Startup Selling: Talking Sales with Scott Sambucci

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In this episode of the Startup Selling podcast, Scott and Stephen explore the crucial idea that "the process is the process." They emphasize the importance of having a defined and repeatable process rather than solely focusing on outcomes. Scott explains how a structured approach not only ensures consistent results but also allows for effective testing and continuous improvement. The episode includes a candid look at a process that didn’t go as planned with a new client, detailing the lessons learned and how the team refined their approach moving forward.

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In this episode of the Sprouts AI Podcast, Karan Chaudhry interviews Scott Sambucci, who delves into his transition from history major to sales expert and founder of Sales Qualia. Scott shares his journey and discusses key strategies for moving from founder-led sales to scalable processes. He covers essential topics like going from zero to one million and scaling from one to ten million in revenue, emphasizing the need for a repeatable sales process and founder involvement in the early stages. Scott also highlights effective sales strategies, such as understanding your ideal customer profile and leveraging your network, while drawing parallels between sales success and the discipline required in ultra-marathons. Tune in for actionable insights on building a capable sales team and making meaningful connections.

Links & Resources:

Karan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karanchaudhry/

Linkedin Live Episode: https://www.linkedin.com/events/gtmmotionsforsaasstartupsthatdr7227172261760221184/theater/

Website: https://sprouts.ai/

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In this episode, Chad Burmeister interviews Scott Sambucci about the evolving landscape of sales in the tech industry. They discuss the role of AI in supporting, rather than replacing, sales teams and the ongoing importance of human connection in an increasingly automated world. The conversation also touches on post-COVID trends, including the renewed interest in face-to-face interactions, and how real-time AI tools can enhance communication and sales effectiveness. Scott also shares practical insights on how growth-stage B2B tech startups can navigate these shifts to improve their sales processes.

Links & Resources:

Chad’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadburmeister/

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TheAIforSalesPodcast

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ai4sales

Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/saleshack

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In this episode of the Go Farther series, Stephen Steers interviews Scott Sambucci about his recent ultra marathon experience and the invaluable lessons he learned along the way. Scott opens up about the mental and physical challenges of the race, the importance of coaching in breaking through personal barriers, and how meticulous preparation and nutrition played a crucial role in his success. Drawing fascinating parallels between endurance sports and the demands of entrepreneurship, Scott shares insights on how the discipline and planning required in running can translate into achieving business milestones. Tune in for an inspiring conversation on the intersection of athletic endurance and professional resilience.

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In this episode of the Go Farther series, Scott dives deep into the theme of pushing beyond limits and finding joy in the journey. Inspired by American runner Grant Fisher's remarkable performance at the Olympics, Scott draws compelling parallels between the high stakes of competitive athletics and the relentless pressures of entrepreneurship. He confronts the fears of both falling short and succeeding, and introduces practical strategies like daily journaling and fear setting. These tools help cultivate a mindset of gratitude, keep motivation alive, and turn everyday challenges into opportunities for growth. Scott reminds listeners that the real joy comes not just from achieving goals, but from embracing every step of the journey. Tune in to discover how to go farther in both your personal and professional life, and find fulfillment along the way.

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In this episode, Scott Sambucci delves into the concept of "implementing equals learning," underscoring the importance of experimenting with new strategies in sales. Drawing parallels from his ultra-running experiences, Scott highlights the significance of pushing boundaries to foster growth and achievement. He discusses actionable strategies such as committing to new approaches, thorough preparation, documenting progress, setting and managing risks, and seeking help when needed. Scott addresses common concerns like hesitation and anxiety about trying new sales tactics and shares personal anecdotes to illustrate how overcoming these fears leads to success. Tune in to learn how embracing implementation can transform your sales performance and drive continuous improvement.

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In this episode, Scott Sambucci explores the theme of "relentless forward progress" through the inspiring story of Patrick, a runner in the Western States 100 race. Scott delves into the key elements of patience, persistence, and perseverance, illustrating how maintaining a positive attitude, overcoming challenges, and adjusting goals can lead to success in both ultra-running and sales. He shares practical strategies such as sticking to the process and seeking help, emphasizing the importance of support and collaboration. Tune in to discover how these insights can drive continuous improvement and success in your sales endeavors.

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In this episode, Scott Sambucci explores the importance of making hard tasks routine to achieve success, sharing insights drawn from his experiences as an ultra-runner. Scott discusses key strategies such as committing to the task, starting easy, and creating a dedicated workspace. He emphasizes avoiding overthinking and the significance of tracking progress. Scott also shares his plans to support an international runner in a grueling race and his approach to honest communication and team leadership. Tune in to discover practical tips for transforming challenging tasks into routine actions and reaching your goals.

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In this episode, Scott delves into the importance of putting yourself first to achieve your best in every aspect of life. He explores how setting goals, like training for an ultra marathon, can sharpen your focus and elevate your daily routines. Scott shares his insights on how scheduling everything, from exercise to work commitments, ensures you stay on track and prioritize your well-being.

Scott discusses the concept of "Yes, And" as a powerful tool to protect your time and maintain balance. Whether it's managing work interruptions or family requests, he reveals how this approach helps you stay committed to your goals.

Listeners will gain practical strategies for saying no to opportunities that don't align with their priorities, delegating tasks effectively, and meticulous planning to maximize productivity. This episode is packed with actionable advice to help you put yourself first, achieve more, and feel happier in the process. Tune in for Scott's deep dive into balancing self-care with life's demands.

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In this episode, Scott and Stephen discussed the critical importance of consistency and the distinction between discipline and motivation. Discipline gets things done whether you feel like it or not, whereas motivation is merely a temporary boost.

Staying consistent is challenging, especially for entrepreneurs with demanding schedules. For tasks such as regularly releasing new marketing content or making your sales calls, success comes from discipline, not motivation. While motivation is fleeting, discipline breeds consistency and lasting results.

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Go Farther Episode #16: You are not alone - Why we do this

In this episode, we had a genuine human-to-human conversation. As entrepreneurs, we're often expected to wear a mask or a Superman cape, but what’s real is behind all that.

I shared a day where I ended feeling exasperated and frustrated. If you're a parent, spouse, or partner and an entrepreneur, you’ve likely had days like this. Knowing I'm not alone reminded me that others are going through similar challenges.

If you’re working hard to build a company and feeling overwhelmed, remember you're not alone. There are people facing far worse issues than billing problems or juggling family roles. This repost serves as a reminder that our challenges are real, but so is our ability to overcome them.

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In this episode, Scott Sambucci emphasizes the critical role of having a coach, sharing examples of renowned coaches and their impact on top performers. He discusses his personal experiences with coaches and underscores the value of seeking coaching for both personal and professional growth. Scott also highlights the importance of being willing to invest in coaching and outlines five strategies for finding the right coach.

Scott addresses the challenge of having a peer group at the same level, which can slow progress, and stresses the need for coaches who push individuals out of their comfort zones. He concludes by emphasizing the significance of finding a coach to achieve more, enhance happiness, and push personal boundaries.

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In this episode, Scott Sambucci discusses the importance of making the most of unexpected downtime, managing schedules effectively, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle while traveling to maximize productivity. He highlights the need for being prepared and efficient during travel to reduce frustrations and ensure optimal performance.

Scott also emphasizes the value of scheduling breaks and naps to stay refreshed, managing time and routines while on the road, and avoiding over-scheduling meetings. He shares practical tips such as bringing instant coffee packets, packing healthy snacks, and staying hydrated to maintain energy levels and productivity during travel.

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In this episode, Scott Sambucci sits down with Dan Waldschmidt, a best-selling author, motivational speaker, and business strategist, to explore the application of Dan's EDGY Framework to the life of an entrepreneur and startup CEO. Dan's journey from success to failure and back again, including a moment where he nearly took his own life, brings a unique perspective to the conversation. Despite facing immense challenges, Dan's resilience and determination have propelled him forward, reflected in his book "Edgy Conversations: How Ordinary People Can Achieve Outrageous Success," which has become a 9-time bestseller. With a personal goal of setting the world record for the most running miles covered in 24 hours, Dan's intensity and purpose shine through as he and Scott delve into strategies for achieving success in the entrepreneurial world.

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In this episode, Scott discusses the benefits of automating decisions to maintain discipline and productivity in both personal and professional settings. He emphasizes the importance of time blocking and accountability in overcoming distractions and ensuring consistency in routines. By sharing examples from his own life, such as scheduling specific times for workouts or prospecting and sticking to them, Scott provides listeners with practical strategies to enhance their focus and efficiency.

Scott offers five strategies for automating decisions to increase productivity and satisfaction, including automating daily stand-ups and regular meetings with the team, and preparing ahead by laying out gear and materials in advance. Additionally, he stresses the importance of structured prospecting schedules to avoid decision fatigue and maintain a disciplined approach to achieving goals. Through actionable insights and systems, Scott encourages listeners to adapt his strategies to suit their own situations for personal and professional growth.

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In this episode, Scott Sambucci explores the balance between deliberate and emergent strategies in personal and professional settings. Drawing from his ultra running experiences and work life, he shares practical applications of this balance, such as his decision-making process for participating in a 200-mile race and his strategic decision to work with Monica Stewart. Scott highlights strategies for being deliberately emergent, including monthly planning sessions, learning to say no, and maintaining effective communication with team members and partners.

Scott addresses customer needs by discussing the challenge of balancing planned strategies with emergent opportunities and the importance of openness to new ideas. He emphasizes effective communication with team members and advisors to navigate challenges and opportunities. Additionally, Scott shares insights into recognizing and pursuing opportunities that align with one's interests and bring joy to their work. His advice includes actively listening to oneself and exploring new possibilities that enhance work fulfillment and excitement.

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In this episode, Scott emphasizes the crucial role of routines in achieving both goals and happiness. He shares personal examples and strategies to guide listeners on their journey to success. Scott highlights the importance of routine in ultra running and training, as well as establishing structured routines at work. He underscores the value of repetition and consistency in routines as drivers of personal growth and productivity.

Addressing customer needs, Scott discusses the benefits of finding a routine in work and personal life, such as reducing decision fatigue, focusing on priorities, and creating predictability. He suggests structuring work weeks with themed days, dedicating specific days to content creation, client work, coaching, operations, and other tasks. Scott also emphasizes the importance of eliminating distractions by turning off notifications and using airplane mode, allowing for greater focus and adherence to routines. Additionally, he stresses the need for consistent scheduling to maintain discipline and cultivate habits.

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In this episode, Scott underscores the pivotal role of clarity, control, and confidence in attaining success, offering a structured approach to goal-setting. He emphasizes the importance of visualization, effective planning, and preparation, advocating for the mapping out of timeframes and conducting standups and meeting prep. Introducing the concept of account planning meetings for key accounts, Scott provides a detailed example of preparing for an on-site meeting, highlighting the significance of thorough planning and communication with stakeholders. Addressing customer needs, he stresses the ability to capitalize on opportunities and execute plans through principles of planning, preparation, and visualization. Additionally, Scott shares strategies for setting and achieving key performance indicators (KPIs) to reach specific goals and milestones, offering practical insights for effective implementation. Through actionable advice and real-world examples, Scott equips listeners with the tools and mindset necessary for achieving success in their endeavors.

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In this episode, Scott underscores the crucial elements of clarity, control, and confidence in the pursuit of success, offering a structured approach to goal-setting. Emphasizing the significance of visualization and effective planning, he advocates for meticulous preparation through time mapping, standups, and meeting prep. Introducing the concept of account planning meetings for key accounts, Scott provides a detailed example of preparing for an on-site meeting, highlighting the importance of thorough planning and communication with stakeholders. Addressing customer needs, he stresses the ability to seize opportunities and execute plans by adhering to principles of planning, preparation, and visualization. Additionally, Scott shares strategies for setting and achieving key performance indicators (KPIs) to reach specific goals and milestones, offering actionable next steps for implementing account planning meetings, conducting standups and meeting prep, and blocking time for planning and preparation. Through practical insights and actionable advice, Scott equips listeners with the tools and mindset necessary for achieving success in their endeavors.

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In this episode, Scott delves into the transformative power of gratitude, emphasizing its profound impact on both personal and professional growth. He underscores the importance of recognizing abundance and opportunities, urging listeners to shift their mindset towards problem-solving and ownership. By reframing challenges as opportunities for growth and learning, Scott introduces a powerful strategy for overcoming obstacles and achieving success. Addressing customer needs, Scott emphasizes the significance of understanding and addressing prospects' problems, highlighting the importance of creating demand for software systems by solving real-world business challenges. Moreover, he stresses the value of aligning with customers' strategic priorities and seizing opportunities to assist them, fostering a sense of gratitude for the ability to make a positive impact. Through strategic insights and actionable advice, Scott empowers listeners to embrace gratitude as a catalyst for driving meaningful change and achieving their goals.

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In this episode, Scott Sambucci delves deep into the transformative power of confidence, drawing from his rich tapestry of experiences, which include training for arduous 100-mile races and competing in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments. Through captivating anecdotes and practical insights, Scott underscores the indispensable role of confidence in both professional and personal realms. He highlights the importance of instilling confidence in oneself and others, exemplified by a customer's approach to empowering soccer players on the field. Moreover, Scott addresses common challenges encountered by company founders, such as the tendency to seek constant validation, and advocates for the implementation of structured sales processes to bolster confidence and expertise in client interactions. Additionally, Scott offers invaluable guidance on navigating stakeholder engagements, providing strategic advice on pricing strategies and decision-making processes. Through actionable next steps, including assistance in webinar content creation and outreach strategies, Scott empowers listeners to cultivate unwavering confidence, refine their sales approach, and navigate complex business landscapes with conviction and resilience.

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In this episode, Scott emphasizes the universal importance of resilience, offering three essential steps: commitment, control, and challenge. He shares a personal story of resilience during a demanding training run, illustrating the power of perseverance in overcoming obstacles. Customer needs revolve around persisting with business efforts, including prospecting and maintaining focus amid distractions. Budget considerations stress the ongoing necessity of consistent prospecting efforts in business operations. Scott introduces strategies for building resilience, such as leveraging past experiences and setting aside dedicated time for prospecting. Overall, the episode provides actionable insights for cultivating resilience in both personal and professional spheres, empowering listeners to overcome challenges and achieve their goals.

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In Episode 4 of the Go Farther series, Scott delves into the intricacies of overcoming obstacles, drawing inspiration from the hero's journey archetype. He underscores the importance of maintaining flexibility and relentless progress in the face of challenges, urging listeners to view obstacles as integral parts of their own narratives. Throughout the episode, Scott emphasizes the significance of problem-solving, meticulous planning, and the willingness to seek assistance when encountering hurdles. He outlines a practical four-step process for adapting to obstacles, empowering listeners to confront challenges head-on with confidence and determination.

Key customer needs discussed include the potential loss of top clients, the ramifications of making a bad hire and navigating shifts in market demand. Stakeholder insights shed light on challenges such as team members' potential leave or illness, as well as personal emergencies impacting business operations. Customer budget considerations highlight the importance of asking for assistance when faced with obstacles.

In essence, Scott's episode serves as a beacon of guidance, reminding listeners to embrace challenges as opportunities for growth and to seek help when needed on their journey to success.

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In this episode of the Go Farther podcast, Scott shares valuable insights into the art of staying focused on the present moment while effectively managing future concerns. He dives into practical planning strategies, emphasizing the importance of prioritization and time management for achieving productivity.

Throughout the episode, Scott addresses common customer needs and concerns, such as hiring decisions and budget considerations, offering practical advice applicable to various industries and scenarios. Stakeholder discussions revolve around organizational strategies and pipeline management, providing actionable insights for listeners.

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Join Scott as he recounts his transformative experience with the Uberman triathlon, sparking the inception of GoFarther. In this episode, he highlights the importance of tackling difficult challenges and forging personal frontiers.

With fervor, Scott encourages listeners to pursue bold ideas, emphasizing the invaluable lessons learned through adventurous endeavors. Tune in for inspiration to embrace discomfort, push boundaries, and embark on your own extraordinary journey of growth and discovery.

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In this podcast episode Scott explores the dynamic interplay between personal growth, entrepreneurship, and breaking through limitations. After a period of introspection in 2023, Scott reemerged with a fresh perspective, attracting consulting clients and revamping the podcast format.

Now, in 2024, join us for the "Go Farther" series, where we spotlight individuals who have defied conventional wisdom, embraced challenges, and achieved extraordinary success while balancing personal and entrepreneurial responsibilities. Get ready to push your boundaries and redefine what's possible in life and business with practical insights and inspiring stories. Tune in and let's go farther together.

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Scott and Christopher engage in conversations covering various subjects, including founder-led sales and common fundraising errors. Additionally, they delve into the details of the Rally Innovation Summit, highlighting its emphasis on fostering collaboration across different sectors. Christopher stresses the significance of participating in events like Rally, as they provide valuable opportunities to achieve breakthroughs and adapt when needed.

About our guest:

Toph Day, CEO of Elevate Ventures is an active investor in the #1 most active seed & early stage Venture Capital Firm in the Great Lakes Region and #24 in the US. He is a best-selling author of Pillar-Based Marketing and has been a part of starting 8 different companies throughout his career in 7 different verticals. Toph has a perspective to offer on the “creative collisions” that will fuel the midwest’s growth as an innovation hub through Rally Innovation. Rally was developed to bring together companies, universities, entrepreneurs, and investors to forge the creative, cross-sectors that power innovation.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

Toph’s Creative Collisions Term
Rally Innovations Event
Mid- west region as a hub for innovation

Links & Resources:

Rally Innovation: www.rallyinnovation.com/

Elevate Ventures: www.elevateventures.com/

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/christopherday2

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In this episode, Scott and Ryan discuss the importance of referrals in building an effective sales strategy, including the key components of a referral process and the importance of consistency. They also discuss using AI for sales, with Ryan sharing tips and tactics for implementation. Scott promotes his coaching program, Startup Selling, and encourages listeners to email him for a free consultation.

About our Guest:

Ryan Stanley is the Founder and CEO of Whale Boss where he helps Technology Founders grow from $1M-$30M through the principles he used to achieve the same results personally. Ryan Has taught over 800 CROs, VPs, or Leaders his proprietary Enterprise Sales frameworks for startups and companies like Google, Amazon Web Services, Stripe, Salesforce, Uber, etc.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

AI and chat GPT In sales
Effective ways to ask for referrals
Examples of how AI is being used by SaaS founders.

Links & Resources:

Website: www.ryanstaley.io/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-staley/

Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-scale-up-show/id1527278610

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Amy is an enterprise sales fanatic and startup junkie with over 20 years and $100M+ worth of deals closed. She's experienced how startups too often short-circuit their potential (and their salespeople’s) by missing the mark on one very important thing: recruiting. This is where Amy and ATP come in! Amy is well known on LinkedIn and on the sales speaker circuit, hosting and Co-Founding the very popular Thursday Night Sales, the #1 weekly Virtual Sales Happy Hour.

Prior to Avenue Talent Partners , Amy was the Director of National Accounts at ZipRecruiter, Enterprise Sales Director at Glid, and the Senior Executive Account Director at Indeed.com.

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Some of the topics that we covered are:

Timing of Sales Personnel Hiring
Establishing a Solid Sales Foundation
Challenges Faced by Founders
Building a Supportive Startup Community

Links & Resources:

Website: www.avenuetalentpartners.com

Amy Volas on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/amyvolas

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In this episode, Scott focuses on the principle:

“Extreme Ownership.”

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In this episode, Scott focuses on the principle:

“Extreme Ownership.”

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Meet Eric Quanstrom, the Chief Marketing Officer at CIENCE, where he leads all marketing efforts from creating brand awareness to cultivating passionate fans. With a wealth of experience in marketing, digital media, technology, and strategy, Eric brings a unique perspective to his role.

Prior to joining CIENCE, Eric held various executive positions, including CMO at Pipeliner CRM, Nimble, and Sorenson Media. He also served as VP of Marketing at SightSpeed (acquired by Logitech, 2008), Director of Business DocuComp (acquired by DocsCorp), and West Coast head of the Fox Online Properties at News Corporation.

Eric holds an MBA in Marketing from San Francisco State University and a BA in Journalism from San Diego State University. As an Aztec, he takes pride in his alma mater's achievements.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

Three ways you can do outbound
- List Building
- Intent led outbound
- Inbound led outbound
Working with an outsourcing agency
- Ownership
- Partnership
- Readiness

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Links & Resources:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/quanstrom/

Podcast: https://www.cience.com/podcast

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In this episode, Scott focuses on the principle:

“Hire slowly, fire quickly.”

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Wes Bush is a challenger. He’s challenged himself by running marathons, skydiving, and building a remote business. He’s challenged an entire industry to find a better way to approach SaaS growth. Wes is allergic to the status quo.

As founder and president of the ProductLed, Wes spends his days teaching SaaS businesses how to flip the traditional sales playbook on its head and build products that sell themselves.

Wes holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Global Business and Digital Arts from the University of Waterloo. A respected business consultant, Wes understands that flashy marketing and hard sells can’t replace the value a customer receives from an exceptional product.

A strong brand and social proof are no longer enough to build trust with the modern buyer. People need to try before they buy. Product-Led Growth turns that philosophy into an executable business strategy.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

Product-led Growth vs. Sales-Led Growth
Approach to demonstrating value
When is it appropriate to use either or even both?
Strategies for growth
Onboarding New Customers

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Links & Resources:

Twitter - https://twitter.com/wes_bush

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wesbush/

Website -https://productled.com/book/product-led-growth

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Collin Mitchell - 4x founder and the Chief Evangelist at Humantic AI

Meet Collin Mitchell, a 4x founder passionate about Sales, Entrepreneurship, and

Podcasting. Collin is the Chief Evangelist at Humantic AI where they are helping sellers

personalize the entire sales process to build more rapport and close more deals.

Collin is also the host of Sales Transformation. He started with nothing but managed to

grow his first business from 0 to 5M ARR in 26 months!

