Inward Book Club: Recent Episodes
Inward Revenue Consulting
Welcome to the Inward Book Club audio experience, where hosts Jonathan Graham (MD, Inward) and Michael Price (Partner, Inward) review an influential sales or business book each week.
They deconstruct the advice given and add their own veteran insights to help listeners improve their sales game. The authors and other special guests also join in the banter.
The best show ever in the history of inward Book club .
If not the best then the most important .
Why ? because this book is the game changer .
Find out why - sales people who tell clients what to do sell more than those who are consultative.
Find out that sales people who close in an appointment sell more than those who don't .
Everything you thought you learned about not pushing a client , listening and not talking , and not closing .....IS WRONG
If you were selling software to greyhound buses would you get on a greyhound bus ?
how deep do you really need to go in your product discovery ?
In this episode MO and JG discuss "Naked Sales" by Ashley Welch and justin jones
New Sales Simplified by Mike Weinberg
One of the most highly recommended sales books we've ever read on the show .
- never ask for permission to speak in a sales call
- Why our clients are as frustrated as they are with the state of salesmanship they are experiencing
- Why getting in the car for one client sales meeting trumps 5 video calls
- Why sales scripts work
- Why you can never be paid too much to pick up the phone and make a cold call
- Why the phone is your friend
- Sales prospecting is easy and Many many other topics for the modern sales professional
The boys are back in town !
The boys are back in towwwwwooowwwn !!!!
If we didn't get a copywrite strike for it the opening of this months episode would be just that !
After a bit of a hiatus MP and JG are back with episode 147 of inward book club talking about Selling a crisis by jeb blount .
JG and Mike are back once again, and this time with special guest Rob Barraclough as they review The New One Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard. Join them as they discuss the best managerial practices, the difficulties of balancing democracy with executive decision in sales teams, and whether setting goals is the best method to get the most out of salespeople.
JG and Mike wrap up Elite Sales Strategies by Anthony Iannarino. They deliberate the purpose of the book and how useful it is to salespeople (and WHAT STAGE in a career it's useful), how the concept of one-upmanship is present throughout, and commodity sales.
Jonny and Mike are back fresh with another piece of literature - this time by veteran sales book author Anthony Iannarino. Join them as they discuss manipulation and pressure in the sales world, the place of mavericks in a sales team, and ponder whether there is a new rule set in the profession today.
The guys continue with their reading of Qualified Sales Leader, discussing ideal customer profiles, the mentality of sales leadership and conversion ratios.
A highly-requested book by fans, JG and Mike begin their foray into The Qualified Sales Leader by 5-time CRO John McMahon. With gleaming testimonials given by top-tier sales and tech royalty offered in its first pages, the duo were very excited to get into this book. Will it live up to the hype? Tune in and find out.
The boys wrap up The Art of Impossible and dwell on its utility as a book for salespeople. They discuss creativity burnout, making notes (or not) during meetings, and Elon Musk's attempt to buy Twitter.
Jonny and Mike sink their teeth further into The Art of Impossible by Steven Kotler. Join them as they discuss goals, grit, gravitas and how Mike hates the Beatles.
Book Club is BACK once again as JG and Mike return to the fold. With a slight shift in focus, the dynamic duo of sales recruitment will be reviewing sales books as well as quality books that aren't explicitly 'sales' books but are provide insight and utility to salespeople, starting with The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer by Steven Kotler.
Listen in as they discuss the potential of an over-looming economic crash and its effect on the sales profession, Elon Musk, and 'The Infinite Game'.
Mike & JG cover the second half of Sell Different by Lee Salz. Listen in as they discuss common sense email practice (that many salespeople don't observe), finding your target clients and 4-day workweeks.
New week, new book. This time, the boys review Sell Different by Lee Salz, wihch claims to have game-changing new strategies to outwit your competitors and keep you ahead of the game. JG and Mike decide whether this claim holds true.
In between their thoughts on the book, the pair also discuss prospecting, the 'buying experience', and the premier golf fitter in the north of England.
The boys finish up their review of Always Be Hiring, and reflect upon its wise teachings. Overall, the book is a great insight into recruitment and hiring. The dos and don'ts, best practices, how to onboard and smooth the transition process. It's got it all and is well worth the read if you're in a position to be hiring.
The guys delve deeper into JG's (frankly excellent) book and and discuss the cost of recruitment, a homeworking backlash in 2022 and how employers can use Tik Tok to bolster their recruitment drive.
Fresh into 2022, JG and Mike review a book that is very close to their hearts. Always Be Hiring is the memoirs of a sales recruiter with 20+ years in the business and an deep insight into what companies do wrong when interviewing and hiring candidates. Plus, the author is a top guy.
JG and Mike conclude Selling The Cloud, and mull over the interview held last episode with the authors themselves. Mike dons his most garishly festive blazer for the occasion as Christmas looms.
A trans-Atlantic episode this week, as JG and Mike discuss Selling the Cloud with its authors Mark Petruzzi and Paul Melchiorre live from the east coast of the USA. The quartet discuss how the IT Sales game has evolved, how to define grit and tenacity in a salesperson, and ponder the question 'is the new generation of salespeople working hard to be as lazy as possible?'.
This week, JG and Mike discuss Selling The Cloud ahead of meeting the authors themselves. Listen in as they discuss passion for the sales profession, the archetype of the 'smarmy used car salesmen' and the bubble of business economics.
JG and Mike are joined by Tony Hughes himself all the way from Sydney, Australia.
Listen in as they discuss the future of sales, the disruption technology will have on the profession and what salespeople can do to ensure they won't be replaced by automated tech or AI in the coming years.
The second part of one of the most important books the veterans have ever covered. Join JG and Mike as they conclude their deliberations on this crucial piece of sales literature.
This time, the duo cover what is possibly the most important book EVER covered on the show. If you don't read this book, you are a fool. JG and Mike discuss why in the first of a three-part series.
Book Club is BACK. As people are returning to their cars and commuting again, the dynamic duo of sales are back to discuss Part 2 of Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff.
The amount of listeners who have asked us to cover this book is incredible . "Pitch Anything" by Oren Klaff - We've covered in two parts as a show . Enjoy the dulcit tones of MP and JG
Another installment of the gang talking about the sales classic "Secrets of closing the sale" by Zig Ziglar
Over the next two shows the team debate one of the most famous sales books of all time - Secrets of closing the sale by Zig Ziglar !
Price and Graham dissect another book this week in IRC book club .
This week - Pre suasion from Robert Cialdini. - Why did JG giver it ZERO out of Ten?
In this months Episode - MP and JG talk with Tim Hood of Hyland and Christian Hatton of Peak about a book they confidently describe as the best sales book they have ever read . The Unfair Advantage by Dr Duane Lakin. No disagreements in this episode!!!!!Enjoy and buy the book - it will change your sales game forever .
Mike , JG , Russell Poole and Dave Stanley discuss Part 2 of Virtual selling by Schultz and Shaby. An interesting read about how sales has changed in our virtual world that we have all found ourselves in during the last year.
This week The Ant and Dec of recruitment Along with their guests Russell Poole and Dave Stanley Talk about Virtual Selling, by shultz Shaby and Doer . Next week we'll be taking A christmas break and will join you in the new years for parts 2 and three before starting on a new book . Enjoy
In the final of three shows the dynamic duo wrap up on The New Strategic Selling by Miller Heiman.
A New Format! After 113 shows MP and JG return . The Mike Parry and Alan Brazil of sales recruitment have decided to invite guest panelists on to book club to share some of their real life sales experiences.
Paul O'Sullivan and Steve Lowndes join the show for the next few weeks as we discuss the legendary book that is the new strategic selling by Miller Heiman.
