SALES with ASLAN: Recent Episodes
ASLAN Training and Development
Selling is serving. Let us serve you with tips, stories and experts on topics you care about.
Buyer behavior has changed dramatically. Customers have more information available to them, and therefore are unreceptive, or closed, to sellers. And the harder we sell, the more closed customers become. Traditional selling approaches are working against sellers.
ASLAN helps sellers make that shift, from 'typical' selling to a different approach that makes us more influential because we embrace the truth that the customer's receptivity is more important than your value prop or message.
In this episode, we apply ASLAN's core principles to one of our most important relationships: parenting. Tom and Tab explore shifting our focus from the illusion of control to the power of influence. We'll discuss how loosening our grip on outcomes allows us to walk alongside our children, fostering deeper connections and building a foundation for healthy, long-lasting relationships. By focusing on influence through connection and invitation, we create an environment where core needs are met. This episode is for any parent looking to influence without sacrificing the relationship.
Are you tired of pitching to the wrong people? Feeling like your deals stall because you haven't identified the key decision maker? Join the ASLAN founders Tom and Tab as they unveil the secrets to unmasking the power players in every sales meeting.
In this episode, you'll learn:
- The Role of Discovery: Go beyond titles and uncover the true function of everyone at the table.
- Identifying Potential Blockers: Learn how to spot deal saboteurs and navigate their influence.
- The Power of Healthy Pessimism: Discover how a little strategic skepticism can help you prepare for every obstacle and close more deals.
Stop wasting time and energy on dead-end conversations. This podcast equips you with the skills to confidently navigate any sales environment, identify the real decision maker, and confidently close the deal. Hit subscribe and get ready to transform your sales game!
In this episode Tom sits down with top-performing sales rep and account manager from Cisco, Drew Armitage, to discuss how he's leveraging AI to skyrocket his sales.
Drew dives deep into his daily routine, revealing how AI tools help him:
- Uncover valuable insights about clients and their needs beforehand so he can tailor his approach and maximize his chances of success.
- Gain a deeper understanding of their pain points by analyzing data and past interactions, allowing him to craft more relevant and compelling pitches.
- Automate repetitive tasks like data entry and scheduling, freeing up valuable time for building relationships and closing deals.
They also discuss essential tips for anyone just starting their sales journey. They praise the discipline of hard work while you are building your career in sales and how important it is to seek feedback regularly. This episode is a must-listen for anyone in sales, whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting your career. Discover how AI can be your secret weapon to assist in sales.
Today Tom and Scott talk about how our world is more isolated than ever, people are more entrenched in their own opinions, making traditional sales tactics fall flat. The harder you push, the more resistance you face. Listen as Tom helps you discover the 3 P's to convert even the most disinterested leads:
- Priority: It's not about you, it's about your customer. Learn how to put their needs first and build trust through genuine service.
- Pressure: Ditch the aggressive pitch! People crave freedom, so we'll show you how to frame your approach as solving problems, not making sales.
- Point of View: Stop talking and start listening! We'll teach you to uncover your prospect's true concerns and tailor your solutions to their unique perspective.
Ready to stop pushing and start influencing? Subscribe to our podcast and discover how to connect with even the toughest customers!
In this episode of Sales With ASLAN, Tom and Tab talk with Professor Frank Cespedes, a sales expert from Harvard Business School. Frank joins us to discuss his groundbreaking new book, "Sales Management That Works: How to Sell in a World That Never Stops Changing," which dives deep into how the selling landscape has been transformed by the modern customer and their access to data. Whether you’re a seasoned sales veteran or just starting out, this episode is packed with insights to help you excel in this new era of selling. Join us! #SalesTips #NewEraOfSelling #ASLANPodcast
At ASLAN we know change is hard so, how do you handle the stumbling blocks along the road to change? On today’s episode Tom talks with Scott about how we can keep growing personally and professionally no matter your age. They dive into the often-overlooked importance of failure. They also explore why failure is part of the process, how it unlocks valuable lessons, and why growth, even the good kind, can be uncomfortable. They give great insight on how to address the negative narratives holding you back. They'll challenge the idea that positive change should be easy. The truth is, it's not easy to change. But fear not! They will also equip you with tools to reframe setbacks, build resilience, and ultimately, learn and grow from your experiences.
Tune in as Tom and Tab welcome author and sales leader Scott Edinger to the podcast. In this episode, we dive into Scott’s latest book, Growth Leader, designed to help seasoned pros and hungry novices unlock sustainable sales growth.
Discover:
- What it takes to become a growth leader who inspires meaningful change
- How to create a sales experience that will increase your close rate
- Tips to foster a collaborative and innovative culture
-Strategies to empower and engage your team long-term
You won’t want to miss this opportunity to learn from one of the best in the business!
This episode is created by ASLAN Training. ASLAN equips sales teams with the skills and knowledge they need to consistently win in today's competitive market. Visit https://aslantraining.com/ to learn more about their sales training programs and resources.
In this episode, Tom and Tab talk about what it takes to actually get your emails read and not just seen then deleted. They emphasize the importance of answering these four questions: Who are you (are you a real person)? Can you solve my problem? What's next? How do I learn more? They also discuss the significance of subject lines and the need for a process in crafting compelling emails. This episode provides valuable insight for any business leader looking to break through the email noise.
In honor of Valentine's day we wanted to talk about a relational need we all have… to be valued. We pulled this episode from the vault just for today because ASLAN partner Marc Lamson does such a great job explaining why meeting this need matters, from your customers to your spouse. We have a great discussion about why valuing others and paying attention can not only land you more business but, leave a lasting impact on everyone in your world. At ASLAN, we have a three part serve model - care more, learn more, and do more. This model positions you to stand out not simply because of how well you sell, but because of how much you care.
Today, Tom and Tab have the pleasure of talking to Dr. Randy Ross, bestselling author, communicator, and business culture expert. On this episode, they dive into Randy's book, Remarkable and what exactly a remarkable person does and why this makes such an impact where you work and where you live. Randy gave practical advice for anyone from business leaders to parents of how to create a culture where people care about each other and want the best for each other. His principles aligned perfectly with the Other-Centered® Selling model we teach at ASLAN. You might want to grab a pen cause this one is worth taking notes!
Welcome to a new year! On today's episode Tom and Tab dive into what changes we can all make to ensure that 2024 is our best year yet and it's not what you think! Tom and Tab each share four practices that they have put into place in their own lives to help them be successful at the office and outside of it. From creating space or margin in their week so that busy doesn't turn into constantly distracted to seeking feedback so blind spots don't undermine your success, this episode has something for everyone who is looking to start their new year off right.
Today Tom and Tab dive into one of the main complaints among sales leaders, how do we help our account managers become trusted partners? If account managers are golden retrievers who thrive off the relationships with their customers can we help them be more like tigers prowling for their next sale? Tom and Tab give great insight on how leaders can coach them to become trusted partners. At ASLAN we believe as trusted partners our account managers can stay in their lane of meeting their customers needs while earning a seat at the table. With a seat at the table these managers can do what they love, which is serve the needs of their clients at a higher capacity.
In this episode Tom talks with our partner from down under, Charlie Pidcock. Charlie is an ASLAN Partner in Sydney, Australia who shares his insight on leading with conviction and how he strives to have a mindset of always being in service. Charlie and Tom talk candidly about how to see blind spots through coaching and constantly asking questions. We loved the reminder that we are never too far in our career to be a student.
Today Tom and Tab are in part two with John Cerqueira where we dive into how fear sabotages our ability to sell. John guides us through having the right headspace so that we can have clarity to serve, connect well to others, and be present with clients. His approach gives us great insight on not linking our outcomes to our identity no matter how the meeting goes.
In this episode, Tom and Tab meet with former ASLAN employee, John Cerqueira. John is now pursuing his passion for coaching leaders to be more peaceful and purposeful. Together we spend two episodes talking about how important our emotional state is to our performance at work. John talks about the keys to effective change in a company of any size and gives us an insightful tip that works both at the office and at home.
Today we get the pleasure of talking to Jeffrey Gitomer, bestselling author of over fifteen books on sales including our favorite and his most popular The Little Red book of selling. Jeffrey is a sales expert who got his start in New York City, not a place known for an easy sale. Jeffrey runs a family-owned business who is known for his straight talk approach. We loved getting to align with Jeff about how to serve your customers well and learn what they love.
After a brief summer hiatus, Tom and Tab are back with another episode of SALES with ASLAN! They discuss the frustrations of having a deal stall and five things that we as sellers can do (things that are in our control) to keep the deal from stalling. Whether you're selling a thousand-dollar product or a million-dollar solution, how do you keep the deal moving forward?