Some of the topics that we covered are:

How to move away from Batch and Blast
Diffence between Target Market and Persona
Importance of Specific Personalization Buyer Personalities types

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

Links & Resources:

Twitter - https://twitter.com/collinM_Sales

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Collin.SalesHustle

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/collinm_sales/reels/

Youtube - https://youtu.be/qs61feJWbLw

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/collincmitchell/

Humantic AI Website - https://humantic.ai/

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This is Part 6 of our series – First Principles for Startup Founders

In this episode, Scott shares why EVERY startup must find a niche within their TAM as a starting point for sales, growth, and achieving Product-Market Fit down the road.

The reason this is such a critical part of your sales processes is because it is IMPOSSIBLE to sell to every customer type in your total addressable market.

Yes, you want to make a big impact, and you want to affect an entire industry. But for now there’s only a certain niche or sub-segment within that larger marketplace that you are able to sell to for a variety of reasons FOR NOW…

—

👣 Now, let's talk about YOU and YOUR startup’s journey... 👣

If you're a startup CEO that's on your journey to make the climb to $100mm ARR...

If you’re one of those rare breed of founders that’s willing to acknowledge & accept that there are no shortcuts...

If you're willing to work step-by-step, day-by-day with patience, persistence & perseverance...

Then I’ve got some pretty incredible news…

I'm partnering with Amy Volas & Avenue Talent Partners to bring you a 2-day, IRL immersive experience specifically for startup founders & CEOs whose companies are selling to the enterprise.

Yes this an "In Real Life" event – next month at a top-notch location in a world-class city with 5-star amenities provided by us.

You'll work alongside Amy Volas, me, the SalesQualia team & an unrivaled peer group of fellow founders & CEOs ready to transform their business and mindset, and yours.

👇 Here's the criteria...👇

You MUST:

✅ Be a B2B tech startup founder doing at least $50k MRR right now.

✅ Be willing to invest time, energy and focus for two days to work on scaling your sales & your team.

✅ Be friendly & coachable – you will openly ask questions & share ideas.

✅ Acknowledge & accept there are no short cuts, hacks or magicians that will bestow you a $100m revenue engine.

✅ Keep a secret…

We have VERY limited space & tickets available for purchase because of our venue & how we’re running this IRL immersive event.

If this is you, and you’re ready to transform your business and yourself...

Check out the details here and how to save your spot for this exclusive, in-person, immersive event www.salesqualia.com/Chicago2023

Let’s do this, shall we?

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This is Part 5 of our series – First Principles for Startup Founders

In this episode, Scott shares why startup founders MUST establish Product-Problem Fit BEFORE they establish a Product-Market Fit product.

Most founders I talk with started their company because they saw a big problem in the market or a big gap with the existing solutions.

The very first thing we need to do when we’re going out and selling is to make sure that our product solves a problem for our future customers AND to establish what sort of customers to target early in the company’s sales work.

—

👣 Now, let's talk about YOU and YOUR startup’s journey... 👣

If you're a startup CEO that's on your journey to make the climb to $100mm ARR...

If you’re one of those rare breed of founders that’s willing to acknowledge & accept that there are no shortcuts...

If you're willing to work step-by-step, day-by-day with patience, persistence & perseverance...

Then I’ve got some pretty incredible news…

I'm partnering with Amy Volas & Avenue Talent Partners to bring you a 2-day, IRL immersive experience specifically for startup founders & CEOs whose companies are selling to the enterprise.

Yes, this an "In Real Life" event – next month at a top-notch location in a world-class city with 5-star amenities provided by us.

You'll work alongside Amy Volas, me, the SalesQualia team & an unrivaled peer group of fellow founders & CEOs ready to transform their business and mindset, and yours.

👇 Here's the criteria...👇

You MUST:

✅ Be a B2B tech startup founder doing at least $50k MRR right now.

✅ Be willing to invest time, energy, and focus for two days to work on scaling your sales & your team.

✅ Be friendly & coachable – you will openly ask questions & share ideas.

✅ Acknowledge & accept there are no shortcuts, hacks, or magicians that will bestow you a $100m revenue engine.

✅ Keep a secret…

We have VERY limited space & tickets available for purchase because of our venue & how we’re running this IRL immersive event.

If this is you, and you’re ready to transform your business and yourself...

Check out the details here and how to save your spot for this exclusive, in-person, immersive event www.salesqualia.com/Chicago2023

Let’s do this, shall we?

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This is Part 4 of our series – First Principles for Startup Founders

In this episode, Scott talks about why ACTION is essential to learning when it comes to your startup’s sales and GTM process.

Ideas are great, implementation is better. Because that’s the ONLY way you know if your idea is any good, collect metrics and know how to improve.

To understand what is our target market? Who are we selling to? What is the messaging? Why are they buying? What’s the value we create? How do they buy? Who are the people that are involved? What’s the decision process like? How do we implement with new customers?

All of these learnings come through implementation, whether you're going from 0 customers to your first 10, or from those 10 customers to your first $1MM in revenue. That continues to shift and change as you grow from $1MM to $3MM, $3MM to $10MM to $30MM, and so on.

Sometimes you win, and sometimes you learn. Either way, you’re ahead of where you were before.

—

👣 Now, let's talk about YOU and YOUR startup’s journey... 👣

If you're a startup CEO that's on your journey to make the climb to $100mm ARR...

If you’re one of those rare breed of founders that’s willing to acknowledge & accept that there are no shortcuts...

If you're willing to work step-by-step, day-by-day with patience, persistence & perseverance...

Then I’ve got some pretty incredible news…

I'm partnering with Amy Volas & Avenue Talent Partners to bring you a 2-day, IRL immersive experience specifically for startup founders & CEOs whose companies are selling to the enterprise.

Yes this an "In Real Life" event – next month at a top-notch location in a world-class city with 5-star amenities provided by us.

You'll work alongside Amy Volas, me, the SalesQualia team & an unrivaled peer group of fellow founders & CEOs ready to transform their business and mindset, and yours.

👇 Here's the criteria...👇

You MUST:

✅ Be a B2B tech startup founder doing at least $50k MRR right now.

✅ Be willing to invest time, energy and focus for two days to work on scaling your sales & your team.

✅ Be friendly & coachable – you will openly ask questions & share ideas.

✅ Acknowledge & accept there are no short cuts, hacks or magicians that will bestow you a $100m revenue engine.

✅ Keep a secret…

We have VERY limited space & tickets available for purchase because of our venue & how we’re running this IRL immersive event.

If this is you, and you’re ready to transform your business and yourself...

Check out the details here and how to save your spot for this exclusive, in-person, immersive event www.salesqualia.com/Chicago2023

Let’s do this, shall we?

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Bocar is a thought leader within the GTM landscape, being a Sales Coach at the Harvard Business School, revenue.fyi, and scalingto100.com. He was an early employee at Hootsuite, starting as a sales rep, pre-revenue, leading multiple GTM teams throughout its growth to $150M+ ARR, 1500+ employees and ~$300M in funding. Since then, his roles have been to consistently build out new revenue growth engines from the ground up.

As Managing Director at Forum Ventures, Bocar supports early-stage founders in establishing their target customers, gaining rapid traction, and establishing sales motion in the early days of a startup.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

How to build a successful Go-To-Market Motion.
Launch Partners and Design Partnes
How to reach your funding goal.
Importance of Founder-Led selling for early startups
Importance of building an MVB (Minimal Viable Business) Motion

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

Links & Resources:

Website: https://www.linkedin.com/company/5ive-limes/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-stewart/

Resources: www.jeffbajorek.com/chosenvision

https://www.jeffbajorek.com/tools

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

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Jeff Bajorek works with B2B sales teams to maximize performance by reframing their approach, their selling skills, and their mindset around their purpose. He helps them rethink the way they sell by reminding them of what needs to be done, showing them how to do it, and then making them believe they can.

When he’s not at work, you can find him on a golf course, or cooking something delicious for his family.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

Psychology of Selling
Inhibitors of why someone can't close a sale
Areas of the sales process important for closing a sale

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

Links & Resources:

Website: https://www.linkedin.com/company/5ive-limes/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-stewart/

Resources: www.jeffbajorek.com/chosenvision

https://www.jeffbajorek.com/tools

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

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This is Part 3 our series – First Principles for Startup Founders

In this episode, Scott focuses on the principle:

“No one cares about your product.”

In this episode, Scott talks about a very basic principle that might be one of the most obvious once you hear it, but is often most difficult for many startups to implement.

Your prospects only care about the problem that they're dealing with every day, or the priority that they need to achieve. Then, and only then do they care about how your product might be able to help them solve that problem, or how your product might be able to help them achieve that priority.

This is a principle you can apply across your sales funnel – from your prospecting and lead gen to your customer success and up-selling.

Focus on the problem & priority, not your product. Because that’s what your prospects do.

—

👣 Now, let's talk about YOU and YOUR startup’s journey... 👣

If you're a startup CEO that's on your journey to make the climb to $100mm ARR...

If you’re one of those rare breed of founders that’s willing to acknowledge & accept that there are no shortcuts...

If you're willing to work step-by-step, day-by-day with patience, persistence & perseverance...

Then I’ve got some pretty incredible news…

I'm partnering with Amy Volas & Avenue Talent Partners to bring you a 2-day, IRL immersive experience specifically for startup founders & CEOs whose companies are selling to the enterprise.

Yes this an "In Real Life" event – next month at a top-notch location in a world-class city with 5-star amenities provided by us.

You'll work alongside Amy Volas, me, the SalesQualia team & an unrivaled peer group of fellow founders & CEOs ready to transform their business and mindset, and yours.

👇 Here's the criteria...👇

You MUST:

✅ Be a B2B tech startup founder doing at least $50k MRR right now.

✅ Be willing to invest time, energy and focus for two days to work on scaling your sales & your team.

✅ Be friendly & coachable – you will openly ask questions & share ideas.

✅ Acknowledge & accept there are no short cuts, hacks or magicians that will bestow you a $100m revenue engine.

✅ Keep a secret…

We have VERY limited space & tickets available for purchase because of our venue & how we’re running this IRL immersive event.

If this is you, and you’re ready to transform your business and yourself...

Check out the details here and how to save your spot for this exclusive, in-person, immersive event www.salesqualia.com/Chicago2023

Let’s do this, shall we?

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Daily Dose: First Principles for Startup Founders – Sales is an Everyday Activity [Part 2]

This is Part 2 our series – First Principles for Startup Founders

In this episode, Scott focuses on the principle:

“Sales is an everyday activity.”

Booking booth space at a few industry conferences… Outsourcing your lead gen work to an SDR firm to batch and blast your market… Paying a marketing firm thousands of dollars every month to create DemandGen…

They can be good short-term forcing functions to drive leads and generate sales behavior, none of those are scalable or install a culture of sales in your startup.

Founders need to take action everyday, to take better control of their sales process. Making sales an everyday activity also gets founders more clarity about what we're doing every day, while giving themselves, their team and the market confidence.

👣 Now, let's talk about YOU and YOUR startup’s journey... 👣

If you're a startup CEO that's on your journey to make the climb to $100mm ARR...

If you’re one of those rare breed of founders that’s willing to acknowledge & accept that there are no shortcuts...

If you're willing to work step-by-step, day-by-day with patience, persistence & perseverance...

Then I’ve got some pretty incredible news…

I'm partnering with Amy Volas & Avenue Talent Partners to bring you a 2-day, IRL immersive experience specifically for startup founders & CEOs whose companies are selling to the enterprise.

Yes this an "In Real Life" event – next month at a top-notch location in a world-class city with 5-star amenities provided by us.

You'll work alongside Amy Volas, me, the SalesQualia team & an unrivaled peer group of fellow founders & CEOs ready to transform their business and mindset, and yours.

👇 Here's the criteria...👇

You MUST:

✅ Be a B2B tech startup founder doing at least $50k MRR right now.

✅ Be willing to invest time, energy and focus for two days to work on scaling your sales & your team.

✅ Be friendly & coachable – you will openly ask questions & share ideas.

✅ Acknowledge & accept there are no short cuts, hacks or magicians that will bestow you a $100m revenue engine.

✅ Keep a secret…

We have VERY limited space & tickets available for purchase because of our venue & how we’re running this IRL immersive event.

If this is you, and you’re ready to transform your business and yourself...

Check out the details here and how to save your spot for this exclusive, in-person, immersive event at www.salesqualia.com/Chicago2023

Let’s do this, shall we?

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When things get tough, go back to First Principles. That’s what these next few podcast episodes are all about.

In this episode, Scott focuses on the principle:

“Focus on Now now; worry about Later later.”

I’m seeing a lot of trepidation in the market right now, especially for startup founders, and founders are nervous for lots of reasons.

First, founders are seeing and feeling the crunch when it comes to the financing and funding part of the world. VCs and investors are pulling back because they like to mitigate risk, not take risk.

A second reason is the general economic slowdown. Now, I never subscribe to the excuse that the economy is slow, therefore I can't sell my stuff. As a startup, you should be focused on early adopters and nailing a niche of early customers ready to take action regardless of the macroeconomy.

That said, if you’re selling to the enterprise, you know that large companies like the Fortune 500s are pulling back. They're pulling back on budgets. They're pulling back on expenses. They're pulling back and cutting their own workers, including some of the people you might have been working with as part of a sales deal over the last 6 months. All of a sudden you find out that person just isn’t there anymore.

Thirdly, I think the reason for some anxiety started with the sales goals and projections founders established early in the year. Many teams go into the new year with a fervor and excitement and enthusiasm – this is going to be OUR year, putting together strategies and sales plans, maybe having hired a sales team in the last few months, expecting that now they're going to be fully onboard. Plus there are some deals in the sales pipeline which carried over from Q4.

When everything slows down, against what we wanted or needed for the year, it’s time to get back to basics and First Principles.

—

👣 Now, let's talk about YOU and YOUR startup’s journey... 👣

If you're a startup CEO that's on your journey to make the climb to $100mm ARR...

If you’re one of those rare breed of founders that’s willing to acknowledge & accept that there are no shortcuts...

If you're willing to work step-by-step, day-by-day with patience, persistence & perseverance...

Then I’ve got some pretty incredible news…

I'm partnering with Amy Volas & Avenue Talent Partners to bring you a 2-day, IRL immersive experience specifically for startup founders & CEOs whose companies are selling to the enterprise.

Yes this an "In Real Life" event – next month at a top-notch location in a world-class city with 5-star amenities provided by us.

You'll work alongside Amy Volas, me, the SalesQualia team & an unrivaled peer group of fellow founders & CEOs ready to transform their business and mindset, and yours.

👇 Here's the criteria...👇

You MUST:

✅ Be a B2B tech startup founder doing at least $50k MRR right now.

✅ Be willing to invest time, energy and focus for two days to work on scaling your sales & your team.

✅ Be friendly & coachable – you will openly ask questions & share ideas.

✅ Acknowledge & accept there are no short cuts, hacks or magicians that will bestow you a $100m revenue engine.

✅ Keep a secret…

We have VERY limited space & tickets available for purchase because of our venue & how we’re running this IRL immersive event.

If this you, and you’re ready to transform your business and yourself...

Check out the details here and how to save your spot for this exclusive, in-person, immersive event at www.salesqualia.com/Chicago2023

Let’s do this, shall we?

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Over the last 10 years, Monica has built sales teams for Panjiva (acquired by S&P Global), Trello (acquired by Atlassian), and RedIQ (acquired by Berkadia/Berkshire Hathaway).

Then, in 2018, She decided to change everything.

She wanted to help founders and sales teams reach their goals in the fastest way possible. She wanted to get out of the day-to-day grind and get to the heart of what was going to drive meaningful results. Now, She has helped over 100 companies unlock their next level of growth, delivering well over $20M in revenue and $100M in value creation.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

The Concept of Product Led Growth
The Concept of Hyper-Specialization
The South Park Model of Account Management
Importance of Customer Journey Post Sales
The Concept of Highlight Moments

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

Links & Resources:

5ive Limes: https://www.linkedin.com/company/5ive-limes/

Monica’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-stewart/

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

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Getting an enterprise deal across the finish line can feel like you've just crossed the 25 mile mark... and you've still got 25 more to go 😩

How do you sustain momentum in long deal cycles? What's required to get that deal to the finish line?

Scott Sambucci shares lessons learned from being an ultramarathon athlete AND an enterprise seller. The two have more in common than you might think 😉

Some of the topics that we covered are:

Sustaining momentum with large buying committees
Keeping deals moving even when all you hear is silence
Mindset and preparing yourself for the long haul
Lessons from the trail

...and so much more!

Join us to learn how to sustain momentum with long, enterprise deals!

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

Links & Resources:

Alignd's website – https://getalignd.co

B2B Power Hour – https://b2bpowerhour.com

Morgan's LinkedIn – https://linkedin.com/in/morganjsmith/

Nicholas' LinkedIn – https://linkedin.com/in/nicholasthickett

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Brandon Bornancin.

Brandon Bornancin is the #1 best-selling author of 3 books, a serial salesperson (sold over $100M in sales), an eight-figure entrepreneur (2x), an inventor of Seamless.AI, and a motivational speaker who is obsessed with helping you maximize your success.

Over the past 10 years, Brandon has built a following of salespeople & entrepreneurs in the millions, he’s sold hundreds of thousands of his books, popularized the concept of "Sales Lists", and founded the software company Seamless.AI that helps over 150,000 salespeople maximize their sales…. all in just 2 years.

Brandon is on a mission to positively impact 1 billion and help the world connect to opportunity. He does “Whatever It Takes” to help you maximize your success and make over $1,000,000 in sales. When you win his SIX FIGURE CLUB AWARD or SEVEN FIGURE CLUB AWARD, he sends you your very own custom-built President’s Club Award worth over $1,000.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

Brandon’s Journey as a founder of a Startup
Importing of building a Sales Process
The 7-7-7 Framework
Importance of list building and ICPs
Tips for adding Human Approach to Outbound

Links & Resources:

Website – https://www.seamless.ai/

https://www.brandonbornancin.com/

Sales Secrets Book – https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Secrets-Worlds

Whatever it Takes Book – https://www.amazon.com/Whatever-Takes

Sales Secret Podcast – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sales-secrets/id1455492030

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonbornancin/

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

Sales Secrets: The World's Top Salespeople Share Their Secrets to Success

Whatever It Takes: Master the Habits to Transform Your Business, Relationships, and Life

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Jenifer Smith.

If Jennifer Smith is right, the way anyone shares how-to knowledge is about to change forever. A former VC and McKinsey consultant turned accidental CEO, she interviewed more than 1,200 business leaders on a quest to understand everything there is to know about processes, best practices, and productivity. Now with her startup Scribe, she’s empowering people to own their processes by building the world’s first operating system for know-how.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

The Sales Journey of SCRIBE
The Concept of “Top 3 Problems”
The Concept of “Dolphin-Swimming”
Learning From Sales Calls
Hiring Managers for Early Stage Startups

Links & Resources:

Scribe’s website – https://scribehow.com/

Twitter- https://twitter.com/scribeceo?lang=en

LinkedIn – hhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferreneesmith/

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Morgan Smith & Nicholas Thickettl.

Morgan Smith and Nicholas Thickett are Managing Partners at Alignd, a go-to-market and sales advisory firm, where they help B2B SaaS achieve pipeline momentum with better sales workflows and social prospecting.

Morgan is a marketer by trade, originally a web designer that became a brand strategist. Nick is a long-time seller who made his name in investment banking and turnarounds.

Together, they host the B2B Power Hour, a podcast & live show helping SDRs and AEs learn modern sales with guest industry experts.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

No Pitch Vs Pitch
Vampire Sales
The Rule of 3: Three Round- Trip Conversations
The 3 Types of People on LinkedIn

Links & Resources:

Alignd's website – https://getalignd.co

B2B Power Hour – https://b2bpowerhour.com

Morgan's LinkedIn – https://linkedin.com/in/morganjsmith/

Nicholas' LinkedIn – https://linkedin.com/in/nicholasthickett

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Jarrod Best-Mitchell.

Jarrod is recognized for three things.

His passion for Sales and sharing that knowledge with his community.
His expert understanding of the B2B platform LinkedIn
His undying love for the color yellow.

Jarrod is recognized as of one the top content creators and social sellers on LinkedIn in the Caribbean. With over 700K organic views on his content for 2022, Jarrod has used the world’s largest B2B platform to help entrepreneurs and companies grow their business and position them as the ‘go-to’ for their respective industries. He was recently recognized by Skaled.com as one of the top upcoming sales leaders on the platform.

Since making the pivot to sole entrepreneurship in LinkedIn and Sales Training, Jarrod has completed training and provided consultations for numerous organizations.

His client list spans industries such as Insurance, Real Estate, Telecoms, IT and Technology, Energy Sector, Distribution, SaaS, Media, Finance (Credit Union), Media, Telecoms, Fashion, and Retail. Best- Mitchell is also the co-founder of Sales as a Profession- – a Sales platform that is dedicated to the best profession in the world, Sales!

Since inception in 2018, Jarrod and his business partner have made significant progress in developing the knowledge and techniques of sales professionals not just locally in Trinidad and Tobago but across the Caribbean.

The most recent installment in the offerings of Sales as a Profession was their 2020 Sales Conference – The New Sales Perspective. Building on the success of their first conference in 2019 and adapting to the present landscape with a total virtual presentation- this conference amassed over 130 attendees along with its impressive speaker and sponsor lineup. Jarrod brings to the table over 16 years of professional experience and his personal credo of ‘Enjoy Life! Don’t worry about it!’

Jarrod's personality attracts individuals, organizations, and opportunities as he is known for his exuberance and uncanny sense of humor. He understands what type of conversations and content drives engagement and attracts customers to a business through his unique insights into content creation and social selling.

Jarrod’s passion and commitment to excellence transcend the workplace as he extends himself to help others realize and achieve their full potential.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

Outsourcing Sales Talent to the Caribbean
Tactic and Strategies on LinkedIn
Finding and Repurposing content for LinkedIn

Links & Resources:

Website - www.jarrodbestmitchell.com

LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/jarrodbestmitchell

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Amy Hrehovcik.

Amy Hrehovcik is a revenue human for life and card-carrying member of #TeamHuman. After selling enterprise tech for a decade, Amy pivoted to Sales Enablement where she built out two sales enablement departments.

These days, Amy helps sales leaders launch their first internal sales enablement podcast. Who says learning to sell can’t be mad fun?!

