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4 Keys To Bouncing Back From Adversity

What is the #1 core skill all top sales people possess? What separates them from the average and below average? Their ability to bounce back from adversity, setbacks and disappointment!

20+ years of benchmarking, assessment and comparative analysis work confirms over and over that top sales professionals posses 5 key elements that make them more successful, at an internal core level, than their peers. Of those 5 core competencies the #1 core skill is that of resilience!

In this podcast we are going to cover 4 ways we can all grow in our ability to handle the inevitable adversity that is a part of selling! How well we master this core skill is going to have "absolutely everything" to do with how successful we are going to be. The faster we bounce back when things go wrong the faster we are back in the game and growing our business again!

The 4 Things We Cover In This Podcast Are:

• Identify if we have an abundance mentality or scarcity mentality and how that affects our thinking
• Be intentional about hanging out with positive, successful people who are where we want to be in our careers and life!
• Get a mentor or a coach that can shorten our learning curves and guide us through the tough spots!
• Remember GIGO! Garbage In = Garbage Out! Be careful that we are inundating our minds with good stuff that can help us deal more effectively with tough times!

Again ... how well we develop this core skill will have everything to do with how successful we are going to be in our careers! Now is a good time to start working on it!

Our first "Listener Question of the Week" is a really good one! "I have a customer that I regularly bail out of tough situations but he never reciprocates with any special treatment or orders to reward my hard work. How do I help him understand that this isn't fair?"

Our Quote of the Week is a great one from Thomas Jefferson!

Hope you enjoy the podcast!

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Walking Away From Bad Business ...

“You're Not A Pro Until You Do!”

Welcome – this is another podcast on the mindset top sales pro’s have. Last week we talked about dealing with “NO” and the feedback was awesome so keep it coming!

Just this past week, I said NO to what would have been bad business for me, my company, and the client. It involved a rather large car dealership in my area needing help with sales training. I set up a meeting with them to let them tell me their needs and for me to tell them what I had to offer them based on those needs.

My approach to their needs would have been to benchmark their top performers, identify others that could quickly get to that caliber, and then work with the others to get them to that level. They had another vendor option that was less expensive that would have delivered a large number of unqualified sales people to the floor, and would not have increased their business.

The dealership tried what I would call “old school car sales tactics” with me to get my price lower by pointing out that I spend a lot of time on the road and wouldn’t it be wonderful to stay local around my family and take a local job. Hmmm, had to tell him I had 2 problems with that, one being I know what my value is and second did he really think I could teach his guys in an effective manner if I lowered my value like that. It was obvious to him - I had a point.

Bottom line, I said NO to the business because it wasn’t a good fit for either of us and the outcome would not have been what I pride myself in delivering.

Remember our conversations about the 6 levels of relationship we discussed in Podcast #022 - Level 3 vendor or Level 4 supplier, Level 5 partner and Level 6 adviser. One of the differences between 3&4 vs. 5&6 is the ability to see bad business and walk away!

A good definition of bad business … For whatever reason it is not good for the customer, your company, or your business. For example:

Bad for the customer?

• -Wrong product – doesn’t solve their problem and exceed their expectations
• -Can’t deliver – consistently, timely
• -Undermines your position as partner/adviser

Bad for the company?

• -Poor margin
• -Taxes manufacturing or delivery capabilities
• -Isn’t in alignment with company goals
• -Not an ideal client

Bad for you?

• -Not in the ideal client profile or avatar
• -Might adversely effect your ability to take care of other clients
• -Not a good ROI for your time and energy

If you are …

At the top – walk away from bad business so you have more capacity to stay at the top or even grow!

Stuck in the middle – this type of mindset change is what it is going to take to get to the top!

Just starting out – build it right from the start!!!!!

Sales Tool Of Week – Master Sales Interviews! I am going to open them up for free the rest of February!

Quote of the Week – “Once you know where you’re going, every decision is easy because it is either taking you where you want to go or not! If you don’t know where you are going then every decision is tough because you don’t know if it is adding to or taking away from your success!” Tony Robbins

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The 4 Mindsets & Attitudes ALL Top Sales People Have In Common!

Welcome to In The Sales Arena (ITSA) #026. I have always been fascinated by top performers – Athletes, Sales reps, Leaders, etc. This fascination led to our benchmarking process we discussed back in #023. In the process of benchmarking top sales performers we have learned a lot about what they all have in common!

4 Mindsets/Attitudes All Top Sales People Share So, with all of that in mind, I wanted to share with you 4 Mindsets/Attitudes all top sales people have in common:

So, I wanted to share with you 4 Mindsets/Attitudes all top sales people share:

Attitude #1 – if better is possible, then good is not enough! Another way of putting it is “good is the enemy of great”.

• -Who sits in the front row? The best!
• -Who is always measuring and doing gap analysis? The Best!
• -Who devours our content? The best!
• -Who hires coaches? The best!

Attitude #2 – they are always very strategic about what they do and where they invest their time!

• -I am at Point A, I need to get to Point B
• -What strategies & tactics do I need to get there?
• -What resources do I need to make it happen?
• -They are the ultimate Conscious Competent and constantly pursue mastery!

Attitude #3 – they have an abundance mentality, they see the opportunity in everything!

• -They are bold – not afraid
• -The are trusting – not paranoid
• -They do what is right for the customer knowing it pays off
• -They see limitless possibilities not constant problems!
• -They see the good, the bad and the ugly – yet they choose to focus on the good!

Attitude #4 – they understand service to others is the key to success!

-Zig Ziglar said … “You can have anything you want if you just help enough other people get what they want!”

-Our version of that is – “If you care about your customer more than you care about your wallet, your wallet will take care of itself!”

Check these 4 attitudes and rate yourself. See where you stand, where you need to be, and what you have and need to get there.

Sales Tool Of the Week (STOW) – Podcasts by Pat Flynn, Michael Stelzner, Michael Hyatt, Jay Baer, Chris Ducker, Iternet Business Mastery, Duct Tape Marketing, Ray Edwards, John Lee Dumas Entrepreneur On Fire!

Quote of the Week - “You can have anything you want if you just help enough other people get what they want!” Zig Ziglar

Have a great week!

Jim Jacobus

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Dealing With “NO”!!!

Welcome – we have wrapped up our series on what it will take to be a sales master in 2015. Today we are going to take a step back from the strategic and tactical and discuss an important mindset! How do we handle the word NO!!! It will dictate how far we can go in our sales careers!!!

To deal with “no” effectively there is an important continuum to understand … beliefs, thoughts, actions, habits, character and legacy! To change how “no” effects you we have to look at what you believe and think! We have to see it in a new light! First we have to understand that this is something every sales rep goes through to some degree.

Too often we conjure up the most negative connotations of “no” …

· Not now, not ever

· I hate your company!

· I hate your product/service!

· I hate you!

· You are incapable, stupid, ugly, an idiot!

· You are unworthy of anyone ever buying a product from so you are going to be broke, hungry and destitute as a sales person!

We have to be adept at calling up some other, more positive, ways of looking at it like:

· Something they tell even the best sales pros!!!

· Not right now

· A negotiating technique

· An opportunity to reflect

· You haven’t helped me see the value!

· Thank you for the $500 bill!!!

So, What do we do?

Learn, learn and learn some more – that builds skills and confidence!

Know your numbers – thanks for the ???

Find some people to listen to or read who are positive!

Find a mentor or a coach to walk with you through it!

Find someone you can mentor or coach!!!

Don’t quit!!!!!!!

One day you will find yourself --- SWSWSW Who’s Next!

Sales Tool Of the Week – Brian Tracy – The Psychology of Achievement

Quote of the Week – If you aren’t getting rejected on a daily basis then your goals aren’t ambitious enough”! Chris Dixon

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“Gladiators Only” ITSA #023

Who We Need To “Be” To Get To the Top!

Welcome – We are wrapping up our 4 part series on what it takes to be a sales master. So far, we have covered The Sales Process, Value Based Selling, and Intentionally Building Level 5 & 6 Relationships. In this podcast, we are going to talk about who we need to "BE" to get to the top!

We will explore the "be"+ "do" = "have" equation. How have we determined who we need to "BE"? This ITSA session will give you all the details!

Today you will learn all about The Big Five - Resiliency, Personal Accountability, Self Management, Continuous Learning, and Interpersonal Skills. Get these 5 right, and everything else will take care of itself!

Sales Tool of the Week - Outlook Calendar … keep track of your busy schedule, professionally and personally, make sure you don’t double book, particularly pay attention to send meeting notices!!! Look like a pro!

Quote of the Week - What lies ahead of us and lies behind us are tiny, tiny matters compared to what lies inside of us!

Hope you enjoy this podcast ...

Jim Jacobus

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Hey, Gang!

Welcome to a reprise of one of our most popular shows from the past! I trust you will enjoy this timeless content ...

Our topic today is “4 Things We Can All Learn from a Learning Experience.” By learning experience, I’m referring to a convention, conference, or training program.

I just returned from the National Speakers’ Association Conference in Washington, DC: Influence 2015. I’ve been in the professional speaking business for 23 years, and this was my 15th convention. Is it time wasted? Absolutely not!

There are nuggets to take away from each of these gatherings and ways that they make me better at what I do. Next weekend I’ll be in Fort Worth for the Podcast Movement 15 conference, and I’ll be looking to learn more!

Here are some things we can learn from these experiences:

• It’s good to be around “the best of the best.” Being influenced by these top people from various fields gives inspiration and affirmation to what we do.
• There is ALWAYS something new to learn. I’m even learning how to use new technology to engage more listeners!
• Take advantage of every opportunity to teach what you’ve learned. No matter your age, you have an audience that can learn from your experiences, so don’t be shy!
• There are important connections to be made with the other people there. Your life can be greatly enriched by these connections.

I hope you are inspired to attend conferences and training when possible, and learn, learn, learn!

Listener Question of the Week: What’s the one thing we can do, that we might not have thought of, or might not have come to our mind, that can make us more successful in sales?

Quote of the MONTH: “People who think they are, are.”---Betty Flanagan

If you haven’t already you can connect with us on Facebook and Twitter to get even more content to help you build the sales career, and life you want!

Connect with us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/inthesalesarena

And on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/JimJacobus

Have a great week gang

Jim Jacobus
www.jjacobus.com

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Welcome! Today we are in the fourth week of our Four-Part Series of questions to use individually and collectively, personally and professionally, to make 2016 the BEST YEAR EVER!