Part 2 of our three show discussion of the new strategic selling by miller Heiman
A New Format! After 113 shows MP and JG return . The Mike Parry and Alan Brazil of sales recruitment have decided to invite guest panelists on to book club to share some of their real life sales experiences.
Paul O'Sullivan and Steve Lowndes join the show for the next few weeks as we discuss the legendary book that is the new strategic selling by Miller Heiman.
New Sales Book !
A New Format!
After 113 shows MP and JG return . The Mike Parry and Alan Brazil of sales recruitment have decided to invite guest panelists on to book club to share some of their real life sales experiences.
Paul O'Sullivan and Steve Lowndes join the show for the next few weeks as we discuss the legendary book that is the new strategic selling by Miller Heiman.
In this show the dynamic duo cover the teaching approach of sales espoused by CEB In the challenger sale .
Its time for Steak and chips !!! A sales book. About Selling . For sales people . The Challenger sale is one of the biggest sales concepts for the last 50 years . We're going to discuss it over the next three weeks. Turn on , Tune in and Sell out with IRC Book club .
This book is a michelin star meal . A bit too rich for most listeners. One for the sales connoisseur . Its definitely not Fish and Tatties .
Big picture or attention to detail?
independent worker or team player
How do you communicate with those types of people.
Thats what we are talking about from a sales perspective in this weeks episode of IRC book club .
Mike and JG are delighted to announce that they have found a book they really like.
Words that change minds is a manual for communication that can be put to immediate practical use in sales, marketing and effective recruitment.
We LOVE it !
Big debate this week !!!
Do sales people really want to be coached?
Why do some sales people resist coaching?
Best methods for coaching sales people ?
is coaching the right idea for a sales person on £100K base or should we just expect them to perform for their money .
How do you coach elite level sports performers.
How do you coach elite level sales people ?
How do you be a good coachee ?
Is it the same thing?
all this and more as the grumpy duo start the odyssey that is coaching winning sales teams by Pickford, Chapman and Smith.
This is the place on itunes where we big up the episode .
It was good.
Stu seemed like a nice guy.
As is always the case with these things interviewing the author really opens up the book for the readers and listeners.
Did you do a review yet?
Mike and JG are living the sales dream and bring you this phenomenal moment in the history of content marketing.
Enjoy!
Episode 101 - ready for the next century of episodes our intrepid sales psychonauts venture into being creative with their approach strategies in order to engage with C level contacts. Excellent stuff from the grumpy duo !
No fanfare
No Party
No bunting
Just two grumpy middle aged men recording the 100th Episode of their podcast about a sales book that is good.
In this Episode the recruitment industries answer to Waldorf and Staedtler decimate "It starts with clients" by Andrew Sobel. Fascinating stuff . All set for the crescendo that will be Episode 100 .
We read it and we thought it was ok. As a sales person there were some pretty good take aways from the book and at times it was a little long winded. But hey, what do Michael and JG know. They are grumpy middle aged sales professionals .......
And another epic show where the gruesome twosome discuss Influence by Robert Cialdini - Almost done now! This week they cover two key facets of influence useful for any sales professional. "Social Proof" and "like" .
The grumpy middle aged duo of Mike Price and Jonny Graham reunite over zoom for another lockdown spectacular as they discuss Part of Influence by Robert B Cialdini.
In this weeks episode MP and JG start a new quest. Influence by Robert Cialdini is a seminal work on what motivates people to buy. A must read for any sales person looking to up their game. The guys seem to be really into this one with some fab anecdotes about the concept of reciprocation as a weapon of influence and how to use that in a sales context.
So after 4 weeks of reading "Inked" Jeb came on the show and as every Author does when we interview them about their book, Jeb brought a whole new dimension to our understand of the work. Enjoy and remember next week we start Part 1 of our 4 week cycle as we read "Influence" by Robert Cialdini - you can find it on amazon here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Influence-Psychology-Robert-Cialdini-PhD/dp/006124189X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=28NR12X5BLXR9&dchild=1&keywords=influence+the+psychology+of+persuasion&qid=1588336615&sprefix=influ%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-1
Recruitments answer to Waldorf And Staedtler return for another compelling discussion of Inked By Jeb Blount before they meet the big man himself next week. Imagine raising your price in answer to a negotiation stance or plain walking away? The guys talk about how reading a jeb blount book is like buying a lamborghini and how inked is Jeb's difficult seventh album.....They'll never let you down.
Remember to check the guys out on Linkedin for more content and banter.
Prepare for your negotiations. Know what the parameters are before you walk through the door. Michael and JG discuss some interesting topics in this episode of IRC book club.
We laughed
We cried
We argued .
We had a lot to talk about in this Episode where dive deep into our discussion of "inked" by Jeb Blount.
In this Episode Michael and JG begin their discussion of Inked by Jeb Blount. In this newly released book the author gives us tools to work with as negotiators with a core focus on sales situations.
As we head to the tough times We think this one is going to prove to be an invaluable resource as we all fight for every penny of margin.
This Week on book club we interviewed Mark Hunter Author of "A mind for sales". Mark was a great guest talking about his book that we had discussed over the previous 4 weeks and really provided some fascinating insight around the mindset we're all going to need to get through the next few months and possibly years as sales people.
When it comes to sales, nothing is permanent. Things change, people change, accounts change. Companies evolve. Pain increases, pain decreases. It's never a no...
"There are no goodbyes, only see you laters"
In such unprecedented times, there will be more barriers, more objections, more of the word 'no'. We will see the modern day natural selection of sales people. Who will survive? What will they be doing? How will they change and adapt their strategy? What questions will they be asking?
Join Jonathan Graham and Michael Price as they ask, do you have a mind for sales?
This is the last instalment covering "Mind for Sales" before the interview with author himself Mark Hunter, The Sales Hunter.
To join the conversation - contact lily.lawson@inwardrevenue.co.uk
For more of what we do, connect with us on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/inward-revenue-consulting/
Don't let your environment control you, you are in control.
Here is the third instalment in this cycle from Jonathan Graham and Michael Price all about the mindsets of great sales people.
This is very relevant for the minefields and mind traps in the current trying times.
Take control of your own environment. Take responsibility and accountability for your output. Take control of your tools, your kit, your software - everything that you're using. Whilst it will be hard out there, the best sales people will still hit target - now is the time to adapt and improve your skills.
To join the conversation - contact lily.lawson@inwardrevenue.co.uk
For more of what we do, connect with us on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/inward-revenue-consulting/
If you hang around with idiots and vermin, don't be surprised if your knowledge, skills and success factor are that of the people you hang around with...
Would you survive the natural selection in sales?
Do you have the guts to gravitate to the top performer?
Is ego a benefit or a problem for a salesperson?
Is sales a solo activity or team sport?
Would you let your sales manager ride shot gun?
Are the weekly team meetings a complete waste of time?
Do you have a PRIORITY management problem?
Jonathan & Michael continue their prerelease review of The Sales Hunter's new book "Mind for Sales: Daily Habits and Practical Strategies for Sales Success".
To join the conversation - contact lily.lawson@inwardrevenue.co.uk
For more of what we do, connect with us on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/inward-revenue-consulting/
It's not for the fainthearted. If you can't deal with the bad calls, then f**k off out of the job!
Do sales calls excite you or drain you? Is sales a job or a lifestyle? Can we compartmentalise between the two?
How important is meaningful work? Are we in sales to help people? Do you identify as a salesperson? Are all good salespeople charismatic? Have the new generation of salespeople been too spoilt?
How do we become the difference maker that other people will value? How many, and which, KPI’s should we absolutely be measuring?