She’s also the host of her own hit show Revenue Real Hotline. When not working, Amy can be found chillin at the beach with her dog Lola and a book.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

What is Sales Enablement?
How are you using content in your sales?
How to think about training and developing your sale?
How do you go from that founder-led sales process into one that allows you to make the impact you want with your startup?

Links & Resources:

Website - www.revenuereal.com/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyhrehovcik/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/amy_hrehovcik

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Leslie Venetz.

After 15 years as a top-performing B2B sales professional and people leader, Leslie is an expert in building elite sales organizations. As the founder of Sales Team Builder, Leslie uses her expertise to partner with organizations that want to build inclusive, buyer-centric sales teams.

Leslie is committed to making sales a respected profession and applies her experience as a 3x Head of Sales to help sales professionals achieve their personal best.

Leslie also shares content daily on LinkedIn and TikTok at SalesTipsTok. She is also a published author and was recently featured in Heels to Deals: How Women are Dominating in B2B Business

Some of the topics that we covered are:

Tik Tok for B2B Sales
Women in Sales at Startups and Tech Companies
Difference between Hustle and Bro-Culture vs Hardwork

Links & Resources:

Website - www.insidesalesteambuilder.com

LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/leslievenetz

TikTok @SalesTipsTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@salestipstok?lang=en

Unleash Playbook - https://www.unleashplaybook.teachable.com

Daily Does of Sales Inspiration - https://b2bsalesteambuilder.gumroad.com/

Heels to Deals: How Women are Dominating B2B Sales - https://www.bmctalkspress.com/products/heels

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Jen Spencer.

Jen Spencer is the CEO of SmartBug Media®, a leading Intelligent Inbound® marketing agency that assists both B2B and B2C e-commerce businesses in growing revenue by generating leads, scaling revenue operations, and building market awareness through digital content, design, and web development.

Jen is an influential thought leader in the sales, marketing, and revenue operations space, regularly speaking at B2B conferences as well as serving as a mentor for revenue leaders through Pavilion's Rising Executives Program. She also started and hosted a weekly podcast called SmartBug on Tap for several years before launching the new Intelligent Inbound Podcast® aimed at challenging the status quo for inbound marketing with inspiring stories from some of marketing's most innovative and successful players. Jen subscribes to the notion that “we’re all in this together,” and great communication leads to a great partnership. She loves animals, technology, the arts, and really good Scotch.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

At what stage of your business should you consider hiring a Marketing Agency?
What is the importance of having sales-minded marketing people or marketing-minded salespeople?
What can you do as a startup in terms of marketing; if you are not ready to hire a marketing agency as yet?
What are the signals to know it's time to hire a marketing agency?

Links & Resources:

Website: https://www.smartbugmedia.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenspencer/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jenspencer

The Intelligent Inbound® Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/1MV0CnkTDtCupFnPJzJLFG?si=2452443647174d73

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Todd Caponi.

Todd Caponi is the author of the 3x best-book-award-winning, The Transparency Sale, a speaker & workshop leader as Founder & CEO of Sales Melon LLC, and the Managing Director of Chicago’s VentureSCALE. Todd is also a multi-time C-Level sales leader, a behavioral science nerd, and has guided two companies to successful exits.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

State of the Sales Economy
Inflation of Hires and Roles
Labour Demand
Labour Supply

Links & Resources:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddcaponi/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tcaponi

Website: www.transparencysale.com

Link to the book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Bxenr

Here’s a link to his Media Kit for more information: https://www.transparencysale.com/mediakit

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Andy Paul .

Andy's hit "Accelerate Your Sales" podcast was acquired by Revenue.io in 2020. Since re-named "Sales Enablement with Andy Paul", the show continues to inspire thousands of sales professionals each week.

Andy has also written two award-winning sales books, "Zero-Time Selling" and "Amp Up Your Sales".

He is ranked #8 on LinkedIn's list of Top 50 Global Sales Experts.

And he has consulted with some of the biggest businesses in the world including Square, Philips, Grubhub and more, making him one of the leading voices in the sales industry today.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

Opportunities to change how we sell and engage with clients.
Ways to help our buyers think through the process of making a decision.
Importance of being less automated in sales.
Having a “Buyer-Centric Approch”

Links & Resources:

Website: https://www.andypaul.com/

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/realandypaul

Twitter: @realAndyPaul

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Jeff Bajorek.

Jeff Bajorek works with B2B sales teams to maximize performance by reframing their approach, their selling skills, and their mindset around their purpose. He helps them rethink the way they sell by reminding them of what needs to be done, showing them how to do it, and then making them believe they can.

When he’s not at work, you can find him on a golf course, or cooking something delicious for his family.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

The concept of “No Tension, No Sale”
The Idea of Moving the Needle
Creating a Shift in Mindset
Choosen Vision

Links & Resources:

Website: www.jeffbajorek.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeffbajorek

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffbajorek/

Rethink the way you sell Podcast: https://pod.link/1555332957

Donate to Chosen Vision:www.jeffbajorek.com/chosenvision

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The 3 Key Parts of Every Product Demo (and none of them are you product...)

Been working on product demos with a few clients the past few weeks and wanted to share a critical mindset shift to make when it comes to product demos…

In this video, I'm showing you a simple model that I teach to our clients all the time that will help you avoid prospects ghosting you after your demos.

Even better, you can grab a copy of the SalesQualia Product Demo Prep Pack: Visit https://salesqualia.com/demoprep/ to get yours now!

This pack includes –

✅ 10 Questions to Ask BEFORE Your Product Demos

✅ The Demo Prep Worksheet to help you map out your meeting strategy and outcomes before you hop on the next demo.

✅ The Prospect Researcher Worksheet so that you know more about your prospects before every meeting, including their priorities and desired outcome

Click here for the Video Version of this podcast on LinkedIn

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I scrapped the snazzy sales framework I had ready to go because...

I’ve got something else that’s more important – it's about what's going on out there.

Unease. Uncertainty. Anxiety. Seems everyone’s feeling it.

Maybe not everyone. Maybe everything is honky-dory & hockey stick in your world – I hope that’s the case. I want that for every company founder.

But if it’s not all puppy dogs and rainbows, know that it’s not just you.

I’ve been talking to our clients all over the world – startup CEOs, investors, program directors.

They're all sharing that everything’s just.. a... lit...tle... bit... slower... I'm guessing you are, too.

Your customers & prospects are feeling it, because their customers & prospects are feeling it.

Big company earnings reports and headlines sharply negative – Netflix. Facebook. Alphabet. Spotify. Job cuts at Wells Fargo, Novartis, Robinhood and Blend.

Ukraine. Recessions. The threat of nuclear war.

Your team is feeling it.

Higher gas prices. Higher prices everywhere. Tax season is expensive, and summer camps are next. Summer trips to Disneyland are becoming camping trips and stay-cations. That bigger house is on hold because of mortgage rates & home prices.

You’re feeling it, too. I know because I see it on Zoom. I hear it on phone calls. We're all just a little tired and frustrated.

All of us pushed and persevered through the last two years, and here we are, again, facing yet another test of our mettle as founders. As leaders. As colleagues. As partners and parents.

Coming out of 2021, there was a sense of justified optimism –promise for the year ahead. While COVID persisted, it seemed the worst was behind us and this would be the breakout year we’ve preparing for. Kids were back in school. We figured out the WFH thing.

Except that it hasn't.

So now what the f&ck do we do?

Now we remember what we did for the past two years. We use that experience to be a leader. To stay composed and in control. We lead.

We lead our customers. We lead our prospects. We lead our teams. We lead our family. We lead our Self.

If you'd like some help, I’d like to offer a hand –

I'm running a private LIVE Session for our coaching clients coming up, and you’re invited – even if you're not a client. Especially if you're not a client.

We’re going to dive deep into every company's sales process – from Lead Gen to Active Deals to Pricing & CS.

We’re going to identify specific risks and gaps, then build a plan-of-action for the next 3, 6 & 12 months for getting more leads, closing more deals, keeping more customers, and hiring the right team around us.

If you’d like to join, check out the details at https://salesqualia.com/roadmap/

Because this is a client event that we're opening up to non-clients, we have limited spots (like less than 10…). Our clients are a tight group that are always willing to share and help, but I’ve also got to put them first.

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Dan Martell.

“You can only keep what you give away.” That’s the mantra that’s shaped Dan Martell from a struggling 20-something business owner in the Canadian Maritimes to a successful startup founder who’s successfully raised more than $2 million in venture funding and exited not one... not two... but three tech businesses: Clarity.fm, Spheric and Flowtown.

Serial entrepreneur, speaker & investor Dan is a perfect example of someone who has overcome all odds to achieve massive success. Dan now dedicates his time to coaching high performing SaaS entrepreneurs to scale their businesses in a predictable way.

An activator, a tech geek, an adrenaline junkie and, yes, a romantic (ask his wife Renee), Dan splits his time between Canada (where he grew up), and San Diego with his wife Renee and two boys.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

The Not Been Knowing/Doing Gap
Achieve/ Keep Simplicity in your Business
3 Questions When Deciding To Introduce Something New To Your Business
Examples of the 3 Question Framework

Links & Resources:

Website: www.danmartell.com/

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dmartell/

Instagram: @danmartell

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Ernest Owusu.

As the Sr. Director of Sales Development at 6sense, Ernest Owusu leverages his passion for helping others succeed as well as his insights from the field to foster a winning team. With previous experience as an NFL athlete, Ernest thrives in team environments full of high collaboration and healthy competition. Outside of the office, you’ll find him tackling the industry’s diversity problem by mentoring and empowering under-represented people so they can confidently grow their careers.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

SDR Sales Development
SDR Hiring
SDR as a Team
Assessing SDR Candidates
Metrics and Quick Decisions for Hiring and Letting go
Importance of Communication as a Sales Rep
Recruiting Potential Candidates
Sales for the Culture

Links & Resources:

Website

6Sense: www.6sense.com

Sales for the Culture: www.salesfortheculture.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/TheErnestOwusu

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ernestowusu

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Andy Mowat.

Prior to founding Gated, Andy has run marketing and operations at Upwork, Box, and Culture Amp. His vision and expertise set the tone for the entire Gated team - as we build a solution and a movement to fix email, for everyone.

You get too much irrelevant email. Gated is a free, intelligent email solution that reduces unwanted email and benefits charity - by challenging unknown senders to donate to reach your inbox. Gated works with your existing email setup, making it simple to use. It also reduces inbox volume by an average of 43%, making your inbox more productive and peaceful.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

Gated
Marketing
The evolution of email
Change in outbound marketing
Alternatives to Email

Links & Resources:

Website: ww.gated.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/netmow

Andy Mowat on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/amowat

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Ethan Beute.

Chief Evangelist at BombBomb, Wall Street Journal bestselling co-author of Human-Centered Communication and of Rehumanize Your Business, and host of The Customer Experience Podcast, Ethan Beute has spent the past decade helping business professionals be more personal and human through simple video messages. He’s sent more than 12,000 videos himself.

He also spent a dozen years leading marketing teams inside local television stations in Chicago, Grand Rapids, and Colorado Springs. He holds undergraduate and graduates degrees from the University of Michigan and UCCS in communication, psychology, and marketing. A husband and father, he lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

Rehumanizing the experience of our communication.
How do we create a personal connection with people?
Digital Pollution.
Ethan’s Platinum Rule.
Opportunities and mistakes made when using videos to connect with people.

Links & Resources:

Website: www.bombbomb.com

Twitter: twitter.com/ethanbeute

Amazon: www.amazon.com/Ethan-Beute/e/B07LFNWL39

Ethan Beute on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ethanbeute

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Amy Volas.

With more than $100MM in revenue sold and named one of Sales Hacker's Most Dynamic Women In Sales, Amy Volas is a sales fanatic turned entrepreneur.

She was bitten by the startup bug many moons ago and couldn't imagine spending her time anywhere else. She created Avenue Talent Partners to help with the tremendous task of growing startups through some of their most valuable assets - sales leaders and enterprise salespeople.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

The importance of communication.
The importance of listening.
The importance of understanding how much of what we're sharing in a sales presentation, interviewing candidates, etc. is remembered.
How can we do better as communicators?
How to communicate so our prospects don’t feel confused.
Ensuring that the company that’s doing the interviewing knows who you are as a candidate.
The state of hiring when it comes to women in technology.

Links & Resources:

Website: avenuetalentpartners.com

Amy Volas on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/amyvolas

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Aaron Krall.

Aaron runs SaaS Growth Hacks, the largest SaaS community in the world with over 24,000 members. He helps B2B SaaS companies increase their leads and demo conversions using his SaaS Growth Playbook model.

He has personally worked with 100’s SaaS companies across dozens of industries and has helped 1000’s more attract their dream customers and convert them to rabid fans. He has increased leads, demo conversions, and ARR for clients like IBM, Reply.io, Freshworks, Brand24, and more.

Aaron lives in Salt Lake City with his wife Natalie, his son, Arlo, and dog Penny. He enjoys reading horror movie synopsis on Wikipedia and leaving reviews on Google Maps.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

How to find your ideal customer
Finding and owning a niche
How to create a SaaS product that people will find hard to say no to
Partnership Playbook - how to find, talk to and build relationships with high-value partners
Difference between a niche, market, and ideal customer
Bias and assumptions

Links & Resources:

SaaS Growth Hacks Group: www.facebook.com/groups/SaaSgrowthhacking

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/Aaron-S-Krall-345461526368945

Aaron on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/aaronkrall

Aaron on Twitter:twitter.com/aaron_krall?lang=en

Aaron's shock and awe page - https://on.aaronkrall.io/case-studies

SalesQualia Live Events: https://salesqualia.com/live_events

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Jess Todtfeld.

Jess shows executives and c-suite leaders how to BE Magnetic — how to quickly gain the confidence and skills to master speeches, presentations, and media interviews.

Jess, CSP, is one of the leading communication and media training authorities in the U.S. With more than 17 years as a communication trainer and consultant. Todtfeld helps CEOs, business executives, spokespersons, public relations representatives, experts, and authors to become more confident, more in control, and to create more results from their speaking engagements and media appearances.

He brings with him 13 years of experience as a TV producer for NBC, ABC, and FOX, having booked and produced over 5,000 segments. Jess’ time in front of the camera includes features reporting, guest spots on national/international news programs, and hosting of “America’s Premiere Experts” and “Times Square Today” (2015-2019) which has been broadcast on ABC, NBC, FOX and CBS affiliates in the U.S.

As a guest, Jess went on to set a Guinness Record for being interviewed the most times in 24 hours… 112 different interviews on radio.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

The importance of having storytelling as a key skill.
How to be specific and memorable in your storytelling.
How to avoid data dump when you’re telling stories to your customers.
How to use examples to emphasize key points to deliver with your audience.
How to think about public relations and the logistics that it takes to market the right way.

Links & Resources:

Jess on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/todtfeld

Meet Jess Todtfeld: www.bookjess.com/how-can-jess-help-you

Cell: (917) 207-1039

SalesQualia Live Events: salesqualia.com/live_events

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Did a keynote talk at a client's Sales Kickoff this week. They asked me – "How do you keep people engaged in a sales call, or in the sales process in general?"

The first answer that came to mind was to remember that your prospects are people. They have stuff happening all around them everyday, just like you.

Personal stuff. Family stuff. Health stuff. COVID. Kid stuff. Spouse stuff.

Sure, the past two years have been stranger than normal, but that's the normal we're in now. Strange is normal.

Remember that when you're making that cold call, or pissed off that the prospect is late for your Zoom, or they seemed distracted during the demo.

It's probably not personal, because it could well be something personal for them.

#leadership #sales #BeHuman

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What most CRMs reflect as "Stages" in a company's sales process, are really just reasons for sales opportunities to stall out…

Qualification is not a stage. Demo is not a stage. Proposal is not a stage. Contract is not a stage.

These are all just opportunities for sales opportunities to slow down, grind to a halt and end up in "long-term follow-up."

Why?

Because the right way to treat qualifications, demos, and proposals for these sales activities is treating them as catalysts to the next stage in the sale.

That means you have a specific process for:

Maintaining momentum...
Handling objections...
Unstalling deals that get mired in the muck...

When you're selling a complex enterprise solution, one of your primary responsibilities is to keep control of the sale by always knowing the next step, and leading your customers through your sales process.

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Selling Boldly Author, Alex Goldfayn.

Alex is a global sales consultant, speaker, and author of a Wall Street Journal best-seller called Selling Boldly.

The Revenue Growth Consultancy creates an average annual revenue growth of 10-20% for its clients. About once a week, he delivers keynote speeches, sales kickoffs, breakout sessions, and workshops for various associations and companies around the country.

The topic is sales growth, but Alex also dives deeply into confidence (instead of meekness), proactivity (instead of reactivity), and optimism (instead of pessimism). Fast sales growth is a function of mindset change and a system of simple behaviors.

After reading Alex’s book, I sent him a note on Linkedin. We talked on the phone, and we immediately clicked. So I invited him to the Startup Selling Show, and he graciously accepted.

The reason I wanted to have Alex on the podcast is to talk through the strategies he uses when he consults with large companies and their sales teams, and how you can implement them with your startup as you grow and scale.

In today’s conversation, we focused on how start-up sellers can change their mindsets and use communication to increase sales.

Here are some of the topics that we covered in our conversation:

How to develop friendlies in the marketplace.
How to increase positive psychology when selling.
Overcoming fears and how to have positive conversations with the people in your marketplace.
How to migrate away from lazy, low-risk communications and what to do instead.
How to have “human” interactions with your prospects.
Communication techniques you can use to increase your sales.

Links & Resources:

Alex Goldfayn on LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/in/alexgoldfayn
Alex Goldfayn on Twitter: twitter.com/alexgoldfayn
Email: alex@evangelistmktg.com
Selling Boldly: Applying the New Science of Positive Psychology to Dramatically Increase Your Confidence, Happiness, and Sales - https://www.amazon.com/Selling-Boldly-Psychology-Dramatically-Confidence-ebook/dp/B07BFK97QD/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1545081598&sr=8-1&keywords=selling+boldly

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Selling Boldly: Applying the New Science of Positive Psychology to Dramatically Increase Your Confidence, Happiness, and Sales

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Cirrus Insight Co-Founder Brandon Bruce.

Brandon is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at Cirrus Insight. Since founding the company in 2011, Cirrus Insight has been listed in the Inc 5000 ranking for three years in a row — A list of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies.

Cirrus Insight is an all-in-one sales productivity platform with world-class Salesforce integration. 250,000 people use Cirrus Insight and its sister products Attach.io and Assistant.to to work faster and smarter from the inbox and calendar. It allows you to Track emails, schedule meetings, set follow-ups, and more, right from your inbox.

Brandon grew up in Los Olivos, a small California town of 800 people, and had only one classmate in grade school.

He loves endurance sports and raced his bicycle 508 miles across Death Valley in 2002 as part of the Furnace Creek 508 (https://www.the508.net/). He finished in 35 hours and 7 minutes. He also enjoys hiking, camping, and building with Legos. Brandon lives in Knoxville, Tennessee with his wife, Tricia, and their two children, Sonoma and Carson.

Brandon’s advice for Entrepreneurs and Founders:

“Stay curious.” & “Have the ability to make decisions.”

In my conversation with Brandon, we covered a lot of the early days at Cirrus Insight. We focused on how Brandon and his Co-Founder, Ryan Huff, built the company from 0 to +250,000 users.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

Getting their first users.
Converting them into paying customers.
Pricing in the early days Vs Pricing now.
Making their first sales hire.
The bottom-up sales strategy.
Creating your product roadmap based on feedback.
Using partners to sell your product.

Links & Resources:

Brandon on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonbruce
Cirrus Insight – https://www.cirrusinsight.com

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed John Roberts.

John founded Successly in 2016, a company dedicated to helping Customer Success teams make a big impact. John recently moved to Silicon Valley after a successful run guiding his previous startup – Buzz.Report – in North Carolina.

3 Key Takeaways from this podcast:

Customer Success is a Business Model.
If you have to choose between Customer Success or Sales, choose Customer Success first.
Customer Success should be at the head of the table for every company.

Customer Success: Definition & Important notes:

Why every subscription company is only successful when you retain your customers is because the real value is how long you can retain those customers.
How can you make Customer Success successful in a way that creates value?
Completing 290 Customer Success Interviews with VPs about customer success.

Customer Success & Its Role in the Sales Process. Think about these:

What are the goals we're striving for over the next year with the product?
Should Customer Success teams have veto power over new customer acquisition?
Aligning top-line sales growth while avoiding churn and misaligned incentives?
How can you make sure the customer success team is compensated Renewals?
Casting in the sales process – Sales focuses on education and Customer Success focuses on implementation.
Focusing on the “jobs to be done.”
Customer Success is the crucible of all communication and activity.
Why Customer success should be at the head of the table in product companies.
Customer success as a business model.
Customer success teams and capturing the voice of the customer.

Organizational Design for Start-up CEOs:

The case for why Customer success should be the first team to build.
Questions to ask: What’s the experience with the customer? How can we watch the customer use the system or product? How can we understand every aspect of the customer’s interaction with the product?

Customer Success teams vs Product teams:

Customer success should focus on what the customers needs.
The Product Team should focus on the best features to build in response to the customer success team’s list of problems.

Hiring customer success teams when someone wants to be the sales or the product manager:

Set expectations very clearly.
All other departments relate to customer success.
You’ll be seeing is more salespeople in the customer success role in the future.

Links & Resources:

John Roberts on LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/in/john-roberts-92bb0438

Adam O'Donnell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamfodonnell/

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Damian Thompson.

Damian is the co-founder and Chief Customer Officer at LeadFuze, a company that provides automated lead generation software that helps B2B companies find leads and have more sales conversations automatically. Damian has led sales teams in a dozen countries, coaching 200+ professionals to more than $100 million in sales.

Damian walked us through his "Cardinal Rules of Cold Emailing.”

Here are a few we discussed:

1 - Passive-Aggressive SUCKS (my words…): Sending a second or third or fourth email to someone that read – "I haven’t heard back from you…” is really bad. It’s not the prospect’s fault they haven’t replied – it’s yours. Would you want to receive this email? Would you respond? How do you feel when you get these emails?