Let’s review the Four Questions:

1. What is working in our lives/business, and how can we do more of it?

*By “work,” I mean giving you a great ROI for the amount of time you spend. Remember, to know WHAT is working, you have to know WHY it’s working.

1. What is NOT working, and how do we get rid of it or make it work?

*This is the most powerful and most valuable question to consider.

1. What do we want to do that’s NEW?

*There are many options both personally and professionally for doing NEW things!

1. What am I going to do in 2016 that’s BIG?

*This podcast and our Your Marriage Matters podcast were a product of this question from several years ago. Your BIG things can include long term plans for the future, but usually not more than 1-2 items. Dream BIG! Think of GAMECHANGING CONCEPTS!

You can get away for a weekend with your sales team or with your business partner to consider these Four Questions. As we do, you can use them with your family also. They are invaluable in helping you assess the present and plan big for the future! Do something significant this week! Thanks for listening!

Listener Question of the Week: Hey Jim, what is the ONE thing you are going to be working on in 2016?

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Welcome gang! We are in the 3rd part of the 4 part series of 4 questions you should ask yourself to make 2016 your best year yet.

So far we have asked ourselves:

What’s working and how do I do more of it?

What’s not working and how do I get rid of it, or make it work?

Today’s question is question number 3:

What do I want to do this year that is new?

“In times of change, Learners will inherit the earth. While the learned will find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that does not exist.”

Professionally:

Take a training class, be a better presenter, develop a new product, work in a new market. In other words what do I want to do in my business that will make it better.

Personally:

Take a cooking class or learning new hobbies, or even become more proficient at a skill you already have.

I personally want to become a more skilled marksman. I want to take a self-defense class, and become better at using the guns that I own.

What are you going to do this year to become a vibrant, growing human being?

It makes us more vibrant.

It makes us more interesting to other people.

It keeps your grey matter pliable.

One of my coaching clients is changing the performance metrics from Lag KPI’s to Lead KPI’s. This way, they can measure performance as it is happening, rather than just after the fact.

Next week we will be discussing question number 4 to close out this series.

Listener Question of the Week - “Hey Jim, it’s that time of the year and our company is asking for our projections for next year. All of my colleagues are padding their numbers so they can have a good year next year. What do you think about doing that and what should I do?”

Quote of the Week: “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” Muhammad Ali

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Welcome! Today is Part 2 in a series that will run through mid-December. We are discussing the Four Questions to ask ourselves personally and professionally to prepare ourselves for a successful 2016.

Last week’s question was: What is working right now and how do we do more of it?

Today’s question is my favorite one, and it has provided more value to me than any other: What is not working, and how do I get rid of it (or make it work)?

• What does it mean for something NOT to be working? It may have value, but you may not be getting a great ROI from it.

• Jim shares three examples from his own life to illustrate the action steps that follow this question:

• Selling a guitar that he just could not find the time to play as he initially intended

• Selling some personal possessions and property to fulfill a mutual commitment to become debt-free
• Using Team Podcast for post-production work on both In the Sales Arena and Your Marriage Matters podcasts
• You can even have this conversation and ask this question at different points during the year whenever you feel overwhelmed and maxed out.

I hope you’ll use this question, along with the others, to your benefit in your personal and professional life. The questions will help you make assessments and needed adjustments to maximize productivity and value in your life!

Listener Question of the Week: Hey, Jim! I just got back from a deer-hunting trip with one of my best customers who invited me to go with him and some other vendors. The message was sent that I could go on a lot more of these trips if I could give them a better price. What do you think about that?

Quote of the Week: “Nobody is going to buy from you because you have a quota to meet.”—from Bob Burg, author of The Go Giver

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Welcome! As we look toward the end of the year, we will be going through a series of questions over the next few weeks. These questions have been pivotal in our family to help plan for beginning a new year.

These questions can be answered personally, professionally, and collectively—in a family or as part of a company. Each question should be addressed in each category.

Question #1: What is working RIGHT NOW, and how do I do more of that?

This question helps me think about things that are going well, like securing new clients, managing existing clients, selling a specific product, executing the process, value-based selling, or being intentional about growing. You have to know WHY it works.

Remember, as we’ve discussed before, there are three kinds of salespeople:

• UI—the unconscious incompetent
• UC—the unconscious competent
• CC—the conscious competent

The goal is to be in the third group, to be good at what you do, and know why you are good at what you do.

Your homework assignment? Ask yourself the question and assess it personally, professionally, and collectively. I hope it will yield great results for you as you look to end 2015 and begin 2016 in just a few short weeks.

Listener Question of the Week: We want to move to a new CRM right after the first of the year. What are your recommendations?

Quote of the Week: The best way to sell something? Don’t sell anything. Earn the awareness, respect, and trust of those who might buy. ----Rand Fishkin

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Welcome! We have had great feedback from our listeners about our Master Sales Interviews, and we have another great one for you today. My guest is Kyle Lednicky, who works in sales for Emerson Process Management as their Global Key Account Director. Kyle is a graduate of Texas A&M, where he played football, and he is married with two young daughters. He started out selling steel, but wasn’t thrilled with the long hours that sales required. He then spent eight years working in sales for Grainger, and then transitioned to Emerson, where he has been for the past three years.

Kyle shares the following about his sales career:

• Kyle identifies his two main struggles in sales: getting over the fact that you DON’T have to know everything, and being “too nice.”
• Kyle moved past these struggles in the following ways:
• By becoming good at utilizing any and all resources
• By knowing where to turn to find the answers
• By being intentional about creating relationships

• By gaining a “tough love” perspective on where others are coming from

• Kyle now sees his strengths as utilizing available resources, being able to communicate across all different levels in an organization, and knowing how to ask the right questions to connect with coworkers, superiors, and customers.

• Kyle’s sales career has given him the freedom to be home more, attend ALL of his kids’ events, and play a substantial role in their lives. He says that, as a salesperson, you have to EARN the right to claim this lifestyle.
• Kyle’s advice to others? Be a “servant seller.” Put others first. Leverage the value we bring to our customers’ organizations.

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Welcome! November is here, and that means we are heading down the back stretch of 2015. This makes a perfect time to begin planning for 2016. Over the next four weeks, we will cover a topic that we have used in my family for many years and that I still use. I use this in teaching Annual Webinars for my clients as well. We will ask Four Questions you should ask yourself to make 2016 the best year ever.

Question 1: What is working in our lives right now and how do we get more of it?

• Are you focusing on a particular product?
• Are you adding a new product?
• Are you focusing on a particular kind of client?
• Do you plan to expand your business?
• Do you need to be more focused on the sales process?

Find out why it worked and then duplicate it in 2016!

Listener Question of the Week: I have a client who just reached out to me via email. We sell software products, and they are referencing a purchase they made seven months ago, and they’re telling us they can’t find the order. Quite frankly, I don’t buy into this; I think they actually lost it, but I want to know what you think I should do. I don’t want to be responsible for someone else losing the product we sent to them. What should I do?

Quote of the Week: “Sales is living for a few years of your life like most people won’t, so you can spend the rest of your life living like most people can’t.”--Unknown

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The Power of Asking Great Questions

We have looked at two tactical strategies:

1. The Columbo Approach

2. How To Ask the Tough Questions.

This week we are going to look at Questions to Keep You Out of the Price Trap!

1. If we were to work together and I brought you a proposal how would you go about evaluating price?

Would it simply be the cheapest price?

Do added features and benefits matter?

How would delivery time and service figure in?

Would you look to us to create ideas and solutions that may be new to the mix?

2. POWER Question – If I were to bring you a solution that was at a higher price but could show you better/higher ROI for using that product/service would that be a business case you are open to listening to?

What if they say – "All I care about is price”?

1. “Typically that isn’t our strong suit but I would love to get involved and see where we are price-wise. How does that process work for you?
2. How would we get involved?
3. Gather the information and prepare to leave like a good little sales rep the buyer has controlled again.
4. Columbo them on the way out with the power question …

While there are tons of great questions in the business unit category, I love this Power Question because I want to hit the “price is too high” objection head-on, long before we have put together a proposal. Use this Power question before you quote the work to:

1. Establish a high level of credibility with the prospect
2. Understand early on how they will evaluate your pricing strategies
3. Quickly determine if this client fits your “ideal client” avatar and are worth spending time on!

Listener Question of the Week – Jim you talk a lot about “ideal clients” and focusing on doing business with just them. So, when is it time to fire a customer?

1. When their ROI isn’t where I need it to be
2. When they are asking me to do things that would bring my integrity into question
3. When they aren’t fun to work with any more!

Quote of the Week - "The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus." - Bruce Lee**

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Hey, Gang! My topic today is What All Top Sales People have in Common. Over the past 20 years, we have helped our clients select, develop, and retain top salespeople. We benchmark the top sales performers in these organizations by choosing 4-8 of them and collecting data from them. We ask questions about how they wish they did their jobs.

Through this assessment, we measure three things:

• Behaviors
• Motivators
• Core Skills and Competencies—There are 23 of these skills, but we narrow them down to the top and most important, called The Big Five.

The Big Five Core Skills and Competencies are as follows:

• Resiliency—The ability to bounce back from adversity
• Personal Accountability—Do what you say you will do
• Self-Management—These people run their sales career as a business with an entrepreneurial mentality.
• Influencing Others—This can be a learned or innate ability.
• Continuous Learning—THE MOST IMPORTANT MUST-HAVE!

Why is Continuous Learning so important? No two days are ever the same. Management, products, customers, and strategies are always changing. Tommy Hopkins said, “The price of progress is the pain of change.”

My advice to facilitate continuous learning is to adopt the mindset that LEARNING IS CRITICAL. Also, start listening to podcasts and audio books while you commute.

Eric Hoffer said, “In times of change, learners will inherit the earth while the learned will find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with the world that no longer exists.”

Listener Question of the Week: How does someone get really, really good at handling objections?

Quote of the Week: Success occurs when opportunity meets preparation. –Zig Ziglar

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Welcome to another Master Sales Series Interview!  My guest is Robert Rice, who is a VP with Buckley Oil, which sells chemicals, solvents, and lubricants.  Rob is a young sales rep who is a friend and co-worker of my son.  I have hunted and fished with Rob and watched him get married and build his family.  I’m excited to have him on the show and share his sales knowledge with us today!