From Mark Hunter / The Sales Hunter, author of 'High-profit Selling' and 'High-profit Prospecting', Jonathan & Michael are covering the brand new book 'A Mind for Sales: Daily Habits and Practical Strategies for Sales Success'. He himself is a sales expert who speaks to thousands each year on how to increase their sales profitability, while this particular book shares the mindset and philosophies behind achieving that next level of sales performance.
To join the conversation - contact lily.lawson@inwardrevenue.co.uk
For more of what we do, connect with us on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/inward-revenue-consulting/
David Allen is an A-LIST bestselling author with 35 years experience in consulting, training and coaching. Best known as the creator of the time management method that is Getting Things Done (GTD).
While we expected an authoritarian character, David Allen described himself as the 'laziest person you'll ever meet'. He suggested scrapping to-do lists and instead congratulating yourself for completing what you felt like doing. As well as avoiding cr*p you don't want to deal with, as long as it's labelled as exactly that...
An extremely interesting conversation, full of controversial opinions. Each guest adds an unmatchable context to each book, and this was no exception!
To join the conversation, contact lily.lawson@inwardrevenue.co.uk
For all the latest career opportunities and extra content, connect with us on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathangraham4/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelprice6/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/inward-revenue-consulting/
www.inwardrevenue.co.uk
"Recommend a good book to me." "What's the BEST sales book?"
We get asked this daily. The answer is that there isn't one really...
Selling is made up of different parts, therefore different strategies and formulas are needed to master the whole process.
Luckily, following on from Jonathan's "Top 5 books that will shape your sales career" last week, Michael has combined 5 more to do just that. (Plus many more that made the shortlist, and a few that you should never waste your time reading!)
This is for anyone who wants to improve themselves and their career. Even those who don't have the time to read all the self help / how to books!
If you want to join the conversation, or have a book you'd like us to review - Contact lily.lawson@inwardrevenue.co.uk
Plus for all the latest career opportunities and extra content, connect with us on LinkedIn.
In this slightly different show; Jonathan shares the 5 books that have truly shaped his sales career.
He explains how immensely useful these texts can be for sales people at any stage of their career, and how he owes a big part of his own success to these self-directed learnings.
If you’re too busy to read all the books yourself, from each one Jonathan highlights the key takeaways and crucial processes we should be implementing to continuously hit target and progress in our careers.
Starting with ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ by Steven Covey - learn the benefits of investing in yourself, how to balance importance and urgency, and much more…
Want to join the conversation? Have a book you'd like us to review? Contact lily.lawson@inwardrevenue.co.uk
For more on what we do, connect with us on LinkedIn:
Jonathan Graham and Michael Price at Inward Revenue Consulting
www.inwardrevenue.co.uk
'The brain is for thinking, not remembering.' Learn how to free up our psychic ram to allow for creativity, and productivity.
Does it matter which time management method is used? How can they be adapted to the context of a sales person? How important is energy management? And most importantly, what is the best way transform all our open ended tasks in to concise and actionable steps?
Part 2 covers a step by step manual on organising your workflow system as Jonathan and Michael continue their discussion on the global productivity movement that is GTD.
To join the conversation, contact lily.lawson@inwardrevenue.co.uk
For all the latest from us, connect with us on LinkedIn - Inward Revenue Consulting
www.inwardrevenue.co.uk
Some don’t see the correlation between an efficient, well-computed and well-designed personal productivity system and sales success, but GTD is global and David Allen is an A-list player in this space.
Jonathan and Michael deconstruct and reconstruct the pros and cons of the system and compare to their own processes. They also discuss the boundaries between work and home life, the importance of asking why, outcome visioning, the impact of sales automation, and more ways to maximise your time and money.
The premise of the updated edition remains the same - through organisation, this book hopes to teach you how to achieve calm in our demanding industry, freeing up mental space for creativity and success.
Want to join the conversation? Contact lily.lawson@inwardrevenue.co.uk
For all the latest from us, connect with us on LinkedIn -
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathangraham4/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelprice6/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/inward-revenue-consulting/
www.inwardrevenue.co.uk
Do you take orders or make the orders? Are you self-sufficient or relying on someone else to build your pipeline for you? Are you blundering along or hungry to overachieve?
This week we're discussing real research about what really works for salespeople. No sugarcoating, instead a warning that if you don't do these things, your sales process will suffer.
Nic Read, CEO of Saleslabs and author of Selling to the C-Suite, shares further detail of his findings from the thousands of salespeople and executives that he observed for Selling to the C-suite.
Want to join the conversation? Contact lily.lawson@inwardrevenue.co.uk
For all the latest from us, connect with us on LinkedIn -
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathangraham4/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelprice6/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/inward-revenue-consulting/
www.inwardrevenue.co.uk
We're asking - How do you create true value for the c-suite? How do you differentiate your value? Do you understand cause and effect? How do you cultivate loyalty at the c-suite? How do we obtain repeated success? Plus, how do we quantify said value and success?
What a book! This episode covers the final chapters, the outstanding appendix, and summarises what we've learnt this month - there's a lot!
For all the latest from us, connect with us on LinkedIn -
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathangraham4/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelprice6/
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www.inwardrevenue.co.uk
How do you gain access to the C-suite? How do you gain credibility within the C-suite? Do you intrinsically belong in the c-suite? If so, what's the criteria? How do we close the credibility gap?
How do we overcome executive roadblocks? Is go-giving more rewarding than go-getting? How do you know if you're in the client's value zone?
Want to join the conversation? Contact lily.lawson@inwardrevenue.co.uk
...and for all the latest from us, connect with us on LinkedIn -
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathangraham4/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelprice6/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/inward-revenue-consulting/
www.inwardrevenue.co.uk
Do you understand what C-Level executives want? How do you find the relevant executive?
'What every executive wants you to know about successfully selling to the top'. Based on a decade of empirical research with 500+ global CEO's.
Rate and review, let us know what you think! Subscribe to the podcast here -
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/irc-book-club/id1397662527?mt=2
For all the latest from us, connect with us on LinkedIn -
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathangraham4/
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When do executives get involved in the decision making process? How does a CEO make an impact? Who has true trusted advisor status? How many people have legitimate influence? How do we market to the C-Suite? Are the gatekeepers softer now? How do we stay ahead of the curve?
Back to deconstructing and reconstructing the most influential sales texts out there - starting with the revised and updated Selling to the C-Suite. Written by Nicholas A.C. Read & Stephen J. Bistriz, with a foreword from Neil Rackham!
Subscribe to the podcast here.
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Rate and review, let us know what you think!
For all the latest from us, connect with us on LinkedIn.
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We all know what we need to do to be successful, so why don't we do it? Jonathan, Michael and Nir himself conclude the Indistractable series of IRC Book Club. 90% of you, our audience, work from home. Therefore taking responsibility for your actions, choosing traction over distraction, becomes even more crucial for your productivity and success. If willpower doesn't work, what is the antidote for distraction?
Please rate and review to help more people find the podcast! Remember, we make a charity donation for each one.
We have an 'always on' culture. So we welcome distraction to avoid painful situations. Being distractable or 'indistractable can define whether YOU meet your targets. Psychological safety, work culture, your mindset can define whether you meet your targets. Jonathan and Michael explore Nir Eyal's revolutionary way of thinking and how to implement it in the most productive way as salespeople.
Please rate and review to help more people find the podcast! We make a donation to a Yorkshire based homeless charity for each one.
In this episode you will learn: How to hack back internal triggers. How to prevent distraction with pacts.
A trigger is something that will interrupt you, then you allow yourself to do something else. People are weak, we are in a social validation feedback loop. LinkedIn, Facebook, and all the social networks are designed to make you scroll, and scroll, and scroll...
The paradox is that for salespeople, your phone is your most essential piece of kit you own. But how do you ensure the trigger is serving you, rather than you serving it?