In this episode of #SALESwithASLAN, Tom and Tab continue their conversation on buyer resistance in this age of information overload, and give additional strategies for sellers to navigate this challenge.
In this episode of #SALESwithASLAN, Tom and Tab discuss how to navigate buyer resistance in this age of information and technology overload, giving sellers some strategies and techniques to do so.
In this episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab continue their discussion on what habits make leaders successful, effective, and able to ignite and drive change in their organizations.
In this episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab discuss what habits make leaders successful, effective, and able to ignite and drive change in their organizations. What are these superstars doing to motivate and develop their sales teams?
In this episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab are joined by special guest, Jesse Rome, our new VP of Training here at ASLAN. In what our hosts claim to be "the best episode ever," the guys share their perspectives on selling in a post-COVID world. They unpack how we've had to shift our approach to selling, how to be effective sellers in a hybrid work environment, and some best practices for what seems to have taken hold as our "new normal."
In this episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab discuss how to effectively deliver a message. Most of the time, sellers (especially OtherCentered sellers), are focused on creating receptivity, eliminating buyer resistance, getting through the door, uncovering the truth, etc. etc. etc. But what do you do once you've created that fertile soil? You plant the seed. Deliver your recommendation. Today, Tom and Tab unpack a helpful framework for delivering your recommendation, which centers around the three main questions a customer usually has at this stage: How can you help me? (Connect). Why should I pick you? (Contrast). Will this really work? (Convince).
In this episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab are re-joined by behavioral expert, keynote speaker and author, Dan Silvert. (If you missed Dan's first appearance on the pod, check out Episode 171 - The Birds.)
During his previous feature, Dan introduced us to the 4 Behavioral Styles, illustrated by four characters: the Eagle, Parrot, Dove, and Owl. He used these characters to discuss how sellers can adapt to the four different behavior styles as they apply to customers. Today, Dan focuses on how this knowledge can also help sales leaders better understand their team members and more effectively lead, manage, and coach.
In this episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab talk with the #1 rep at a growing tech company called Jitterbit, Calder Justice. Tune in to hear them discuss the best question to begin every meeting, Calder's #1 key to success, and the keys to being strategic and focused. Calder also shares how NOT identifying as a seller led him to the #1 spot in his organization, as well as his passion for being a ministry entrepreneur.
In this episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab talk to the man who literally wrote the book on Social Selling: Tim Hughes. They explore the three drives to getting more leads on LinkedIn – building a buyer centric profile, building your network, and how content that elevates you to influencer status and builds a following.
In this episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab are joined by Dan Silvert to discuss the importance if building relationships in sales.
Specifically, they unpack the four primary behavioral styles that determine how people relate to one another and form relationships. This is key for sellers to understand because our relationships determine our influence, create receptivity, and ultimately allow us to serve our customers.
In this episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab continue with their "back to the basics" theme.
Effectively delivering your recommendation and winning an opportunity starts with, of course, a strategy. Tab and Tom talk us through the four types of strategy and what top sellers do to effectively position their solution.
In this episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab continue their conversation about how effective discovery starts with building a Discovery Roadmap. They take us through a simple framework to ensure you're prepared, how to keep the decision maker engaged in the process and create a competitive advantage by asking the right questions.
In this episode of SALES with ASLAN, you will learn how effective discovery starts with building a Discovery Roadmap. Tom and Tab take us through a simple framework to ensure you are prepared, how to keep the decision maker engaged in the process and create a competitive advantage by asking the right questions.
In this episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab continue this series by discussing the three most important and surprising things you need to know in order to succeed in 2023 - including one of the greatest barriers to success in sales: how to "break through the noise."
In this episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab tackle another segment of this three part series.
They wrap it up by discussing the specifics of how to develop a plan, define your numbers, and the key elements of actually implementing that plan in order to crush your goals in 2023.
In this episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab continue their conversation from last week, discussing how to plan for the year ahead. What do we need to do to crush our number in 2023?
The guys take on this topic by tackling the foundational and fundamental questions that all sellers should be considering.
In this episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab kick off the new year by taking it "back to basics." The start of a new year is a good time to refresh, reset, and plan for the year ahead. So with their first episode of 2023, Tom and Tab discuss mindset, opportunity, and a "plan to crush" the year ahead.
In this episode of SALES with ASLAN (the final one of the year), Tom and Tab share their favorite "principles, quotes, and truths" - ones that they've heard, collected, and taken to heart over the past year.
This feel-good episode is a great way to wrap up the year and put a bow on it. And speaking of wrapping and bows, we'd like to wish everyone a very happy and healthy holiday season!
In this week's episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab share two simple yet counterintuitive strategies geared at overcoming the two biggest problems that sellers face: engagement and converting unreceptive customers.
They are the same strategies that leaders leverage to engage their team members and drive results. Their conversation is guided by two questions: How do you connect? How do you influence?
In this episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab are joined by sales expert, leader, and former client turned partner of ASLAN, John Ferguson.
John, Tom and Tab unpack the importance of Discovery, the big mistakes most sellers make, how to do it right, and why it matters. The goal of these interviews is to equip, encourage, and elevate our listeners - and that's exactly what our guest does this week.
In this week's episode, Tom and Tab are joined by a true SALES with ASLAN alumni: our former host and founding father, Mr. Scott Cassidy.
Scott joins the podcast (mainly to deliver his famous intro once again), but also to help Tom and Tab address a specific group of sellers: those in channel sales. Scott also brought along a guest of his own, Drew Henderson, an expert at selling to and through partners. Throughout their conversation, these four sales pros share a great deal of insight, but especially, how to "influence without authority."
This week on SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab continue their discussion from last episode with Andy Paul - sales expert, author, and host of his own podcast, Sales Enablement with Andy Paul.
The next part of their discussion moves on to tackle: the four pillars that drive success, the value of curiosity, intellectual humility, and the nitty gritty tactics of what it takes to really be successful. Very few sellers can do what Andy is encouraging our listeners to do - but if you do, you will be different, you will make more money, you will be more successful, and you will enjoy your role as a seller even more.
This week on SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab are joined by special guest Andy Paul - sales expert, author, and host of his own podcast, Sales Enablement with Andy Paul.
They discuss how we see our role as a seller, the challenges of selling, how the traditional approach to selling and the "predictable revenue playbook" is failing us... basically, why we need to change the way we sell. And the kicker is, when you understand and embrace these ideas, not only will you enjoy selling more, you'll be more successful.
In this episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab are joined by Randy Riemersma, Senior AVP of the Enterprise Business Unit at Mulesoft and one of the most elite sellers and leaders out there.
Their conversation covers a range of sales topics, including, but not limited to: the drivers of success for the one percenters, situational fluency, access to power, how to stay motivated, personal brand, the six emotions that drive decision-making, Randy's top book recommendations, and much more.
In this episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab continue their discussion from last week's episode on how to nail your next sales presentation. What can we do to set ourselves up for success? What can we do to minimize failure?
Our hosts unpack items 3, 4, and 5 on their pre-presentation checklist, continuing to offer up tangible tactics for how to master your presentation, manage your time, and advance the opportunity that's on the line.
In this week's episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab discuss a tried but true topic amongst sellers: how to nail a presentation. What can we do to set ourselves up for success? What can we do to minimize failure?
Our hosts unpack a very specific set of questions to ask yourself before any important sales meeting or presentation. With the help of this trusty checklist, Tom and Tab offer up tangible tactics for how to master your presentation, manage your time, and advance the opportunity that's on the line.
In the latest episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab sit down with Chris White, sales expert, speaker, and best-selling author of The Six Habits of Highly Effective Sales Engineers.
With a potential recession on the horizon, Tom, Tab and Chris get into the current economic conditions of the market we live and work in, how to navigate the uncertainty we're all facing, and how to remain focused on our true goal as sales professionals: to serve our customers and keep their best interests at heart.
In this week's episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab are joined by Neil Kutzen, Memory Trainer and Founder of MemorizeBest, a breakthrough method in memory training that helps you become more productive and successful in both your personal and professional life by helping you remember and recall more easily.
This topic is relevant for anyone, but especially for those of us in sales who are building relationships daily. We form connections with our customers, friends, and family because of how we treat them, and a critical element of how we treat them relies on what we remember about them.
In the latest episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab get into the nitty gritty aspects of the "four levels of selling." As sellers, we're not just "in sales" - like musicians or athletes, there are different degrees of success, experience, and expertise that elevate salespeople into another league.
They discuss what those levels are and what differentiates each one from the next, as well as the strategies, tactics, and philosophy that it takes to reach the highest level of selling: trusted partner.