Rob shares the following about his successful career:

• Rob likes to focus on the small customers and mid-level customers, selling HIMSELF to them, and not just selling another commodity.
• Early in his career, Rob struggled with realizing that the success  that he desired is a process and takes time.   He admits that he struggles today with multitasking and keeping focused on the task at hand.
• Rob believes that even as a company VP, he should devote time each day to cold-calling on potential customers to maintain his skills and help grow the business.
• Rob identifies his biggest strength as his “You” attitude.  He always asks customers, employees, and even vendors, “What can I do for you?”
• Rob credits his sales attitude from his father, who is also in sales.
• Rob keeps his attitude sharp by not letting the word “NO” bother him, and by living according to his faith.
• Performance-based incentives have given Rob and his family the life they’ve always wanted with security and stability.
• Rob’s advice is to be in a profession that will give you the life you want.  Find someone who does the job well and duplicate their work.  Be honest and ask a lot of questions.

Rob has great advice for someone who hasn’t even turned 30 yet!  Follow his tips to put more success  in your sales career.  Thanks for joining me for this informative interview with Rob!

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Welcome! Hey, Gang! We are kicking off the 2nd year of the podcast here in October. My topic today is one that all successful people will face and struggle to overcome.

Three Things to do When you Get Overwhelmed:

1. Ask yourself: What is NOT working? And how do I get rid of it or make it work? Your time is your inventory. What is not giving you the return on investment in your time? Sometimes tough decisions are required about how you spend (and waste) time.
2. Learn to use the leverage of other people. Use virtual assistants and part-time help. Use tools and online resources to help.
3. Say thanks. Be thankful for the fact that you ARE busy. Many people would love to have that problem!

Listener Question of the Week: I’ve noticed that your social media engagement on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter has gone through the roof. How in the world are you able to take care of all the social media needs in such a consistent fashion?

Quote of the Week: “Saying there’s not enough time is like saying there’s not enough air.” Bob Pike

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Welcome! Hey—it’s the One Year Anniversary of the podcast! It’s been a fast year and we’ve covered a lot of great sales information. Thanks to all our loyal listeners! I am committed to bringing you value with each episode, so I look forward to giving you more great tips and bringing you more great interviews.

As we wrap up this first year, I want to share with you the #1 thing I’ve learned in the past year about successful selling, and it comes from my consulting work with Keller-Williams. It’s database, database, database! What I mean by that is that sales revolve around your contacts and the “touches” you make with your clients.

Consider the Four C’s:

• Capture the information from the client.
• Connect with others to show that you like them.
• Cultivate the relationship with the client.

• Email them, send them offers, and use mail and phone calls to “touch” them with value.

• Close that customer at their pace.

Statistics show that if you use the Four C’s on 12 customers in your database, you will close two transactions. This whole idea of systematically using your database will transform your sales business if you will practice these tips!

Listener Question of the Week: I just had a customer hit on me and I didn’t know what to do. What are your thoughts?

Quote of the Week: It’s not a quote today, but some statistics related to our topic:

48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect

25% of sales people make one follow up contact and stop

12% of sales people make three follow up contacts and stop

Only 10% of sales people make more than three contacts

2% of sales are made after the 1st contact

3% of sales are made after the 2nd contact

5% of sales are made after the 3rd contact

10% of sales are made after the 4th contact

80% of sales are made after the 5th-12th contact

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Welcome! I’m recording the show today from a road trip. I’m also battling a cold and losing my voice, so bear with me! My topic is a question I’m frequently asked: What do I listen to and read that helps me stay on top of my game day in and day out? I’m categorizing the answer into podcasts that I listen to and books that I read and listen to:

• Podcasts are a great medium for learning and growth. Here are some of my favorites:
• Donald Kelly-The Sales Evangelist
• Michael Hyatt- This is Your Life (he has a great blog, too)
• Amy Porterfield-Online Marketing Made Easy
• Ray Edwards-The Ray Edwards Show
• Jay Baer-Jay Today TV

• Jim & Christy Jacobus-Your Marriage Matters

• Books can be read, but my favorite way to read them is to listen to audible.com. Some recent favorites are as follows:

• Gary Keller—The One Thing
• Len Cioni—The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
• Greg McKeown—Essentialism
• David Newman—Do It! Marketing
• David Horsager—The Trust Edge
• Rory Vaden—Take the Stairs
• Brian Tracy—The Psychology of Selling
• Dr. John Gottman—The Ten Lessons to Transform Your Marriage

Listener Question of the Week: How do you know when it’s time to shut it down rather than keep pushing through not feeling well?

Quote of the Week: “ If you don’t build your dream, someone will hire you to help build theirs.”

--Ray Gaskins

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Today we are going to talk about why we can’t get them to respond to our e-mails. So … here are the 4 primary reasons why no one reads your e-mails!

4 Reasons Why No One Reads Your Emails (And What To Do About It!)

#1 Reason Why No One Reads Your Emails – it is all about us! Let me tell you about! Here is our newest! Guess what we just did! Market, market, market! Sell, sell, sell!!! I, I, I, We, We, We!!!

#2 Reason Why No One Reads Your Emails – we have a brand that says we don’t consistently deliver “value”

• But wait … a lot of my customers read my e-mails so they are perceiving value!
• Are they?
• Are we communicating the things they value?
• Is the value consistently communicated?
• With their best interests always at heart?

#3 Reason Why No One Reads Your Emails – no thought put into the subject line! It is boring and can’t compete with all of their other e-mails!

#4 Reason Why No One Reads Your Emails – the e-mail itself isn’t written to make it easy to read! They see the e-mail is from you and set it aside until they have time to read a book!

What To Do? 1. Find a resource that will help you write more effective copy – Copyblogger, Ray Edwards! 2. Learn to write compelling subject lines and use scanable copy! 3. Make it about them – you, you, you! Ask a lot of questions? 4. Always make certain your e-mail brings them value! 5. Info, did you know, articles, whitepapers, case studies 6. Use “google alerts” to stay on top of cool things going on with them!!!

Consistently communicating value, value, value + consistently delivered in a compelling way = the privilege of marketing to them! (Thanks Tom Antion!)

Our Listener Question of the Week – Jim,you are always talking about how it sucks to be “stuck in the middle”! I don’t get it … doesn’t someone have to be there?

Here Are Some Resources For You! To access the content at Copyblogger I recommend you start with their blog and then look at other resources they have available from there - http://www.copyblogger.com/blog/

And to get to Ray Edwards stuff go here - http://rayedwards.com

Quote of the Week – “Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small things, but not you. Let others leave their lives in the hands of others, but not you!” Jim Rohn

If you haven’t already you can connect with us on Facebook and Twitter to get even more content to help you build the sales career, and life you want!

Connect with us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/inthesalesarena

And on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/JimJacobus

Have a great week gang!

Jim Jacobus

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Welcome! Today’s Master Sales Interview guest is Donald Kelly, host of “The Sales Evangelist” podcast. Donald grew up in Jamaica, watching his Dad be an entrepreneur. The family moved to the US when Donald was nine years old. He was always the kid who loved talking about the things he was interested in most. He started selling and found that he was good at it and could make money doing it! Donald went into corporate sales and sold various products after college. He is primarily in software sales now. You will learn much from Donald’s experience. I hope this is the first of many conversations we have on the podcast with Donald!

Donald shares the following in our conversation:

• He uses social media for sales coaching and mentoring.
• Pride and admitting that he needed help were the biggest struggles.
• It was necessary to fall in his face and learn how to function in a new arena.

Donald shares tips for success in sales:

• Go to everyone and ask for help.
• Go to the experts who were the top performers in your field.
• Take advantage of sales training when it’s available.
• Have HUMILITY. “I’m not as good as I want to be, but I want to learn.”

Donald’s ONE THING that can help you today? Write down your mission for yourself and your goals. Find a mentor and utilize their help. This is a great starting point to leave mediocrity behind.

Listener Question of the Week: I know you’re busy, Jim. How do you keep that work-life balance in your life?

Quote of the Week: The line between work and play should be SO THIN that no one ever knows which one we’re actually doing.

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Welcome, Gang! Today we’re talking about a new topic; it’s one I’ve touched on before but never given much time to here on the podcast. We are talking about Demonstration and Presentation Skills. Over the years, I have done workshops on this subject. It’s an important one for anyone in sales and many other fields.

EVERYTHING is a presentation! Many of these opportunities are not scheduled speaking events but informal encounters.

Remember, there are three reasons why someone is not a great presenter:

• “I don’t know what to do.” Communication is the solution.
• “I can’t do it.” Training is the solution.
• “I won’t do it.” Motivation is the solution.

How do I become a great presenter? Go to Toastmasters International! I recommend this because it provides a great training ground where you can learn the fundamentals of professional speaking.

There are Five Reasons Why Toastmasters is a Great Training Ground:

1. They have a great process.
2. It is a supportive community.
3. They teach you how to “think on your feet.”
4. They help us “clean up” our speech.
5. It’s a lot of fun!

I follow-up those suggestions with some cautions:

• Find the right club for you. They are NOT all the same. Visit www.toastmasters.org to find one near you.
• Commit to doing the first ten speeches as fast as you can.
• Decide if you want to stay on with Toastmasters.
• Beware of the “lifer” Toastmasters who will tell you there are hard and fast rules for speaking.

Listener Question of the Week: You always talk about vision. How do I get a bigger vision for my sales career moving forward?

Quote of the Week: Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your work with excellence.

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Welcome to the podcast. I just got back from Ft. Worth, TX with the Keller Williams team and had a great conference. I really wanted to talk to you today about mastermind groups. I have been able to spend some time with Ross Bernstein, Sam Richter, Ed Robinson, Michael Hoffman, Jim Pancero and Anna Liota through the mastermind groups that I am in. It made me realize that I need to share with you the value of the mastermind groups.

Why Should You Create A Mastermind?

1. Enables you to get around people that are smarter than you are.
2. Different people with different businesses bring different perspectives.
3. You have people willing to challenge you and willing to be challenged by you.

4. You can hold each other accountable for taking the action to make you better.

5. It is a great community to build and you can enjoy each other while growing is outstanding.

How To Create a Mastermind

1. Keep the group fairly small. 5-9 seems to be the perfect number.
2. Agree to meet a certain number of times per year and block off your calendar for that.
3. Introduce your business; including where you are and where you want to be, and the obstacles preventing you from getting from point A to point B.
4. Ask questions of each other to clarify.
5. Present ideas and solutions to act on.
6. Your job is just to receive the ideas without any rebuttal, and take notes.
7. Have each person present at least one best practice.