2 - Brevity: Assume email is read on mobile. Don’t use wasted words.

Bad: "I found you on Angel List…” or “I know you’re busy so I won’t take much time…”

3 - Don’t be apologetic: As Damian said – "if you target your market right, you’re offering something of value… They [your prospects] WANT to work with you.”

4 - Start your email with questions, then offer a quick value proposition then close with a call-to-action.

Ask yourself: What are the 1-2 biggest problems/pains of customers?

Reverse engineer biggest objections.

4 - Think low friction. The goal of your cold email should be to start a conversation. Don’t ask your prospects to call you or try to book a meeting right away. That’s too much to ask.

Be happy with ANY reply. There’s no such thing as a negative reply. If you’re getting NOTHING, that’s the worst outcome.

5 - Subject Lines Matter: Shorter is better. Five (5) words or less is ideal. Using the person’s first name or company name works really well.

It’s okay to be aggressive. Damian’s best-performing email subject line was “You’re doing it wrong,” but be sure to link subject lines to email’s content and ultimately, write emails that match your personality. If you’re just not comfortable being aggressive, do something else.

6 - Provide value in every interaction and outreach. Give prospects something quick that’s useful, and offer a few more ideas.

Once you nail your message and market, find a way to do it on a scale because, as Damian said “using Lead Generation to validate a market is a disaster."

Remember that NO ONE buys for your TECHNICAL SOLUTION. Customers buy to increase revenue, reduce costs, and to get a promotion. There’s some other motivation, so find it and write to it.

Finally, we talked about building your sales team.

A few key ideas:

"If you’re gonna hire one, you’ve gotta hire two.”
You cannot hire someone to build your sales process. YOU have to define your sales process, THEN you can bring on your sales team.
Once you hire, you’re going to spend more time, not less, doing sales.
You cannot hire commission-only salespeople. It sends bad signals to the company.
Align metrics and incentives directly to the outcomes you want of that role. For example, paying an SDR based on long-term customer retention is really bad.
Before you ask an employee to do something, ask yourself: “Have I done this successfully?”
When hiring, it’s not about money for most SDR hires - your middle career salespeople care about money, but arly hires want company and personal growth.

People & Mentions from this episode:

Damian on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/damianthompson
Damian on Twitter: @damianthompson
LeadFuze: www.leadfuze.com
Episode 130: Predictable Prospecting: Target, Engage & Optimize Your Sales Funnel, and Why Introverts are the Best SalesPeople: An Interview with Marylou Tyler

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Marylou Tyler.

Marylou is the author of Predictable Revenue and Predictable Prospecting. She has worked with a number of co-authors and produced a book that will certainly help any startup company out there. Being one of the best sales enablement strategists, she is an expert when it comes to maximizing your resources and is always willing to share her knowledge to anyone who needs help.

This podcast focuses both on the incredible things that a startup business owner can do to improve sales and the common mistakes everyone should avoid.

Some of the key topics and questions that we covered in this podcast are:

Internalizing Your Competitive Position
Six-Factor SWOT Analysis
Developing an Ideal Account Profile
Compel with ContentTM
McKinsey’s MECE model
How you can send your emails wisely, and so many more

Links & Resources

Marylou Tyler on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/maryloutyler

Marylou’s website & book-related resources: maryloutyler.com/swag

Jeremey Donovan on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jeremeydonovan

(Amazon) Book by Neil Rackham: SPIN Selling

(Amazon) Book by Neil Rackham: Major Account Sales Strategy

(Amazon) by Marylou Tyler and Jeremey Donovan: “Predictable Prospecting: How to Radically Increase Your B2B Sales Pipeline”

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Predictable Prospecting: How to Radically Increase Your B2B Sales Pipeline

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Louis Jonckheere.

Louis is Co-founder and Co-CEO of Showpad. Showpad activates millions of pieces of content for over 850 companies around the world, including Johnson & Johnson, Fujifilm, Audi, Intel, and Kimberly-Clark.

Some of the key topics and questions that we covered in this podcast are:

What types of content works best to drive sales prospect engagement?
How Showpad uses a 14-day free trial and “Soft Contracts”
The importance of video for your sales and communication
Company culture and hiring practices
Customer engagement and customer success

Links & Resources

Showpad Website: www.showpad.com

Louis Jonckheere on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/louisjonckheere

Louis Jonckheere on Twitter: www.twitter.com/louisjonckheere

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Days get crazy running your startup – sales, customers, fundraising, hiring, firing, product, managing...

At home, we’ve got kids home from school because of quarantines, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving.

Far away, we’ve got loved ones we haven’t seen in two years.

Every day is a reason to be a little anxious. To be a little worried. To go a little nuts.

So always, every day, make time for your Self.

A midday walk. A three-mile jog. A 15-minute meditation. Cracking open a novel before bed.

Make time for your Self. It’ll help you be your best Self for everyone around you.

Do More. Be Happy. Surprise Yourself.

Check out my post here on LinkedIn.

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Mia Paulus is the Founder & CEO of The Admin Center. I’ve worked with Mia over the years and The Admin Center is a critical part of my company’s success and ability to scale. Mia and her teams work with their companies large and small by providing virtual receptionist, bookkeeping, customer support, marketing, social media and almost any else you can think of… This podcast is just a little bit different… While it’s the typical interview style, this interview was part of my Tuesday Training Series offered exclusively to my Startup Selling Coaching Program clients. Let me explain… Each month, I choose a topic on which to do a deep dive in content and training for my clients. This interview was part of several trainings related to “Recruiting, Hiring and Managing Your Sales Team” - a six-part Tuesday Training block. Because I believe outsourcing and scaling your business is so important, I decided to share this training module with you on the podcast. Enjoy! Websites & Resources mentioned in the podcast: The Admin Center: www.theadmincenter.net/ Find Mia Paulus across the interwebs here: * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mia-paulus-26459a13 * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheAdminCenter * Email: mia@ouradmincenter.com * Phone: (208) 639-1597

Definitely take Mia up on her offer to talk about what projects you might be able to outsource to help your company grow. Mia and her team are based in Boise, ID. If you’ve tried to outsource or hire VAs aboard, you know what a huge pain it can be to manage overseas teams because of language, cultural and time zone differences.

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David Sandler famously said:

“If you don’t have a process for selling you’re at the mercy of your buyer’s process for buying.”

One of the biggest challenges startups selling to the enterprise have is keeping control and momentum through the sales process.

As a startup, when we're selling our new product, knowing our sales process is crucial to landing your next customer.

Why?

Because your prospects don’t know how to buy our thing.

They’ve never bought anything like it before. They know how to order new laptops and renew their CRM subscription. But they don’t know how to buy YOUR product.

Most startups sell products that replace spreadsheets… or manual processes… or Sharepoint… some antiquated system that was installed around the same time as Windows NT…

That means that it’s our job as sellers to lead our prospects through the sale, and that starts with the next call.

Remember that your prospects want to be led. This is your opportunity to take control of the sale.

This daily dose shows you a framework I developed years ago that works a charm every time, in every sales call.

Yes, really.

It’s called Confirm-Ask-Explore.

Confirm: Start every call recapping the last conversation or new developments that have come up since the last call. Then confirm the purpose and intended outcome of the meeting.

Ask: This is the centerpiece of your meeting — discover new information by asking questions. Showing your product and asking the prospect how they could see themselves using it – how it solves the problems and helps them achieve their business objectives. Ask about their key objectives and priorities.

Explore: Always leave time to talk about next steps — the next meeting with whom and when, how they'll share that sample data file and who’s responsible for getting it to you, and who else should be involved in the process going forward.

Leave every meeting with clear next steps - a mutual action plan.

Follow this structure and you’ll nail every sale call every time. Yes, really.

—

BTW… If you want some help building more structure and repeatability into your startup’s sales process, I’d like to help.

Next week, I’m running a FREE Sales Masterclass for B2B startup founders & CEOs.

I’ll teach the core frameworks and systems that every B@B startup needs to implement to achieve a repeatable, scalable sales process.

Plus, we’ll do a diagnostic of your startup’s sales process so that you can see exactly where to focus on building repeatable systems in the next 3 months.

Here’s the link to our next Sale Masterclass: https://www.salesqualia.com/masterclass

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Last month, a friend asked if I was up for a half-marathon in November.

I've been taking some down time from heavy training this Fall, but the race is a trail run in the Marin Headlands. Hard to resist a perfect way to stay fit, have some fun, and hang out with a buddy. I was in.

As a way to gear up, we agreed we'd each do 100 air squats and 50 burpees every day for 30 days. The numbers aren't huge -- they're a push to stay focused and stay disciplined in our ramp up to race day.

Last week he texted me – "I’m having trouble motivating for more bp/squats!"

I replied –

"Motivation is for suckers and weaklings. Just f&cking do it. Once you get started, you’ll be fine and glad you did."

45 minutes later, he texted me back --

"50/100 - bring on the Elevator Shaft!"

None of us feel motivated to do hard things. Our brains are designed to find the easy path. If we want to do hard things, if we want to achieve big outcomes, hard things are a requirement.

We don't feel motivated to do prospecting when it's 9pm and we haven't gotten in our 20 touches for the day...

We don't feel motivated to go back and customize the slide deck for tomorrow's product demo...

We don't feel like calling our customer to tell them about a price increase...

We don't feel motivated to sift through 75 resumes for that next hire, knowing that 74 are going to be crap...

We don't feel motivated to sit down with a team member that's been underperforming for the last three months even after coaching and cajoling them...

We still need to do those things.

Whether we're pushing hard to hit that Q4 number we promised the Board or working to break through to the first $1MM, or scaling to $1MM a month, it's going to be hard. We know that.

Sure, sometimes hard stuff IS fun -- it's should be fun – that makes it worth doing.

But most of the time it's just hard.

And in the end, when you nail that goal you worked so hard to achieve, you won't remember how much the hard work sucked. Instead, you'll feel proud that you did it.

Most of all, I know that if I don't reach hit the outcome I set and I DIDN'T put in the work – looking back at those moments when I let a lack of motivation lead to a lack of effort – I WILL remember that I could have and should have just buckled down and did my 20...

Let's do this.

Do More, Be Happy, Surprise Yourself –

BTW… If you want some help getting some structure, building some discipline into your startup’s sales process, I’d like to help.

Later this month, I’m running a completely FREE Sales Masterclass for B2b startup founders & CEOs.

Here’s the link to our next Sale Masterclass: https://www.salesqualia.com/masterclass

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One of the biggest challenges startup founders face is dealing with the daily distractions and all the options available for the business –

Lead gen strategies, pricing models, hiring decisions, product features. It’s nearly an endless list.

Often there’s a tendency to keep trying new things –

Try running a booth at a conference…
Try a little bit of outbound…
Try recruiting a Sales VP…
Try hiring a marketing agency…
Try selling into a new vertical…

Trying seems like the quick, fast and cheap approach, but it’s more expensive than committing to a strategy.

When we’re ready to commit, it means that we’ve done the research, we’re clear on what the right work is, and what’s required to be successful.

When we commit, we acknowledge and accept the obstacles along the way.

But if we only tell ourselves that we’ll “try” something, it’s easy to give up as soon as we hit a bump along the way.

Think about someone you know that “tried to go to the gym every day” or “tried to be an early riser.”

How often did they make a permanent change, and get to the outcome they want?

Probably not too often.

Committing creates focus and determination towards outcome. It gears us to measure progress. It removes the decision fatigue of all the distractions around us.

Most importantly, if you’re not ready to commit, it’s may mean that you’re not ready — that you know you haven’t done enough research or you’re simply not prepared to put in the work required to be successful on your decision.

Commit to a market vertical…

Commit to that new pricing structure…

Commit to hiring, onboarding, and training a salesperson…

You’ll save yourself time and make more progress when you do.

“Do. Or do not. There is no try.”

—–

*** If you’re a #startup founder who’s committed to building a repeatable, scalable sales process, I’d like to help.

I’m running a FREE Sales Masterclass for B2B founders to show the 9 Core Selling Strategies that every startup needs to build and implement to get a repeatable, scalable sales process. ***

Here’s the link to our next Sale Masterclass: https://www.salesqualia.com/masterclass

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If you’re a company founder like me, you know it’s time for the big push in Q4 to hit those EOY targets and set ourselves up for an even bigger 2022 and beyond.

When we’re out there pushing on our SALES – finding new customers, growing revenue, and jumping to the next level this year – we tell ourselves that we’ll hustle and grind, to do whatever it takes to hit our target. The hustle and hard work are a given – they’re are table stakes for being in the game…

But, whether we’re the only one driving sales at our company, or we've got a team around us that’s hustling and grinding, the problem we find is that hustle doesn’t scale. It’s not the way to build a company in the long run.

We know it’ll be satisfying (and required) to nail our number, but if we don’t “know how” we got there, or a team member leaves and takes their “know-how” with them, then we’re stuck with “no how” to replicate and build on the result for the years ahead.

That’s why building SYSTEMS along the way is critical. While we’re driving hard for every next customer, we also need to think about REPEATABILITY in our SALES PROCESS.

This requires real leadership, a hefty dose of emotional intelligence, focus to be our best SELF – for our customers, for our team, and for our loved ones who are supporting us every day.

How are we managing the team and the process? Are we providing the right leadership our company needs? Are we taking care of our SELF first so that we can be at our best every day?

When it comes to creating repeatable, scalable growth, today, tomorrow and for the next ten years ahead, the theme of SALES, SYSTEMS & SELF should be front and center every day for all of us.

So that we can all learn and grow together, over the next 3 months, I’m going to focus all of my time and attention on “SALES, SYSTEMS & SELF” – for my own company, with our clients, and with you.

On Mondays, look for a tactical SALES tip that you can put to work ASAP that's designed to help you boost your revenue.

On Wednesdays, we’ll focus on SYSTEMS – I'll teach about the selling frameworks required to build a startup's repeatable sales process.

Friday's focus is on our SELF – I'll share a personal #GoFarther strategy that will help you Do More, Be Happy & Surprise Yourself as a leader and as an individual.

I’m excited and grateful to be able to bring this to you.

Are you in?

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One of the biggest sales mistakes most startups, especially ones selling enterprise solutions and targeting Above-the-Line executives make, is that they don't focus on their prospect's PRIORITIES.

Instead, most startups make their outreach and pitches all about their PRODUCT –

“Hi NAME – I'm contacting you because I would like to give you further information about our product called _____…”

or

"Hi NAME – Our company has a blah-blah platform that does feature this and feature this... Would you like to see a demo?"

Ugh. Delete.

Occasionally I'll see messaging that's PROBLEM–focused –

"Hi NAME – Even with a great sales team, there’s a good chance you’re hurting your growth if your blah-blah-blah is anything less than optimal..."

A little better, but even that isn't nearly good enough if you want to sell to ABL executives.

Executives get paid the big bucks because their job is to lead their company's strategic initiatives.

When they step into the office every day, they're focused on their PRIORITIES – not the day-to-day problems that crop up.

They have people down the chain that are paid to handle the fires.

And they definitely don't care about your product (even if it's AI or Blockchain or automates something or other...).

It's your job as a seller to know these priorities and show how you can help those executives get where they want to go.

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Stephen Steers.

Steers Consulting Group is a global training and consulting company helping Entrepreneurs, successfully tell stories that get customers excited to buy.

They don‘t teach you sales in school. They don‘t teach you how to be confident. They don‘t teach you how to be out in the world and how to make a way for yourself. But that’s what Stephen’s here for.

Some of the key topics that we covered in this podcast are:

3X3X3 Framework – knowing the three (3) categories of people that you’re telling stories to, what are the three (3) stories that you need to tell, and what are the questions to answer to the three (3) people.
Name it, Tame it, Claim it – How to start to construct a story for yourself and for the people you’re telling the story to.
Founder branding versus company branding.
Stephen’s origin story.

Links & Resources

Website: www.stephensteers.com

Instagram: @stephensteers_

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-steers

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Zach Stein.

Zach is a multi-time founder and is currently helping lead Carbon Collective, the investment platform that makes climate impact investing = smart investing.

Zach lives in East Bay, CA.

Some of the key topics and questions that we covered in this podcast are:

Carbon Collective and climate change investing.
How did Zach get from Osmo Systems to Carbon Collective?
What decisions were made to change to Carbon Collective?
Zach’s process for product discovery.
Book: The Mom Test.
How did Zach build an investment platform – Carbon Collective?

Links & Resources

Carbon Collective website: www.carboncollective.co

Zach on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/zach-stein-100

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Jason Bay.

Jason is the Chief Prospecting Officer at Blissful Prospecting. He helps reps and sales teams who love landing big meetings with prospects—but hate not getting responses to their cold emails or feeling confident making cold calls.

A few of his clients have included reps and sales teams from companies like Zoom, CBRE, Medallia, Xfinity, Commvault, and many more.

Sales is the only "adult job" he’s ever had. And he’s done everything from selling house painting services door to door, running outbound call centers, to helping thousands of reps master cold outreach.

Some of the key topics and questions that we covered in this podcast are:

What does painting house have to do with outbound?
How Jason’s door to door work transitioned into his work and principles of how to set up a meeting with a prospect that directly relates to B2B outbound.
Conversation Narcissism – Taking a “me” centric approach versus a “you” centric approach.
Permission-based selling – How do you gain permission in your sales process.
The importance of “teaching” instead of “taking”
The difference and the importance of doing quality first versus mass blast.
How to think about outbound if you don’t think that it works anymore, or take a different approach with scaling your Startup.

Links & Resources

Jason Bay on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jasondbay

Blissful Prospecting: www.blissfulprospecting.com

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When you’re a startup with the latest and greatest new product, there’s no shortage of interesting conversations.

Everyone wants to see the new, cool thing you’ve built.

But every demo feels like a fireworks show – everyone’s excited, you get lots of applause when it’s over, then everything goes dark.

Getting deals to move through your pipeline feels more like pushing a pig through the python.

You send email after email, “Just following up...” and “Just checking in…”

… and nothing.

That prospect that showed so much excitement and enthusiasm before the demo now disappeared into the selling abyss.

Sound familiar?

This happened to me time after time when I started selling software for my first Silicon Valley startup.

I found myself chasing deal after deal, wearing myself out, and almost burning myself out until I finally figured out why this kept happening and how to run my product demos like a boss.

And guess what? It has NOTHING to do with your product…

Instead, it’s a 3-step process that, if you follow it, will ensure that you’re always demoing to decision-makers and never find yourself chasing after the next meeting.

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Monday's are usually a day I'm feeling rested and ready to go for the week.

Not today.

As I sat there churning out my Morning Pages, I could just see where the day was headed. The coffee tasted bitter. My mind wandering everywhere. My brain felt spongy and dull.

Today was supposed to be a day off from training to give my body a little extra break before the next big race in 12 days...

I could try to feebly push through the dullness and drabness, or I could change my state.

It was 5:45am and I knew I needed to reset and refresh for the day ahead.

Today was one of the slowest, shortest runs in months. That didn't matter – it was about getting oxygen in my brain and endorphins running in my veins.

It worked. I'm back on track – energized and focused.

Not every workout is training – sometimes the exercise is just about putting my Self first.

As a startup founder, the days get packed and the weeks fly by. There's constant tension balancing sales, and product, and team, and fund-raising, and customers...

Put your Self first. Be an example for your team.

Block out 45 minutes a few days this week. Get outside. Go for a three-mile walk. Sign up for the local Turkey Trot that's four months away. Get yourself moving and shaking – you'll be glad you did.

Do More. Be Happy. Surprise Yourself –

(Disclaimer: Consult your physician before starting any exercise routine... :-)

#startups #selfcare #motivation #success

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I've got this thing when I'm training called "Headlamp Miles" – it's the miles I knock out in before the sun comes up.

This morning, I hit start on my Garmin at 4:16am today for a 10-miler.

It's not so much that I have to practice #running in the dark (though it does help come race day...).

It's more about making the time to train.

I'm a husband and a dad. I want to have breakfast with my son and take him to camp. I like hanging out with my wife on the patio in the evening or taking our dog to the park, then watching Mythbusters together before bed.

If I don't get in the Headlamp Miles, I won't get in the training I want to do or spend the time with the two most important people in my life.

Plus, there's magic in putting those miles...

I hear owls in the trees and the first birdsong of the morning. On one stretch through an olive grove, there's a white owl that swoops down over my head through the trees from time to time.

I've seen deer, skunks, coyotes, and rabbits because I'm out in nature before the sun rises.

On a clear morning, I can see the black night turn gray, then watch the orange morning emerge over the Sierra Nevadas.

What are your Headlamp Miles?

In our #StartupSelling coaching program, we're running the August #Sales Activity Challenge – clients commit to doing at least 20 touches a day to leads and prospects.

Some days are a tough slog if you're a #startup CEO with everything else to do every day. But these become their Headlamp Miles in their growth.

I've been doing this myself this week – starting at 4:30 in the afternoon and wrapping up around 6pm. It's a time window when my son has his time playing Minecraft and I can jam on doing my 20 touches – my Headlamp Miles for the business, to lead by example.

What magic can you create for business when you make the time and put your Headlamp Miles?

Do More, Be Happy, Surprise Yourself.

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I don't know about you, but whenever I've got something that seems hard in front of me, I get a little anxious...

😳 I worry that I'm not ready...

😳 I worry that I won't do well...

😳 I worry the thing in front of me will be even tougher than I thought...

This past week was like that EVERY DAY as I looked at my training regimen and work schedule.

After taking a week off from training, I spent two weeks slowly ramping up my mileage to get to a "peak week" this week – the hardest week of training going into my next race in mid-August – a 100k (62-mile) trek with 15,000' of elevation climb in the Sierra Nevadas.

Last week was also my first week back in the office after a couple of weeks of downtime visiting family and hanging out in Portland.

While my work calendar wasn't overwhelming, I had lots of hard stuff on the schedule –

➡️ Attending a 3-day workshop Monday-Wednesday from 3-7pm to plan out the rest of the year for the business.

➡️ Delivering our Summertime Client Intensive to our Startup Selling Group.

➡️ Working with the team to identify process gaps to fill and systems to build as we continue to grow and scale.