The one thing we can control is how much time we spend on a task. Whether said task is getting us closer to where we want to be, or further away from it, is the life-changing difference between traction and DIStraction. You can control whether you get distracted or not in a way that takes you away from being a success.
In the first part of a four part series including an interview with the man himself, thought-leader and New York Times bestselling author Nir Eyal, Jonathan and Michael dissect and review Indistractable.
It goes without saying that we're all hooked on technology (and many other self-medications!) but what can we do with that information?
This book teaches you how to master those triggers, regain your attention, and CHOOSE YOUR LIFE. Essential listening for us all. ESPECIALLY salespeople striving to be better.
SALES IS A COLLABORATIVE ACT. But, salespeople can get stuck in a cycle of ticking boxes and going through robotic motions. Andy Paul tells Jonny and Mike he found inspiration for his writing through the many books available that simply don't challenge salespeople enough to think about what they're doing!
In this special interview with the author episode, the guys discuss their differing perspectives many topics from the book; including the best way to influence your customer, the difference between being reactive and proactive, as well as putting your competition in the shade.
For our latest content and job updates, follow us LinkedIn:
IRC: https://linkedin.com/company/inward-revenue-consulting
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Jonathan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathangraham4/
Storytelling in sales is an art that can be particularly powerful, if harnessed correctly. Stories can be highly engaging as they appeal to the social nature of us as humans, but on the other hand you could simply become boring and anecdotal!
From mastering stories that sell, to selling through customer service - Jonny and Mike finalise their ‘pleasant’ review of Andy Paul’s Amp up Your Sales and give their very honest summary.
Next week Andy Paul will be here on the show. He will add important context to the book, offering a new perspective readers and listeners may have missed. Make sure you subscribe to be notified when it’s out!
For the latest content and job updates, follow IRC on LinkedIn:
IRC: https://linkedin.com/company/inward-revenue-consulting
Michael: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelprice6/
Jonathan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathangraham4/
The penultimate chapters offer some of Andy Paul's best advice with regards to cold calling, prospecting, qualification and pipeline.
Quality over quantity seems like an obvious rule, however sales professionals often find themselves lowering their standards in an attempt to artificially broaden prospects and their pipeline.
Jonny and Mike continue their discussion on maintaining a value-based approach. This covers knowing where to invest your time despite immense pressure from superiors and most importantly, knowing when it’s time to qualify out and move on.
Is it the deals you do, or the deals you don't do, that progress you further?
For the latest content and job updates, follow IRC on LinkedIn:
IRC: https://linkedin.com/company/inward-revenue-consulting
Michael: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelprice6/
Jonathan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathangraham4/
Jonny and Mike continue their review of Andy Paul's Amp up Your Sales.
They discuss the value gap and setting yourself apart from the white noise of the industry.
This includes the importance of first impressions, creating peak experiences for your customers and always being that 1 percent better than your competitors.
For the latest content and job updates, follow IRC on LinkedIn:
IRC: https://linkedin.com/company/inward-revenue-consulting
Michael: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelprice6/
Jonathan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathangraham4/ “
In this week's episode of IRC Book Club, JG and Mike begin their review of Andy Paul's 'Amp Up Your Sales' (Part 1 & 2).
Customers will give you more of their time if they are confident you will add value. JG and Mike discuss the best ways to add value and prove to a client that you're a subject matter expert.
They also talk about the big question: what is selling?
One of the key topics in Part 2 of Amp Up Your Sales was never chase someone harder than they chase you. Let us know your thoughts on this section in the comments!
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Jonny and Mike finish and summarise their review of Christoper Voss' 'Never Split the Difference'.
It's a book on negotiating, active listening and thinking carefully about language - it's a must read for sales professionals.
Jonny and Mike talk about the subconscious swagger that a top performer has when they've built a good pipeline and aren't relying on last minute deals to save their quarter.
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Mike and JG are reviewing chapters 5, 6 & 7 of Chris Voss' 'Never Split the Difference' this week on Book Club. They're chatting about the question "why" and how it has become too aggressive in the modern selling economy.
They also talk about the best questions to ask in a job interview to a) get the job and b) negotiate a higher salary.
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Mike and JG are reviewing chapters 3 & 5 of Chris Voss' 'Never Split the Difference' this week on Book Club. They're chatting about why empathy is so important in the sales process. Most salespeople confuse empathy for sympathy and it is holding them back in the relationship building process.
They also talk about how to write an email that will engage a prospect and why labelling is a really key skill to develop.
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Jonny and Mike start their review of Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss. They're reading Chapters 1 & 2 in this episode and discussing why you should never let a client know how clever you are.
They also share some banter on why listening is more important than any other sales skill and what happens when a salesperson becomes overwhelmed with work.
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This week Jonny and Mike chat to Ian Mills about why too much pressure stifles creativity and why being creative in sales isn't always a good thing.
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JG and Mike finish and summarise their review of 'The Salesperson's Secret Code' by Ian Mills, Mark Ridley and Dr Ben Laker.
They chat about the effectiveness of home-working and companies who put the 'cult' in culture. They also question how much change a sales manager can have on their team.
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JG and Mike are reading Chapters 5 & 6 of The Salesperson's Secret Code this week.
They discuss Mills' research into what characteristics and actions make a top performer.
They also share some banter on why people who are psychologically congruent with the company they work for, product they sell and identity as a salesperson are more successful.
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To be creative under pressure is a very difficult thing. Creativity yields big results and most often, these moments don't occur under stress. Jonny and Mike answer how easy is it to find creative ways to achieve goals.
They also chat about how most salespeople need to reframe how they think about failure. Because there is no failure, only feedback.
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New book this week which is 'The Salespersons Secret Code' by Ben Laker, Ian Mills, and Mark Ridley.
We're talking about what beliefs, attitudes and behaviors top performers have.
We also share some banter about the significance of self-actualisation, taking little steps to improve and having something you're passionate about in your private life is so important.
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We talked to B2B selling expert Tony J Hughes about how old school prospecting techniques are still the best way to build your pipeline and get in front of key customers.
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We finish Combo Prospecting this week on Book Club. It's been more of a clarion call to lazy salespeople who aren't dynamic and creative in their approach rather than a step by step process guide.
There's some superb advice in this last section on how to use social effectively and when it won't add any value.
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Jonny and Mike chat about chapters 2 & 3 of Combo Prospecting by Tony J Hughes. Chapter 2 is about building a winning framework and chapter 3 discusses how to master your personal brand and platform. Chapter 2 was good, chapter 3 was great!
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We're reading the introduction and first chapter of Combo Prospecting by Tony J Hughes. It's a must read for anyone who wants tips on how to pick up the phone and how to vary their prospecting skills to increase their success. Social selling is becoming increasingly popular and important, but if you can't pick up the phone and cold call someone, you won't be successful.
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In their final discussion of Michael Hyatt's 'Free to Focus', Jonny and Mike chat about adding the most value you can with the time you have.
They also discuss why how to say no to someone or a task that you can't add value to and why collaboration ruins productivity.
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In this episode, hosts Jonny and Mike chat about part 2 of Michael Hyatt's 'Free to Focus' entitled 'CUT".
The section is all about saying no to tasks or conversations that will distract you and cause you to be less productive. Jonny and Mike use examples from their experience in sales of what can go wrong if you don't say no enough.
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Jonny and Mike are starting a non-sales book this week - Michael Hyatt's 'Free to Focus'.
This is a book on productivity and managing your time effectively - something that is so important in the social media/ Slack/ Asana age where so many platforms vie for your attention.
Jonny and Mike discuss how to stay focused and why working a 60 hour week doesn't necessarily mean you're being successful.
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In this episode, we interview Keenan author of 'Gap Selling'. We chat about why a salesperson's ego is their best asset but can also be their downfall. We also share some banter about why most salespeople are afraid of saying no to their customer.