Consider putting together a mastermind group to help you grow to a place that you would have never imagined before.

LQOW: “I am beginning to get a little overwhelmed and I can see that it’s going to be really tough moving forward. What are your suggestions?” Helen - Atlanta, GA

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Hey, Gang! Welcome to another podcast! My topic today is The Power of Scripts, which comes from the work I’ve been doing with Keller-Williams Real Estate. Why do we need scripts? The answer is because they allow us to take advantage of every situation and leverage it to our benefit.

For example, KW teaches scripting to its associates to the point of making an initial introduction to a client, emphasizing the appointment time and the punctuality of the associate.

KW teaches the Bold Law, which is that spontaneity is a conditioned reflex. When the client says A, then we are prepared to say B. Your response becomes automatic because it’s been practiced over and over again.

Remember, there are three types of salespeople:

• The UI—Unconscious Incompetent, who is no good at sales but has no clue that they are no good.
• The UC-Unconscious Competent, who is good at what they do, but have no idea why they are good.
• The CC—Conscious Competent, who is good at what they do and know why they are good.

Here are Four Steps to go through to write scripts to be outstanding in every interaction:

1. Write out the script.
2. Memorize the script.
3. Internalize the script.
4. Customize the script.

Listener Question of the Week: What if someone you think a lot of doesn’t believe in what you’re doing?

Quote of the Week: Successful people don’t fear failure. They understand that it is necessary to learn and grow. ---Robert Kiyosaki

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Hey, Gang! I’m adding something new to the podcast, so from time to time, I’ll be bringing you interviews with outstanding sales people. I think it’s beneficial to add different voices and different views to help you. The first of those is an interview with today’s guest, my son, Jason Jacobus. Jason works as a sales rep for Buckley Oil Co. in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Jason is a husband, a father of two young sons and has just finished his MBA from SMU. As a sales rep, Jason is very intentional and strategic, and I think you will benefit from his knowledge. Let’s hear from Jason!

Jason covers the following about his sales career and practices:

• Buckley Oil is a chemical distributor with which Jason has been employed for almost five years.
• Jason’s coverage area includes Texas and Oklahoma, and his contacts range from yard foremen to executives and company owners.
• When Jason began his career, since he wasn’t familiar with the products, he focused on building relationships, asking good questions, and vertical markets.
• An example of a vertical market would be to take the success in sales from one type of client, and then saturate the market with cold calls to competitors in that same market.
• The advantages of vertical markets are that you know where to focus time and energy, you have better understanding of your products and markets, and you gain credibility based on your clientele.
• Jason says he was “ignorant” in the beginning, and that turned out to his benefit. He simply called on anyone and everyone and gained a lot of new clients.
• Jason loves cold-calling! He uses his closing rate to figure how many cold calls he needs to make each day to meet his goals.
• Some people have great fear in cold-calling, but Jason knows the uncertainty is just “POTD”—part of the deal. “Some clients may not see the value in my product yet, and it’s up to me to show them!”
• Jason, like any salesman, has to compartmentalize his time and battle to allocate it properly. He has some great tips to share!

Jason has advice for new sales reps:

• Gravitate toward those who are “doing it well, and find out why they are successful.”
• Focus on “making the calls, and increase your volume until you see the compounding effect.”

His advice for experienced sales reps is to “get back to basics. Don’t rely on preconceived ideas and don’t think there is only one way to do it. Widen your focus.” Jason says that his success comes from the fact that he loves what he does, loves hard work, and loves the opportunities it creates. You won’t want to miss this interview with Jason!

Listener Question of the Week: What if you are burned out and have lost your enthusiasm for what you’re doing?

Quote of the Week: The only way to do great work is to love what you do. ----Steve Jobs

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Hey, Gang! I’m recording this from the Podcast Movement 2015 Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. My topic today comes from a question I was asked after recently attending the National Speakers’ Conference in Washington, DC. I will tackle this question and give several answers, so please join me.

*Why do you go to these “learning” events?

• We have a lot to learn!
• There are things we can do better!
• It’s affirming to know that there are some things we ARE doing right.
• Presentations from other successful people give us INSPIRATION.
• Being around others allows us to make great connections.

I challenge you to look for places you can go to learn new things! The benefits are endless!

Listener Question of the Week: I’d love to go to a conference like the National Speakers’ Association Conference, but my company doesn’t pay for stuff like that. What are your thoughts? Don’t you think they should pay for it?

Quote of the Week: “To be successful, failure is a requirement.” --Pat Flynn

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Hey, Gang! Thanks for joining me today! My topic today is “Four Things to Learn from a Learning Experience.” By learning experience, I’m referring to a convention, conference, or training program. I just returned from the National Speakers’ Association Conference in Washington, DC: Influence 2015. I’ve been in the professional speaking business for 23 years, and this was my 15th convention. Is it time wasted? Absolutely not! There are nuggets to take away from each of these gatherings and ways that they make me better at what I do. Next weekend I’ll be in Fort Worth for the Podcast Movement 15 conference, and I’ll be looking to learn more!

Here are some things we can learn from these experiences:

• It’s good to be around “the best of the best.” Being influenced by these top people from various fields gives inspiration and affirmation to what we do.
• There is ALWAYS something new to learn. I’m even learning how to use new technology to engage more listeners!
• Take advantage of every opportunity to teach what you’ve learned. No matter your age, you have an audience that can learn from your experiences, so don’t be shy!
• There are important connections to be made with the other people there. Your life can be greatly enriched by these connections.

I hope you are inspired to attend conferences and training when possible, and learn, learn, learn!

Listener Question of the Week: What’s the one thing we can do, that we might not have thought of, or might not have come to our mind, that can make us more successful in sales?

Quote of the MONTH: “People who think they are, are.”---Betty Flanagan

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Hey, Gang! I’m excited about this subject for our conversation today. Being in sales is an awesome career choice! Why? There is a lot of money to be made, and sales careers offer more freedom than any other job. You also get to help people with goods and services and meet some of the coolest people anywhere. If you’re good at sales, then you’ll never be without a job. Almost anyone can learn to sell, and most sales jobs don’t even require a college degree!

So, what’s the problem? Why do so many people struggle to have a successful sales career? Here are the four reasons:

• They lack the resiliency to bounce back from adversity. They end up depressed.
• They lack the responsibility for their actions and results. They end up being the victim.
• They lack the humility required to constantly learn and grow. They end up being passed over and left behind.
• They lack the BIG WHY needed to overcome the first three reasons. They end up in a place where NONE OF THIS MAKES SENSE!

WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT? Look at the four reasons in reverse:

• Find a BIG WHY that drives you.
• Put yourself in a position to learn.
• Set goals, make commitments, create a plan, and live up to it.
• Build resiliency to a level at which you can handle anything.

Go out this week and put these into practice to accomplish great things! Visit our website to leave your feedback and questions. I look forward to hearing from you!

Listener Question of the Week: What is the craziest thing you’ve ever had happen on a sales call?

Quote of the Week: “Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve more and live richer lives.” ----Daniel Pink

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Welcome to today’s episode! I’ve been working on a brand new project with Keller Williams real estate focusing on lead generation. This has led me to today’s topic, which is FOUR KEYS TO EFFECTIVE COLD-CALLING:

1. Stop calling it “cold-calling!” Instead of the negative connotation, let’s call it PROSPECTING. It basically means looking for new people with whom to do business.
2. Have a good list. This can be a random list, a targeted list, or a database of clients.
3. Use a good script with a legitimate reason for calling. This begins with a good referral or third party endorsement, has a clear purpose, asks a good question, and ends with a clear objective.
4. Have a big WHY. The WHY includes the financial reward for what we do, the freedom to grow and build, and the ability to make a difference for others.

Listener Question of the Week: I have a meeting with a client that I want to do business with in a couple of weeks. I’m excited about it, but I know he buys from a very strong competitor in our marketplace. How do I get past that obvious hurdle?

Quote of the Week: “Become the person who would attract the results you seek.” ---Jim Cathcart

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Thanks for joining me! Have you stopped to think, “Why don’t I accomplish my sales goals?” There are three basic reasons why people don’t do what they are supposed to do:

• They don’t know WHAT to do. The solution is COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE! Set clear goals and expectations.
• They CAN’T do it. The solution is TRAIN, TRAIN, TRAIN! If you’re a sales manager, then you train your people; if you are a salesperson, then you LEARN, LEARN, LEARN! Focus on mindset, strategies, tactics, and skills.
• They WON’T do it. The solution is MOTIVATE, MOTIVATE, MOTIVATE! This is by far the most difficult of the three to solve. There are only three motivators: pain, pleasure, and sense of purpose. The sense of purpose is the big WHY? It’s what drives us to bring value to the lives of other people. Pain and pleasure are motivators that are short-lived, and they can only take you to the next level. Sense of purpose is the only motivator that can take you to THE TOP!

So, what can be said about that person who IS #1?

• They know where they are going.
• They are trained, and they keep training to get there.
• They have a sense of purpose much bigger than a paycheck.

Listener Question of the Week: Hey, Jim. You’re a coach, right? Why would someone in sales, like myself, want to hire a coach?

Quote of the Week: “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.”---Vince Lombardi

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Hey, Gang! July is here, and the summer heat is upon us! It’s a great time to look at sales and what you expect from the SECOND HALF of 2015. I just returned from an amazing Coaching Skills Camp, and I am energized and enthused about sharing a great sales correction technique with you today! It is based on the following acronym for GROW:

G---Goal: What was my specific goal for this year? This is my personal sales goal; it could be revenue, houses listed/sold, cars sold, cans of paint sold, units sold, new customers in my database, numbers of new leads, profits, margins, etc.

R---Reality: How does the reality compare to the goal? Where am I RIGHT NOW in reaching my goal?

O---Obstacles: What is keeping me from reaching my goal? This is a time for harsh self-evaluation, but not a time to blame others!

W---What do I need to do about it? Do I need to set new, specific goals? What part is actually within my control?

Ask yourself the following questions:

What do I need to do in the NEXT six months to change my trajectory and reach my goals?

What do I need to do to make up my deficit RIGHT NOW?

Do I need to change my mindset, acquire new skills, or find new resources?

Remember, this is not a time to trash the original goal! We still want to achieve it! Put this tool into practice and GO GET THE MOST OUT OF THE LAST HALF OF 2015!

Listener Question of the Week—What is the one thing that you see that differentiates the outstanding sales professional from all the others?