Every night, looking ahead to the next day and week ahead, I felt anxious.

🔔 When the 4am alarm went off, I felt intimidated by the day ahead – miles to run, hills to climb, family time focus, and responsibilities.

How would I do it all?

Then I reminded myself – I've been here a hundred times before, a thousand times before...

It's normal to feel anxious.

Then I told myself – "Dude – you know you'll be fine once you GET STARTED. Just take action. Besides, anxious is GOOD because it means that I CARE."

✅ And I did – day-by-day, meeting by meeting, mile by mile. ✅

Don't let ANXIETY prevent ACTION. Use the anxiety as ENERGY to fuel your focus and win the day.

👊 You got this. 👊

Do More, Be Happy, Surprise Yourself – #GoFarther

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Wednesday means repeats out at Lagoon Valley Park – 1.5 miles and down, three times.

I didn't want to go out there today.

The 4am alarm came early. I took forever to get out of the house then took a wrong turn driving out to the trail.

No power on the uphills. No speed on the downhills.

Just a grind from start to finish. It made me doubt how much I really wanted to do this next race in 3 weeks.

It's just part of the work. I'm sure I'll feel better later today, and my spirits will lift.

It's the same with startups – you're going to have rough patches and bad days and headwinds.

You're going to question why you're doing this in the first place or wonder if you'll ever reach where you want to go.

Just remember that in the big picture – a dip is just a blip. It's just one day, one week, one data point.

It's the way it goes – it's not all puppy dogs and rainbows.

There will be rough patches. There will be tough days. There will be dips along the way.

Just remember -- the dips are usually just blips.

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This is a tough week, a transition week.

As of today, I'm 3.5 weeks since the Western States 100 and 3.5 weeks until my next race – the Castle Peak 100k up in Tahoe. I've been running and training the last two weeks, but this is the real week to get back to race preparation mode – early mornings, getting out on the trail, two-a-day workouts, and a strict diet.

Plus, yesterday was my first day back in the office after a couple of weeks away – I spent two weeks in Portland visiting family, feasting from food trucks, devouring donuts, and pulling down lattes (and an occasional local brew or two..).🙂

It's ALWAYS important to take some downtime after a big win – whether that's landing that big deal you worked for months, nailing down the next funding round, launching your new product, or moving back into the office after a year+ of work-from-home.

And It's equally important to get back to the flow of what got you there in the first place.

Yes, it's going to suck at first.

For me, yesterday was particularly hard – the 4am alarm, two workouts, no carbs in my diet, jumping right into prepping for our Summertime Client Event.

By 7pm, I was exhausted. My wife even told me – "Man you look tired!"

But... I know to do hard things, to accomplish what I want to do with the business and my Self, to get to the next checkpoint in my personal journey, it comes down to the decision to take the necessary actions that will get me there.

Acknowledge that it'll be hard, accept the suck and take small steps along the way – you'll get back in the flow before you know it.

Do More. Be Happy. Surprise Yourself.

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Jay Webb.

Jay runs a search firm that focuses on helping early to mid-stage companies hire sales leaders and enterprise salespeople throughout North America.

He’s also the host of the Over Quota podcast which features in-depth interviews around vision, strategy, and execution with revenue leaders.

Some of the key topics and questions that we covered in this podcast are:

Types of sales leaders that you're looking for based on the stage of your company.
The importance of finding the right culture fit just as much as finding the right skill set.
Crossover Recruiting – Do you have to hire someone with experience in your vertical or can you go crossover and find someone that has been successful in another vertical?
The three things that the most effective sales leaders have as their as part of their arsenal.
How to assess candidates as you're recruiting candidates for your sales roles and your sales leader roles.
How to make sure to identify if that person you're recruiting has those three traits.
What hiring companies need to do in order to effectively recruit the candidates they want to bring to their company
How do you find and create a diverse sales team.

Links and Resources:

Over Quota: smarturl.it/2d2yqb

Jay Webb on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jaydwebb

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Here it is... The 4th and final, installment of my post-race "Startups are Ultramarathons – Lessons from the Trail" from the 2021 Western States 100 Ultramarathon.

In the first three installments, I shared these 8 lessons –

Find Experts.
Do the [Right] Work.
Preparation, Planning & Visualization.
Focus on Your Locus
Be Confident.
Ask for Help.
Give it Everything.
Run Your Perfect Race.

(Be sure to go back and catch the first three post-race installments, as well as 4 pre-race "Startup Lessons from the Trail.")

Today, I talk about:

"Fall down seven times, get up eight." –Japanese Proverb
Be Happy.

BTW... If you're a startup founder and want some help with your journey from idea to impact, there's a chance the team and I here at SalesQualia can help.

Shoot me an email to scottsambucci@salesqualia.com with the word "JOURNEY" and we can hop on a call to look at your situation, brainstorm a few ideas and see if or how we can help you ramp up and scale up your sales.

Do More, Be Happy, Surprise Yourself –

Go Farther.

Listen to the full podcast here on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6821527007537487872/

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This is the third installment of my post-race "Startups are Ultramarathons – Lessons from the Trail."

The first two installments of these Startup Selling Lessons from the Trail included:

Find Experts.
Do the [Right] Work.
Preparation, Planning & Visualization.
How to Focus on Your Locus
Act with Confidence.
Getting help along the way.

In today's installment, I talk about:

Giving it everything you've got
Running your perfect race
"Fall down seven times, get up eight." –Japanese Proverb

BTW... If you're a startup founder and want some help with your journey from idea to impact, there's a chance the team and I here at SalesQualia can help.

Shoot me an email to scottsambucci@salesqualia.com with the word “JOURNEY” and we can hop on a call to look at your situation, brainstorm a few ideas and see if or how we can help you ramp up and scale up your sales.

Listen to the full podcast here on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6820774473046794240/

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

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This is the second installment of my post-race "Startups are Ultramarathons – Post-Race Lessons from the Trail."

The first installment of these Startup Selling Lessons from the Trail, included:

How to leverage experts,
The single biggest factor in the pursuit of BHAGs, and
Removing variables from the journey through planning, preparation, and visualization.

In this installment, I'll talk about –

How to Focus on Your Locus
Why you should act with Confidence

– The importance of getting help along the way.

BTW... If you're a startup founder and want some help with your journey from idea to impact, there's a chance the team and I here at SalesQualia can help.

Shoot me an email to scottsambucci@salesqualia.com with the word "JOURNEY" and we can hop on a call to look at your situation, brainstorm a few ideas and see if or how we can help you ramp up and scale up your sales.

#startups #GoFarther #startupselling

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It's been nearly two weeks since I ran the Western States 100 – a 100-mile ultramarathon from Olympic Village in the Sierra Nevadas to Auburn, CA.

Every day since then, I've been reflecting back on the race – what I accomplished, what I learned, and how I prepared for the oldest, and arguably most prestigious, ultramarathon in the world.

Here is the first installment of these Startup Selling Lessons from the Trail, including –

How to leverage experts,
The single-biggest factor in the pursuit of BHAGs, and
Removing variables from the journey through planning, preparation and visualization.

BTW... If you're a startup founder and want some help with your journey from idea to impact, there's a chance the team and I here at SalesQualia can help.

Shoot me an email to scottsambucci@salesqualia.com with the word "JOURNEY" and we can hop on a call to look at your situation, brainstorm a few ideas and see if or how we can help you ramp up and scale up your sales.

#startups #GoFarther #startupselling

Listen to the full podcast here on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6819332826907967488/

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These are final two pre-race "Startups are Ultramarathons: Lessons from the Trail" leading up to the 2021 Western States 100 ultramarathon.

I'll get to the full-on race report in a series of future posts...

If you've missed the previous three segments, you can find them here on LinkedIn or the Startup Selling Podcast.

#7: Incrementalism

To do hard things, to do what others, and yourself might feel is impossible, the leap from here to there is too big. Sure, you started your company with a big vision, your sights set on the impact you want to make in your market, for your customers. As Bill Gates famously said –

"Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.”

If you focus on the giant leap from where you are today, to where you want to go, you can end up feeling overwhelmed, and stuck running through endless "what ifs..." and crippled by inaction. Instead, you've got to focus on wins and learnings.

Every experience is an opportunity to win or learn – to build the foundation to the Big Future that you see.

#8: The Journey is the Joy

Remember, you chose this. The struggle is guaranteed; success is not. The ups and downs are part of the way – you HAVE to have downs – that's part of doing hard things.

A couple years ago, when I was frustrated with a few things in my business, my wife told me – "You have hard problems because they're the only ones left – you've solved all the easy ones already."

Remember to take time to detach and reset. Remember that you're out there, every day, doing hard things. Celebrate the wins, and be thankful.

Besides, you could always go back to your day job...

#GoFarther #startups

Listen to the full podcast here on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6816472018494521344/

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It's less than 3 days from the race start – the Western States 100 – an ultra-marathon from Olympic Valley in the Sierra Nevadas to Auburn, CA near the Sacramento Valley.

I didn't sleep well two nights ago – waking up at 1:30am with some pre-race anxiety. That's normal, and expected. Having a few nerves is good – it keeps me focused on every last detail.

That brings me to today's Startup Selling Lessons from the Trail – making the most of every training opportunity these past six months. Covering every last detail in my final preparation.

I'm past all of the training and tune-ups. It's all about logistics, packing and crew instructions. (I've written an 8-page manual just for my pacers and crew. (I'll drop a link to the PDF in the comments if you're interested...)

Most of all for you, as you build, grow and run your startup, you've got to do the same – make the most of every minute, every opportunity.

You've got to cover every last detail.

You've got to seek and find the unknown unknowns to reduce risk and improve your chances of success.

This installment of "Startups are Ultramarathons – Lessons from the Trail" is about just that.

BTW... If you think you want some help with your startup's sales process – how to make the most of your opportunities and execute on every details, shoot me an email to scottsambucci@salesqualia.com with the word "OPPORTUNITY".

We'll grab a time to talk about your situation, work on a few ideas and figure out if or how we can help.

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On June 26th at 5 am, the gun went off and I took my first step in the Western States 100 – a 100.2 mile ultra-marathon from Olympic Valley, CA to Auburn, CA.

The course included more than 18,000' of elevation climb and daytime temperatures of more than 100 degrees.

I officially started training on Jan 4th – six months of daily effort – more than 1200 miles of running, strength-training 3-4x/week, and monitoring every calorie I consume.

In running these ultra-marathons, I've learned a few lessons that translate to running a startup.

I shared two Lessons from the Trail about how startups are like ultra-marathons –

1/ Make hard things routine

2/ Prepare to train

Today, I'm sharing a couple more...

While every day and every week feels like a sprint, the path to make a lasting impact for your customers is a long journey.

Stay focused, stay committed.

Listen to the full podcast here on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6811630331184107520/

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Startups are ultramarathons, even though most of us are sprinting every day –

Sprinting to the next product release...

Sprinting to nail down the next sale...

Sprinting to get to the next funding round...

Even though you're sprinting every day, it's important to remember that the path you chose is a long journey.

Over the past six months, I've been training for the Western States 100 – the oldest, arguably most prestigious ultramarathon in the world. Over 7000 people wanted one of the 369 spots available.

I'm a week away from the starting line, and over the past six months, I've learned a lot about myself, what's possible and how to break ceilings I didn't think I could break.

My goal is not just to finish the race, but to finish in under 24 hours to earn the Silver Buckle Award. It's going to be close, and I'll execute my best race, and even then I might now make it.

The struggle is guaranteed; success is not.

I'm sharing a few "Lessons from the Trail" – how running and building a startup is just like training and running an ultramarathon.

Here's the first installment.

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Alexine Mudawar & Gabrielle Blackwell.

Who is Alexine Mudawar?

Carrying 8+ years of SaaS sales experience, Alexine is backed by numerous President’s Club awards, quarterly high achievement recognitions, and a consistent track record of surpassing quota.

Outside of her day-to-day sales role, She is an Adjunct Professor and teaches sales courses for Aspireship, Victory Lap, and Re: Work Training.

She’s a champion for diversity and inclusion in the workplace and has founded two women-focused Employee Resource Groups. She currently serves as Co-Founder of the Women in Sales Club alongside Gabrielle Blackwell.

Who is Gabrielle Blackwell?

Gabrielle Blackwell, also known as The Sales Development SaaStress, started her career in as a sales development representative and has since then held positions as an Account Executive, Sales Enablement Manager, and has now focused her career pursuits on Sales Development leadership.

She is currently leading a Sales Development team at revenue intelligence platform, Gong.io and co-hosts Women in Sales Club, a Clubhouse event focused on enabling, empowering, and promoting women within the sales profession.

Some of the key topics and questions that we covered in this podcast are:

Community questioning the inner critic
Owning your voice
Personal branding
The stigma of sales
Tokenization of an individual
How The Women in Sales Club came into existence
How Alexine and Gabrielle came to working together
Core issues such as race, gender, sexual preference, and other diversity markers
The importance of being empathetic
Understanding what it means to be a woman in the workplace
Strategies of how men can do better to support women

Links and Resources:

LinkedIn page: www.linkedin.com/company/women-in-sales-club

Clubhouse club: www.joinclubhouse.com/club/womeninsales

Alexine on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/alexine-mudawar

Gabrielle on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielleblackwell

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Demos are where sales opportunities go to die.

Unless you've got a Prospecting Partnering System in your #sales process.

It's fun finding new leads, diving into problems, and talking about what's possible with your help.

Demos – Nothing more fun than showing off your product to an eager prospect.

Proposals may not be fun to write, but there's the excitement & anticipation of landing your next big customer.

Contracts? Some sellers really dig this part of the sale – they get jazzed when it's time to get down to negotiate and talk numbers.

Then there's deployment – where all the work over the past 3 or 6 or 12 months finally comes to fruition.

But you know what's not fun?

Project management.

Chasing the IT guy for data file access.

Finding the risk officer whose only job seems to be telling vendors she can't approve the purchase.

Wrangling the compliance team's checklist.

Quibbling with procurement about their request for audited financial statements.

It's never easy navigating the quagmire of internal bureaucracy.

But it gets a whole lot easier (and maybe even a little more fun) if you've partnered with your prospect and built a mutual action plan where you've assigned teams, tasks, and timelines to every step along the way from demo to implementation.

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“Demo” should NEVER be a stage in your sales process.

In fact, your entire sales process should minimize your product as much as possible.

Yes, really.

That’s why Demo Design is one of the 9 Sales Accelerators.

If you're running your demos the wrong way, I bet every one ends with three things ––

1/ Lots of applause

2/ A request for a proposal

3/ Three months of “Chase the Prospect”

Am I right?

But, if you build your Demo Design the right way, your demos will be short, focused, and even better, move you quickly into conversations about IMPLEMENTATION.

Demo Design is NOT about your product – it’s about your PROCESS.

In this video, I’ll show you why you MUST establish a Demo Design system and more importantly, why your demos should have almost nothing to do with your product.

If you want some help with your Demo Design process or any of the 9 Sales Accelerators, send me a DM or an email – scott@salesqualia.com.

Let’s do this.

Listen to the LinkedIn LIVE here:

https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6717478141436284928/

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3 Things I'm excited about (including lots of running and baby goats...)

#1: The last stretch of training for the Western States 100. I've got a 50-mile trail run on Saturday, and another 22 on Monday.

#2: We're now proud owners of a baby goat.

My wife spent her nights this week building their pen. Because she's cool like that.

#3: I'm teaching a LIVE Training on Thurs, June 3rd – "Your Q4 Sales Start Now."

I'm teaching 5 tactics to put to work in the next 6 weeks that will help you nail your 2021 number.

Here is the registration link: https://salesqualia.com/webinar/

2 People to follow –

Check out Jason Bay and Meghann Misiak. Both are AWESOME at their craft. They coach our clients here in our Startup Selling Coaching program and ALWAYS deliver.

1 Parting Thought –

If you're in the US, Monday is Memorial Day. Take a day off - no email, no texts, no nothing. You need a break. Your family will appreciate it.

The company won't fail if you take 24 hours to just be.

Listen to the LinkedIn LIVE here:

https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6804211947190464512/

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"I guess I'll follow up with them..."

If that's your action plan for a deal that's gone dark or a lead that won't reply, you're doing it all wrong.

The top 3 synonyms for "follow" are PURSUE, SEEK & CHASE.

Is that how you want to run your sales process?

Change the mindset.

Eliminate "follow up" from your vocabulary.

Get SPECIFIC. Be PRECISE.

Think in terms of VALUE, ACTION & EDUCATION.

Got an inbound that won't reply after the demo request?

Add value instead of hammering away to get a call on the books.

Got a post-demo prospect that tells you – "Follow up in a couple of weeks..."?

Assert yourself with action.

Got a proposal that's gone dark?

(Sending the proposal was your first mistake, but that's for another post...)

Create opportunities to share new information.

Sales requires you to lead your prospects.

Stop the "follow up" and take action.

If you want to get more specific and more precise with your startup's sales process, DM me or comment👇 'ACTION' 👇 and let's have a quick chat to see if or how I can help.

Listen to the LinkedIn LIVE here:

https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6800822266474180608/

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Hiring is a two-sided market – the hiring company and the candidates.

After closing a Series A, a founder needs to get serious about building their sales team. That first sales team will either galvanize growth from "start up" to "scale up," or drag the company into startup purgatory.

Founders have to sell candidates on their company, market, and product. Any good salesperson will need relative assurance, that while they're taking a risk at a startup, the upside potential outweighs the career risk.

Here's a 5-factor rubric designed for BOTH founders and top talent to assess and validate a startup's readiness and attractiveness to hiring top sales talent.

(Notice I said TOP sales talent...)

1/ People – A new hire isn't joining a company – they're joining a tribe. Who's in the tribe now and how will the candidate fit?

2/ Problem – What's the mission and vision of the startup? Is the problem interesting? Will solving it make an impact?

3/ Product – Is the product sellable? What's the roadmap and what other options are available to the market?

4/ Process – Is there a sales process beyond founder magic?

5/ Professional Development – How can the candidate grow as the company grows?

Listen to the full podcast here:

https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6785599256104370176/

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In a recent podcast, I shared how CONSISTENCY is a key principle in my ultra-running, business, and life in general.

Three (3) strategies that have helped me are...

1/ Schedule Everything

I mean EVERYTHING, so I can see what time is actually available in my day & where I can trim or trash tasks that are low-value negative value.

I add my Saturday trail runs to my wife's calendar. She sends me calendar invites for when she's horseback riding or flying so that we always know what each other planning around these important personal activities where we want to be consistent.

2/ Communicate & Plan a Reward

Tell your team and your family WHY it's important that you do that thing you want to do consistently.

Get some skin in the game – if you hit your target, you'll do an ice cream parlor crawl, or you'll buy a new camping gear to use this summer.

3/ Start Small. Quick wins. Build momentum.

Say your goal is to hit a target of 100 outbound touches per day.

Commit to 30 minutes a day for the first week, then build up to 45 minutes, then to 60 minutes.

Start by nailing down 10/day. If you try to go from 0 to 100, even if you hit 90/day, then you'll feel like you failed. Focus on what you learned to improve the next day or week.

Listen to the full podcast here:

https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6785276717863878656/

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed David Priemer.

Like most of us, David never thought he'd end up in sales! He started his career tinkering with test tubes and differential equations as an award-winning research scientist before spending the next 20 years leading top-performing sales teams at high-growth technology companies including Salesforce, where he was the Vice President of Commercial Sales and creator of the Sales Leadership Academy program.

Today, as the Founder and Chief Sales Scientist of Cerebral Selling, David's unique science and empathy-based approaches to driving revenue and talent growth have been published in the Harvard Business Review as well as Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Inc. magazines.

Often referred to as the "Sales Professor", David is also the author of the bestselling book, “Sell The Way You Buy”, and an Adjunct Professor at the Smith School of Business at Queen's University. David holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry and Atmospheric Science from York University and a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto.

When he's not thinking about Sales, David loves to cook, write, and spend quality family time with his wife and three daughters.

Some of the key topics that we talked about are:

The importance of how you position or phrase a question.
How to communicate with our prospects in a way that they are thinking about.
Always talk about sales from a customer standpoint.
The importance of polarization in your messaging.
Understanding your customer’s feelings during the buying process.
Giving the Disney experience to your prospects and customers.
The difference between value and ROI.

Links & Resources

Website: cerebralselling.com

Book: cerebralselling.com/book

Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/c/CerebralSelling

Instagram: www.instagram.com/cerebralselling

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I'm reading "Trillion Dollar Coach" by Eric Schmidt about Bill Campbell – a coach to some of the top Silicon Valley executives – including Steve Jobs and Schmidt himself.

This week, Tim Ferriss shared his interview with George Mumford – a person most people don't know. But you know the athletes he coached – including Michael Jordan & Kobe Bryant.

If you're a startup founder, reading that these top performers all had coaches should push you to get a coach ASAP if you don't have one already.

But... Are you coachable?

In 10 years as a startup coach, I've met 2000+ startup CEOs & coached hundreds of founders & teams.

I'm always surprised to find that many people just aren't coachable, especially those that could use it most, and I've found that there five (5) traits that make for a coachable person.

1/ Readiness to Learn: Being ready to focus and make the time to do the work.

2/ Honesty & Humility: The willingness to look for gaps & blind spots.

3/ Getting Uncomfortable: It's awkward learning anything new, but it's the only path to growth is getting comfortable being uncomfortable.

4/ Acknowledgement, Acceptance & Action

5/ Implementing = Learning: No progress happens without implementation. That's where the real growth happens.

___

If you feel like you’re coachable, and you think you're ready for some help growing yourself and taking your company to new levels, send an email to scottsambucci@salesqualia.com with the word "COACHABLE" in the subject line, and let's talk.

I'm ready. Are you?

Check out the LinkedIn Live here:

https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6790002883812225024/

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Amy Volas.

With more than $100MM in revenue sold and named one of Sales Hacker's Most Dynamic Women In Sales, Amy is a sales fanatic turned entrepreneur.

She was bitten by the startup bug many moons ago and couldn't imagine spending her time anywhere else.

Amy created Avenue Talent Partners to help with the tremendous task of growing startups through some of their most valuable assets - sales leaders and enterprise salespeople.