In the latest episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab take on a topic that may hit close to home for many of us out there: the similarities between parenting and sales. Both require the ability to influence (those of us who have raised or are raising teenagers definitely understand this).
In fact, many of the concepts and principles in Tom's book, UnReceptive, were born in the "lab" of raising four teenagers.
Everything they discuss really applies to any personal relationship we have, not just as a parent. And if you can learn to apply these principles at home, you'll have no trouble applying them in a professional setting.
Tune in to hear Tom and Tab, both fathers, take on this fun-filled topic:
This week on SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab are joined by guest Ben Ortlip, CEO and Founder of The Culture MRI, a tool that helps businesses quantify and measure the health of their culture. How does one measure that and also measure the impact of it?
The Culture MRI has identified 15 drivers of culture and can "report that state of culture and engagement in terms of dollars saved or lost by your company."
Tune in now to hear Ben share what we need to know about driving vibrant culture within organizations.
In the latest episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab are joined by special guest, Marc Lamson, to continue their discussion from last week's episode about relationships and why they matter in sales.
They unpack how relationships determine our level of influence (whether in our personal lives, with customers, or as sales leaders), and how emotions play into decision-making, even in a business setting. Because at the end of the day, everyone simply wants to feel uniquely valued and understood.
In this episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab discuss a subject that they believe is "the most important topic we will ever talk about." What subject could possibly deserve this superlative? Drum roll please... relationships.
Specifically, how to have successful and fulfilling relationships - not only with our customers, but with the people we care about the most. While this topic isn't the most flashy, exciting, or measurable - it is the foundation of everything that we do in sales. Relationships matter. Tune in now to hear Tom and Tab's insights.
In this week's episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab are joined by Jeb Blount, Founder & CEO of Sales Gravy. With over 29 million downloads on his podcast and a host of best-selling books under his belt, Jeb Blount is making a name for himself as one of the most notable thought leaders of our time.
In this packed conversation, they discuss Jeb's journey to becoming one of the most well-known and well-respected authorities in the world of sales, the keys to leadership and coaching in sales, and his latest book, Selling The Price Increase.
You won't want to miss this one.
This week on SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab continue their discussion from the last episode on what drives confidence. It's a critical ingredient in the recipe for influence and success, especially for those of us in the world of sales. Based on their experience working with thousands of top-performing sellers over the years, Tom and Tab highlight the remaining keys to building confidence.
In the latest episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab discuss what drives confidence. It's a critical ingredient in the recipe for influence and success, especially for those of us in the world of sales. Based on their experience working with thousands of top-performing sellers over the years, Tom and Tab highlight seven keys (things you need to know) to build confidence.
In the latest episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab discuss the power of making mistakes and the importance of learning from our failures, even more so than our successes. They unpack some of their own mistakes over the past three decades of selling, what they've gained from failure, and how those moments of error can be leveraged to elevate our capacity to learn and grow.
In the latest episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab discuss the difficulty and importance of negotiating in sales, especially when it comes to defending the value of your solution. They highlight two of the most surprising things about negotiation (that most sellers miss!), as well as a strategy that can help you change the emotional temperature of the buyer/seller relationship, moving it from an adversarial dynamic to a partnership where both parties ultimately benefit.
On this week's episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab discuss our ability to accomplish truly remarkable things - not only in sales, but in any aspect of life.
We can all bring to mind an example of someone who has achieved something incredible, overcome unbeatable odds, or found success beyond what seems possible.
How do they do it? We often think that there is something unique, different, or special about these people; that they were born this way, destined for success. Most of us doubt we can achieve the same things. But that's not true.
So, what sets these people apart? How do they accomplish such remarkable things? And how can we do the same?
Join Tom and Tab as they discuss 4 keys to "achieving the impossible."
This week on SALES with ASLAN, Bobbi Kahler joins Tom and Tab to discuss mental fitness and its importance for all of us, especially those of us in the world of sales. Mental fitness is our ability to respond to life's challenges, stressors, and opportunities with a positive mindset.
Why does this matter? When we respond with a positive mental mindset, we are more resilient, more creative, we negotiate better, we're more productive, and we take clear headed action.
On the latest episode of SALES with ASLAN, Jason Smith joins Tom Stanfill to discuss how sellers often get very comfortable selling just a couple of products from their portfolio, and customers become interested in only those few products. With his extensive sales experience, Jason shares his insights on how can sellers move from selling a single hot product, to selling a total opportunity and complete solution.
In this episode of SALES with ASLAN, Marc Lamson joins Tom Stanfill to discuss a common challenge in many sales organizations: when technical sellers represent a solution, they are often very adept at communicating complex information, but may have some difficulty with influence and soft skills. With his sales and engineering background, Marc offers up key insight to help highly technical sellers hone their soft skills and ability to influence.
This week on SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab take on a topic that is dreaded amongst most sellers: price objection. They deliver a positive approach to this tough subject, sharing how to defend the value of your solution and respond to those objections that may crop up when discussing price with your customers and prospects.
In this episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab talk about a new book that helps you kill the past, leverage your mistakes, and come up with a plan to Win the Day.
On this week's episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom and Tab interview Todd Duncan, the world’s #1 authority on Sales Mastery, author of 17 books, and host of his own podcast, "Where SUCCESS Happens." They discuss how to increase trust and reduce tension, conversational productivity, how to "make fear and failure your friend," as well as the key truth that "transactions will make you a living, but relationships will make you a fortune." These life lessons have carried Todd through his entire career of equipping people with strategies around growth, relationships, performance, business and life transformation.
Chris White joins Tom and Tab again to continue their discussion about his best-selling book and share the habits that make or break our success when making a technical sale.
Chris White joins Tom and Tab to discuss his best-selling book and share the habits that make or break our success when making a technical sale.
Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris continue their conversation with Genna Lepore about her success selling virtually. She reveals the remaining tips and shares how she was able to close deals 50% faster and crush her number during the pandemic.
Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris talk with Genna Lepore about her success selling virtually. She reveals how she was able to close deals 50% faster and crush her number during the pandemic.
Tom and Tab continue their discussion about the 5 simple questions that will help you discover what is keeping you from being the ultimate influencer.
Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris share 5 simple questions that will help you discover what is keeping you from being the ultimate influencer.
In the latest episode of SALES with ASLAN, Tom Stanfill & Tab Norris interview Marc Lamson about the struggles we all face balancing a career while raising a family-until he found his passion, and 2 simple, life-changing tools.
Tom and Tab (the newly dubbed Chuck Norris of Sales Training) chat with Tyler Bergman, the #1 seller in his firm for 2021. There is much to learn from this former QB turned sales star who outsold the #2 seller by 2X.
Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris interview a master communicator and keynote speaker Kelly Talamo. To help you nail your next presentation, Kelly shares what he has learned in his 30+ years of standing on stages. He talks about his secrets to preparation, stage fright, nailing down your core message and how to keep the audience engaged.
Tom Stanfill, Tab Norris & Rob Houghtlin share 22 things to shout about in 2022. Hear what these sales veterans have to say about travel, food, music, relationships, and, of course, selling.
Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris interview Austin Peterson. As a senior consultant at Aflac, hear what Austin has to say about what the top 10% of leaders do to consistently hit their number.
In this episode, Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris interview John Cerqueira. Hear what John has learned from his 9/11 experiences, his meeting with Oprah, and over 20 plus years of selling.
In this episode, Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris discuss Part 4 of Tom’s new book UnReceptive – Changing Beliefs. They unpack the formula for building value (Action = Belief + Care) and a simple but effective strategy to ensure the customer instantly grasps the impact of your recommendation.
In this episode, Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris discuss Part 3 of Tom’s new book UnReceptive – Discovering the Unfiltered Truth. They discuss three strategies to getting the decision maker to open up about the good stuff – the informal decision drivers.
After a brief hiatus, SALES with ASLAN is back! This week, Tom Stanfill and Marc Lamson sit down to discuss Tom's brand new book, UnReceptive. They discuss what drove Tom to write the book, why it's important, and the aspect of selling that sellers hate: unreceptive customers. Tune in to hear Tom's insights on how to overcome 2 important barriers to having real influence with a customer. Cheers!
Check out this excerpt:
The Stigma of Selling There’s an aspect of selling that those of us in sales universally dislike: customers that avoid us, dismiss us, or outright reject us. Why is this experience so common for sellers?
Selling has an interesting stigma attached to it. The population at large tends to think of sales professionals as “used car salesmen” with “commission breath.”
“It’s tough as a seller right now. The catch 22 is that we don’t know how to help customers unless they talk to us, but prospects don’t want to talk to us unless we tell them how we can help them.” - Marc Lamson
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
We’ve figured out a way to help eliminate resistance and make sales more enjoyable, meaningful, and successful. There’s a whole other dimension that sellers need to learn to navigate.