Quote of the Week: “If you want to reach a goal, you must SEE the reaching in your mind before you actually arrive at your goal.”

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Welcome! We are wrapping up our series on Power Sales Questions that we have covered during June. We have discussed Three Power Questions and how important they are:

1. The Columbo Approach—Learn when and how to use it!
2. The Plus/Minus Question—Find out what’s going well/what’s NOT going well.
3. The Price Question—Find out how the client evaluates price.

Now, we move to the GROUND ZERO QUESTION, which is the personal level question—the fourth of our Power Sales Questions. Why is this important? We have to earn the right to ask questions on a personal level and find out what matters to the customer on a personal level.

Remember, “People buy for PERSONAL REASONS, and they justify for BUSINESS REASONS.”

**WHAT WOULD YOU CONSIDER TO BE A PERSONAL HOME RUN FOR YOU?

This question can take on different forms depending on the type of sales business:

• If we were to work together, a year from now . . .
• If we were successful in this bid process . . .
• If we were assigned to this project . . .
• If everything went as you want it to go . . .
• When this project is complete . . .

What the customer tells us in answer to this question becomes our PRIMARY GOAL, so they will look to do business with us in the future.

I’ve used this question for close to 15 years with clients, and found it benefits me in the following ways:

• It helps me control the conversation.
• It gives me lots of valuable information about my customer.
• It allows them to talk about their business.
• It helps avoid the “Show Up and Throw Up” disease.

Listener Question of the Week: What do you do to avoid the inevitable summer “slowdowns”?

• Find out what is going with your customers over the summer.
• Find out which contact people are gone on vacation and when.
• Find out what you can do to serve them best before, during, and after their vacation.
• If possible, send a gift to them while they are on vacation if you know where they will be.

Quote of the Week: “People don’t ask for facts in making up their minds. They would rather have one good, soul-satisfying emotion than a dozen facts.” Robert Keith Leavit

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Welcome to Inside the Sales Arena!

This month we are covering “Power Sales Questions”. So far in June, we have discussed:

The Power of Asking Great Questions

We have looked at two tactical strategies:

1. The Columbo Approach

2. How To Ask the Tough Questions.

This week we are going to look at Questions to Keep You Out of the Price Trap!

1. If we were to work together and I brought you a proposal how would you go about evaluating price?

Would it simply be the cheapest price?

Do added features and benefits matter?

How would delivery time and service figure in?

Would you look to us to create ideas and solutions that may be new to the mix?

2. POWER Question – If I were to bring you a solution that was at a higher price but could show you better/higher ROI for using that product/service would that be a business case you are open to listening to?

What if they say – "All I care about is price”?

1. “Typically that isn’t our strong suit but I would love to get involved and see where we are price-wise. How does that process work for you?
2. How would we get involved?
3. Gather the information and prepare to leave like a good little sales rep the buyer has controlled again.
4. Columbo them on the way out with the power question …

While there are tons of great questions in the business unit category, I love this Power Question because I want to hit the “price is too high” objection head-on, long before we have put together a proposal. Use this Power question before you quote the work to:

1. Establish a high level of credibility with the prospect
2. Understand early on how they will evaluate your pricing strategies
3. Quickly determine if this client fits your “ideal client” avatar and are worth spending time on!

Listener Question of the Week – Jim you talk a lot about “ideal clients” and focusing on doing business with just them. So, when is it time to fire a customer?

1. When their ROI isn’t where I need it to be
2. When they are asking me to do things that would bring my integrity into question
3. When they aren’t fun to work with any more!

Quote of the Week - "The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus." - Bruce Lee**

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Welcome to our podcast! All month long we are talking about The Power of Questions, and today’s topic is How to Ask the Tough Questions.

From our webinar of February, 2015, we covered value-based selling. The value propositions for clients are based on the following:

• The Issue: What is the problem?
• The Action: What are we going to do about it?
• The Impact: Why should they care?

We discuss the issues of “me-too’s” and “hammers.”

• Me-too’s---Occur when we do the same thing someone else does.
• Hammers---Occur when we do something no one else does.

Remember, we ask questions to find out what it is the client values. This helps us avoid the “show up and throw up” disease!

The strategy that leads to asking the tough questions is to start by asking positive questions. We ask about something that’s worked well for them, and then we flip to ask about what hasn’t worked well. Examples include the following:

• What are some companies that do the best job at what you expect?
• What have been some major successes since ___________________? (some milestone event)
• What do you expect from me?

Then, the FLIP:

• What hasn’t worked well?
• How does that present challenges for you and your business?

“When they reveal what ISN’T WORKING, it tells us how we can bring value to the table in a way they aren’t getting it now!”

Listener Question of the Week– I love the first podcast about questions! I have already used it twice! What do you do if you are trying to ask questions, and the person on the other end is giving you nothing and almost being rude?

Quote of the Week-- “Customers expect salespeople to stimulate the sales process, to ask the right questions and finally, to ask for their business. When this initiative or confidence is lacking, no matter how much they like you personally, they aren‘t going to respect or value you as a business partner.”
― Ann-Marie Heidingsfelder, The 20 Minute Sales Coach

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THE “HOW” AND “WHY” OF USING QUESTIONS

“THE COLUMBO APPROACH"

Welcome to the first podcast of June! All month we will be considering “The Power of Questions.” We will discuss helpful, basic information that YOU can begin using right away.

WHY are questions so powerful? There are three reasons:

• Use questions to create credibility with clients instead of skepticism.
• In sales, we should be talking 20% of the time and listening 80% of the time. Asking questions allows for that to happen.
• When we ask questions, we are in TOTAL control of the conversation.
• A BONUS REASON: Asking questions is the cure for the “show up and throw up disease” in sales.

From our Value-Based Selling webinar in February 2015, there are THREE LEVELS OF QUESTIONS to ask clients:

• Corporate Level Questions—no risk/no harm, but with very little return.
• Business Level Questions—higher risk/higher return
• Personal Level Questions—highest risk/ highest return

The PERSONAL LEVEL questions are the goal, but we have to EARN the right to ask those questions of a client.

I recommend “THE COLUMBO APPROACH” in questioning a client. It’s taken from the old detective show, and it is a remarkable way to get someone’s attention. Listen to find out more!

THE COLUMBO APPROACH is the lead-in to the most important question for a salesman to ask a client. “What is the difference between the person you let back through the door on a regular basis and the sales rep you never see again?” What comes next gives a road map for how to make that customer happy! Learn how to use these questioning techniques successfully and MORE!

LQOW – What do you think are the three most important skill sets for a successful sales rep?

QOTW - “I was so sure that I knew what they needed and what I wanted to sell them that I never stopped long enough to find out what it was they wanted to buy.”
― Chris Murray, The Extremely Successful Salesman's Club

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Welcome! This is the last podcast for Mindset May!

So far in May we have discussed:

1. What we think matters

2. The mindset of an entrepreneur

3. Considering what really is possible

and

1. Today: 3 Key Sales Strategies for Partnering with Clients

•Customers are not adversaries – we are not at war with them! We want to partner with them to in their fight towards profitablility.

•Partnering with “ideal clients” is more fun!

It is a lot easier!

And … We make more money!

Bottom line? Partnering with clients is the best ROI for all of our hard work!

Let's review of the 6 Levels of Relationship

Level 1 – they don’t know us

Level 2 – they do know us

Level 3 – we are considered as a vendor

Level 4 – we are a supplier

Level 5 – we are a partner

Level 6 - we are an adviser

In our workshops we discuss what percentage of potential profit is there at each level and the big leap is between 4 and 5.

The example is: For every $100 in profit per sales, what dollar amount would come from each level of relationship:

Level 1 - $0

Level 2 - $10-$20

Level 3 - $30

Level 4 - $40-50

Level 5 - $75-$85

Level 6 - $100

Most sales reps spend the majority of their time in Levels 3 and 4, so you can see that there is money left on the table with every sale!

3 Strategies for Partnering With Clients

1. Focus on working more and more with ideal clients – the ones who respect and appreciate you and what you do! Go to www.thesalesgladiators.com and search for “ideal clients”!

2. We have to master what it means to sell “value” (what the customer values) day in and day out! Issue, action, impact! February webinar was on how to avoid the price trap by selling value!

3. Be intentional about building Level 5 & 6 relationships! ITSA #022 is about the 6 levels!

So, as we wrap up Mindset May we hope we have challenged the way you think about sales! How we think really does matter!

Listener Question of The Week - "Ok Jim! What do you struggle with most in sales?"

Quote of the Week - "If eighty percent of your sales come from twenty percent of all of your items, just carry those twenty percent." Henry Kissinger

Have a great week gang!

Jim Jacobus

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Welcome! This is “Mindset May” and we are discussing how what we think impacts our sales?

I switched gears this week because I was listening to a book titled “The Million Dollar Real Estate Agent” by Gary Keller of Keller Williams Real Estate and they were talking about thinking big. What stuck with me was

· Big dreams and goals = big accomplishments!

· Never will = never does!

· We all have so much more potential than we imagine!

Let’s start by reviewing the process of how what we think/believe impacts what we accomplish!

1. Core beliefs?

2. Create thoughts

3. Create actions

4. Repeated create habits

5. Repeated create performance

6. Repeated create accomplishments!

7. What we believe matters!

So? What are your thoughts on money?

· Our experience tells us you are only able to do about 10% more that you imagine you can!

· The question I always have is how much do the best of the best make in your company? Why not you?

How do we get there?

• · The “Be” + “Do” = Have Equation
• · Dream big!!! What are the big hitters doing?
• · Have a plan!

o Did you know that a 10% growth over 5 years is 161% of your original business?

o 20% growth equals 249% of your original business!

Remember!

· Big dreams and goals = big accomplishments!

· Never will = never does!

· We all have so much more potential than we imagine!

The “Listener Question of the Week” – how do you stay “up” when every day it seems like it is getting tougher and tougher?

Quote of the Week – “Push yourself to the limit to make peace with your limitations! Then you can go to bed every night with a clear conscience!” Gary Keller Keller Williams Real Estate

Have a great week gang!

Jim Jacobus

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Welcome – this is mindset May and we are talking about the way top sales performers think!

I have said over and over … I am a sales guy! Always have been and always will be. When done properly I believe it is among the most honorable professions on the planet!

How about you? If I were to ask you what it is you love about selling what would you say? We do ask that question at the start of most every sales program we do and the answers are usually the same:

• I love helping people or customers, creating solutions, solving problems, playing the game
• I love the money, lifestyle, stuff that selling allows me to afford
• I love the freedom, power, control I have in sales
• How good we are at selling determines how much we have of the three above!