Links & Resources

Amy on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/amyvolas

(Website) Avenue Talent Partners: www.avenuetalentpartners.com

(Blog) Avenue Talent Partners: avenuetalentpartners.com/blog

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CONSISTENCY is a principle that's made the biggest difference in my ultra-running training and my work.

Consistency means putting in the work. Every. Day. No matter what.

(BTW... If you want a hand with this, send an email to scottsambucci@salesqualia.com with the word CONSISTENCY and I'll share how I can help.)

On the trail, I have a mantra – "Relentless Forward Progress."

You might think this only applies to starting up the next 2000' climb, or coercing yourself to the next aid station 12 miles away at 3:30am.

But Relentless Forward Progress is most important when it comes to the CONSISTENCY of effort of EVERY DAY.

It's about doing the work that needs to be done, before there's urgency. Before the next action becomes critical.

Consistency is doing your 20 outreaches every day to fill your #sales funnel.

Consistency is keeping your daily stand-ups & team meetings, even when they're not convenient. Consistency is doing quarterly performance reviews so that your team knows exactly where they're doing well and how they can improve.

Consistency is investing the time every week to learn even if that means telling a prospect that Thursday is already booked. (Don't worry – you can have the meeting on Friday. They'll be fine with it...)

Check out the LinkedIn Live here:

https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6784875184848482304/

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When it's 3am and you can't sleep, what do you do?

I had a choice – I could lay awake in bed, frustrated that I'm not sleeping and letting all of the thoughts racing through my mind take over, or I could treat it as an opportunity to do something.

On Monday, I woke up at 12:30am, my head spinning with all of the projects we're working on – building sales plans with clients, interviewing teams that want to join our program, upgrading our entire client delivery platform, training our new team member, setting up the next round of live events...

Obstacle or Opportunity?

When you have a team member that's not performing...

Obstacle or Opportunity?

When you have a logjam of deals in the pipeline that are moving...

Obstacle or Opportunity?

When the product release is behind...

Obstacle or Opportunity?

I get it – some obstacles are so big, so gnarly, that it feels impossible to find the opportunity it's offering you.

But it's there if you stay calm, persevere and look for what's good about your situation.

Whatever the obstacle you've got today, or this week, or this month, know that you've got this.

Check out the LinkedIn Live here:

https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6780466944576507905/

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Just because a lead requests a demo, doesn't mean they get a demo. They have to deserve it.

And it's your job to qualify every lead.

You wouldn't you walk into a doctor's office and say – "Show me your medicines."

Diagnosing your problem a necessary step before that doctor would know know if or how they could help.

Your sales leads are no different. You have to qualify them to know if or how you can help them.

If you don't, you'll end up playing a game "Demo-Proposal-Chase" with every prospect.

When you do qualify your leads, when you know their critical business issue, and when you can show them how you can solve their problem, you'll get more CLARITY, CONTROL & CONFIDENCE in your sales process.

That's why Lead Qualification is one of the 9 Sales Accelerators - it'll help you move faster with the right leads, and avoid wasting days or weeks or months with the wrong leads.

Check out the LinkedIn Live here:

https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6717121319198093312/

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I know you're frustrated and tired. We all are.

A year ago, I packed my bags for a two-week New Zealand trip to teach a workshop, run a 100-mile ultramarathon then tour the north island in a camper van.

A year ago we had the first confirmed COVID case in the US.

Since then, we've had lockdowns that forced us to change how we live our lives. We experienced #BlackLivesMatter protests in the Summer, the elections in the Fall and the Capitol riots, and the transfer of power this month.

We're all exhausted. We'd all love a day without at least one Zoom call. We all want our kids to go back to school. The holidays feel like they never happened. Worst of all, by now, many of us have lost a loved one because of COVID.

Back in March and April, everyone was kind and understanding about working from home – kids in the background, juggling schedules, and distractions galore.

Life hasn't changed for most of us since then.

So when your prospect is a no-show, your clients are slow to pay, and your coworkers just can't seem to get that project done, remember that everyone is just like you – kids at home, partners still looking for a job, and mourning loved ones lost.

We're all doing our best, and we're all human.

Be the best human you can.

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Don’t believe everything you think.
Relationships first.
There’s no such thing “All” and “Everyone”
Your Prospects don’t panic-buy, so don’t panic-sell
Customers buy Outcomes, and simple steps create stable outcomes.
Slow is Smooth, and Smooth is Fast.
Be the Mayor of your town.
People will borrow certainty from the person who has the most of it in the room.
Your customer is on their Hero’s Journey.

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You know more about the problem your product solves that anyone – that’s why you started your company in the first place. No one else is solving the problem the right way, or none of the current products work.

57% of the purchase decision is made before a prospect contacts you & 67% of the buying journey is now done digitally.

You HAVE to be front & center to teach your prospects about their problem and how to think about options to solve it.

That's why “Authority Voice” is one of the 9 Sales Accelerators that every startup needs to build and run to get more repeatability and predictability in their sales process.

Most of all, when you build and implement your Authority Voice Strategy this right way, you’re not just EDUCATING your prospects about their problem – you’re SEPARATING yourself from the rest of the marketing and INDOCTRINATING your prospects as to why they should work with you.

When you do this the right way, you’ll get more CLARITY, CONTROL & CONFIDENCE in your sales process.

If you'd like some help with your Authority Voice Strategy, or any of the 9 Sales Accelerators, send me a DM and I'll show you how my team & I can help.

Let's do this…

Check out the LinkedIn Live here:

www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6716745906336727041

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I was interviewed by Andrew Verboncouer.

Andrew is one of the Partners and CEO at Headway and has spent over 15 years in product design, product strategy, and development. Headway helps startups and corporate innovation teams launch and grow new digital products in FinTech, Healthcare, Logistics, and EdTech.

Andrew also hosts the Seaworthy podcast, which provides actionable advice around product validation, execution, and promotion.

Some of the key topics and questions that we talked about are:

Ultramarathon.
Hitting quota in sales.
How do ultramarathons relate to sales?
Moving from Blend to SalesQualia.
How is SalesQualia different now than back then?
Why do salespeople focus on the product rather than solving the problem?
What are the biggest mistakes startups make when it comes to lead gen or sales?
The advice I would give to anyone looking to start their own B2B or SaaS company.

Links and Resources:

(Website) Headway: www.headway.io

(LinkedIn) Andrew Verboncouer: www.linkedin.com/in/andrewverboncouer

Seaworthy Podcast: E18: Startup Sales: Selling On The Problem You Solve

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Robert L. Wallace is an internationally known entrepreneur, author, business consultant, and keynote speaker. With more than four decades of industry experience spanning engineering, energy, IT, and executive coaching, Bob leverages his expertise to educate and inspire entrepreneurs, executives, and audiences around the world.

Growing up in the housing projects of Baltimore City amidst poverty and racial segregation, Bob overcame social and economic obstacles through his own rags-to-riches story to become a successful serial entrepreneur. After being groomed by innovative industry leaders like IBM, DuPont, Westinghouse, and Procter & Gamble, Bob leveraged his experience to establish three companies: BITHGROUP Technologies Inc., a cybersecurity and IT services provider; Bithenergy, Inc., a renewable energy and consulting company; and Robert Wallace Media which includes RobertWallace.com and EntreTeach Learning Systems LLC.

Pulling from his real-life experiences and extensive research, Bob has authored 5 books and continues to write. His areas of expertise include wealth creation methodologies, urban economic development strategies, strategic partnerships, business spirituality, and domestic emerging markets. In particular, Robert addresses the business challenges faced by women, people of color, and entrepreneurs of all stripes from both domestic and global emerging markets. Bob tells the story of these amazing people with an insightful approach that makes his writing equally compelling to large corporations who are nurturing an “intrapreneurial” spirit within their workforce.

Today, Bob blends his diverse experiences in engineering, energy, technology, and entrepreneurship to educate, entertain and enlighten corporate audiences across industries and demographics. His dynamic keynote presentations and hands-on workshops inspire personal and professional breakthroughs, resulting in bottom-line improvements.

When he’s not researching, mentoring, or presenting to other business leaders, Bob enjoys spending time with his wife, their five children, eight grandchildren, and his internationally expanding family. He frequently leads groups on mission trips to various countries in Africa and Latin America, where he has helped start businesses, orphanages, and schools.  Avid about education, especially STEM programs, he regularly mentors students in high school and college. Bob is a passionate community leader and devoted church elder who believes in the intersection of spirituality and business. He helped establish Global Vessels, a faith-based nonprofit that pursues humanitarian projects around the world to meet the physical and spiritual needs of people in emerging nations. Through this nonprofit, he has built global relationships that have translated into profitable connections – an example of his motto to “do well while doing good.”

Currently, Bob serves as Affiliate Professor of Business at the Loyola University Sellinger School of Business, where he lectures on innovation and entrepreneurship in the global economy. Previously, he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics at the University of Pennsylvania, and his MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. It was at Dartmouth where he began his groundbreaking research on the success characteristics on some of the world’s most accomplished entrepreneurs. He proudly serves on the boards of the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, the Greater Baltimore Committee, Capital Region Minority Supplier Development Council, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Maryland Economic Development Commission, The President’s Roundtable, and the Wallace for Mayor Campaign Committee.

Links and Resources:

(Website) Robert Wallace: www.robertwallace.com

(Store) Robert Wallace: www.robertwallace.com/store

(Books) Robert Wallace: amzn.to/2NMN6bq

(Instagram) Robert Wallace: www.instagram.com/drrobertlwallace

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Tom Searcy.

By the age of 40, Tom had led four different corporations from revenues of less than $10 million to greater than $100 million, each in under four years. He is now the Founder and CEO of Hunt Big Sales, a fast-growth consultancy and thought leadership organization.

Using his systems, Hunt Big Sales clients have landed more than $8 billion in new sales with 190 of the Fortune 500 companies, including 3M, Disney, Chase Bank, International Paper, AT&T, Apple, and hundreds more.

Tom has over 20 years of experience as an expert in sales and thought leadership. As a keynote speaker and workshop leader, he is known for his expertise in unlocking explosive growth for business owners, educating business owners on the changing landscape of selling, and helping them position their organizations for continued growth.

Tom delivers keynote speeches, whole, and half-day workshops, along with courses and dedicated coaching with an emphasis on actionable content designed to help business owners significantly increase revenue while successfully navigating and leading their organization through the new selling environment.

He is a regular speaker at the Inc. Magazine and Inc. 500/500 conferences, as well as Vistage International, the leading organization for CEO thought-leadership. Tom is ranked in the top 1% of speakers at Vistage. More than 5,000 CEOs around the world have heard Tom speak about his sales growth methodologies. He has written weekly on-line columns for Forbes, CBS MoneyWatch and Inc.com, which have a combined readership of 38 million. Tom’s expertise has also been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times UK, Inc. Magazine, and numerous business publications.

Tom is the author of multiple books. His latest book, Life After the Death of Selling: How to Thrive in the New Era of Sales, covers the new buyer driven economy, and how to survive extinction in the new era of sales. He’s also written RFPs Suck! How to Master the RFP System Once and for All to Win Big Business. Tom’s the co-author of Whale Hunting: How to Land Big Sales and Transform Your Company, and How to Close a Deal Like Warren Buffett: Lessons from the World’s Greatest Dealmaker.

Some of the key topics and questions that we talked about are:

How does a company know that they're ready to double their deal sizes and covert deals more quickly?
Four key areas that are necessary for a company to grow:
- Support new deals
- The team
- The desire to grow
- The belief that the team can hit their growth
Price is based on the problem and not urgency.
The importance of a target filter.
The importance of fear versus having a technical advantage when it comes to a buyer’s decision.
Fear busters.
The eel in the deal.
“Yes, later” actually means “No”.
How to create an ethical unfair advantage.

Links and Resources:

[Website] Hunt Big Sales: www.huntbigsales.com

[LinkedIn] Tom Searcy: www.linkedin.com/in/tomsearcy

[Book] How to Sell in Place: www.huntbigsales.com/resources/store

Hunt Big Sales: www.youtube.com/channel/UCiyT8WJfXLC78MVWmFn7-5A

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Mary Grothe is a former #1 MidMarket B2B Sales Rep who after selling millions and breaking multiple records, formed House of Revenue™️, a Denver-based firm of fractional Revenue Leaders who currently lead the marketing, sales, customer success, and RevOps departments for 10 companies nationwide.

In the past year, they've helped multiple 2nd-stage-growth companies between $2M - $20M, on average, double their MRR within 10 months, resulting in an average ROI of 1,454% and an average annual revenue growth eclipsing $3.2 million.

Some of the key topics and questions that we talked about are:

Mary’s transition from working for someone to working for herself.
What are things that hold CEOs from growing?
Mindset changes a CEO or Founder needs to make in order to grow.
The difference between “wanting” to make changes and grow and being “ready” to make changes and grow.
Mary’s process for helping CEOs get clear about what they want.
Mythical Sales Unicorn and the 175 rule.

Links and Resources:

Mary on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/marygrothe

Website: www.marygrothe.com

House Of Revenue™: www.houseofrevenue.com

Sales BQ: www.salesbq.com

Mary on Twitter: twitter.com/marylgrothe

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Richard Smith.

Richard is the Co-Founder and Head of Sales for Refract. He has 10+ years of sales experience working for and building high activity and scalable outbound software sales teams.

He has been a regular contributor to leading sales content sites such as Hubspot and SalesHacker and was nominated this year as a Top 50 SaaS Sales Leader in the UK.

Richard is passionate about fixing the broken mindset to sales coaching and helping salespeople become the very best they can be.

Some of the topics that we discussed in this episode are:

Richard’s new book “Problem Prospecting?!”
Identifying your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
Using rubrics and metrics as a scoring system to identify ICPs
What do your prospects moan about at the dinner table?
How to think about cold calling and messaging?
How to be human in your interactions with your prospects?

Links and Resources:

Refract (website): www.refract.ai

Richard on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/richard-smith-refract

(Book) Problem Prospecting?!: Completely Eradicate Your Prospecting Troubles By Leading With Problems: amzn.to/3orOLjf

(Book) The Sales Acceleration Formula: Using Data, Technology, and Inbound Selling to go from $0 to $100 Million: amzn.to/2YrevBx

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

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The Sales Acceleration Formula: Using Data, Technology, and Inbound Selling to go from $0 to $100 Million

Problem Prospecting?!: Completely Eradicate Your Prospecting Troubles By Leading With Problems

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Hiring SDRs vs Outsourcing – Which option is better, and when should we bring in some help on our Outbound Strategy?

That's a question I got 3 times THIS WEEK from #startup founders...

It’s now a classic conundrum for #B2Bstartup founders that want to kick off their #Outbound Selling strategy.

Two perspectives:

Running your outbound in-house means you own the process, work in tight feedback loops and hire a team that will be part of your culture.

OTOH…

Outsourcing just looks so damn efficient – spin up a whole team of experienced SDRs with their tech stack and “Voila!” – your calendar fills with sales calls.

So which should you choose?

Both.

First, you’ve got to build v 1.0 of your sequence around five core elements:

Market
Message
Medium
Mode
Metrics

Once you’ve got that working, you’ve got a system that you can hand over to an outsourced SDR team – or hire an SDR on your own.

Watch the video for a deeper dive on the “How?” and “Why?” on this…

Check out the LinkedIn Live here:

www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6740324404963655680

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The pipeline's thin. Lead gen is a grind. You’re booking demos and slinging proposals, but deal flow is slow. Or maybe never really got going in the first place…

Your early customers were easy to convert and are seeing massive results, but reaching that magic $1mm ARR mark is way tougher than you thought.

And you need to hit that next revenue milestone so you can raise the next round.

I know what you’re thinking –

“If only I had a salesperson to close some deals. That’d fix everything…”

I get it. That’s exactly where too many founders make a crucial mistake.

In this session, I’ll share the 3 biggest sales hiring mistakes that kill B2B startups and how to avoid them...

Want a copy of our Complete Sales Hiring System?

Click here to request a copy of a recorded training & workbook: lnkd.in/eeeYytF

Check out the LinkedIn Live here:

www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6724356167147024385

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

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Start at the Beginning...

It's January 4th. The Internet is slow. Zoom keeps cutting out. Slack isn't working.

After holidays every year, I feel disappointed that I didn't get all the projects done I wanted during the break. I feel anxious about jumping back into the flow of work. Where should I start? What should I do first?

Then I tell myself – The beginning is always a good place.

Start the morning...

Start the project...

Start the training...

Start the parenting...

Start every day...

Choosing to take action. It's the first day back in the new year, but it's just another day – day to make a choice about what actions to take, what choices to make.

Just do right now. Pick one action, one task. Do that task well and move to the next.

Focus on Now now; worry about Later later.

You got this.

Check out the LinkedIn Live here:

www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6751933918745829376

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It's a simple model:

1/ Contacts – Who you contact (your target prospect) & How (how many, how often)

2/ Conversations – Focusing on engagement by identifying problems and qualifying your leads.

3/ Conversions – Showing ROI and giving clarity on implementation.

But the real question is whether or not sales really is your top priority... (This is the part you might not like to hear...)

Because too often, we say "sales is the top priority," but if you look at your Calendar, is it really?

Do you have Conviction around your message and strategy?

Are you getting yourself into the Classroom to make sure you're doing the best you can?

Check out the LinkedIn Live here:

www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6717857634432684033

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Jeremy Macleod.

As a proud Kiwi, Jeremy hails from the North Island of New Zealand and has been fortunate enough to call Wellington, Sydney, London, and San Francisco home at various times in his life. He has an addiction to working with some of the most exciting businesses in the world, in particular early-stage hyper-growth disruptors who understand the value of the top talent.

Jeremy splits his time between Sydney and San Francisco (pre-COVID) as he helps mentor New Zealand and Australian start-ups who are looking to take on the US.

Jeremy has over 15 years of experience working with the recruitment industry and 2 years ago launched The Search Experience with his business partner Natalie Adams. The Search Experience provides search and recruitment services to high growth technology companies and through TSE Ventures, Jeremy and Natalie take equity positions in companies they work with.

Some of the key topics that we discussed in this episode are:

What are signals to indicate that it’s time to hire a sales leader?
What is the Head of Sales role?
How to allow yourself room to hire above the sales leaders if necessary?
What are the expectations for the first sales leaders?
How do you find sales leaders to scale up your business?
How do you recruit and hire in today’s environment?
How do you manage your sales hiring process?
What’s the speed at which you should be hiring?
Hiring remote and how remote should the person be?

Link & Resources:

(Website) The search experience: www.thesearchex.com

Jeremy Macleod on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jeremymacleod

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Arjun Rai.

Arjun Rai is an NYC based entrepreneur who is on a mission to support small businesses with the power of visualized data science and artificial intelligence for digital marketing at HelloWoofy.com.

He is a firm believer that every SMB should have an unfair advantage to compete against unlimited marketing budgets. He has raised from professional investors and personally invested nearly $500,000 in pre-seed VC funding as well as obtained corporate partners (including Fortune 500 companies, such as Microsoft and Google) resulting in over $135,000 in strategic resources.

Since high school, Arjun has been networking with some of the most well-known entrepreneurs and even worked on a few projects and startups of his own. Upon graduation, Arjun pursued his career opportunities and came to New York City where he enrolled at the New York Institute of Technology in 2011 with scholarships and grants. Following a few weeks into college, Arjun launched his second startup, fuelbrite.com, a social media agency focused on small businesses and startups, and a student-focused organization, TheBizDen.

Arjun currently lives in New York City with his girlfriend, two cats, and a dog. You can find him working from home, doing carpentry, pitching his startup at a meetup, or driving around town on his e-scooter.

Some of the key topics that we discussed in this episode are:

Arjun’s development of HelloWoofy.
What are some key strategies when communicating with your buyers?
Using emojis in your message.
The effectiveness of using emojis.

Link & Resources:

Website: hellowoofy.com

Arjun on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/arjunrai

Season 3 of Meet the Drapers: youtu.be/MtHxCFv9St4

Hello Woofy on Facebook: www.facebook.com/hellowoofy

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I was interviewed by Tom Pisello.

Known as the ROI Guy, Tom is the host of the EVOLVERS podcast series, author of the book Evolved Selling, founder of the Evolved Selling Institute, and Chief Evangelist for sales enablement platform provider Mediafly.

Tom is a successful serial entrepreneur, founder of several firms focused on business value sales and marketing, and a Gartner veteran.

Some of the key topics that we discussed in this episode are:

The linkage of ultra running with running a startup.
Lessons from the trail and applying it to selling.
Challenges in the marketplace in a post-COVID world.
Shifts in the selling environment.
Paying attention to your internal economy.
Changes and ways you can think about measurements and sales forecasting.
The importance of sorting versus selling in your prospecting and outbound.
Keeping control of your sales process.

Link & Resources:

Tom Pisello on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tompisello

The Evolved Selling institute: www.evolvedselling.com

Evolved Selling Book: www.evolvedselling.com/evolved-selling-book

Evolvers Podcast: open.spotify.com/show/2K9MRd11NQuIitXsoCKbYX

Evolved Selling Institute on LinkedIn:

www.linkedin.com/company/evolved-selling-institute/?viewAsMember=true

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Todd Caponi.

Todd is the author of the 3x best-book-award-winning, The Transparency Sale, a speaker & workshop leader as Founder & CEO of Sales Melon LLC, and the Managing Director of Chicago’s VentureSCALE. Todd is also a multi-time C-Level sales leader, a behavioral science nerd, and has guided two companies to successful exits.

Some of the key topics that we discussed in Part 2 of this episode are:

The history and principles of selling.
How do we relate to people and show up the right way?
How do we communicate in sales?
What makes a great salesperson.
The salesmanship magazine.