We're on the final furlong of 'Gap Selling' by Keenan which has been an excellent find. We're talking about what's better: listening skills or questioning skills?
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In this episode we enter a fierce debate with the UKs most hated sales trainer, Benjamin Dennehy about whether you should prioritise a prospect with latent pain or go after prospects with budget and live projects instead.
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We're reading through part one of Keenan's 'Gap Selling' this week and it does provide a fresh outlook. He talks bluntly about why you don't have to be likeable in sales to be successful and why cold calling should still be your number 1 prospecting method.
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This week we're joined by the legendary Timothy T Sullivan to chat about modern solution selling.
We discuss how important it is for salespeople to be multifaceted for the modern buyer.
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We're joined by former Business Development Manager at Oracle, Mark Buchan-Jones. We talk about whether or not a company should use processes to manage their sales teams performance. We also share some banter on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and which one is fundamental in sales success.
Tune in next week when we interview Timothy T Sullivan author of 'The Collaborative Sale' solution selling in a buyer driven world'
Michael and Jonathan are on episode 2 of 'The Collaborative Sale' by Timothy T Sullivan and Keith M Eades.
Chapter 4 was one of the best chapters we've read so far on Book Club. It's all about micro-marketing yourself and how to produce quality content that gets you heard in the ever expanding noise on platforms like LinkedIn.
It's a great chapter and useful even if you work for a large corporation where the marketing is done for you.
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We're starting Keith M Eades and Timothy T Sullivan's 'The Collaborative Sale: solution selling in a buyer driven world' this week. So far, so good. This book really gets you thinking about how sales has changed in the past twenty years and what salespeople have to learn to keep up with the shifting sales paradigm that has arisen due to technology.
This week on Book Club we're interviewing Bob Burg co-author of 'The Go Giver' which has sold over 900,000 copies!!
We share some tips on what makes a great salesperson and how you clients can tell this immediately. We also talk about why suspending your self interest IS IN your self interest.
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JG and Mike finish their review of Bob Burg's 'Go Givers Sell More'.
It is a book that is entirely different from the other sales books they've read so far on the show. And it's useful because of that. It doesn't offer principles to follow but if you follow Bob's advice you will not only become a better salesperson, but a better person in general.
JG and Mike recommend that you read this to learn more about what sales attitude you should project and read Anthony Iannarino's 'Eat Their Lunch' to understand what principles to follow to win.
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In this weeks episode hosts JG and Mike are joined by guest panelist Mark Ackers (if you don't know who he is, check out his superb videos on teaching a 10 year old to cold call on LinkedIn)
They're deconstructing a new book - Bob Burg's 'Go Givers Sell More'.
This book is a good reminder not only of important sales techniques, but of the attitude successful salespeople have and how to adjust your psychology of selling to improve.
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In this episode JG and Mike have the pleasure of interviewing James Muir who shares his insight on how to advance a sale without being controlling or pushy towards the client.
He also offered some top tips on the right way to prospect to ensure the customer knows exactly why they are meeting with you, what the shared desired outcome is and what you can do to help them.
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This week JG and Mike are talking about chapters 11, 12 & 13 and discussing how to get the answers you want out of a meeting. They also share some banter about how to add unexpected value and why this is more important than you may realise.
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In this week's episode, JG and Mike chat about why prospects go silent and why the average age of salespeople is getting older and older.
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JG and Mike are reviewing chapters 4, 5, 6 & 7 of James Muir's 'The Perfect Close'.
These chapters focus on advancing the sale and making sure that the customer makes commitments to you during the sales process, so that you are more likely to secure the deal.
Yet again this week, some more fierce debate ensued between Jonny and Mike - who do you think was right?
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JG and Mike start a brand new book this week which is James Muir's 'The Perfect Close'.
There's some fierce debate about sincerity in sales. Chapter 3 on non-verbal communication is absolutely brilliant and the advice James gives is spot on!
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We interview Anthony Iannarino from https://thesalesblog.com/ and author of 'The Only Sales Guide You'll Ever need', 'The Lost Art of Closing' and his latest best-selling sales book 'Eat Their Lunch'
We discuss how best to win customers away from your competition, how to close your dream clients and general sales best practices and tips to succeed.
'Eat Their Lunch' focuses on how best to beat your competitors when you're selling the same or a very similar product and offers strategic steps to ensure success.
We're reading chapters 10, 11 & 12. This book is about winning business from a competitor from a competitor when your product is the same or very similar and you're in a zero-sum game and you either win or lose.
A lot of the other books we've read have talked about individual positioning. But Anthony talks about competing with someone who's product is very similar to your own.
We talk a lot about impartiality - can a salesperson actually be a trusted advisor and give impartial advice when the best part of a £100k bonus is on the line?
This book is about winning competitive business in a me too market and Iannarino refers to the 'red ocean' - when you're competing against someone whose product is similar to your own and where it's a zero some game i.e. they lose, you win.
Chapter 7: 'Building Consensus Horizontally and Vertically'.
This chapter talks about a sales pitch where you've got different decision makers involved in the process to get your product/solution signed off and the interrelationship between those people.
Chapter 8: 'Finding a Path to a Deal'
More often than not, most deals follow a path. Maybe not a grooved path that others have walked on, but they still follow a path.
Chapter 9: 'Creating a Preference'
This opens part 3 of the book and is one of my favourite bits of the book.
His opening line in each chapter is excellent and this one is no exception: 'We often forget that the act of selling is about creating a preference to work with us instead of our competitor' well said. I think a lot of people we interview forget that - you're in the business of persuade the customer to do something that they might not have done without you.
We're on Chapters 5, 6 & 7 of Anthony Iannarino's 'Eat Their Lunch'. Are we glad we're reading the book? Yes, 100%. Would we recommend that you buy the book? Yes, 100%.
We felt like the book lost some of it's flow in these chapters, particularly chapter 5. Perhaps that's because we wanted the book to go in a slightly different direction.
Chapter 4: 'Prospecting with the Intention of Displacement'
First off, what a cracking title to a chapter. It had our attention. Anthony is looking at how to develop your dream list of clients and he is spot on!
He also talks about how looking at a company's website just isn't enough research. And that's a BIG pet hate of ours!
There are some great takeaways in this chapter - 1 of them being making sure to block out time in your diary otherwise the task isn't going to get done.
Chapter 5: 'Helping Your Dream Clients Discover Something'
This chapter was quite dense and theoretical and as viewers may know, we love the more practical side of sales books that you can implement tomorrow. It's not a bad chapter at all, it's just dense.
A fascinating read and if we didn't already have a paradigm that we've integrated, we would be using this book a lot more!
Chapter 6: 'Creating Opportunities'
We were a bit disheartened after chapter 5, but after we finished chapter 6 and put the book down, we thought 'great, now we're rocking again'.
For us, this chapter needed more on how to actually get an appointment.
We're on a. brand new book this week which is Anthony Iannarino's 'Eat Their Lunch: winning customers away from your competition' author of 'The Only Sales Guide You Will Ever Need'. You can tell from reading the book that Iannarino is a good salesman.
We've read the first 3 chapters and so far, it is a really great book and we've enjoyed it. It's really well suited to people who sell to a Me Too market - and whether or not people admit it, a lot of the IT industry is a Me Too market.
This book is not only for the new business salesperson, but for account managers looking to win wallet share across an acocunt in competitive environments.
What's interesting about the book so far, is that it's different to a lot of the other sales books we've read. What a lot of the other sales books will talk about is understanding a prospect's need and then differentiating yourself from your competitor by linking them back to the product that you sell. Which this doesn't do and a different viewpoint and insight is good.