Because the reality is that sellers help people. They help their customers sort through the information and options at hand to choose the right solution for themselves and/or their business. Our role is to serve. So how can we eliminate that resistance and increase receptivity so that we can fulfill that role?
The Barriers to Influence The issue that many salespeople run into in today’s climate is that when customers are unreceptive, the traditional approach to selling fails. What do we mean by traditional? It’s like taking someone to court to make your argument and win your case. Sellers ask for a customer’s time in order to list off their solution’s features & benefits, hammer out their value proposition, provide case studies, etc - and the belief is that logic will win out. But here’s the problem: nobody’s in the courtroom.
Here’s our simple but counterintuitive approach: stop selling and start with cultivating receptivity. This is the key to gaining influence with your customers.
Think about a farmer trying to grow a healthy crop. There are two elements she needs to consider - the seed and the soil. If the soil is not fertile, the quality of the seed doesn’t matter - it will not grow. The same idea applies in sales. If the customer is not receptive, your value proposition doesn't matter.
Note: You may be thinking, “Well that’s not always true.” And you’d be right. If your customer is open (receptive), the traditional approach to selling works. But if they’re closed (unreceptive), it doesn’t. And the problem is that most customers nowadays are unreceptive to being sold. That’s when we need to shift our focus from selling to increasing receptivity.
So let’s unpack what this might look like in your practice by addressing two of the barriers to influence:
Barrier 1 - Changing Their Perception of You
Barrier 2 - Opening a Closed Door
For more, check out our blog post: https://www.aslantraining.com/the-2-barriers-to-true-influence-in-sales/
This week on #SALESwithASLAN, @ScottCassidy, in his final podcast as host, delivers a few key ideas on selling success. Follow Scott on Linkedin and make sure to join @TomStanfill beginning later this year when #SALESwithASLAN continues. #salespodcast #salestips
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, @TomStanfill discusses how to leverage these tools to improve prospecting and conversations. He gives examples and statics of two different #salesprospecting approaches and answers why an Other-Centered Position (OCP) approach works. Why don’t reps lead with the customer’s whiteboard and how to build an arsenal of “whiteboard” intel to add to your discovery agenda and then build the list for yourself and your #salesteam. #salespodcast #salestips
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, @MarcLamson is back to revisit our concept of ServeMore3 in order to expose those deep unstated emotional needs that we all have as humans. When we commit to care more, we will learn more and then we can do more for our clients, prospects, family and friends. #salespodcast #salestips
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, @TomStanfill is back again in the third of a three-part series on micro qualifying your opportunities. This week, we unpack whether the deal is actually worth winning. These 3 critical questions that you need to answer will tell you whether you should win the deal and is it worth it. #salespodcast #salestips
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, @TomStanfill is back again in the second of a three-part series on micro qualifying your opportunities. This week, we unpack how you can be sure you can with the deal. These 3 critical questions that you need to answer will tell you whether you can win. #salespodcast #salestips
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, @TomStanfill is back again to break down whether the opportunity is real and how to decide that. This 4-step process will guide #salesreps through the ability to navigate from the simplest to the most complex sales cycles. Bonus: this is the first of a 3-podcast series. Join next week to learn how to determine “can we win?” and then the week after we will discuss “is it worth winning?” #salespodcast #salestips
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, @marclamson is back again to discuss how selling or influencing buyer decisions is all about convincing the emotional side of the brain. Most people believe you can persuade people with logic but we discuss how when you get the emotional side of the brain engaged, they will then justify with logic. #salespodcast #wordpictures #salestips
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, @stephanieboyer, professor at Bryant University, stops by to discuss how selling has become a major on many campuses today. We discuss how women are taking on more leadership roles and the importance of practice (role plays) in our ability to master our craft as sales professionals. #salespodcast #salescoaching #salestips
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, the entire ASLAN leadership comes to the pod with examples from their careers where those who put the client first are not only more fulfilled but more successful. #salespodcast #salescoaching #salestips
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, @charlesforsgard joins to discuss how most leaders focus on business and not the people when the opposite works better. Charles has developed a culture of coaching wherever he has lead teams since 1982. That includes several F500 companies. Hear Charles and Scott discuss leading through great questioning, proactive communication and selling, and some of the best advice for young sales leaders. Charles book “Stop Kidding Yourself: The Way You’re Managing Your Team is Not Working” is available where books are sold. #salespodcast #salescoaching #salesmanagers
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, @tomStanfill joins once again to discuss how most sellers focus on business benefits or financial benefits of their solution (increase in profits or cost savings), but those aren’t the benefits that most likely motivate a customer to choose your solution. It’s how you make them feel – the emotional benefit that inspires a decision to take action. #B2Bsalesreps #prospecting #consultativesalesreps #salespodcast
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, @tomStanfill joins once again to uncover three memorable Ps to help anyone improve their ability to influence another person. It all starts with the “fertile soil” of the other person prior to you being able to plant the “seed” of your message. As usual, Tom makes it simple and memorable so you can build the habit asap. #B2Bsalesreps #prospecting #consultativesalesreps.
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, @artshamsky joins the pod to discuss the similarities (and high failure rates) of baseball and selling. Art talks about the highs and lows of these careers. The personal relationships that thrive out of the pressure. We talk about Art’s latest book After the Miracle which talks about the sustained brotherhood that outlasts the bright lights of our prime. Join us for this unique perspective on selling, baseball and life. Enjoy the beer. #69Mets #ArtShamsky #AfterTheMiracle #salespodcasts #MagnificentSeasons
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, @MichaelReddington, CEO of Inquasive and a specialist in interrogation, joins the pod to discuss how even the most stressful situations can be controlled with the right mindset, demeanor, and technique. His non-confrontational approach brings insight into Vision and Influence and the cognitive aspects of human communication. You will not want to miss his description of the 7 phases of any conversation. This pod will help #salesreps, #salesmanagers and anyone that must #influence at work or in their personal lives. In other words, everyone#B2Bsalesreps #prospecting #consultativesalesreps.
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, @tomstanfill joins the pod to discuss building a new habit. He takes us through the rep conscious incompetence to exposing the gap in capability to practice in a safe environment to finishing one capability at a time and finally the habit is formed. For #salesmanagers, you will learn how to coach your reps through this process. For #salesreps, you will learn what to expect and how to own your own development. #B2Bsalesreps #prospecting #consultativesalesreps.
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, @tomstanfill joins the pod to discuss the power of GAP (Get At the Problem) questions. There are 3 main challenges (3 E’s) that sellers face today. We struggle to Engage our virtual audience, demonstrate our Expertise, and have the customer Embrace our solution. Learn the 4 steps to solving these challenges. #B2Bsalesreps #prospecting #consultativesalesreps.
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, @SeanRobertson joins the pod to discuss the tremendous opportunity that companies must recognize that everyone in the company is a #salesrep. Listen to the fun stories about books and movies that paint sales as a negative profession and yet it might be one of the most noble. We are never more fulfilled than when we are serving others. It is all about the mindset. #B2Bsalesreps #prospecting #consultativesalesreps.
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, @MarcLamson joins the pod to discuss #salescoaching from the #salesrep point of view. Learn what you as the sales rep should do before, during and after a coaching session with your partner in success, your sales manager. #salesreps #B2Bsalesreps #prospecting #consultativesalesreps.
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, @TomStanfill and I discuss how to hold the line on the value of your solution. In studying thousands of sellers, here is what we consistently see the top performers do to defend the price of their solution: They uncovered the value gap, they validate, they tell the truth. Learn more through our stories and tips. #salesreps #B2Bsalesreps #prospecting #consultativesalesreps.
When you think about getting a meeting or winning a deal, why do you think you will succeed at either? Most likely you will win or lose based, not on your solution, but on a decision you make, or don’t make about how you will position your solution. You place a bet. You take a stand. Which means you will limit it to usually one thing that only you can do for your customer, your proprietary benefit. Learn more this week on #sALESwithASLAN. #salesreps #B2Bsalesreps #prospecting #consultativesalesreps.
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, we welcome back our founders to reminisce the first 100 episodes of the podcast. To celebrate #100 we asked some friends from the sales profession to share why they consistently hit 100% of their quota. We learn from 7 individual career professionals on what makes them successful as they pass along pearls of wisdom to the rest of us. Download and subscribe so you can easily enjoy the next 100 episodes. #salesreps #B2Bsalesreps #prospecting #consultativesalesreps.
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, we welcome author and professor Dr. Brian Glibkowski, an expert on question intelligence. His new book called “Answer Intelligence: Raise your AQ”, addresses the academic and psychological side of questions and answers that is sure to bring insight to all those who sell for a living. You will learn from years of research and even get 20% off the book should you be interested. #salesreps #B2Bsalesreps #prospecting #consultativesalesreps.