Today we are going to look at that third one a little closer. In the assessment work we do (we talked about it last week) we create a benchmark by asking top performers how they think the job “should and could” be done at the highest level!

• We end up with the Big 5
• Resiliency and personal accountability are #1 and 2
• Continuous learning and influencing others #4 & 5
• Self management stands in the middle at #3

Translating that means they treat their sales business & their lives like a small business! That creates 4 very distinct mindsets that make them successful;

1. They act like an owner and not like an employee – come early, stay late and do whatever it takes to grow their business! Owners do whatever it takes while employees have a transactional mentality!
2. They invest in their business and in themselves – tools, training, support systems
3. They understand their inventory is their time not their product or services and they are protective of that limited resource
4. They demand a solid Return On Investment for that inventory! Not wasting it is one thing. Not giving it out to clients who don’t want to pay for it is where we are really going here! Go to www.thesalesgladiators.com and do a search for Ideal Clients and you will find some great resources for this mindset!

If you are:

• Brand new and wanting to build a great sales career
• That sales rep that is “stuck in the middle”
• The best of the best
• Then take a look at how you are executing this mindset and the four key elements!

Your Listener Question of the Week – I am a new grad and I am brand new in sales. A friend of mine turned me on to your podcast and website so while I am really enjoying it I am a bit overwhelmed by all that I want and need to do to be successful. Since I don’t even start until June 1st so what would be your approach to getting off to a fast start?

Quote of the Week - "In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create." – David Ogilvy, co-founder of Ogilvy & Mather.

Have a great week gang!

Jim Jacobus

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What We Think Matters! - ITSA #036

Welcome To Mindset May

Welcome to mindset May gang. Our tagline says “Providing the strategies, tactics, real world skills and mindset to build the sales career, and life, you want!

This month we are going to cover 4 specific mindsets that make a difference in our sales success!

• Week 1 – What we think matters!
• Week 2 - The mindset of an entrepreneur!
• Week 3 - The mindset of a problem solver!
• Week 4 – The mindset of a partner to your clients!

Even in our webinars this month we are going to be covering how important mindset is with two webinars dedicated to the mindsets of resiliency and personal accountability.

There is a continuum I want us to consider as a baseline for this discussion;

• Core beliefs
• Thoughts
• Actions
• Habits
• Character
• Legacy

Some of the more critical areas of mindset that we need to consider are;

• A positive outlook in general?
• Sales and selling
• Customers and clients
• Your company, products/services and your boss!
• Success and failure, rejection, self esteem, self image and self confidence?
• Life in general?

How do you develop and positive mindset?

• GIGO
• The people around you
• What are you doing to learn and grow?
• Why are you here? Why are you sucking up air?

Two things “to do” this week

1. Go to TSG and read the blog post “I Wanted To Introduce You To Jim Rohn
2. Subscribe to the newsletter on success.com!

Listener Question of the Week – the drop in oil prices is beginning to affect my sales numbers, and my pocket book! Any thoughts on what to do?

Quote of the Week - "Tough times never last, but tough people do." – Robert Schuller

Jim Jacobus, CSP

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4 Reasons Why No One Reads Your E-mail - ITSA #035

(And What To Do About It!)

Welcome to In the Sales Arena Podcast #035 ...

We are wrapping up a months worth of content where we have been working on how do we get to see more decision makers – prospects or current clients. Today we are going to talk about why we can’t get them to respond to our e-mails.

So … here are the 4 primary reasons no one reads our e-mails …

1 – it is all about us! Let me tell you about! Here is our newest! Guess what we just did! Market, market, market! Sell, sell, sell!!! I, I, I, We, We, We!!!

2 – we have a brand that says we don’t consistently deliver “value”

• But wait … a lot of my customers read my e-mails so they are perceiving value!
• Are they?
• Are we communicating the things they value?
• Is the value consistently communicated?
• With their best interests always at heart?

3 – no thought put into the subject line! It is boring and can’t compete with all of their other e-mails!

4 – the e-mail itself isn’t written to make it easy to read! They see the e-mail is from you and set it aside until they have time to read a book!

What to do?

1. Find a resource that will help you write more effective copy – Copyblogger, Ray Edwards!
2. Learn to write compelling subject lines and use scanable copy!
3. Make it about them – you, you, you! Ask a lot of questions?
4. Always make certain your e-mail brings them value!
5. Info, did you know, articles, whitepapers, case studies
6. Use “google alerts” to stay on top of cool things going on with them!!!

Consistently communicating value, value, value + consistently delivered in a compelling way = the privilege of marketing to them! (Thanks Tom Antion!)

Our Listener Question of the Week – Jim,you are always talking about how it sucks to be “stuck in the middle”! I don’t get it … doesn’t someone have to be there?

Quote of the Week – “Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small things, but not you. Let others leave their lives in the hands of others, but not you!” Jim Rohn

Thanks for joining us on this week's In the Sales Arena" podcast ...

Jim Jacobus, CSP

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4 Keys To Using Social Media Work For You In Sales!

I love using social media as a sales tool and when you use it properly it can be very effective. Some of the reasons I think it should be a tool in your bag would be:

• It’s free!
• It reaches a ton of people for free!
• It can bring credibility when used well.
• It can be noticeable by its absence.
• It is a lot of fun …

The important part of social media is learning to use it properly. Here are 3 Keys to making social media work for you in your sales efforts:

Key #1 – not all channels are created equal

• Facebook – primarily B2C
• Twitter – B2B or B2C
• Linked In – B2B

Key #2 - You have to have the goods that help people by bringing value to their work and/or personal lives.

Key #3 – you have to be consistent in your delivery whatever channel(s) you choose to create a voice and build up a following.

Key #4 – bring value, bring value, bring value and bring even more value and then they will let you market to them!

We recommend you pick 1 channel at a time, master it and learn how to leverage it before getting involved in another!

Listener Question of the Week – our operations guy is a bully with a lousy attitude and makes things at work very difficult at times. I need to work with him to be successful in the field but I am getting tired of his “crud”. What do you recommend I do?

Quote of the Week – “the price of progress is the pain of change”! Tom Hopkins

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Do This ONE Thing To Crush It Every Day! - ITSA #033

Hey gang ...

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of "In the Sales Arena"! We have a great show as we talk about the "one thing" we can do to make every day awesome and we are going to focus in on the part having a great attitude plays in how successful we are.

I love this old quote by Zig Ziglar - "your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude"! I even do a lousy job of trying to imitate how Zig used to say that in his audio programs. I even say him live and heard him share this quoy=te as a young sales rep way back in 197?????. Who cares!

I am going to share a number of ideas about how to develop, maintain and protect a positive attitude like:

• Practicing positive responses
• Understanding the principal of Garbage In-Garbage Out (als known as GIGO) and how important that is
• Being careful about who we hang out with and the influence that has one us

But the "one thing" I have come to experience that can have the greatest influence on our attitude, and our lives, is getting in the habit of listing "The 10 Things I Am Thankful For".

We spend a bit of time on this and I think you will get a lot out of listening to it but even more out of making a commitment to yourself to do it!

Hope you enjoy it ...

Listener Question of the Week - What do you think are the 3 biggest mistakes sales people make?

Quote of the Week - Everything can be taken from a man but one thing:the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given circumstances, to choose one's own way! Viktor E. Frankl

Have a great week gang!

Jim Jacobus

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3 Keys To Deciding If You Are In the Right Sales Job! - ITSA #032

We have been very fortunate through the years to do sales training all over the world for some of the best of the best sales organizations. During all of that sales training I find myself assessing their teams and many times the individuals. The questions I find myself asking a lot are;

• Is this person in the right sales position?
• Should they be in sales at all?

Today we are going to tackle 3 keys, or ways, to determine if you are in the right sales job?

Key #1 – are you working for the right company?

Established or new

Big or small

How much support do they provide?

Training available?

Management style?

Key #2 – are you selling the right product?

Do you love the product?

Passionate about it?

Fun?

Does it impact businesses or people’s lives?

Do you believe in it?

Sales style required

Key #3 – can you build the sales career, and life, you want in this sales position?

Money?

Growth opportunities?

Will selling this product, for this company, allow you to build the life you want?

The 3 main keys are ...

• Right company
• Right product
• Right opportunity

Listener Question of the Week – If I wasn’t listening to your podcast then what podcast do you recommend I listen to?

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Cheating Competitors - 3 Things To Think, And Do, About It!

A lot of discussions lately about integrity, ethics and character in sales! Today we are going to talk about what to do when your competitors are cheating or acting unethically!

As we look at this challenge it is important to make a distinction between …

• Doing things that are illegal
• Doing things that are unethical

First – let’s be clear about what is going on

• Is what they are doing illegal?
• Would you consider it unethical?
• Would you consider it immoral?
• Does it lack integrity?

Three words of caution ...

Caution #1 – about using our standards for what is ethical, moral and/or lacks integrity!

Caution #2 – let’s make sure everything we are doing passes the same set of standards!

Caution #3 – let’s make sure this isn’t just an excuse for someone who is doing a better job than we are!

Second – let’s determine how we are going to do business regardless of what others do!

• There is no such thing as situational ethics!
• Are we doing anything that someone else could consider shady?
• Are we willing to sacrifice a dollar to stay within integrity?

Third – trust that the world takes care of stuff like this!

• Sooner or later they get caught
• They have trouble sleeping at night
• Their world is usually a mess – personally and professionally
• And … there are always a ton of customers out there looking for real sales pros!

Listener Question of the Week – our company recently changed our compensation plan because they determined we were getting paid too much. I am livid about it and don’t really want to give it my all right now. I am guessing you have some thoughts about this?

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Donald Kelly The Sales Evangelist - ITSA #030

Hey gang - This Master Sales Interview with Donald Kelly is going to go down as one of the very best we have ever put together! Partly because of his background, partly because of insights and partly because of his incredible enthusiasm!

Here is a little about Donald from his own website www.thesalesevangelist.com. Check it out ...

Donald Kelly - The Sales Evangelist Just like most of you, I am a real life sales professional hustling in the world of software sales. If you were like me, you had no clue how to really sell when you started in sales. Over the years I’ve received training/coaching from some of the industry’s leading experts. I applied what I was learning and started seeing a significant difference in my performance and income. I started doing “BIG THINGS”!