Introduction:
Anthony makes a point that you don't have to kill your competition to beat them. You don't win by focusing on your competition, you win by focusing on yourself and the end user prospect. He also talks about how there is no deal worth your integrity or your character - which we are in full agreement with! Add more value to the end user and you'll win. Anthony talks about how you can't create doubt about your competitors - it makes client resistant. The problem with rubbishing your competitor is that you're also telling your prospector that they're an idiot.
Chapter 1: You Are The Value Proposition
Anthony uses the word 'displacement' - you have to look at accounts and think actually, why is there an opportunity for displacement?
Anthony lists reasons why an account you're dealing with might not be complacent.
He also makes the point of if you're waiting around for the moment when change takes place, you won't win. What you have to do is compel a client to make a change. And he explains this using levels, which are really useful.
Anthony makes a beautiful point which we love which is 'However, it is even more important to know that a great salesperson with an acceptable product beats a poor salesperson with an excellent product'. As a law of average, this is very true.
The exercise at the end of the chapter is brilliant and it is in our diaries to carry out this exercise.
Chapter 2: Capturing Mindshare
This is an extension to the first chapter and Anthony questions why people go through the trouble of getting through a client's door and then don't take the time to get all the money out of them that they can. This is the predilection of new business hunters, to win and move on.
Anthony absolutely nailed his comments on the trusted advisor. He's referring to how you need to be perceived as the person who knows more about the service that you offer than they do.
He gives an example that couldn't be more apt for our industry and that is super trends. He talks about the importance of looking at the bigger picture and using the super trend to drive the sale and he's 100% right.
Once again, there's an exercise at the end of this chapter that we've put time in our diary to do. We would very highly recommend this book.
Chapter 3: Creating An Opening Through Nurture Campaigns
The process in this chapter was beautiful, a process that most of us know but rarely carry out. If you're writing your 2019 business plan, we would buy this book just for this chapter!
This chapter is about making a statement to your client that you're starting this game in a different way to everyone else.
There's also a workflow for canvassing clients in different kinds of mediums.
This book is a me vs. the wo
2019 Schedule Below!!
In this episode, we summarise the 6 books that we've read on the show so far. When we read our first book, we didn't have many listeners or views, so now it makes sense for us to go through the books and tell the listeners whether they should be reading them and what we thought of it. The contents out there.
The first book we read was Patty McCord 'Powerful'
The next book we read was Jordan Belfort's 'Wolf of Wolf Street'
The third book we read was David H. Dandler's 'You Can't Teach a Kid to Ride a Bicycle at a Seminar'
Our fourth book was Peter Drucker's 'The Effective Executive'
The next book we read was Jeb Blount's 'Objections'
The most recent book we've read is Keith Rosen's 'Sales Leadership'
IRC Book Club 2019 Schedule:
January: Anthony Iannarino 'Eat Their Lunch: winning customers away from your competition'
http://ow.ly/cLJF30n4zDo
February: James Muir 'The Perfect Close: the secret to closing sales'
http://ow.ly/PGbN30n4zF6
March: Bob Burg 'Go Givers Sell More'
http://ow.ly/wY4030n4zHm
In the book Keith answers the questions the managers ask him.
- How do I develop a trusting team?
- How do I develop a team that's fully transparent?
- How do ensure that my people know my intentions are in their best interests
- how do I maintain my patience?
- What's a framework I can use?
- How do I hit the reset button with some of the relationships I have?
- It failed before how do I stop it from failing again?
- How do I build accountability with my team?
- How do I turn around under performers?
- How do I sustain my top performers?
This book is written from a global point of view, it's not focused on a US voice.
We chatted about how to define top performers. Should you only focus on numbers? Or should you think about attitude? If they're causing a cancerous atmosphere in the group? If so, are they really a top performer?
We also talked about the right way to coach a salesperson in your team who is a lot better than you ever were at that stage. It's similar to how athletics coaches provide value to the top athletes in the world.
So often we talk to candidates and their reason for wanting to leave is that they don't feel like their managers are adding any value to them - we talk about ways to prevent this and how you can add value to an already top performer.
A few sales leaders have come to us and have said that they don't feel like they're skilled enough to uncover the needs of their salespeople and get people enrolled. We chat about ways to ask the questions that can uncover needs and how to gauge conversations to identify issues that need solving.
To achieve success you fundamentally need to have a desire to change and to want to change.
We also talk about how to change you language to successfully enrol your sales team.
We've been critically of some of the language Keith uses to enrol, we thought it was a bit self-depricating and it wouldn't work in the UK market. We thought there was a cultural mismatch between the way sales leaders in the UK and sales leaders in the US - we addressed this with Keith.
We go into more detail about our favourite phrase of the book 'you can't scale dependancy'
We also learn why some of Keith's case studies and scripts are so long!
This book is meant for people to translate the content for their own personal needs and to use the scripts and the advice but then redeliver it in a way that they can add their own voice. It's like going to a gym, all the equipment is there for you to use, how you choose to use it is up to you.
We chatted about people who struggle to enrol because they don't have a trusting relationship 1. don't walk in with an assumption 2. use framework on how to reset relationships - reset your intention. If you sense an erosion of control on your team, maybe it's best to reset. Be authentic, be transparent and admit that you didn't get it right the first time and move forward in your relationship.
If you change the language you're using, you can change the outcome. A lot of reasons why coaching doesn't work out the way you'd hoped is because assumptions are being made.
How do you hold people accountable for actually achieving actions and results that you discussed with them? Well, if you're a manager and you're asking yourself 'how do I hold this salesperson accountable?' you're asking the wrong question - ask the salesperson!
Even if you're hitting your number every month, is everyone doing the same? Keith offers some really great insight into why coaching is needed, even at a level where salespeople are earning over £100k basic. Furthermore, good results does not mean a good culture
We've met a lot of salespeople and Keith really seems like one himself - (that's a compliment) - but we could tell from chatting to him that he really cares about being a coach as well.
If you're a sales leader, we couldn't recommend enough that you go out and buy this book. It's full of stuff that you can open up and use tomorrow.
We're on Chapters 10, 11, 12, 13 & 14 this week.
Chapter 10 'Mindful Coaching: The Inner Game of Coaching Champions'
This chapter is about coaching oneself to be a good coach. It's an interesting one. I do think there is an extremely important case in who is coaching the coach.
Keith talks about mindful coaching, he's very into be aware of your own communication.
He talks about assumptions being a widespread problem, but for me, assumptions are the way we make sense of situations and are based off of previous experience, so sometimes, they can be imformative.
Keith writes down 33 assumptive driven words to challenge and we found this really useful!!
He then discusses how we should reinforce positive behaviours after a successful deal to reinforce that behaviour - where he put this in the book was really well-timed. I would've added a section about figuring out why the team won the deal and how we can then replicate that.
Keith stresses the importance of understanding the importance of how people act, understanding what makes people tick. We thought this was quite useful as we don't think many people think about the language and the way it's used.
Keith gets into use of language and he's right, he offers a case study where 2 people are discussing the same topic but using different language and not understanding one another - he offers some useful insight into how best to communicate to provide thorough understanding.
Keith's first plug for another book comes on p.180 which is a VERY refreshing change from the previous books we've read.
We thought the section 'Can you coach fear and confidence' was really interesting!
Chapter 11: 'Know Your Players: Transforming Talent Through Observation and Feedback'
Keith talks about one of my favourite subjects here - talking about the 'why' - talking about what a person's why is and why that is.
I think Keith could chat about leading the team more, a lot of this chapter was about leading the individuals.
Keith asks 'How do you determine the root cause as to why someone is a top performer and why someone is underperforming?' - which is a great question to have in your mind as a coach.
Keith's got me bought in on the world enrol - it's about getting the salespeople who work with you to agree with what's happening - this message resonated with me.