Link & Resources:

Todd Caponi on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/toddcaponi

Todd Caponi on Twitter: twitter.com/tcaponi

The Transparency Sale: www.transparencysale.com

Book: The Transparency Sale: https://amzn.to/2K0TRV1

Media Kit for more information: www.transparencysale.com/mediakit

Five Great Rules of Selling by Percy H Whiting: https://amzn.to/2XHRo5Y

The 5 Great Rules of Selling Percy H Whiting (The Revised and Enlarged Edition): https://amzn.to/38B0vM2

Tthe Art of Selling by Arthur Sheldon: https://amzn.to/3pnqrjZ

The Art and Science of Selling, Volume V by National Salesmen's Training Association: https://amzn.to/32B0LXD

Shirley Ann Jackson: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Ann_Jackson

The Ten Fundamental Traits of a Successful Seller - circa 1921

www.transparencysale.com/blog/tractorworldtraits

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

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The Transparency Sale: How Unexpected Honesty and Understanding the Buying Brain Can Transform Your Results

The Art and Science of Selling, Volume V: Language and Persuasion

The 5 Great Rules of Selling: The Revised and Enlarged Edition

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Doug Brown.

Doug C. Brown is a highly acclaimed Sales Revenue Growth Expert and an international bestselling author. He has coached, consulted, and advised thousands of people in business as well as companies including Enterprise-Rent Car, Nationwide, Intuit, Proctor and Gamble, CBS television, and others.

He has collected an impressive amount of experience throughout his life in different fields, especially sales. During this period, he created over 35 companies. Doug served as an independent President of Sales and Training for Tony Robbins, Chet Holmes, Russ Whitney, and others.

He has generated over $500 million in sales; his last client made $3 million in 5 weeks. His most outstanding professional achievement is increasing the company’s close rate by 862% and its revenue growth by 116% in four months.

Doug is a 12-year veteran of the US Army and a proud father of two wonderful daughters. His mission is to help companies grow their sales revenue and to have better-performing sales teams. Additionally, he instructs B2B coaches and consultants on how to build a more profitable business.

Three of the key topics that we discussed in this episode are:

What are some of the blind spots that companies have in their sales process?
How to find “A” players for your sales team?
What to do when you are stuck in your growth phase?

Link & Resources:

Business Success Factor: www.businesssuccessfactors.com

Win-Win Selling by Doug Brown: ww.winwinsellingbook.com

High-Velocity Training by Doug C. Brown or @DougBrown.BSF: www.facebook.com/pg/DougBrown.BSF

Doug C. Brown on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dougbrown123

Doug C. Brown on Twitter or @dougbrown123456: twitter.com/dougbrown123456

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Just because a lead requests a demo, doesn't mean they get a demo. They have to deserve it.

And it's your job to qualify every lead.

You wouldn't you walk into a doctor's office and say – "Show me your medicines."

Diagnosing your problem a necessary step before that doctor would know if or how they could help.

Your sales leads are no different. You have to qualify them to know if or how you can help them.

If you don't, you'll end up playing a game "Demo-Proposal-Chase" with every prospect.

When you do qualify your leads, when you know their critical business issue, and when you can show them how you can solve their problem, you'll get more CLARITY, CONTROL & CONFIDENCE in your sales process.

That's why Lead Qualification is one of the 9 Sales Accelerators - it'll help you move faster with the right leads, and avoid wasting days or weeks or months with the wrong leads.

Check out the LinkedIn Live here:

www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6717121319198093312

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Todd Caponi.

Todd is the author of the 3x best-book-award-winning, The Transparency Sale, a speaker & workshop leader as Founder & CEO of Sales Melon LLC, and the Managing Director of Chicago’s VentureSCALE. Todd is also a multi-time C-Level sales leader, a behavioral science nerd, and has guided two companies to successful exits.

Two of the key topics that we discussed in Part 1 of this episode are:

Transparency negotiations
Transparency pricing

Link & Resources:

Todd Caponi on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/toddcaponi

Todd Caponi on Twitter: twitter.com/tcaponi

The Transparency Sale: www.transparencysale.com

Book: The Transparency Sale: https://amzn.to/2K0TRV1

Media Kit for more information: www.transparencysale.com/mediakit

Five Great Rules of Selling by Percy H Whiting: https://amzn.to/2XHRo5Y

The 5 Great Rules of Selling Percy H Whiting (The Revised and Enlarged Edition): https://amzn.to/38B0vM2

Tthe Art of Selling by Arthur Sheldon: https://amzn.to/3pnqrjZ

The Art and Science of Selling, Volume V by National Salesmen's Training Association: https://amzn.to/32B0LXD

Shirley Ann Jackson: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Ann_Jackson

The Ten Fundamental Traits of a Successful Seller - circa 1921

www.transparencysale.com/blog/tractorworldtraits

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

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You know more about the problem your product solves that anyone – that’s why you started your company in the first place. No one else is solving the problem the right way, or none of the current products work.

57% of the purchase decision is made before a prospect contacts you & 67% of the buying journey is now done digitally.

You HAVE to be front & center to teach your prospects about their problem and how to think about options to solve it.

That's why “Authority Voice” is one of the 9 Sales Accelerators that every startup needs to build and run to get more repeatability and predictability in their sales process.

Most of all, when you build and implement your Authority Voice Strategy this right way, you’re not just EDUCATING your prospects about their problem – you’re SEPARATING yourself from the rest of the marketing and INDOCTRINATING your prospects as to why they should work with you.

When you do this the right way, you’ll get more CLARITY, CONTROL & CONFIDENCE in your sales process.

If you'd like some help with your Authority Voice Strategy, or any of the 9 Sales Accelerators, send me a DM and I'll show you how my team & I can help.

Let's do this…

Check out the LinkedIn Live here:

www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6716745906336727041

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

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Lead generation and filling your sales funnel is the most important sales work your startup needs do every day.

That's why "Funnel Fillers" are one of the 9 key Sales Accelerators that every startup needs to build and run to get more repeatability and predictability in their sales process.

In this video, I'm sharing three (3) foundations of a Funnel Filler strategy, including why their important and if implemented the right way, will help you get more CLARITY, CONTROL & CONFIDENCE in your startup's sales process.

Check out the LinkedIn Live here:

https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6716389768202137600/

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I was interviewed by Scott Cowley.

Scott Cowley began selling at 15 and has helped industries ranging from Healthcare to Fintech to Event Management. Scott has personally closed deals on every inhabited continent (if you can help him with the only uninhabited continent, Antarctica, please reach out) and led teams selling in multiple languages.

He is the founder of The Sales Mastermind, a business serving founders who sell but aren’t “sales” people with consulting, coaching, and community.

Some of the topics that we discussed in this episode are:

What is it that most founders don’t know about sales?
How sales is a process and how it works.
Why should you never think about sales as “closing the sale”.
Implementation in the sales process.
How to avoid proposals?
How to lead the sale?
Mistakes that founders make when it comes to building up their sales process.
When and how to find repeatability in your sales process so you can hire and grow your sales team.
Why should sales be 6 months ahead of the product?

Link & Resources:

Scott Cowley on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/scottcowleyau

The Sales Mastermind: www.thesalesmastermind.com

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Ethan Beute.

As the Chief Evangelist at BombBomb, coauthor of Rehumanize Your Business, and host of The Customer Experience Podcast, Ethan has collected and shared people’s video success stories in a variety of formats for a decade. He’s even sent 10,000 videos himself.

Prior to joining BombBomb, he spent a dozen years leading marketing teams inside local television stations in Chicago, Grand Rapids, and Colorado Springs.

He holds undergraduate and graduates degrees from the University of Michigan and UCCS in communication, psychology, and marketing.

Some of the key topics that we discussed in this episode are:

How to rehumanize your sales process?
What does it mean to be more human?
How do we use videos as a tool kit?
How video allows you to be more empathetic and curious in a way that email cannot do.
Being seen and heard by using videos
The paradox of vulnerability
The psychology of proximity
Social reciprocity
Commodified products
Video creates irrational buyer forces

Link & Resources:

Ethan Beute LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ethanbeute

BombBomb Website: bombbomb.com

BombBomb on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/bombbomb

Rehumainze Your Business by Ethan Beute: bombbomb.com/book

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Andy Paul.

Andy has written two award-winning sales books, Zero-Time Selling and Amp Up Your Sales, is ranked #8 on LinkedIn's list of Top 50 Global Sales Experts. He has consulted with some of the biggest businesses in the world including Square, Philips, Grubhub, and more, making him one of the leading voices in the sales industry today.

With more than 175,000 followers on LinkedIn, Andy is a highly sought-after speaker and sales sage who has made it his life's work to bring you strategies and insights that enable you to generate more wins and massive value.

Some of the key topics that we discussed in this episode are:

Topics & Key Words:

The importance of relationships in Sales
Courage
Sales Manager vs Sales Coach
Misallocation of Attention
Productivity Growth: https://www.bls.gov/lpc/prodybar.htm
Returns of Time Invested
Parado

Link & Resources:

Andy Paul on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/realandypaul

Andy Paul: Amp Up Your Sales: Powerful Strategies That Move Customers to Make Fast, Favorable Decisions: amzn.to/30IxUQ0

Sales Enablement Podcast with Andy Paul:

www.ringdna.com/sales-enablement-podcast-with-andy-paul

Herbert Simon: Bounded Rationality: amzn.to/33IYeeK

Herbert Simon: Administrative Behavior:amzn.to/2Gv112x

Paradox of Choice: amzn.to/33IROwd

Peak-end Rule: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak%E2%80%93end_rule

New B2B Buying Journey & its Implication for Sales:

www.gartner.com/en/sales/insights/b2b-buying-journey

The Identification of Solution Ideas during Organizational Decision Making:

www.jstor.org/stable/2632813

Meet Liverpool's secret weapon: throw-in coach Thomas Grønnemark: es.pn/3nE9qBx

Zero-Time Selling: 10 Essential Steps To Accelerate Every Company's Sales: amzn.to/3nvfZpD

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Zero-Time Selling: 10 Essential Steps To Accelerate Every Company's Sales

Amp Up Your Sales: Powerful Strategies That Move Customers to Make Fast, Favorable Decisions

Models of Bounded Rationality, Volume 1: Economic Analysis and Public Policy

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As soon as you begin to think that there's a good time or a bad time, you've lost it. Your prospects are out there, every day on different channels. Find them and talk to them.

When I was at Blend, Sunday afternoons were my best day. Why? Because the executives I was targeting were catching up on email and messages from their home office.

When I sold textbooks 25 years ago, I'd walk the university hallways into the late afternoon to find that one professor in the office.

Today, running SalesQualia, our future customers are startup founders. It's Friday at 5:16pm and we just booked two meetings for next week from LinkedIn chat messages.

Prospecting is a mindset – either you believe in your bones that your customers want to hear from you because you solve an important problem, or you're just going through the motions.

Make it happen for yourself.

Check out the LinkedIn Live here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/scottsambucci_whens-the-best-time-to-do-your-prospecting-activity-6710340824145702912-kPzm

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Every day feels like a race when you're growing your startup.

But do you have a system in place to get better along the way between those races – to build your strengths, to improve where you need?

For me, "getting out to the garage" means committing time and effort everyday, no matter what, to get better.

Where's your garage?

Check out the LinkedIn Live here:

www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6701843992394440704

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Nick Casale.

Nick is the Director of Sales at Sendoso, the leading Sending Platform, where he’s responsible for the mid-market and enterprise sales teams. As the third employee and first sales hire, Nick built Sendoso’s sales process from the ground up before stepping into management to focus on scaling the sales organization.

Nick is passionate about empowering sales reps to rise above the digital noise and connect with prospects and customers on a human level. Prior to Sendoso, Nick was an early sales hire at Talkdesk.

Some of the topics that we discussed in this episode are:

The difference between implies versus actual ROI.
How to track the results from sending a physical object?
The three specific areas in your sales funnel where you could be using physical impressions. These are:
1. At the start of your sale “engagement” stage
2. Using it mid-funnel as a way to build rapport to pull a deal from early, to middle, to late stage.
3. At the end of the sales funnel “close to conversion”.
What are some gifts/objects that you could be sending?
How gifts can help you with building a relationship and in your conversion rate.
Nick’s experience as an early-stage company leader and moving from Account Executives to Director role.

Link & Resources:

Sendoso: sendoso.com

Nick on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/casalenick

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Anthony Garcia.

Anthony is an expert in sales training, recruiting, goal achievement, and motivating salespeople to peak performance. He created his 1st business and built a team of over 100 sales reps at the age of 22 and has gone on to coach and mentor hundreds of top-performing sales professionals whose accolades have been national rep of the year, rookie of the year, and hall of fame.

As an 18-year veteran of sales, Anthony has achieved top accolades in direct sales, B2B, and medical sales. In his previous roles, he has trained and developed sales teams for Cutco Cutlery and Paychex. His experiences have included managing teams of highly compensating sales professionals, facilitating international training programs, and launching products in new and emerging markets.

As the author of the International Best-Selling book “Catapulting Commissions”, he provides strategies to get into the mental game of selling. Anthony has delivered numerous keynotes focusing on complacent sales syndrome, goal achievement, and S.M.A.R.T.E.R. goal setting.

He is also the host of the Catapulting Commissions podcast where he discusses the complacency that robs people of their full potential and interviews some of the world’s top sales performers and entrepreneurs.

His thoughts and opinions have been featured in Forbes, CNBC, FOX, and CBS.

Some of the topics that we discussed in this episode are:

The importance of identifying limits.
The limitations that we have and could be preventing us from hitting your next phase of growth.
“Crossing the Redline” when selling your product.
The complacent sales syndrome and how it’s robbing your growth.
How can you become a “dream manager” so that you can understand your team?
How do you help push your team to get to the outcome they want to achieve?
Catapulting Commissions and understanding how to get to the next big outcome.
The power circle of influence (people that support you).
How do you eliminate doubt?
The importance of getting clarity with you and the people around you.

Link & Resources:

Website: anthonypgarcia.com

Anthony on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/anthonypgarcia99

Catapulting Commissions by Anthony Garcia: www.catapultingcommissions.com/free-book-page1593218776016

Book: Dream Manager Matthew Kelly: amzn.to/3hA0IzD

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Doug Sandler.

Doug has over 30 years of business experience as an entrepreneur and leader. His book, Nice Guys Finish First is a #1 ranked Amazon Best Seller. As podcast host of The Nice Guys on Business Podcast, Doug has interviewed Gary Vaynerchuk, Arianna Huffington from HuffPost, Dan Harris from Good Morning America, Ron Klain, White House Chief of Staff, and dozens of celebs.

Doug specializes in teaching others the "how-to's" of building relationships and strengthening connections. He is a nationally recognized speaker and writer.

Some of the topics that we discussed in this episode are:

The importance of using podcasts as a way to influence and create community.
The virtues of podcasting and how you could be using it in your market.
The importance of having a specific market niche and how it can be helpful for your audience.
Ford Mustang Podcast by Doug Sandler and how his message educates people.
What are some ways to start your own podcast?
How do you go from idea to implementation?

Link & Resources:

Doug Sandler on LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/in/doug-sandler-1a346649

Nice Guys on Business Podcast: www.niceguysonbusiness.com

TurnKey Podcast: www.turnkeypodcast.com/toolkit

Nice Guys Finish First by Doug Sandler: amzn.to/2Z0jQAs

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Doug Sandler.

Doug has over 30 years of business experience as an entrepreneur and leader. His book, Nice Guys Finish First is a #1 ranked Amazon Best Seller. As podcast host of The Nice Guys on Business Podcast, Doug has interviewed Gary Vaynerchuk, Arianna Huffington from HuffPost, Dan Harris from Good Morning America, Ron Klain, White House Chief of Staff, and dozens of celebs.

Doug specializes in teaching others the "how-to's" of building relationships and strengthening connections. He is a nationally recognized speaker and writer.

Some of the topics that we discussed in this episode are:

Book: Nice Guys Finish First by Doug Sandler.
How does being a nice person help you with sales?
The importance of putting people over products whenever you’re selling.
The importance of putting your clients over technology.
Accepting the reality of the numbers when you’re selling and getting rid of the “Head-trash”.
The core tenants for making you a nice guy.
Focusing on your customers and being honest with them.

Link & Resources:

Doug Sandler on LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/in/doug-sandler-1a346649

Nice Guys on Business Podcast: www.niceguysonbusiness.com

TurnKey Podcast: www.turnkeypodcast.com/toolkit

Nice Guys Finish First by Doug Sandler: amzn.to/2Z0jQAs

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Blend officially reached unicorn status this week, with the announcement of their Series F – now valued at $1.7 billion.

These announcements lead to a bunch of messages and questions –

What was it like starting the sales process as the first head of sales?

Where did we find our first customers?

How did you get on the path to unicorn status in the early days?

So... I decided to kick-off my LinkedIn Live account by sharing 4 key factors that made a huge difference in getting from 0 to 1 at Blend.

Check out the LinkedIn Live here: https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6699690106762092545/

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Greg Accardo.

With over 20 years of business and sales experience, Greg serves as the Director of the LSU Professional Sales Institute. Since 2015, he has been in the Department of Marketing conducting extensive work developing and executing strategy, acting as the industry liaison, chief fundraiser, managing budgets, overseeing internships and placements, overseeing & coaching the university sales team and sales competitions, job fares, and other PSI events.

Greg teaches two sections of undergraduate classes for Professional Sales and Sales Practicum. He also teaches Advanced Professional Sales and Negotiation Tactics & Strategies for LSU Executive Education.

He successfully launched a CRM education program in partnership with HubSpot for all current and future LSU PSI students.

Some of the topics that we discussed in this episode are:

The evolution of sales as an academic pursuit.
The evolution of inside sales and how it went from telemarketing to a true sales position.
The development and science of marketing and how it has augmented the evolution of sales.
The percentage of business majors coming out of college to focus on sales as their first job.
National and International sales competitions occurring across the country.
How you as an employer can be involved in these sales competitions as a judge, sponsor, etc.

Link & Resources:

Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-accardo/

LSU Professional Sales Institute: https://www.lsu.edu/business/psi/index.php

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Jeroen Corthout.

Jeroen is the co-founder and CEO of Salesflare, an intelligent CRM built for SMBs selling B2B, mostly popular with agencies and SaaS companies.

Salesflare itself was founded when Jeroen and his co-founder Lieven wanted to manage the leads for their software company in an easier way. They didn't like to keep track of them manually and built Salesflare, which pulls customer data together automatically.

It's now the most popular CRM on Product Hunt and top-rated on review platforms like G2 for its ease of use and automation features.

Some of the topics that we discussed in this episode are:

Jeroen’s background story.
How do you think about a CRM that you own and use?
How do you follow up with leads and customers?
How do you bridge gaps?
How to make your leads feel as if they’re the only person you’re talking to?
Proper account mapping and adopting the outreach/communication with your sales leads based on individual situations.
What are some nudges for follow-ups?
How do you get thoughtful with your follow-ups and establishing the links between accounts and people at the accounts you are targeting?

Link & Resources:

Salesflare website: salesflare.com

Jeroen's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jeroencorthout

Jeroen's podcast, Founder Coffee: foundercoffee.salesflare.com

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Todd Caponi.

Todd is the author of the 3x best-book-award-winning, The Transparency Sale, a speaker & workshop leader as Founder & CEO of Sales Melon LLC, and the Managing Director of Chicago’s VentureSCALE. Todd is also a multi-time C-Level sales leader, a behavioral science nerd, and has guided two companies to successful exits.

Some of the topics that we discussed in this episode are:

Tommy Boy the movie and ways to set up the distinction between Authenticity and Transparency.
Todd’s book – The Transparency Sale.
The importance and techniques to disarm your prospects using The Transparency Sale method.
Ways to be truthful when it comes to measuring ourselves.
The Result’s Formula – It looks at four specific KPIs that if you’re moving in the right direction, larger changes and growth will occur in your sales or company.
Prospecting and the importance of adding value.
The importance of focusing and doing firmographics studies

Link & Resources:

Todd Caponi on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/toddcaponi

Todd Caponi on Twitter: twitter.com/tcaponi

The Transparency Sale: www.transparencysale.com

Book: The Transparency Sale: amzn.to/2BxenrF

Media Kit for more information: www.transparencysale.com/mediakit

Five Great Rules of Selling by Percy H Whiting: amzn.to/2XHRo5Y

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Steve Benson.

Steve is the Founder and CEO of Badger Maps, the #1 route planner for field salespeople. After receiving his MBA from Stanford, he joined Google, where he became Google Enterprise's Top Sales Executive globally in 2009.

In 2012 Steve founded Badger Maps to help field salespeople be more successful by optimizing their routes and schedules to save time and be on time so they can sell more.

He hosts the Outside Sales Talk podcast where he interviews industry experts on their top sales tips. He is also the President of the Sales Hall of Fame.

Some of the topics that we discussed in this episode are:

Steve’s process of getting on to podcasts and shows.
How to think through the process of ‘outside sales’.
How do you make adjustments in a world where you can’t go out and sell?
How to leverage your Product Champion in ways that you’re not doing but you should be doing?
How to think through and how to build an account map?
How to think about motivation as a Sales Leader or CEO?
What should you be doing as a Sales Leader to keep your reps sharper?
Why you should not be discounting your price.
How to shift the structure of compensation plans for your sales team.

Link & Resources:

Outside Sales Talk Podcast: www.outsidesalestalk.com

Badger Maps for Field Sales: www.badgermapping.com

Steve Benson on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stevenbenson

Sales Hall of Fame: www.badgermapping.com/sales-hall-of-fame

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Ernest Owusu.

As the Sr. Director of Sales Development at 6sense, Ernest leverages his passion for helping others succeed as well as his insights from the field to foster a winning team. With previous experience as an NFL athlete, Ernest thrives in team environments full of high collaboration and healthy competition.

Outside of the office, you’ll find him tackling the industry’s diversity problem by mentoring and empowering under-represented people so they can confidently grow their careers.

Some of the topics that Ernest and I discussed in this episode are:

Ernest’s background as an NFL athlete.
How to research and how to hire?
What to look for in your SDR hire?
How does it work being an SDR manager?
What to look for and what are some lead indicators when hiring?
Strategy Adjustments: What to do when you see a dip (things that worked in the past but no longer do)?
How do you make strategy adjustments when you have dips?
How Ernest runs his sales meeting with his team.