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, we welcome back ASLAN President Marc Lamson to have some fun with the lessons we as #salesreps and #salesmanagers can learn from watching the NCAA Final Four. The commonalities include sticking to the fundamentals, play your game, act like you have been there and remember, its not the best player that wins, it’s the best team. #salesreps #B2Bsalesreps #prospecting #consultativesalesreps.
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, we welcome back ASLAN President, Marc Lamson to discuss the three reasons you should not just give up on a lead if you don’t get through to the person that approached your company. Then we discuss a great solution for how to truly prospect that account. This will help #salesreps #B2Bsalesreps #prospecting reps or even #consultativesalesreps.
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, we welcome ASLAN Regional Vice President, John Cerqueira discusses the light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel as we continue our #TalesFromTheFrontLines series. We unpack the emerging market dynamics, our changing sales process, how marketing has filled a void and the art of #teamselling. #salesreps #salesmanagers #salestips
Most of us are passionate about growth whether it means becoming a better presenter, writer, leader. Maybe we want to earn a promotion? But there’s a cost: time and pain. The pain associated with failing is the #1 enemy of growth. @TomStanfill joins #saleswithaslan to unpack the pain of growth and shares personal stories of failure and triumph that give us a process to consider. #salesreps #Growth #salesmanagers
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, we welcome Pacific Mills Training Partners President, Penny Honea as we continue our #TalesFromTheFrontLines series. During a 25-year career in IT distribution, Penny learned many lessons, took many trainings, let many teams. We unpack that journey and what lead her to becoming a #ASLANCertifiedReseller. There is something in this episode for #salesreps and #salesmanagers alike. #salestips
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, we welcome Marc Lamson, President at ASLAN, to discuss how his own Other-Centered® approach to coaching and selling has been formulated by a simple formula of Care More + Learn More + Do More = ServeMore3 Hear some great stories and examples of how the little things we can do can build trust, credibility and rapport in our client, work and personal relationships. #salestips #salesreps #salesmanager #virtualselling
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, we welcome AFLAC District Sales Manager Robert Zeman to discuss how his own Other-Centered® approach to coaching and selling has taken his 4-person sales team to the top of his region, beating out much larger teams in the process. We discuss some of the “functional strength” he is instilled in his team along with joint accountability and even rep desire to improve. It is a great success story of what we all are trying to accomplish. #salestips #salesreps #salesmanager
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, we welcome author Kevin McCann of the Executive Strategy Group to talk about some important tips to building a robust pipeline. It starts with the right mindset and then the right message. He teaches us the “highlighter trick” to see how we currently message. Finally, we discuss the 4 questions that reps should be able to answer if the pipeline is accurate. #salestips #salesreps #salesmanager
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, Marc Lamson and Tom Stanfill join to uncover nearly a years worth of challenges we have observed through clients (and internally). Listen to learn about how we try to squeeze too much content into the meeting. How we don’t know the decision maker. What to do when all hell breaks loose and how to make sure all the client’s questions are answered. #salesreps #salestips
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, we welcome author @SeanDuffy of @theDuffyAgency and his partner @KevinMcCaughey to discuss sales and marketing integration and the impact of brand on sellers. WE break down the academics of this important relationship, how marketing enhances receptivity in our prospects and how sales can work with all types of marketing groups within all sizes of companies. #salesandmarketing #salestips
This week on #sALESwithASAN, we welcome CEO and co-founder @tomstanfill to unveil his Top 10 list, David Letterman style. It takes a combination of mindset and developing advanced skills to be successful. In every endeavor, there are levels of abilities (hobbyist to pro, novice to elite). To succeed in this new normal, good isn’t good enough. Become a pro. Enjoy the beer. #slestips #salestraining #virtualselling
This week on #sALESwithASAN, we welcome back the coach whisperer #BobbiKahler, host of her own podcast UnYielded, to discuss coaching frustration. Bobbi walks a through a 5-step process that will help coaches eliminate the frustration they feel when reps backslide into old habits or when they have to have the same conversation over and over. Enjoy the topic and please drop a comment on LinkedIn or email me at scassidy@aslantraining.com with your topic for us to cover.
This week on #sALESwithASAN, we begin the new year with a special suggestion from one of our listeners. The topic of political structure within our accounts. We all know there are several roles in the decision process whether we are talking about the coach, gatekeeper, influencer, evaluator, or ultimate decision maker. What we talk about with @tomStanfill, CEO and Co-Founder of ASLAN, is why we need to identify the actual structure, how to do it and a tool to make it easy on yourself. Enjoy the topic and please follow the lead and drop a comment on LinkedIn or email me a scassidy@aslantraining.com with your favorite topic for us to cover.
This week on #sALESwithASAN, we bring some real life sellers on the pod to discuss the may ways life has changed since COVID but more importantly, how they have adapted. There is a lot of good to go with all this bad this year. @jermainedonaldson and @JohnCerqueria join to break down the good, bad and ugly of 2020 as a seller. #saleskills #salestips
This week on #sALESwithASAN, @marclamson joins to conclude the year with some ideas on how to leverage your holiday downtime for self-reflection and self-improvement. Merry Christmas to all and to all enjoy the close of a 2020 of chaos in favor of a 2021 of hope and joy. #salesrep #salestips #virtualselling
This week on #sALESwithASAN, we revisit the coaching quadrant. CEO and co-founder @tomstanfill breaks down his 4 recommendations for helping those reps with low desire. He also tells us how to work with those Achievers and Strivers. Enjoy the second of a two-part series on quadrant coaching. #salescoacing, #salestips #virtualselling
This week on #sALESwithASAN, we turn our attention those who coach for a living and those who may want to become a sales manager one day. CEO and co-founder @tomstanfill un-packs the two biggest barriers to coaching, motivation and you guessed it, time. Learn about both in this, the first of a two-part series on quadrant coaching. #salesrep #salestips #virtualselling
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, we flip the script and look at life through our prospect’s eyes. What has changed for prospects as it relates to the Virtual Buying Process and how do we adapt our approach to serve them. @MarcLamson helps unpack 4 different challenges that are new in 2020. First, prospects are more distracted than ever. Second, they are using a different decision process and what we call a “mass audit” in a shorter timeline criterion. Finally, when prospects are in the meeting, they are having trouble paying attention. So, what do we do about all this? Find out. #salesrep #salestips #virtualselling
Why is that we feel more vulnerable when selling virtually than we did when we could be face to face? Maybe we aren’t comfortable with the technology? Maybe we are just afraid of looking foolish. Maybe it’s just different. This week on #sALESwithASLAN, I welcome back ASLAN CEO @TomStanfill to the pod to discuss being Other-Centered® in a crazy world and how to resist that urge to retreat to self. #salesrep #salestips #virtualselling
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, I welcome back ASLAN President @MarcLamson to the pod to discuss the pivotal role that social selling now plays in our selling lives. With more time on our hands since COVID hit, we need use tools like Linkedin to Research and find potential contacts and companies. Then we need to find meaningful ways to connect with them. Finally, we should learn to be a thought leader with what we post. We have a contest this week as well. Go to https://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/social-selling/the-social-selling-index-ssiand click “Get your score free” to see your Social Selling Index and share it with us on Linkedin as a comment below this post. We will find a winner and have you on an upcoming show. #salesrep #salestips #socialselling
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, I welcome a newcomer to the show in @JeroenCorthout from SalesFlare to discuss how sales reps can be more organized with the right tools and therefore focus on what is their most important role: to be an other-centered trusted advisor. #salescoaching #salesmanager
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, we talk about the lost art of strategic sales planning. There are three main ways or approaches to selling into your accounts, Frontal, Flank and Fragment. @MarcLamson describes each and gives examples to cement the knowledge. Whether you are a #salesep or #salesmanager, you are sure to learn something. #salescoaching #salesmanager
salesreps seem to get a little shy when it comes to advancing the sale to the next logical Other-Centered® stage. This week on #sALESwithASLAN, @marclamson and I unpack the 3 step process to ensuring you are always moving your sale cycle along at the pace appropriate to the prospect. #salescoaching #salesmanager
In episode 74, #sALESwithASLAN and @MarcLamson, President of @ASLANTraining opened up the discussion around cold calling and we learned about the 10-30-3 which simply means, 10 seconds to clear the noise, 30 seconds to get to a 3 minute discovery. So, this week, we pick back up and teach you how to ADAPT to any situation that might arise when trying to get that meeting. Enjoy the content and the beer. #salescoaching #salesmanager
sALESwithASLAN is all about sales and all about beer but this week we go a bit further on both. Selling was changed forever back in March 2020. In effect, we all became inside sales reps. For those of you that forgot how to pick up the phone can get a meeting, you want to listen to this podcast. We address how to use this simple tool to get meetings with @MarcLamson, President of @ASLANTraining. #salescoaching #salesmanager