I personally feel that when you find something of value you should share it! That’s why I love sales so much. I became very passionate and started “evangelizing” about sales. A good buddy of mine, Jared Easley, then dubbed me “The Sales Evangelist”. He recommended that I further my reach by sharing sales tips to others through the medium of a podcast.

Like I said ... you are going to love, love, love this guy! Here is a link to Donald's website ... http://thesalesevangelist.com/ And a link to his Facebook page ... https://www.facebook.com/groups/448729615281826/ Have a great week gang!

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4 Things Every Sales Pro Needs To Do When We Mess Up!

Welcome – this podcast is all about what to do when we mess up or make a mistake – and we will! The buzzword for this is “recovery”. What we need to remembers is clients don’t expect us to be perfect they just want to know when something goes wrong we will fix it. To be successful at "recovery":

1. We have to fix what happened
2. We have to fix the relationship

Step #1 – Ask the client what went wrong?What is the problem? Where did we mess up? Don’t avoid! Listen and “shut up”! Don’t rationalize, justify, or defend even if what they say isn’t accurate from your understanding. Continue to ask – is there anything else I need to know? Note! It isn’t over until they feel they’ve been heard!

Step #2 – own the mistake! Keep in mind the language is "I" made a mistake when you did it and we made a mistake when your team does it! It is never “they” made a mistake. Explain what happened, when necessary, so the client understands you understand and never make excuses!

Step #3 – fix it by saying the following – “I don’t blame you, if that happened to me I would be upset too! Is there something I can do today to make it right?” Then do what they ask you to! Do it as soon as you possibly can!

Step #4 – fix the internal problem that caused the mistake so it doesn’t repeat itself. Inform the client what was done at a level that makes sense!

Keep in mind ... Clients that have a problem that we remedy quickly and efficiently are more loyal than clients that never have a problem!

LQOW – there has been a lot of flu and other stuff going around this year! Do you work even when you are sick?

Quote of the Week - Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. ~ Bill Gates

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Welcome to ITSA #028 and 3 reasons why it is important to identify your "Ideal Clients".

First - think of words that describe the "ideal client"and determine which of your clients match those words.

Second - think of words that describe the worst clients and determine which of your clients fit in that pocket.

Third - once you have this then;

1. If we know who the "ideal clients" are then we can market and sell to them accordingly.
2. They are simply easier to sell to, they close faster and easier, and at a higher margin.
3. They are a lot more fun to do business with!

Our Listener Question of the Week (LQOW) is: My company is doing some things I think lack integrity. What should I do?

Listen in to get all the details and the answer to the LQOW!

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The 6 Levels of Relationship – Pursuing Sales Mastery - ITSA #022

This is the third in 4 podcasts on what it takes to be a sales master in 2015. So far we have talked about the power of a sales process and value based selling. Today we are going to talk about the 6 levels of relationship and how important it is to be intentional about building Levels 5 and 6.

Yes! We are always measuring everything! Why?

· Consistency

· Repeatable

· What we measure we can improve

· Awareness!

We define The 6 Levels of Relationship like this …

ü Level 1 – I am an unknown (we will define as they don’t even know who I am or who my company is)

ü Level 2 – I am known (defined as they know who I am and who my company is but they don’t know what we do)

ü Level 3 – I am a vendor (we will define as I am on their list to buy from and they may or may not be buying from me)

ü Level 4 – I am a supplier (we will define as they are buying from us with some regularity)

ü Level 5 – I am a partner (defined as a “connected” business relationship where we have each others best interests in mind)

ü Level 6 – I am an adviser (defined as being on the inside and knowing what is going on before it happens)

In this podcast we also give you an overview of the plan we share in our sales training programs on what do you do with these 6 levels! Are you tired of working with clients who don’t give you the return on investment for the time you spend? Then you are going to love this webinar and be ecstatic about putting this stuff into action!

Sales Tool of the Week – Sales Genie a database of sales leads by industry, size, location, title of buyers and cloning your best customers!!! www.salesgenie.com

Quote of the Week – “Known value plus Level 5 & 6 relationships always trumps price”!

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Value Based Selling – Avoiding The Price Trap By Learning To Sell Value! - ITSA #021

Hey gang! Welcome to In the Sales Arena #021. We are going to talk about one of my favorite topics today and a topic I see transform the careers of a lot of sales people when they get ahold of this idea in the sales training programs we deliver. Today we are going to talk about Value Based Selling.

Let me ask you a few questions …

Are you tired of quoting, quoting and quoting some more where you win some and lose some?

Are you tired of the whole “price is king” rat race?

Would you like to sell more volume?

At a higher margin?

With clients that are more collaborative in nature and appreciate what you bring to the table?

Would you just like to have more fun at work every day?

Well, there is no silver bullet. Sorry! But, there is an answer to being able to do all of the above and it begins with knowing the value you bring to the table. When I say know it I mean to master your value like I asked you … “what’s your birthday”?

So, we are going to cover in this podcast …

1. A beginning conversation on value based selling

2. A structure for better communicating value in 3 categories

3. We are going to talk about the difference in value based selling when you have “me too” products and when you have “hammers” or leveraged products

So, “buckle up buttercup” (yes I said that and I promise not to ever again) we are going to start a heck of a ride that can change your entire career, and life!

Sales Tool of the Week – the book Essentialism by Greg McKeown (a must read)

Quote of the Week – “Pressure is what you feel when you don’t know what you’re doing”! Peyton Manning – The Denver Broncos

Now, go do something significant this week to build the sales career, and life, YOU want!

Jim Jacobus

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Mastering the Sales Process -

ITSA #020

Welcome to “In the Sales Arena” podcast #020! This is our second podcast of 2015 and what we are calling the year of sales mastery. As we go through the year ahead, in all of our content, we want you to have all of the tools you need to build the sales career, and life you want in 2015!

Our hopes for you can be summed up like this;

ü If you are new … we want to help build the foundation for a great year and long term sales success

ü If you are stuck in the middle we want to help you get to the top

ü If you are already at the top and wanting to stay there, we want to help you blow the roof off the numbers

In this episode we are going to talk about the sales process and how critical it is to master it! I know-it isn’t very sexy! During this podcast we are going to share with you the following:

ü The 8 step process we teach and a little about each

ü 5 reasons why mastering the process is so critical

ü Why you should care!

So, hope you enjoy this one. Taking the sales process serious has altered my career in a number of ways. It will do the same for you!

Our Sales Tool of the Week – Fiverr go to www.fiverr.com and check it out. It is way cool!

Quote of the Week - Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together." - Vincent Van Gogh

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A Year of Sales Mastery - What Does It Take To Be the Best of the Best?

Welcome – Happy New Year! Hope you had a great holiday season and that you are rested up and ready to go here in 2015. Our theme for 2015 is A Year of Sales Mastery. In this episode we are going to talk about …

What do we mean by mastery?

Why would you want to be a master of selling?

What is it going to take to be a master of this profession of sales? What we will be focusing in on in 2015 are the following 4 areas of mastery:

• ü Understanding and quantifying the “value” we bring to clients and customers!
• ü Intentionally building Level 5 & 6 relationships – you are the person they go to!
• ü Executing a proven sales process – what are the steps to consistent volume and margin in selling?
• ü Becoming an extraordinary person, professionally and personally, at the core level.

In this session we discuss Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Outliers” and in particular his 10,000 hours to mastery! The question we have to ask ourselves is how do we want to invest those hours? Do you want to spend it becoming a UC or a CC?

Our Hope for you in 2015 …

• If you are new to sales let’s begin to lay the foundation
• If you have been doing it a while and are stuck in the middle
• If you are at the top and want to stay there
• Let’s go!

“Hard work is a prison sentence only if it does not have meaning. Once it does, it becomes the kind of thing that makes you grab your wife around the waist and dance a jig. (150)”
― Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success

Now … go do something significant this week to build the sales career, and life, you want!

Jim Jacobus

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Hey gang ...

We were not going to do a podcast this week but as I got up this morning I felt compelled to sit down to do a quick one just to say THANK YOU for an incredible 2014 and to share how excited we are heading into 2015.

There are a lot of awesome things on the horizon for TheSalesGladiators.com and our "In the Sales" Arena podcast as well as some new additions to our premium In the Sales Arena members. And, we are launching our modular based, online sales training in January for folks who want a focused learning opportunity to grow their sales skills. So, to say the least, we are jacked up about what lies ahead!

Again ... thanks! You guys are the best, we really appreciate you and we are looking forward to an awesome 2015!

Jim J

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It is Christmas Eve as we post this last podcast for 2014 and first we hope you are enjoying the holiday season and celebrating it however your traditions dictate and enjoying every moment of it!

2014 has been a phenomenal year and we expect 2015 to be even more fantastic! Over the past 7 podcasts we have been discovering together what it will take for 2015 to be Our Best Year EVER! So far we have discussed how important it is to:

• Have a plan - our plan!
• Develop and defend a great attitude!
• Be committed to our success - "I will do whatever it takes"!
• Create a vision - that goes beyond a paycheck or a career!
• Keep learning - invest in our own success!
• Take responsibility for our results - we are who, what and where we are because of the choices we make!

Todays podcast simply focuses on how much I believe you are capable of doing this in an incredible way and saying ... "LET'S GO"!

The "Sales Tool of the Week" - is a look ahead at what we have oin store for 2015 for you. We are calling 2015 "THe Year of Sales Mastery" and we are going to focus on what we have to master in order to truly be the "best of the best"!

So, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays to you all! See you in 2015!

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Taking Total Responsibility - ITSA #016

Hey folks … welcome to In the Sales Arena Podcast #016! We are in podcast 6 of a 7 part series titled: Living Life Large – How To Have YOUR Best Sales Year Ever In 2015. So far we have talked about the following;

· The importance of creating a plan

· Being passionate and enthusiastic about being in sales

· Being committed – I will do whatever it takes mentality

· Having a vision for what we do, and creating the career and life we want by being in service to others

· Keep learning and growing by investing in our own sales training

This week we are going to lean on you a little bit by talking about how important, or even critical, it is that we take total responsibility for our results!

We answer the question … what if I have a bad?

· Boss

· Territory

· Product

· Service Department or Shipping Department

· Economy where I work

· Or even a bad company!

In the podcast we deal with all of that by asking ourselves some very challenging questions. One of those questions is …

Am I doing everything I can to maximize my opportunity even in light of all of the challenges I face?

There is something empowering about facing all of the inevitable obstacles there are in being successful at sales by asking what can I do to make the best of it instead of blaming the circumstances!