Link & Resources:

6sense: 6sense.com

In-Market Demand Report: bit.ly/3f05XY8

Ernest Owusu on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ernestowusu

Jeb Blount, Fanatical Prospecting: amzn.to/3fZhM2g

Trish Bertuzzi, The Sales Development Playbook: amzn.to/2OW0rLO

Jeremey Donovan, Leading Sales Development: amzn.to/3fTVlLM

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The Sales Development Playbook: Build Repeatable Pipeline and Accelerate Growth with Inside Sales

Leading Sales Development: The Art and Science of Building Exceptional Teams

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Doll Avant.

Doll, Founder and CEO of Aquagenuity, is an award-winning inventor & data scientist, a graduate of Harvard University, & TEDx speaker, honored on Google’s home page with the global designation of “Google's Woman of Water” for creating the “world’s largest water database.”

She has been featured by the New York Times, SoftBank, BMW, Coca-Cola, Forbes, WIRED magazine, and on the homepage of Google for making it easy for any citizen to safely answer the question: “What’s In Your Water?”

Some of the topics that Doll and I discussed in this episode are:

The transition from being a data scientist to becoming an entrepreneur.
The known data collection challenges that Doll had.
How to make the data useful to test the quality of your water.
The unknown challenges in her journey with Aquagenuity.
Doll’s experience as a Black entrepreneur.
The ability to tell a story and transfer enthusiasm.
Becoming a TEDx speaker.

Link & Resources:

Aquagenuity: aquagenuity.com

Doll Avant on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dollavant

Check your AquaScore for free at myAquaScore.com

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I was interviewed by Adam Springer.

Adam has been the first salesperson for three startups, successfully growing to $1 Million ARR in under a year then scaling it out to $5 million.

He specializes in B2B complex sales and has helped over 100 companies create sales systems to get to and above $5 million in revenue.

Adam hosts the Startup Sales podcast which speaks with Founders, VC’s globally to create actionable insights for creating early-stage sales processes.

Some of the topics that Adam and I discussed in this episode are:

Where to start if you’re an early-stage sales team?
How and where to look for your first 10-paying customers?
2/2 metrics – Friction and Value: How many values can you add to a target customer and how many frictions it takes to implement your solution.
When to hire your first salesperson?
What are the biggest mistakes that Startups make when hiring?
What are the problems when you’re hiring Mr. & Mrs. Rolodex?

Links & Resources

Startup Sales: startupsales.io

Adam Springer on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/b2b-startup-sales-expert

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GROW. Because that’s what your competitors are doing.

Over these past 6 weeks, I’ve coached and talked with over 100 B2B #startups across the health care, retail, manufacturing, construction, and financial sectors about their sales and selling strategy.

“Selling to hospitals is impossible…”

Two of our clients have signed 5- and 6-figure contracts in the past two weeks.

“Retail is dying.”

One client is on-boarding 7 new customers in the next 2 months. Two more teams selling to large-scale retailers joined our program because of the opportunities they're seeing.

“Manufacturers are getting hammered.”

Two teams have added customers, including a Fortune 500, to help with production systems and payments.

“I’ve got to cut back my sales team.”

One client just hired a salesperson to take over an entire customer segment and another has reps hitting 150% of quota.

These teams are no different than any other startup in this market, except for one thing…

They made the decision to #grow – to resist “ride it out" as a strategy.

The global economy is $80+ trillion. Your market NEEDS you now more than ever. Find them & help them.

#growth #startupselling

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I was interviewed by Joseph Fung.

Joseph is the CEO of Uvaro, a tech sales career accelerator, and of Kiite, a sales enablement platform purpose-built to provide sales teams with the information they need when they need it.

As a graduate of the University of Waterloo’s Computer Engineering program, Joseph is a repeat Founder & CEO with multiple successful exits. He speaks frequently on the topics of sales leadership, diversity, and corporate social responsibility.

He is an active early-stage investor who ensures that the majority of his investments are into women-led companies. Joseph also sits on the boards of Communitech, the Golden Triangle Angel Network, and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony.

Some of the topics that Joseph and I discussed in this episode are:

How I first got into sales
My transition to product management
My biggest surprise in tech
My journey as a sales advisor

Links & Resources

Kiite - kiite.ai

Uvaro: uvaro.com

Podcast: uvaro.com/podcast

Joseph Fung on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/josephfung

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Latane Conant.

Latané was instrumental in aligning sales and marketing in her previous position as CMO of Appirio, resulting in 5x more effective field marketing programs and a 300% increase in inbound leads.

Now as the Chief Market Officer of 6sense, Latané empowers revenue teams to compete and win in the age of account-based buying through 6sense’s solution — allowing them to uncover, prioritize, and engage with demand by uniting one common, AI-powered platform.

This allows them to know everything they need to know and do anything they need to do, ultimately generating 40% more opportunities, closing deals 2x faster, and winning 2x more often.

Some of the topics that Latane and I discussed in this episode are:

“The Dark Funnel” – The activity and research your buyers are doing before contacting the seller.
Identifying which accounts are “in-market”.
“New Inbound” – Get clear on the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), the buyer’s intent, and focusing your marketing and sales effort on the account that are “in-pocket”.
“In-pocket” – problem aware and solution aware.
The importance of demand capture versus demand gen.
The value card and how you create content for the different buyers.
The importance of using video and how you can create quick content.
How to leverage AI to create an amazing customer experience.
The importance of orchestrating to create a positive experience for your buyer.
The importance of the “next best action” with your prospects.
Racial inequality and improvements we can all be making when it comes to diversity within our teams, customers, and community.

Links & Resources

Rapid Adoption. Immediate Impact: 6sense.com

Latane on Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/latane-conant

Manifesto for the Future of B2B Customer Engagement:

hub.6sense.com/breakthroughplus/manifesto-for-the-future-of-b2b-customer-engagement-latane-conant-cmo-of-6sense

SV Academy: sv.academy

[book] White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism www.amazon.com/White-Fragility-People-About-Racism/dp/0807047414

[assessment] Impact of Unconscious Bias

trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/workplace_equality_inclusion_challenges

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White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

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This is an uncomfortable conversation, and that's why I'm doing it.

Over the past two weeks, I've been watching and supporting the anti-racism protests across the world and embarking on my own personal journey of awareness and analysis about myself, my personal life and my company on the topic of structural racism, white supremacy and anti-blackness.

It's been scary and revealing.

In this episode, I'm sharing the details of my personal analysis because my guess is that you can relate to one or many of the experiences and environments in which I've lived and worked over the past 40+ years of my life.

I'm sharing some personal stories about growing up in South Jersey, getting arrested, joining a college fraternity that was unabashedly racist, and my observations working in the education, real estate, mortgage, and technology industries.

This isn't a proclamation or a statement – it's simply my way to share ideas about my own personal analysis and action in the hope that it will contribute to you and others in your own analysis and action.

Please share your ideas with me as a comment wherever you're listening to the show, or by sending an email to me at scott@salesqualia.com.

This isn't a later problem anymore. This is a now problem that all of us need to work on together.

#blacklivesmatter #blacksintech #blackcommunity #startups #leadership #listening

Links & Resources:

Barbara J. Love & Liberatory Consciousness: www.barbarajlove.com

Ericka Hines: www.everylevelleads.com

Rachel Rodgers & Hello Seven's Town Hall Replay: www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=884985288645916

The Anti-Racist Small Business Pledge: https://mk0hellosevencogaqta.kinstacdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Small-Business-Pledge.pdf

Doing more, doing better – Overcoming the racial divide [LinkedIn post with links to people and resources:

www.linkedin.com/pulse/doing-more-better-overcoming-racial-divide-scott-sambucci

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Carson Conant.

Carson Conant is the CEO and Founder of Chicago-based sales enablement solution provider Mediafly.

Having grown up in an entrepreneurial family, Carson is no stranger to the challenges and rewards of building a company from the ground up and assembling a brilliant team to successfully execute on his vision.

Under Carson’s leadership, Mediafly has been recognized as an Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Company for five consecutive years, one of Inc.’s Best Workplaces of 2018, and a Best Place to Work by Crain’s Chicago Business. Mediafly’s software is currently leveraged by top Fortune 500 companies including PepsiCo, MillerCoors, Disney, and Goldman Sachs.

Some of the topics that Carson and I discussed in this episode are:

What does sales enablement mean?
The difference between marketing and sales content.
When and how to use content in your sales process.
The lessons from marketing and its functions in an organization.
When to update your content whether it is a video presentation, case study, or powerpoints.
When is the best time to establish a sales-enablement role in your organization?

Links & Resources

Mediafly: www.mediafly.com

The Evolved Selling Institute: www.evolvedselling.com

Carson Conant on LinkedIn: ww.linkedin.com/in/carsonconant

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Aaron Krall.

Aaron Krall helps SaaS companies drive more leads, convert more users, and accelerate growth. His proven, done-for-you systems and frameworks have increased conversions, automated sales, and reduced churn for companies like Reply.io and IBM.

Aaron also runs the largest SaaS community in the world: SaaS Growth Hacks on Facebook.

He lives in Salt Lake City with his wife, Natalie, his son, Arlo, and dog, Penny.

Some of the topics that Aaron and I discussed in this episode are:

Self-Serve vs Sales – What are the types of products that work with a self-serve system versus the types of products that require a sale.
Selling vs Marketing – When & how should you be marketing and how should you be selling?
What makes a good marketing strategy?
Internal vs External Realities – How you can use your internal realities as part of your marketing strategy.
What are key metrics that you should be looking at in your Marketing?
The importance of looking at your metrics on a weekly basis and identifying the impact areas within the business.

Links & Resources

Aarons Linkedin profile: www.linkedin.com/in/aaronkrall

SaaS Growth Hacks: www.facebook.com/groups/SaaSgrowthhacking

Understanding Your Customer’s Desired Outcome: sixteenventures.com/customer-success-desired-outcome

People & Products mentioned:

Bench: www.bench.co

Sujan Patel: sujanpatel.com

Mailshake: www.mailshake.com

ClickFunnels: www.clickfunnels.com

Superhuman: https://superhuman.com/

Russell Brunson: www.russellbrunson.com/hi

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed CEO at Chorus, Jim Benton.

Jim joined Chorus.ai as CEO to bring Conversation Intelligence, the fastest-growing category in sales technology, to the masses.

As a former Co-Founder of ClearSlide and CEO of Apollo, Benton’s career is defined by revenue generation and applying the voice of the customer.

Chorus will continue delivering solutions to improve the consistency and quality of the customer experience, quota attainment, and shortening new-hire onboarding for high-growth teams, like those of Zoom and MongoDB.

Some of the topics that Jim and I discussed in this episode are:

Sales Productivity – connect rates and follow up meetings resulting from the initial conversation.
How many times have phrases like “COVID” come up in your conversation?
Tactical changes that can be made to the way that you’re operating your sales team.
How the work of a salesperson has changed as we enter into this new way of selling.
The importance of getting clear on the problems and who the buyers are on the other side of the table.
The importance of bringing both sides of the executive team to the meeting.
The importance of authenticity. Give your team permission to be human in their conversation.
Jim’s experience cold-emailing Steve Jobs and how he got a deal between Ticket Master and Apple.

Links & Resources

Chorus.ai: www.chorus.ai

ClearSlide: www.clearslide.com

Jim Benton on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/benton

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Laura Janusik.

Laura Janusik is a dynamic professor, trainer, researcher, speaker, and business consultant. Laura has won numerous research and teaching awards from different professional and academic associations, and she is one of the world’s leading experts in teaching and training listening.

All of Laura’s work is supported by the most current research, which she shares and applies in training, coaching, and consulting. Her approach to communication, both oral and written, is practical and other-centered. Her specialty areas include listening cognitions and metacognitions, healthcare, pedagogy, intercultural listening, and interpersonal communication.

She is a past president of the International Listening Association, and she is published both nationally and internationally.

Laura uses the ECHO Listening Profile™ in much of her work with individuals and teams. The ECHO is a scientifically validated instrument to measure an individual or team’s listening dominance. With this tool, listening blind spots are quickly identified, and Laura helps individuals and teams listen from their blind spots so that they can increase shared understanding, make sure everyone is working towards the same goal at the same time and decreases costs by reducing meeting times as well as rework.

She holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Maryland at College Park and an MBA from Rockhurst University in Kansas City, MO.

Some of the topics that Laura and I discussed in this episode are:

What does it mean to have a listening strategy.
What is the process for listening and how does the brain work.
The difference between listening and hearing.
Cognitive pieces of the brain and how does listening work.
How we understand the information that we hear and how do we process it from a response or no response standpoint.
The four listening habits – Connective, Reflective, Analytical, and Conceptual.
Defining and identifying which of those might be your dominant listening habit.
Signal that you can use to identify other people’s listening habits to understand their type of communicating.

Links & Resources

Laura Janusik on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/laurajanusikphd

ECHO Listening Intelligence: www.echolistening.com

Interested in learning more? Feel free to contact Laura at LJanusik@gmail.com for a free consultation.

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I was interviewed by Business Coach and Mentor, Jason Everett.

Jason Everett is one of those rare individuals that have the ability to harness and leverage technology like a second nature superpower and use if for online teaching, training, and education.

As the founder of several successful international digital training and technology companies, he is a powerhouse of information and can pack weeks worth of technology learning into an easily digestible short format class that makes learning it a pleasure.

He breaks things down into simple to implement an easy step by step approach no matter what level of “tech nerd” you are. He’s has generated millions in sales as a result of his videos and courses and has been asked to speak in Japan, Peru, Paris, Egypt and countless other counties to share his passion for digital education.

He has always been a pioneer and out-front leader in the virtual and real-world of all things digital.

If you are looking to upskill your team or kick your tech-knowledge to the next level then bring in Jason to share his knowledge and passion – he will leave you feeling charged up and ready to take on this new world over video.

Some of the topics that Jason and I discussed in this episode are:

The idea that everyone is running their own Ultra Marathon right now – and it’s a race without a finish line in sight.
Hair Salon Owners doing virtual consults, doorstep beauty kit drop-offs & give-yourself-a-haircut videos.
Making 10 calls every day to the books as a Hair Salon Owner.
Action. Ownership. Leadership.

Links & Resources

Jason Everett: www.linkedin.com/in/jasoneverett

High Performance Salon: www.facebook.com/highperformancesalon

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed best-selling author, and coach, Brian Robinson.

Brian Robinson is a sales and marketing expert, best-selling author, and coach. He has worked for some of the best-known companies in the world, including Coca-Cola USA and Johnson & Johnson.

Upon leaving his corporate career, he helped launch a successful startup where he was the first person in the history of the industry to sell more than one million dollars in business in twelve months—entirely by phone.

He has over two decades of in-the-trenches, battle-tested, face-to-face, and phone-presentation experience that can benefit virtually anyone, from Fortune 500 companies to entrepreneurial ventures.

Brian is the author of the Amazon #1 Best-Seller, THE SELLING FORMULA: 5 Steps for Instant Sales Improvement.

Brian and his wife Cindy reside in the Oklahoma City area and have eight children - which could be the topic of an entire podcast in and of itself!

Some of the topics that Brian and I discussed in this episode are:

THE SELLING FORMULA: 5 Steps for Instant Sales Improvement: Connect, Interview, Present, Share, and Close.
The “Why” behind each of the five steps.
The importance of having a pre-built list of questions in your sales calls.
The importance of using fact-finding and emotional types of questions in your sales call.
Why is it necessary to set the agenda for every meeting?
Interview as if you are a reporter.
Pricing strategies and ways to share your price.
The importance of including and creating a guarantee with your products and presenting it early in your sales process.

Links & Resources

The Selling Formula (audio): brianrobinsonbook.com/free-audio-download

The Selling Formula: thesellingformula.com

Brian Robinson: linkedin.com/in/brianwrobinson

Calfussman: www.calfussman.com

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I was interviewed by Neil Fontenot.

Neil is an entrepreneurial and versatile technology sales leader, skilled at exceeding quotas and maximizing revenue.

His experience in Fortune 100 Financial Services, FinTech, InsureTech, AI, and SaaS startups combined with storytelling talent allows him to convey value, ROI, and close deals.

As a leader of people, Neil is not afraid to roll up his sleeves and get my hands dirty to find and address any challenge a business may face.

Some of the topics that Neil and I discussed in this episode are:

What’s been working for me in this new environment?
What have been the biggest changes in my day and life with COVID?
The challenges and adjustments when you’re a parent with a child now home from school?
How do you stay positive and find progress in daily life?
The importance of discipline and exercise every day.
Doing your best and accepting that you’re doing the best that you can.
What’s changed in my life and what new activities have I done in the past two months?
What are the sales strategies we’re recommending to our clients?
The importance of setting small goals every day, celebrating those wins, and then keeping yourself moving.
Why every person that’s struggling should ask for help?

Links & Resources

Neil Fontenot on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/neilfontenot

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed CEO of Chili Piper, Nicolas Vandenberghe.

Nicolas started his career by selling newspapers in the streets of Paris in high school, studied Maths at Ecole Polytechnique, and then received his MBA from Stanford GSB.

He then started and sold 2 tech companies with up to 65 employees and $11M in revenues, and also ran sales for a $2B telecom firm negotiating billion-dollar deals with companies like Google.

After having his 3rd tech startup put out of business by Salesforce, Nicolas rebranded his company “Floating Apps” to “Chili Piper” and then self-funded with no remaining employees. He used the “Bull’s Eye” marketing strategy to close in-person the first $1 million in revenues himself with companies like Intuit, Square, Twilio, and Greenhouse in under 12 months.

Some of the topics that Nicolas and I discussed in this episode are:

How to reduce friction in the sales process.
The importance of a “Thank You!” page for requesting demos or other pieces of information from your page.
How quickly you can get someone from ‘Interested’ to ‘booking the meeting’.
The importance of selling a product that does not exist and getting your customers to prepay you.
The importance of having a quick response rate in order to take advantage of the people that are interested in your product.
Call times and conversion rate – How sales can be lost due to slow response times.
The importance of reference points in making decisions when it comes to pricing and anchoring your customers to what your product does and how it can solve their problems.

Links & Resources

Chili Piper: www.chilipiper.com

Nicolas Vandenberghe: www.linkedin.com/in/nvandenberghe

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed entrepreneur and Founder of Lead Cookie and Content Allies, Jake Jorgovan.

Lead Cookie helps B2B sales teams generate leads through LinkedIn prospecting. They manage your LinkedIn account and start conversations between you and your target customers.

Content Allies cater to Events associations and Consulting Firms where they create Podcasts, Articles, White Papers, and Social Content.

Some of the topics that Jake and I discussed in this episode are:

How to use LinkedIn for engagement and lead generation.
Why you should think about your engagement campaign in “small segments”.
The 3 factors of relevancy on LinkedIn.
Technical factors such as the number of LinkedIn connection requests you can send on a daily basis.
Sales Navigator and how it is designed for sales research and other sales activity.
The 4 step process in your engagement to identify if whether the person you are connecting with is a lead or not.
How can the leads that are not qualified be useful to build your LinkedIn network?
Tips that will make you feel confident that ‘now’ is the right time to do prospecting.

Links & Resources

Jake Jorgovan: www.linkedin.com/in/jakejorgovan

Lead Cookie: www.leadcookie.com

Content Allies: contentallies.com

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Ep. 82: Role Playing & Assessments in Your Sales Hiring Process: An interview with Aspireship's Christine Rogers

In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed President and COO of Aspireship, Christine Rogers.

Christine is a seasoned sales and marketing leader with over 15 years of recruiting, hiring, training, and managing high-performing sales teams at Infusionsoft and Booker by MindBody to name a few.

Currently, she's the President and COO of Aspireship, a platform designed to match high potential sales candidates with great SaaS companies looking to hire. They do this through an exclusive network of candidates who prove themselves through their training and assessment process, and also by providing tools to help companies better discover talent within their existing network.

Some of the topics that Christine and I discussed in this episode are:

“Should I be hiring now?”
Bloat: Looking at ways to cut expenses.
Taking steps forward to start building your business again.
Getting clear on what are the real metrics for hiring.
The importance of having a process for hiring and having alignment around culture, mission, and values.
How do we access which salespeople are good versus the ones that look good on paper?
How do we get the salespeople to role play – in this way, we can access their ability to sell. This gives your candidates an option to disqualify themselves.
How to make decisions when it comes to moving forward with a candidate or not.

Links & Resources

Aspireship: aspireship.com

Christine Rogers on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/christinerogers2

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed author and CEO, Chris Spurvey.

After consciously choosing entrepreneurship as a means to create a better life for his family, Chris realized that negative beliefs about sales were holding him back from taking his ventures to the next level. He saw this as a major hurdle to not only his businesses but the businesses of virtually every other entrepreneur.

Chris spearheaded the growth of Plato Consulting to the point it was acquired by one of the largest management consulting firms in the world (KPMG). In the process, he sold over $300 million in consulting services.

Following the acquisition, Chris turned his focus to helping other “non-sales sellers” find a way to grow their revenue in a consistent, stress-free manner.

Chris’s newest venture is Dockridge Digital, a technology consulting and product development company focusing on helping businesses leverage digital to serve their customers.

Some of the topics that Chris and I discussed in this episode are:

Chris’s background and his transition from the mindset “sales is something you do to people/being pushy” to “sales is a place for problem-solving”
The general approach to sales – sales is not about doing something to someone, sales is about curiosity
Diagnostic conversation – How to be related and being more relevant
How do we sell in our current environment
How to problem-solve for our customers

Links & Resources

LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/in/chrisspurvey

Website:www.chrisspurvey.com

It's time to sell on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2R6vxSs

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It's Time to Sell: Cultivating the Sales Mind-set

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Selling Strategies in a Volatile Market

Don’t believe everything you think.
Relationships first.
There’s no such thing “All” and “Everyone”
Christmas was 90 days ago…
Your Prospects don’t panic-buy, so don’t panic-sell
Customers buy Outcomes, and simple steps create stable outcomes.
Slow is Smooth, and Smooth is Fast.
Be the Mayor of your town.
People will borrow certainty from the person who has the most of it in the room.
Your customer is on their Hero’s Journey. If you found this useful, please Like, Comment & Share ASAP.

#enterprisesales #gofarther #startupsales #sales #saassales #salespipeline #salesplan #selling

Startup Selling: Talking Sales with Scott Sambucci: Recent Episodes

Scott Sambucci