Every week on #sALESwithASLAN, we try to help build up the relationship between reps and managers and this week we hope to improve that communication by telling each what the other is saying: what they like and don’t like about the other. There are 3 main reasons #salesmanagers are not coaching #salesreps as much as they should (or as often as reps would like): No Time, No Change and No Tools to measure. Well we address all three this week with @MarcLamson, President of @ASLANTraining. #salescoaching #salesmanager
We are just about 6 months into the “new normal” and the transition for those field #salesreps to #insidesalesreps continues. There are many positives and some challenges that we have discovered in 2020 and @marclamson and I dig into both plus some solutions and advice, this week on #saleswithaslan. Additional Resources included: https://www.aslantraining.com/category/downloads/
sALESwithASLAN welcomes back @tomStanfill to discuss personal motivation and how we can achieve anything with these 6 easy steps. Tom and I discuss how our own diet, our own health was motivation for a life changing habit that took (desire) self-motivation, a plan and support to get through. We can apply much of what we learned to selling and leading as well. Enjoy! #salestips #salescoaching
sALESwithASLAN welcomes back President @MarcLamson to discuss the subject of how we rise above this whole virtual world we live in now. Everyone in sales is now calling (or zooming) prospects. Months ago, you would put on a nice suit and your best watch. Now you may be in shorts. So how do you differentiate? By using the technology to your advantage and to that of your client. By going the extra mile to learning what is possible and delivering something memorable. There are 3 easy steps to make this happen and we enjoy them over an ale today. #salestips #salescoaching
sALESwithASLAN welcomes back President Marc Lamson to discuss the subject that he is most passionate about, Discovery. We recognize the difficulty of not being face to face but there are great advantages like the fact that you can record the meeting. Marc takes us through the key points about Asking and Responding in a way that optimizes the chance that the customer or prospect feels receptive and open to sharing vital information that will help you help them solve problems. #salestips #salescoaching
Every once in a while, #sALESwithASLAN welcomes in a rep with the practical application of ASLAN key concepts. This week, we invite @ChrisWhite back to the program to provide insight from his unique perspective as a partner and sales rep for ASLAN. We discuss the “Decision to be Other-Centered®” before each engagement, Lead with your customers Whiteboard and fan favorites like Take the Trip® and Drop the Rope®. Real life examples to help #salereps and #salesmanagers. #salestips #salescoaching
We under utilize our team to sell because for several reasons, and that hurts our win rate. The truth is that nobody is best at everything, but someone is best at something. This week on #sALESwithASLAN, @MarcLamson and I discuss when to engage in team selling and the 3 main reasons people fail to use this valuable resource. #salestips #salescoaching
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, I am joined by sales maven @TomStanfill once again as we discuss our role as sales reps during the sales process. As the trusted guide, you decide next steps in the process, not the customer. Why? Because of your experience, you should know the most effective way to evaluate the solution. So, with that as a backdrop, Tom unlocks the 5 step process you can use to ADVANCE any sales cycle in any circumstance. Master this process and you will see improved results. Promise. #salestips #salescoaching
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, I am joined by sales guru @JohnCerqueira as we discuss the intentional Return On Investment (ROI) discussion that will always help you close more deals. More importantly, ROI discussions with your clients throughout the sales cycle will heighten your status as trusted advisor. Especially when you and your client decision maker deliver on your promise to one another. We unpack a real ASLAN client and discuss how John was able to begin with the end in mind and deliver the goods. #ROI #salestips #salescoaching
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, we revisit the subject of some of the best and worst emails we get from salespeople. We did this once before in Episode 42 but frankly, with COVID19, more and more people are forced to engage with email. By laughing and crying and exploring what we see, we hope to give you some ideas for improving your own #prospecting email approach. This can be such a useful tool for you to hunt and find new business but when done poorly, it can really backfire. Enjoy the podcast and make sure you ready our eBook called How to Write Effective Emails
sALESwithASLAN continues the series in delivering the perfect virtual presentation. This week, @TomStanfill and I breakdown his latest blog on how to deliver the perfect presentation, virtually. As Tom always does, he gives us some structure in the form of 8 Pro Tips we must leverage to ensure the perfect performance. And if you want to do some homework, you can learn a lot from watching the top Ted Talks. #virtualselling #salestips
sALESwithASLAN continues the series in delivering the perfect virtual presentation. This week, @TomStanfill and I breakdown his latest blog on how to deliver the perfect presentation, virtually. As Tom always does, he gives up some structure in the form of 5 Determinations we must make to ensure we “control the stage”. #virtualselling #salestips
sALESwithASLAN continues to dive into the changes that COVID19 has brought upon us and those that sell for a living. This week, @TomStanfill and I breakdown his latest blog on how to deliver the perfect presentation, virtually. As Tom always does, he gives up some structure in the form of a four-step process to ensure maximum impact. This will be part 1 of a series to help you deliver again and again. #virtualselling #salestips For more on Virtual Selling Programs, visit https://try.aslantraining.com/virtual-selling/ and find the blog we reference in the pod here: https://www.aslantraining.com/process-deliver-virtual-presentation-part-1/
sALESwithASLAN is all about the #salesrep to #salesmanager relationship but it’s also about treating everyone with respect. We teach about being Other-Centered® in business but really in life. This week we take a timeout from our lighthearted, ale drinking show to focus on an 8 min and 46 second message (the same 8:46 it took for the officer to and the life of George Floyd) about spreading love instead of hate. Our President Marc Lamson and I discuss the North Point Community Church’s Andy Stanley podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/north-point-community-church/id262317288?i=1000477071628. As Martin Luther King Jr once said “Injustice Anywhere is a threat to Justice Everywhere. How do we experience others who don’t look like us? How do they experience you? Love. Open your heart. Open your mind. Take the trip. Carry another’s burdens.
sALESwithASLAN is all about the #salesrep to #salesmanager relationship. And most weeks we discuss that dynamic. This week we welcome back Sales Engineering Guru Chris White from DemoDoctor.com and Ramzi Marjaba of WeTheSalesEngineers.com to outline the critical nature of the relationship between seller and sales engineer. Remembering that selling is indeed a team sport and that the choreography of the sales call is critically important. We even discuss how our friends in #salescoaching will benefit from a higher performing technical sales team. Enjoy the beer. #salestips
sALESwithASLAN is all about the #salesrep to #salesmanager relationship. This week we welcome back the sales coach whisperer herself, @bobbikahler to discuss her latest trifecta of blogs. Bobbi walks us through coaching lessons learned from cross country skiing and tips to virtual coaching. Finally, we discuss that technology can be our friend but should not be our crutch or excuse for not coaching. Enjoy the topic and the beer. #salestips #salescoaching
Many #salesreps are facing the question: what can you do on price or can you sharpen your pencil” these days. The world has changed. Companies are surviving not thriving. Customers are looking for any way they can to pinch pennies. Does that mean you should drop your price? Maybe or maybe not. What you should do is go through this three-step process first. Learn how to handle one of the most difficult conversations in selling this week on #sALESwithASLAN as Marc Lamson breaks it down. Enjoy the beer. #salestips #salescoaching
Staying relevant in the eyes of our customers while everyone’s world is upside down can prove to be quite a challenge. John Ferguson joins me this week on #sALESwithASLAN to discuss some of the things that he has been doing that have created that trusted advisor status with his clients. How you help your clients navigate the waters of change, how flexible you are with your offer and your terms and how you share your expertise and knowledge. Enjoy the beer. #salestips #salescoaching
How do you demo virtually? If you sell software, that’s the way you may have always done it. But for most of us, this is a new challenge. This week on #sALESwithASLAN, I am joined by ASLAN President Marc Lamson as we unpack the three main ingredients to demonstrating our product or solution virtually. You will pick up some interesting information on improving your ability to use your words to convince, change your selling process and lower the risk on behalf of you prospect. Enjoy the beer. #salestips #salescoaching
We have had so much bad news lately that it is time to look at the bright side of what is happening in the market. There is a reality that never gets talked about. The reality is sellers are having more success getting buyers on the phone lately. Today on #sALESwithASLAN, I am joined the CEO of #ConnectandSell, @Chris Beall. Chris has an amazing background in data analysis and shares the light at the end of the tunnel for those of us who sell for a living. Enjoy the beer. #salestips #salescoaching
We have had many discussions on #sALESwithASLAN with regard to “should you sell “right now and we know that motive is transparent. If you can solve something on your prospects whiteboard then you should help them. Is that selling? This week, I am joined by author and business owner Christ White of www.demodoctor.com. Chris and I discuss the reality of the situation and how it is impacting companies of all sizes. Bottom line is that we need to continue to be Other-Centered® in our approach to serving our clients. They may remember what we said or even what we did but the most certainly will remember how we made them feel during this time. Enjoy the beer. #salestips #salescoaching
Sympathy means you are sorry for someone else’s misfortune. Empathy is ability to understand and share someone’s feelings. You see the difference? One can come across different than the other. Sympathy is easy, and almost patronizing but Empathy makes a connection. Daniel Goldman discusses 3 types of empathy in his book Social Intelligence: Cognitive, Emotional and Compassionate. @MarcLamson joins #sALESwithASLAN to discuss 4 things you can do to be more empathetic as a seller.