The example scripts on p.199 are great, they're really good and we'd use them.
Chapter 12: '15 Common Coaching Killers That Sabotage Coaching Success'
Not a bad chapter, you will already know about the 15 different coaching killers from reading the book already - but Keith does go over them in a lot more depth. They're a good summary!
Toxic Tactic #2 - Keith talks about valueless questions that bring people down and from our experience, he's absolutely right! Asking 'why didn't you do this' never helps a situation.
This is a brilliant book and I don't want to knock it, but it seems like he hasn't been a sales leader in his career, only a sales coach. BUT this is easily the best book we've read on the show so far.
We disagreed with Toxic Tactic #3 'Coaching People in Your Own Image' - because a lot of hugely successful companies have done this and we don't think that copying the actions of somebody who is successful at what they do is necessarily a bad thing.
In general, the toxic tactic were spot on!
Chapter 13: 'Culture Shift: Sustaining The Habit of Coaching'
This is a quick, easy to read chapter with some great advice.
His comments on peer to peer coaching were great and we liked that he included this in the book!
Chapter 14: 'The Final Transformation'
We think people want to be managers because society tells them they ought to be.
Genuinely, for us, it's been the most useful book we've done on the show thus far and it's really well-written. It's also made me realise that I've grown a lot in the past couple of years as a leader, more than I thought I had, so that's good!
We're on Chapters 7, 8 & 9 this week!
The first few chapters we thought were solid 10/10s. I think these 3 chapters are probably 9/10. BUT they're still good and very worth reading.
Chapter 7: 'Creating Unity, Trust and the Art of Enrolment'
I think the reason I didn't enjoy these chapters as much is because i only like to be told things once and he repeats things - but this works for some people! But do I think Keith is correct in what he says? He's 100% right.
He goes into greater detail in these chapters on what he began to discuss in the earlier chapters. We definitely would buy training from Keith but we could also pick up the book and use it as a manual rather than a surface level text that's aimed at getting you to buy training.
Keith reminds sales leaders that they must always think about what's in it for their team. He always points out that good salespeople don't necessarily make good sales leaders.
I think there is a noticeable cultural difference between Rosen who is American and our view of Sales leaders and salespeople. Maybe this needs a rewrite for a UK audience, I felt like some of the language needed localising. I thought 'you'll not get away with that language in the UK' - It's like software that needs localising - it needs updating. As a methodology, it's fantastic and it works, it just needs altering slightly to be more compatible to the UK mindset.
Rosen gives some cracking advice on how to overcome difficult conversations and reveals how a lot of the difficulty you're facing as a salesperson or a sales leader is in your mind and he shows you how to navigate away from this.
Keith Rosen's structure centres around being quite nice and I'm not sure how this will work in the real world - sometimes you've got to be explicitly clear that you are the boss. You need to deliver a message with absolute clarity.
We really enjoyed Keith's framework.
Chapter 8: 'Seven Essential Enrolment Conversations that Create Company Wide Alignment'
I think the easiest way to persuade your sales team that a coaching course or a new method of coaching is going to work for them is to TTT - Tell the truth! Say 'hey guys, I've been on this coaching course, I learned a lot and I want to try it, I think it might work, I think we might all sell a bit more and grow as sales people - anybody up for it? ' We had a disagreement on how effective Keith's incentive system was and we took longer than normal reviewing these chapters which is obviously a good sign!
If we went out tomorrow and hired a new business salesperson - I'd use this as a guide and even though we're experienced, I would still use this myself.
We have hired salespeople that are really grateful for being taught, being trained and being developed.
Understanding the identity of the salesperson is something that i think gets missed a lot of the time. What are your top priorities and values? What's important to you is one of my favourite questions.
Our advice: don't interview a candidate based on what they've sold and who they sold it to- interview them on their identity and how it matches with the company's culture
Chapter 9: 'Coach Tracks: turn difficult situations into coaching wins'
This was a really good section!
If a manager incorporated these ideas and this advice, he or she would enrol the team straight off the bat!
We think that one of the issues that Keith and ourselves don't seem to be seeing eye to eye to is appearing weak - we're starting to question whether we should or shouldn't. Have we got too much machismo that it's not helping - we've never wanted to appear weak but maybe we should appear more humble and if eating some humble pie would make us more successful then we'll have some!
Maybe we should read 'Coaching Salespeople into Champions' - his content makes me want to read more!
These chapters were a 9/10 - we just think that Keith should include more detailed structures!
We're on Chapters 4, 5 & 6 and I'd like to start off by saying that I've had two proper coaching interactions incorporating Keith's techniques! He's got me thinking and more than anything, it's nice to have a different strategy.
Chapter 4: 'How to Coach in 10 minutes or less'
This chapter is about real world scenarios which is what we both like about the book. Keith talks about how if you're chief problem solver, you'll always be chief problem solver and you'll never create any leverage. And once you teach people how to do something, you have leverage because they will have learned how to do it themselves and you won't have to tell them again.
Chapter 5: 'Tools to Manage the Coaching Process and Assess Results'
We liked this chapter - we love the simplicity of some of Keith's coaching forms, they're refreshing and to the point. I really like sales leaders who go out on the road with their team because there's no way you can coach someone if you don't know what they're like or what their style is - how can you coach if you don't know what your colleague is like in front of clients?! Because they have no empathy with how that individual operates
Chapter 6 - 'Transforming Critical Conversations into Positive Change and Measurable Results'
We thought this was an odd chapter - don't get me wrong, it's good - I just got the feeling that we've already covered most of it But we did really enjoy the opening paragraph - Keith tells us how if you're a sales leader and a member of your team makes a mistake - it's your fault. Avalanches roll downhill. and we agree. You need to take ownership.
Tip from us - Always have in your mind as a sales manager - 'make sure I'm coaching'. We've been slightly more critical of Keith on this episode than we were on the first, but lets be clear - if somebody asked me whether or not they should buy this book, my answer would be a definite yes.
We're on a new book this week! This book is particularly pertinent, even if you're not a sales leader, it can teach you how your sales leader should manage you and show you whether or not you are cut out to be a sales leader yourself.
We read the comments section before starting the content and normally these books are the different sales authors sucking up to each other, but wow, there are some top people here who have recommended Sales Leadership. president of Salesforce, country manager for Google, Microsoft, Hubspot and it goes on and on... This is the book that thus far, I've enjoyed most on the show - 5 pages in, I was already thinking that this is a must-read book. I'd read it if you're a salesperson or a sales manager because when you read it, you think 'have I got what it takes to be a sales manager, is that me?'
I would summarise these first 3 chapters as:
Chapter 1 - have you got a culture that's suitable for coaching and if not how do you get one?
Chapter 2 - I've got a process to help you coach your sales staff
Chapter 3 - here's what's wrong with the people you've got doing the job'
We're finishing our discussion on Jeb Blount's 'Objections' this episode and then summarising the book and the value we've gained from it.
Chapter 14: 'Buying Commitment Objections'
Blount talks about isolating and clarifying an objection Don't 'Pump and Pounce' - as he says. You shouldn't get immediately combative which we agree with. However, we think there are much more elegant ways than isolating and clarifying an objection than the reasons he gives. Notably just listening and reflecting.
Chapter 15: 'Bending Win Probability in Your Favour'
On p.186 we've highlighted what I believe is the most important paragraph in the book. 'Fanatical prospectors carry around a pocketful of business cards, they talk to strangers in doctor's offices, at sporting events, in lines to get coffee, in elevators, at conferences, on planes, on trains. They get up in the morning and bang the phone, during the day they knock on doors, in between meetings they prospect with email and text, at night they connect with and engage prospects on social media. When they are tired, hungry and fed up with objection, they make one more call.'