Hope you enjoy the webinar!

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How To Make 2015 Your Best Sales Year Ever!

The Power of Learning - ITSA #015

Again our focus in this 7 part podcast series is ending 2014 on a roll so we can start 2015 off with a ton of momentum! This week we are talking about how important it is to invest in our own sales training and growth in addition to whatever our company is, or isn’t, providing for us.

Did you know that the average sales professional that we have trained, with 10 or more years in sales, has 10 or less days of formal sales training? That is the data from us surveying our clients from major companies! And sales people are the lifeblood of the companies they work for!

Yet, it takes 30 hours of training to receive a Certified Purchasing Professional accreditation and an additional 30 hours to receive a Certified Purchasing Manager accreditation.

Bottom line? Most sales people are poorly equipped and undertrained to deal with today’s much more informed and educated, via the internet, buyers. In this podcast we are recommending some very simple, and inexpensive, ways for us as sales people to put more tools in the bag. Here are 5 ideas for you;

ü Blogs – google “sales blogs” and find the ones you like!

ü Podcasts – go to Itunes and do a search for sales and/or sales management. While I don’t think there are any really great ones out there (except ours of course) I do think there are some good ones you might like.

ü YouTube – again, go to YouTube and do a search for sales training and you will find some good stuff.

ü Audible.com – we have talked about this one before. For a small monthly fee you can download some outstanding books to listen to and will help you grow your sales career.

ü TheSalesGladiators.com – this is our own stuff and yes, we do believe in it! And yes, we are encouraging you to make it a part of your learning process.

As a matter of fact here are a couple of things you can do to get started …

1. If you haven’t already … go to www.thesalesgladiators.com and subscribe to our free stuff – the blog, the podcasts and the newsletter. No charge for this stuff and it is right out of the pages of the things we teach in our live sales training events. And every now and then we toss in something special from our premium membership category – check out your invitation to our Members Only webinar in December below!

2. Try out our 30 Free Trial to our premium In the Sales Arena content that includes 2 sales training webinars a month, 1 live sales coaching call a month and our monthly Master Sales Interview. This is a 100% free trial and our stuff always comes with a 100% money back guarantee if somewhere down the road you don’t think what we are doing is helping you! Our normal, ridiculously low price for all of this is $14.95/month (less than $.50 a day). Right now we are running a “Give Yourself the Gift Of Sales Training For Christmas” special right now where you get an entire year for just $99 (That adds up to just a hair over $.27 a day)! If we can’t give you at least one idea that will pay that investment back a gazillion times over then just shoot me – I’m done! Check out the link for that below …

3. Here is the link for the free “Members Only” webinar … this is by far one of our most popular webinars every year! WE have been doing this one for 5 or 6 years now and a ton of the participants come back every year for a refresher. The title is “4 Questions To Ask Yourself To Make 2015 Your Best Year Ever!” Spoiler alert … Question #2 may be the most important thing we will ever ask ourselves! So, click on the link and join us for this webinar on December 17th at 11:00am CST. Can’t make it live? Don’t worry … we record every event and send that recording out to everyone who signs up or is a Premium Member of In the Sales Arena! Here is the link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/496643074

So, let’s make 2015 the year we invest in our sales careers, in addition to and over and above whatever our company provides and make it our best sales year ever!

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Vision - ITSA #014

This is Part 4 in our 7 part series How To Make 2015 Your Best Sales Year Ever. This episode looks at the part that creating a powerful Vision plays in what we accomplish in 2015!

So far, in the first 3 episodes, we have covered having a plan (your plan), being passionate about what we do and what we can accomplish, and we have talked about the part commitment plays in our success.

In this episode we discuss having a "vision" for what we want to accomplish in 2015! We are going to approach the subject at 3 different levels... Beginner - where we all start out if we have never been taught how to create a vision for our life and career or if perhaps we didn't grow up in a way where creating a "big picture" vision for our life was a way of thinking. Then we are going to look at an intermediate approach where vision is the backbone of how we live. And last, we are going to talk about 1 main vision that can fuel outstanding personal and professional success for the rest of our lives.

Beginner vision creation - Start with goals we set professionally like annual sales numbers, growth in $'s and new customers, product mix and yada, yada, yada. (BTW - our STOW is a tool for goal setting.) That all adds up to how much money we are going to make. Vision comes in when we ask ourselves what would meeting all of those goals, having my best sales year ever, mean to me and my sales career?

Intermediate vision creation - This method of creating a vision is the exact opposite of the beginner method. We start with our vision for our life and career and then ask what goals do I need to set and accomplish to make my vision a reality?

Advanced Vision Creation - This over arching vision energizes all of the rest of our visions and the goals that are associated with them! Getting this vision for our careers and lives, is a game changer!

Homework for the week - If you had your best sales year ever in 2015, what would that mean to you professionally and personally?

(STOW) Sales Tool Of The Week - www.mindtools.com is a great resource for a wide variety of career skills. Search the site for goal setting and look out!

Quote of the Week - "The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no visioin!" - Helen Keller

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This is the 3rd Living Life Large episode in a series of 7 focused on what it will take to make 2015 our best sales year ever!. This episode is about how important it is to be committed to the sales careers we want to have and the life we want to build right along with them.

Planning this podcast brought back memories of my college days as a basketball player and baseball player. I was always curious why some very talented athletes never quite made it while others with less physical abilities excelled. Same held true in my sales career and in the last 20+ years as a consultant helping clients select, develop and retain top sales talent.

The best athletes and sales people I have seen were not necessarily those with the most gifts but were those that were willing to do what others wouldn't. They were then and are now simply the men and women who are willing, within the moral and ethical guidelines we should all be bound by, to do whatever it takes to be the best of the best. They are committed!

To have our best year ever ...there are 5 crucial things we all need to commit to in 2015.

• Execute a proven sales process
• Effectively communicate value to our clients
• Become intentional about building level 5 and 6 relationships
• See our time as our inventory and invest it wisely
• Take full responsibility for our own results

Commitment means "I will do whatever it takes"!

Don't forget to listen for this week's Sales Tool of the Week...it's a good one!

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This is the second in our 7 part series Living Life Large - How To Make 2015 Your Best Year Ever! We are focusing on how to develop, maintain and defend having a great attitude and consistently positive outlook on life.

There are so many reasons why keeping a positive outlook is so critical to our success in sales! Here are just a few ...

1. People like being around positive people! Clients will look forward to seeing us when we walk in the door, or talk to us when we call on the phone, if we are always bringing a positive attitude with us!
2. Maintaining a positive attitude is huge as we work to develop the resiliency we need to deal with the inevitable ups and downs of our sales career!
3. Keeping a great outlook day in and day out will help us see possibilities clearer as opposed to the blinders our crumudgeon competitors seem to have because of their lousy attitudes!
4. Work, and life, are just a lot more fun (as they should be) if we stay positive!

This podcast is going to share 3 different ways we can go about developing, maintaining and defending a positive attitude and we can tell you from experience ... THEY WORK!

Our Sales Tool of the Week - this week we are taking a look at how important Linked In can be as a tool to grow our business and the 3 simple things we need to do to get the most from this awesome social media resource.

So, enjoy the podcast and let us know what you think at www.thesalesgladiators.com. While on that page in our website check out the SpeakPipe tool and leave us a voice message about how we can better serve you, any questions you would like for us to answer in a podcast or in our "live" coaching calls. We love hearing from you!

Jim Jacobus

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What would it take to make 2015 your best year ever? What needs to happen for you to "Live Your Life Large"? What can we do to finish 2014 strong that can help make 2015 our best year ever?

How we treat November and December 2014 will have everything to do with how big a year 2015 is going to be. The tendency in sales is to let off the gas peddle down the stretch as we have already made our quota or not made our quota and we start managing our numbers by holding back orders to get a great start in 2015. Truth is that is a huge momentum killer.

This podcast will deal with 4 reasons we as sales people tend to coast this time of year and what we can do to turn those challenges around!

Note: This is the first in a series of 7 podcasts titled Living Life Large: How To Make 2015 Your Best Year Ever that will take us through the end of 2014 with tons of energy and allow us to start 2015 with the momentum we need to make next year awesome!

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Cold calling, at best, is a challenge for even the best of sales pros! That said, there are many who excel at it and it is the cornerstone of building very successful sales careers.

This podcast is focused on why cold calling is so difficult and speaks to some creative ways, one you might loathe or perhaps adore, and a couple that you can incorporate tomorrow. all of them are proven, by yours truly and others as well, to work!

So, take a few moments to listen to this podcast on "Cold Calling" and then go knock on some doors. We think you will have more fun this way and you will find you are winning more than you lose this way!

Enjoy the podcast ...

Jim J

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There are a number of things that can stall out a sales career but the "one thing" I see over and over again is when a sales rep starts playing with the numbers!

It generally starts out with manipulating what we are projecting for the year in a way that makes it as easy as possible to make quota while, at the same time, keeping the sales manager happy!

The second phase has us either holding orders back at the end of the month/quarter/year because we have already exceeded our plan so we can front load the upcng month/quarter year! Or, we are running around at the end of one of those cycles, like a chicken with our heads cut off, just to make the number.

This podcast speaks to the dangers of these tendencies, and others, and what to do about them so our numbers stay on a constant growth trajectory instead of stalling our sales career!

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This episode talks about the 3 types of sales people we all have experienced through the years. The question is ... which category do you fit in to?

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What does it take to "be" the best of the best in sales? The answer is probably not what you think but is the product of tons and tons of research. The good news is that everyone who is motivated can learn and improve on these "internal" skills! This is going to be an eye opener ... 

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In this episode, we talk about the three keys to building high return-on-investment customers and how to maintain good relationships with clients.

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In this episode, we discuss the in's and out's of Value Based Selling!

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In this episode, we discuss the steps in the sales process: planning, prospecting, first impressions, qualifying, demonstrating, influencing, closing, and following-up. Happy selling!

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In this episode, we ask ourselves, "What do we mean by Order Taker to Gladiator?" Then, we talk about all the differences that being a Sales Gladiator can make in your life. Then we ask the tough question: What will it take in order to become a Sales Gladiator?

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In this Episode of In The Sales Arena, we dicuss the best way to counter the argument that the price is too high!

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Welcome to In the Sales Area! This is the first episode of my Business and Sales podcast. Everybody has three questions when I step on to the stage: Who is this guy? Why is he here? And why do I care? This podcast is here to answer those three questions.