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, I am joined by a small business owner David Piacitelli of https://toplinegrowth.com/, an outbound sales company. Dave offers great perspective on the difference between his company is handling the crisis vs an in house selling group. We discuss how all his manufacturing clients, from all markets, are dealing with the subject of selling during the pandemic. Most importantly, we look optimistically at how we can best use this time as sellers to build and enhance our other-centered® relationship with our prospects and clients. #salestips #salescoaching #salesreps
Dr. Fauci, Director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease in the United States has been in the news constantly for the past month. His role is to help America flatten the curve on the spread of the Coronavirus and to do that, he must convince US citizens of the proper course of action. To do that, he must open up our collective #receptivity. As #salesreps, we also must focus on our customers’ whiteboard (what is important to them) in order to open their receptivity. This week on #sALESwithASLAN, I am joined by The Sales Strategist John Ferguson who recently wrote this article: Dr. Fauci and Driving Receptivity which you can find on Linkedin. We can learn a lot here and enjoy the beer. #salestips
The world has changed for #salesmanagers as well. This week on #sALESwithASLAN, we help those who help those who sell for a living. ASLAN founders Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris join me to discuss everything from helping #salesreps find that motivation while still focusing on the development of the rep. #salestips #salesmanager #salescoaching
The world has changed in the past few weeks and #salesreps who are used to “pressing the flesh” with their customers are now forced to sell remotely. ASLAN founders Tom Stanfill and Tab Norris join me on #sALESwithASLAN to discuss everything from motivation to tactical #salestips #salesmanager #salescoaching
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, we turn our attention from the #salesreps to the #salesmanager. ASLAN Co-Founder Tab Norris joins me to discuss the one of the three phases of coaching Align. In this episode, both coaches and reps can hear some helpful ways to structure the most productive time together and to ensure each session has the maximum benefit to the reps development. This 6 step process will not only make you a better coach but it will enhance the partnership between rep and manager. #salescoaching
The Coronavirus is already causing business disruption. Sales Conferences are being cancelled or postponed. Customers are changing their spending patterns. As sales reps and sales managers think about how they need to help their customers though this challenging time, ASLAN CEO Tom Stanfill says, “There is always a way to win. There are those who see some things as a barrier and others who see opportunity.” The truth is that the coronavirus is on everyone’s mind. Don’t ignore it! Use some of the tips on this episode of #sALESwithASLAN to prepare and reach out to your customers to help them think through all the options that they have within the context of your partnership. Use this “opportunity” to show your customers you are here to help them navigate challenges. Its about doing the right thing. #MotiveIsTransparent #salestips #salescoaching #salestraining
Not necessarily. Tension in the buyer-seller relationship is definitely bad but there is a kind of tension that can be healthy. This week on #sALESwithASLAN, our President Marc Lamson and I unpack the two main types of tension that exist with our clients. This topic actually comes from a client of ASLAN’s and because they also recommended our Ale choices today, we send a proud shout out to Utah and our podcast loyalists out there. Enjoy the topic and enjoy the beer. #salestips #salescoaching
Ep. 44 – You Hate Process But It Will Save You
This week on #sALESwithASLAN we talk process, sales process. As a selling free spirit, you might think I got this, I don’t need not stinking process. Well you do and we discuss why and the consequences of what happens if you don’t follow a roadmap to solving your customers problems. We address what is it and what’s the purpose of a sales process as well as what most people miss and finally how we can convince our customers that we are indeed the expert and that it is in their best interest to guide the engagement. Our CEO and C-co-founder Tom Stanfill joins our president Marc Lamson and me to uncover the nuance of this important topic. Enjoy the beer. #salestips #salestraining
On #sALESwithASLAN we talk a lot about truly being other-centered® not just trying to fake it. Well this week, I am joined by a true disciple of this philosophy, Matt Caldwell. Matt and I have known one another for nearly 20 years since we collaborated at APC in the early 2000s. Matt was exposed to ASLAN early in his career and has carried the foundations through a selling journey that has included transactional, complex and even executive relationship selling. Matt tells stories of how has applied these core principles in each of those stops along the way. IT is always great to hear how our content is helping real life sales reps in the real world. Enjoy the conversation and enjoy the beer. #salestips #othercentered
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, we take a look at some of the best and worst emails we get from sales people. By laughing and crying and exploring what we see, we hope to give you some ideas for improving your own #prospecting email approach. This can be such a useful tool for you to hunt and find new business but when done poorly, it can really backfire. You too could wind up on a podcast 😉 Enjoy the episode with our President Marc Lamson and enjoy the beer.
Most people think of forecasting as a necessary evil of a selling career. What if that were a false premise? What if forecasting your selling year was really all about you? This week on #sALESwithASLAN, our President Marc Lamson and I unpack a multistep process for forecasting that will not only help you accurately predict your revenue but how you will achieve that goal as well. We discuss forecasting current accounts or recurring revenue plus know opportunities. Then we determine Best/Worst case scenarios. Next, we play “pick your income” and end with figuring out how to fill the gap with new prospects. We wrap up with your production plan to make it. This is a great way to start the new selling year on a high note. #salestips #salesstrategy #salesforecasting
As we close the year, #sALESwithASLAN delves into the peaks and valleys of a career in selling (along with some ale and bourbon). We know the holiday season can be stressful as we discussed in episode 38 but it can be exhilarating as well. The key to long term success in selling is to keep it even keel. Never let your success or more importantly, your failure, define you. Never get depressed about work. So, if you had a great year, an ok year or a bad year, let’s raise a glass to the end of the selling year and cheers to the optimism that comes with each new year. #SalesTraining #SalesTips #SalesCoaching
We switch gears this week on #sALESwithASLAN as we turn our attention to those to answer the phone in order to sell. As always, we share ideas and stories about how to better #MasterYourCraft as a sales person or #SalesManager. Marc Lamson, President of ASLAN Training and Development offers a couple of key differences to selling in a reactive phone based environment. Of course he brings the knowledge on how to overcome these challenges as well. Enjoy the beer! #SalesTraining #SalesTips #SalesCoaching
Joining me on this week with #sALESwithASLAN is long time seller and sales leader Dan Howington. We unpack the concept of stress as it relates to our personal and professional lives. We all feel it but how we deal with it is important. Listen as we discuss some important ideas on how we can take back control of our reaction to this detractor of joy we know as stress. #salestips #salescoaching
Brief show this week and more of a Thanksgiving Day blessing to all those who follow us here in #sALESwithASLAN. Take time to recharge and rejuvenate with friends, family and maybe a good Ale. Go get the book Be Excelelent at Anything by Tony Schwartz with Jean Gomes. This is a great read for over the holidays as you will investigate the four changes to get more out of work and life. #HappyThanksgiving from ASLAN Training and Development #WorkLifeBalance
This week on #sALESwithASLAN, we welcome back ASLAN®'s CEO Tom Stanfill to discuss how to identify political structure. What do we mean by Political? Formal org chart? The reality is that there’s an Informal power structure – rank doesn’t equal influence. So the real decision maker, the one that determines what happens, may have more power and lower rank. Why is that important to know? Because you may focus on the wrong person or you may have identified the decision maker, but a key person changes the decision drivers, and if you miss this you could be in jeopardy. #sales tips #salescoaching #salesstrategy #PoliticalStructure
Salespeople hate prospecting. Period. It has traditionally not been a fun part of the game. However, most of us that sell for a living, know that we cannot have a robust pipeline if we don’t #prospect on a regular basis. So this week on #sALESwithASLAN, we unpack the 5 things that ASLAN President Marc Lamson has learned over the last 25 years. Some of this stuff you know, some might be new. Bottom line is that common sense does not always mean common practice. Enjoy the topic and the beer. #salestips #salescoaching #salesstrategy
Do you ever get an email from a customer that simply says, please provide me with a description of what you do and how much it costs? They ask you to send your elevator pitch and price book right over, right? Well, this week on #sALESwithASLAN, we take a real-life example and look at how you can give your customers what they want while building your relationship up into #trustedadvisor status. Join me this week and listen to how our CEO Tom Stanfill and his two and a half decades of successful selling handles this scenario. #salestips #salescoaching #salesstrategy
sALESwithASLAN is back with another fascinating topic this week. Everyone in sales and sales management is forced to negotiate from time to time. The common reputation of sales negotiations is that there is a winner and a loser. The first one to throw out a number loses. Well, maybe what you have learned over the years is just plain wrong. Listen as we look at this differently. When you feel like you are in a win-lose negotiation, simply drop the rope® and you and the customer will both win. #salestips #salesstrategy #salescoaching
sALESwithASLAN welcomes back Marc Lamson and ASLAN CEO Tom Stanfill to discuss something most sales reps know, but forget all the time. You do not have unlimited time. In fact it is your most precious resource so maximize your selling time by choosing who you serve. We dive deep into some tried and true methods for choosing the best opportunities and accounts for that matter. Hint: it's not always the biggest dollar accounts that are the best use of our time.