Blount also talks about pre-call planning and we're pretty meticulous when it comes to planning before meeting with a client - he has a 4 stage process and the only thing he missed of for us is we like to tell the prospect what's going to happen during the call. Blount also chats about role plays and from our experience most candidates HATE role plays. But a lot of the good candidates don't - because they know they have top class selling skills they have a 'bring it on' attitude.
Chapter 16: 'The Relentless Pursuit of Yes'
This final chapter was just a pep talk from Blount really - but an effective one and a positive in which to end the book on. Summary: It's got us thinking about objections again, we like how Jeb Blount writes and we've much preferred it to some of the other sales books we've read on the show.
Chapter 11: 'Yes Has a Number'
In this chapter Blount tells us that sales is governed by numbers. Our main issue is that we don't get why he included this in a book about objections.
Chapter 12: 'Red Herrings' We had a lot more to say about this chapter. We thought that he explained red herring objections badly. After reading this we went beck to the start and put the note 'he didn't actually tell us how to identify a red herring'. Jonny said to me years ago when I put the phone down - 'how much was that phone call worth?' and this has stuck in my head ever since. Blount says that when somebody gives you an objection you need to test the validity of whether or not that's a real objection His first rule is to ignore, which I agree with to an extent BUT also think that's dangerous because an unhandled objection grows like a piece of mould - you're often sat there thinking 'will that come back?' when you could've nipped it in the bud instead. The line I often use for red herring objections is 'go on' I'm quite negative about this chapter because I think red herrings are so important - often they're a silent killer and Blount misses this point Ignoring a red herring can also be synonymous with bullying - it's going to come back and bite you later on. Especially if you're having a conversation with somebody who's a little bit quieter - they're going to hate you for your ignorance. You've got to judge the situation with one where you're in front of the client - if you're a huge personality and your client isn't and they throw a quiet objection in the works - do not ignore this - if you do, don't be surprised if they never speak to you again. Chapter 13 'Micro-Commitment Objections' 'The human mind abhors the unknown' Agreed. We always say when we're on the phone, this is a canvas call, we state our intention. Blount's 100% right about being clear with your intention, objective and micro-commitment at the end of the call. 'When you indicate that you are unattached to the outcome, that you're willing to walk away if working together might not be a fit, you are saying right up front that you are not going to chase - this activates the scarcity effect, people want what they can't have' - We thought this is beautifully elegant - you've got to be careful because you still have to sell to them a little bit, but I agree. The way the guy puts together his scripts is amazing - the script on p.142 is blinding. He's missing those little shades of grey around what do you and don't you ignore - I'm very nervous about the concept of ignoring an objection because a lot of salespeople will misconstrue that as walking over the top of it. A lot of this book, Blount's got me thinking and he's got me to realise that my trainings not outdated. Micro-commitments - he's saying that A. you get your customer to say yes then B. you get them to do stuff for you - he's saying that call me back next January is not a micro-commitment - call me back on January the 5th at 2pm is. Blount isn't too realistic with some of the points he makes. Micro-commitment chapter in general is excellent - it's something I already do but if you don't then you should be doing it! read the chapter listen to our advice and change your game Summary All in all, we enjoyed these chapters, they've been a good refresher course for us and they've got us thinking about our game.
Jeb Blount 'Objections' Chapters 9 & 10 Our thoughts: objections you get are often created by the questions you ask - "Are you free" - oh there's an objection I walked straight into.
The longer we've been IT recruitment consultants, the better we've gotten at asking questions that lead us down a certain path and away from the obvious traps that are going to create certain objections.
Some people have an aura to which others simply don't object to. If you put a good enough candidate in front of a client - they're going to overlook any faults e.g. package, track record The question 'are you the decision maker?' is one of the most important questions you could ever ask during the interview process. For a lot of objections if you listen hard enough and reflect enough - the person in the conversation will hear their own words allowing them to process their thoughts - I've found that if you shut up, the client closes the objection themselves by reasoning - unless he out silences you! Prospecting objections - everyone's got a plan until they get punched in the face - at some point you've got to pick up the phone and see what happens.
We're racing through Jeb Blount's 'Objections' this week, chatting about why people shouldn't people afraid of cold-calling, how we suss out the ones who are and why this could be detrimental to your sales career.
We also ask the question: do all salespeople respond to objections in the same way?
Our thoughts: objections are a request for more information and they're a sign that your prospect is still engaged - don't confuse objection with rejection. Salespeople are in a contact sport, it's part of the game - you're going to get hit with rejections and objections - your task is to then condition your response to deal with these Our verdict: This book feels like a magnifying glass into things that I've already been told - but this guy tells it more simply and I wish I'd read this one first. It's helped us.
Jeb Blount 'Objections' Chapters 3 & 4 Didn't I say last week that I'd have some killer takeaways from this book? Well, I wasn't wrong... I think a lot of sales people act with good intent, but I'm not sure society thinks the same - this topic crops up in Chapters 3 & 4 of Jeb Blount's 'Objections' - which, I have to say is getting better and better as we read on. We also chat about conditional responses towards salespeople and why these have come about. Jonny makes the comment that 'there is a sound of a salesperson making a rubbish call and that you can hear it in their tone' - do you agree?
We also share some banter about how we don't know how many salespeople we've met who don't understand why their sales career isn't working - and it's more often than not, predominantly at an identity level, they aren't congruent with their career. And what's worse, customer/interviews can smell this on them.
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Jeb Blount 'Objections' Chapters 1 & 2 We're on a new book this week! We've started reading Jeb Blount's 'Objections' and it's safe to say that this book is a huge breath of fresh air after Drucker's 'The Effective Executive'.
We highly recommend that you read it along with us - we've already found a few great takeaways from it that we're going to integrate into our game.
In our final episode on Peter Drucker we summarise our views on 'The Effective Executive' which, if you've been listening in the past, are extremely mixed.
In the final chapter Drucker comments on decisions that executives must make in order to be successful and personality traits of an effective leader. We can see why this book is so heavily talked about among extremely successful sales professionals, but at the same time, neither of us are ever going to pick up this book again - we're glad to see the back of it!
We've got to say, there were some real gems in chapter 5. Chapter 6 on the other hand, was a whole different story... However, we both enjoyed Drucker talking about Britain's involvement in the European Union from a 1967 standpoint.
Peter Drucker 'The Effective Executive' Chapter 4: 'Making Strength Productive'
We've moved onto chapter 4 of Drucker's 'The Effective Executive' and both of us thought that Drucker made some really insightful comments in this section that are still relevant to the world of sales and sales leaders today. Check it out and let us know what you think!
Peter Drucker 'The Effective Executive' Chapters 2 & 3. We have to say, after a disenchanted first impression of the book, we're both warming up to it (a little)
We're on a new book this week! We're reading Chapter 1: 'Effectiveness Can Be Learnt'
We had some mixed emotions about the first chapter, thinking that the writing style was very outdated. We are however, more optimistic about the next chapters to come, so tune into the next episode to tell us what you think!
In this episode we finally get to the end of 'You Can't Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar' By David H. Sandler
In this Episode we discuss chapters 12 and 13 of 'You Can't Teach a Kid To Ride A Bike At A Seminar' By David H. Sandler (NB: start reading our next book moving forward - 'The Effective Executive' By Peter Drucker
In this episode we discuss chapters 10 and 11 of 'You Can't Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a seminar" By David Sandler - Please note the abrupt ending - we'll catch up in this weeks show!
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In this episode we discuss the first two chapters of the legendary book 'You Can't Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar' by David Sandler
In this Episode we finally get to the end of 'Way of the Wolf' by Jordan Belfort. All we can say is that has been emotional...
In this episode we talk about 'Way of the Wolf' by Jordan Belfort through chapters 7, 8 and 9