of executive sponsorship How all projects need a governance structure Why organizations should focus on engaging their people The importance of process mapping Leading indicators and how they can help manage a project Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Ken Krogue The Sales Acceleration Facebook Group InsideSales.com

Using social in selling can be a powerful tool to help sales reps sell more. But, like any tool, it's important to know how exactly to use this tool to make it as effective as possible. In this episode, Cameron Brian, Founder and CEO of Everyone Social, talks about what social selling is and what sales reps are doing to achieve optimal results. In This Episode You'll Learn: Clearing the Air on Social Selling What activities bring results in social selling What's a good sales cadence Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Everyone Social InsideSales.com

Michael Pedone is a serial entrepreneur who has made a living doing exactly what he preaches. He's mastered the art and the science of selling but he says that sales reps often forget one of the most important parts of selling, time management and the keys to structuring a good day. I know it sounds simple but it sales reps can't manage their time appropriately, they've lost before they've started. In this episode, Michael gives us the keys to time management and discusses other tips sales reps need to master to be become successful. In This Episode You'll Learn: How to successfully manage a sales reps time Key things every sales rep should do every day How social selling fits into a sales reps day What's a good sales cadence Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Michael Pedone LinkedIn SalesBuzz.com InsideSales.com

We often talk about sales but we don't talk about customer success. Customer success is in an important trend and a vital part of any sales organization. In this episode, Dave Blake, founder and CEO of Client Success talks about the key elements of building a customer success team and how organizations can avoid the most common pitfalls. In This Episode You'll Learn: How to build a customer success team The optimal compensation strategy What successful companies to do structure their teams Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode: ClientSuccess InsideSales.com

Sales is not only about the closing a deal it's about how you handle the deal. In this episode, Harinder Singh, talks about Mind Boxing, a preparedness process that focuses on mentally preparing for a meeting. effectively executing a meeting, and following through after the meeting. In This Episode You'll Learn: What is Mind Boxing How can you most effectively prepare and properly execute meetings The one key thing everyone needs to know to prepare for important meetings Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Mind Boxing InsideSales.com

I don't care about account-based marketing, I care about account-based sales. The problem with account-based sales is it's an idea most people have heard about but nobody knows what to actually do. For this reason, effective account-based sales requires sales reps who consider themselves the CEO of their territory and own their number. This is how we do it at at InsideSales.com. If you have a good idea, let's get'er done and that's exactly what Joey Wood and Jack Ballash, two of InsideSales.com's top sales reps, did. Rather than simply use LinkedIn or call their prospects, Joey and team brainstormed an account-based sales campaign that utilized a variety of communication methods to drive some big time results in a short amount of time. In This Episode You'll Learn: How to run an effective account-based sales campaign The results of our account-based sales campaign The Dos and Don'ts of account-based sales Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Gabe Larsen LinkedIn Posts Joey Wood's LinkedIn Inside

Daniel Disney is a master at his craft and has had thousands of views on his social media content. In addition, he runs the TheDailySales blog, a blog focused on great content and hilarious memes. In this episode, Daniel discusses his viral content, his opinion about cold calling, and what sales trends are never going away. In This Episode You'll Learn: How to create viral content Is Cold Calling really dead? What sales trends will never go away? Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Gabe Larsen LinkedIn The Daily Sales InsideSales.com

Well, that got interesting. I wrote an article about Social Selling being dead and then Koka Sexton from Hootsuite, wrote a rebuttal, called Is Social Selling Dead. So, it was only natural that I wrote him back and this was my response. My argument is not that sales reps shouldn't use social tools but we need to be careful about how many activities people do. We want them to sell so let's keep the eye on the prize. In This Episode You'll Learn: The definition of social selling The importance of partnering to build pipeline Why social thought leaders need to get to the how rather than just the what Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Gabe Larsen LinkedIn The Sales Acceleration Facebook Group InsideSales.com

People always wonder how to build a sales teams and they think it's about hiring but it's not. In this episode, Chris Beall, CEO of ConnectAndSell talks about the importance of conversations and how they are the fundamental building blocks of success. In This Episode You'll Learn: The importance of conversations in building a sales teams How social selling should be looked at for real sales teams How leaders should build sales teams Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Don Aslett on Amazon The Sales Acceleration Facebook Group InsideSales.com