salestips #salesstratagy #salescoaching
sALESwithASLAN welcomes back Marc Lamson to discus the top four ways to set yourself up for a tremendous 2020 selling year. We delve into things like helping your accounts establish their budgets, to building your own forecast to collaborating with but not relying on marketing for you’re growth ambitions. Enjoy the knowledge along with the beer.
salestips #salesstratagy #salescoaching
sALESwithASLAN welcomes one or our ASLAN Certified Resellers, Joe Colavito from Corevu in Raleigh NC. Joe has been one of our partners for several years and he specializes in what he calls the reps “Can Do and Will Do” which ties perfectly to our ASLAN Catalyst program dials that lead to results. Listen this week as Joe tells two amazing personal stories of coaching to the rep's personal motivation. You can read more about one of them in Joe’s recent blog.
salestips #salesstratagy #salescoaching
sALESwithASLAN welcomes back Chris White, author of The Six Habits of Highly Effective Sales Engineers, and current VP of Sales Engineering at ETI Software to the podcast to discuss the impact of the ASLAN workshop we did together this week. We talk about why they saw the need for sales training, why ASLAN, what they learned and most importantly, how they plan to take the new knowledge to leverage this common language and principles, along with the frameworks, to transform their sales force and their company. There is no better way to learn how to get better at our craft than sharing stories of success. Enjoy Chris’s story and enjoy the beer. #salestips #salesstratagy #salescoaching
sALESwithASLAN welcomes Tom Stanfill back to the podcast to discuss 3 key ingredients that ensures a successful sales person. First we must connect our goal to our own person motivation and then we must ensure we break the goals down into daily and weekly chunks. Finally, we have to invest in the development of our skills and knowledge to improve every day. It's not too late to impact your Q4 so listen up and enjoy a beer. #salestips #salesstratagy #salescoaching
sALESwithASLAN welcomes Tom Stanfill back to the podcast to discuss how we must over prepare for that big presentation. Whether we are selling hardware, software or even services, we have to do these key things to make sure we put our best foot forward. Hint: the biggest opportunity to success or failure comes in our preparation in the weeks prior to the big show. Learn how to ensure you are ready to make the most of the opportunity. #salestips #salesstratagy #salesexecution
#sALESwithASLAN is here each week to help sales reps and sales coaches work better together. This week author and professional coach to the coaches, Bobbi Kahler joins me as we focus our attention on the two main ways that coaches can sabotage their own goals to drive real change into a selling organization. Learn about these two main saboteurs along with how to recognize how you do it and how to prevent it. Also, what are the impacts of getting this wrong. Enjoy the beer. #salesexecution #salescoachingstrategy #salescoaching
sALESwithASLAN welcomes Tab Norris back to the show to dive deeper into a topic we have hit before: conversational and effective discovery. Today we focus on identifying the 5 Mistakes we make when trying to uncover our customer’s stated and unstated needs. Tab walks us through the challenges of overcoming each of these mistakes and we will come back for another episode in the near future to address each of these. Whether you are a #salesrep or a #salesmanager, you cannot afford to miss out on identifying these areas of development. Enjoy the beer. #salesexecution #salesstrategy
sALESwithASLAN welcomes Blake Beus who is the Vice President of Business Development at AllenComm to discuss what it's like to be a client of ASLAN Training and Development, but a key partner as well. We'll discuss the need for ignition type workshops as well as “training in the flow of work”, micro and macro learning and the importance of “effortlessly available” content and sales tools, and the increasing importance of digital (always on) learning as a pre-enforcement, re-enforcement and in some cases a low cost replacement for event or workshop based learning. Lots to learn with regard to on-going learning. #salesmanagement #salesstrategy #salesexecution
This week on #sALESwithASLAN we visit the ongoing conversation on "what helps sellers improve more?" sales tools or training. The answer won’t surprise you. Joining me this week is Jeremey Donovan, SVP Sales Strategy at SalesLoft. We discuss things like what is sales enablement, sales engagement and sales training. What helps reps bridge any gaps in sales execution and we continue discussing the lost art of sales #prospecting. Enjoy our podcast and check out Jeremey and his own podcast called Hey Salespeople! #salestips #salesmanagement #salesstrategy
This week on #sALESwithASLAN we discuss how companies and therefore sales reps struggle with connecting to their original purpose for being. Sales reps are more successful when they are connected to the purpose of the company that they call home. Learn how selling with purpose for a purpose from author Matt Carcieri whose book Bleed a Creed helps companies return to their origin, can allow you to ignite your personal motivation to serve your customers. It might be the best #salesstrategy you can employ. #salesmanagement #salestips #prospecting
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 many fail at this with real life examples as Tom Stanfill uses his years of experience to guide us through this challenging topic.
salesmanagement #salestips #prospecting
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. But don’t turn that dial if you don’t sell into regulated industries, these tips can help us all.
salestips #salestraining #SellingRegulatedIndustries
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 professionals repertoire. If you sell in a team or sell a technical solution, don’t miss this episode.
salestips #salestraining #teamselling #technicalsales
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 wisdom to know what you can control. We even talk about a couple of books that might help you as well How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie and Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy
salestips #salestraining #DontStress
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 describes how we can all benefit from being more “intentional” in our preparation.
salestips #salestraining #BeIntentional
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 talk about solutions once you have a complete understanding of that problem. John has great stories of both success and failure that will help any sales rep reflect on their approach to conversational discovery.
salestips #salestraining #Discovery
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 experience of how to handle them - Learn to not overcome objections but rather help customers find their answers.
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 accounts. You can learn more about this concept in Marc’s blog: Referrals: Appliances, Lobster Ravioli, and Your Sales Pipeline.
salestips #salestraining #CrossSelling
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 the life skills he learned in those intense moments and hours after impact- “when we serve others, we are most fulfilled”. In this episode, you'll learn what John took away and how he has applied these lessons every day since. #salestips #salestraining #salesleadership
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. Tom Stanfill, Marc Lamson and I talk about the fact that most people have this self-perception that they are above average and are blind to their flaws. We wear a “sign” on our forehead that all others can see but we cannot. So how do identify, deal with and apply changes to your challenge areas? Listen and find out. #onething #salestips #salestraining #salesleadership
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 episodes. Also, make sure to subscribe and like us on your favorite podcast platform. #salesleadership #salestips
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 Bobbi’s book Travels of the Heart. #overcoming #salescoaching
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 Simplicity: What Does It Take to Sell a Complex Idea? #salesstrategy #salestips #salestraining
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 players one to one and finally, managing to what motivates each individual. #salesstrategy #salescoaching #marchmadness
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 amount of feedback and not 15 things to work on at once.
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 plus rep desire, productivity, and capability. Lastly, we look at the 3 hats that a sales leader wears: Lead, manage and coach.
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 that they are the priority, or do they feel pressure?
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 with ASLAN Podcast, we dig into not only why this is happening, but how to turn this trend around. Spoiler alert: it has something to do with your customers’ receptivity to your message.
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 the company, and the long days and nights spent in Tab’s basement trying to figure out how to tell the world about our innovative yet common sense approach to selling. In a nutshell, this episode explains why (and how) we want to reframe the way you sell.
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 organizations by creating and delivering competency and skill development programs and processes.
The main issue is that the percentage of decision makers who are receptive to a meeting or embracing a new solution is small. And if the customer is emotionally unreceptive, your value prop, your insights, and your solution won’t matter. Therefore, we start by teaching a radical approach to converting the disinterested: Stop selling and focus on enhancing receptivity.
This podcast series will delve into fine beers and remove fears in the hearts and minds of those who sell for a living. Join us weekly for sALES with ASLAN.