Ask the Right Questions, The Sales and RevOps Podcast

Are you a Sales Leader looking to take your team to new heights?

In this episode, we’ll reveal the 5 key strategies that will help you unlock your team’s full potential and achieve remarkable success.

From being a partner rather than a boss to asking the right questions, we’ll explore actionable tips and proven techniques to empower your sales force.

Discover how "real play" can enhance your role plays and why formal training should never be overlooked.

Learn how to leverage your CRM as a powerful tool to help your team win deals.

Join us on this journey of transformation and become a Sales Leader who drives results.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to revolutionize your sales approach!

Click now to listen to the episode and take the first step towards transforming your team’s performance.

Are you struggling with an underperforming sales team?

You're not alone.

In this episode, we dissect the top 6 reasons salespeople often fail, from lack of prospecting to the inability to handle objections. But we don't stop there – we also share actionable strategies to tackle these challenges head-on and empower your sales force.

Whether you're a VP of Sales, Sales Manager, or a Co-founder, tune in to transform your approach, optimize your strategies, and start hitting those targets!

Don't forget to subscribe for the latest insights and tips to elevate your sales game.

In this episode, we delve into the nuances of sales discovery calls and how sales leaders can guide their teams to success, especially when using HubSpot.

What You'll Learn:

• The twin objectives of a successful discovery call.
• The delicate balance between scripted and spontaneous conversations.
• The power of the '5 whys' in understanding your prospects.
• Distinguishing between prospects who need a deeper dive and those who require a more straightforward approach.
• Tips for harnessing HubSpot for discovery calls, including playbooks, meters, and question templates.

Whether you're seasoned in sales leadership or just beginning your journey with HubSpot, this episode is packed with insights to transform your approach to discovery calls.

Tune in for a blend of actionable strategies and thoughtful discussions on ensuring every sales interaction counts!

Dive deep into the art of sales accountability in this enlightening episode.

Discover how genuine accountability isn't just about monitoring—it's about propelling salespeople toward their individual goals.

Learn:

• The connection between CRM proficiency and effective leadership,
• The importance of setting unique objectives for each rep and why sales activity is the key to success.

Whether you're a seasoned sales leader or new to the role, gain insights to refine your leadership approach and drive meaningful results.

Welcome to our episode on "Prospecting Mastery for Sales Leaders: Driving Success in Your Team." Dive deep with us as we address the nuances of prospecting—a crucial sales component often sidestepped.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• The frequent sidelining of prospecting: Why is this vital process often overlooked, and what are the repercussions?
• Two facets of prospecting: We break down the essential elements of preparation (including calendaring and crafting your approach) and execution.
• Empowering sales reps: As a sales leader, how can you motivate your team and ensure they're held accountable for their prospecting actions?
• Operationalizing prospecting for guaranteed success: We outline strategies to maximize prospecting effectiveness, from leveraging email templates and call playbooks to implementing data analysis dashboards.

We also learn about the importance of clean data, role-playing sessions, and keeping your sales system efficient and streamlined.

Whether you're a seasoned sales leader or just stepping into the arena, this episode offers insights to enhance your team's prospecting prowess.

Welcome to our latest podcast episode: "Mastering the Art of Recruitment: How to Attract A-List Salespeople with Marketing Strategies." This in-depth discussion gives sales leaders a fresh perspective on how marketing can revolutionize recruitment efforts.

Here's what you'll learn:

1. Decoding the Salesperson: Salespeople aren't like your typical employees. Their job naturally shapes them into compelling presenters, especially during interviews. This episode will equip you with the skills to identify the real potential behind the polished presentation.

2. Crafting Your Sales Persona: Understand the importance of defining your ideal recruit just like you would a marketing persona. This episode guides you on creating a detailed and practical sales persona.

3. Customized Outreach: We highlight the importance of tailoring your recruitment efforts to the realities of your target recruits. From displaying your company culture to outlining what your company can do for them, we discuss various strategies to make your outreach efforts successful.

4. Perpetual Recruitment: Recruitment is not just a one-time effort, nor is it solely about filling a seat. It's about continually attracting and retaining top talent. We'll share insights on maintaining an active recruitment pipeline.

Whether you're a VP of Sales, a Sales Manager, a Founder, or any other role in sales leadership, this episode is your ticket to a new level of recruitment strategy. Tune in, and let's redefine your recruitment approach!

Have you enjoyed the episode? Don't forget to leave a review and share it with others who might benefit. For more insights on sales leadership, subscribe to our podcast channel.

Welcome to our latest episode, where we delve into the unique 4+1 Pillars of Sales Management that drive high-performing sales teams.

In this episode, we explore the following:

1. Motivation - Dig deeper into understanding the real motivations behind your salespeople, looking beyond the superficial allure of money. We discuss creative techniques, such as creating a mood board to help visualize these motivations.
2. Training - Unveil the true essence of sales skills training. This isn't about product training but about imparting the necessary sales skills like the art of asking open-ended questions, mastering the CRM, and more.
3. Coaching - Learn about methodologies for guiding your team to put their training into action effectively.
4. Accountability - Understand the importance of holding your sales reps accountable for their actions and strategies in achieving their objectives.
5. Emotions - The "+1" pillar, emotions, often get overlooked. Learn about the importance of active listening to identify and tackle the emotional barriers holding your sales reps back.

Join us as we unravel these pillars and provide practical tips on implementing them for optimal sales success.

Don't miss this insightful conversation on transforming your sales management strategy and empowering your team to new heights.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Subscribe and stay tuned for more!

Welcome to this insightful episode where we pull back the curtain on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, shedding light on six under-discussed pitfalls that often trip up sales leaders and offering practical solutions for avoiding them.

The CRM errors we dissect include the following:

1. Underutilization of CRM Systems: Many sales teams only use a fraction of their CRM's potential, leaving valuable capabilities untapped.

2. Transitioning Hiccups: Shifting from a bare-bones, no-CRM approach to an efficient, CRM-centered strategy can be overwhelming.

3. Neglecting CRM's Role in Sales Enablement, Analytics, and Reporting: Overlooking these crucial functions of CRM can result in missed growth opportunities.

4. Devaluing Process Implementation and Data Hygiene: A CRM system that's not well-maintained or set up correctly can cause more issues than it solves.

5. Isolating Marketing and Customer Service from CRM: A CRM isn't just a 'sales' tool - it's a crucial platform for managing customer relationships across teams.

6. Maintaining Silos in CRM Use: One of the most significant errors is confining CRM usage to the sales department alone.

Don't let these commonly overlooked CRM pitfalls impede your sales success. Tune in and ensure you're not making these killer CRM mistakes!

This episode is a must-listen for any sales leader aiming to maximize their CRM effectiveness and drive sales growth.

In today's episode, we dive deeply into the world of sales prospecting and how sales leaders can effectively elevate their team's game.

Throughout this episode, we explore the following:

• The Importance of Prospecting: Learn why prospecting is the foundation of successful sales operations.
• Overcoming Prospecting Challenges: Hear about common hurdles and effective strategies to overcome them.
• Prospecting Strategy Essentials: We provide a roadmap for creating a targeted, effective prospecting strategy.
• Must-Have Tools and Techniques: Discover the tools and interpersonal skills every sales team needs to thrive in the current sales landscape.
• Investing in Training and Development: Understand how continual learning can keep your team at the forefront of prospecting best practices.
• Metrics, KPIs, and Operationalizing Prospecting: Learn which KPIs to monitor and how to integrate prospecting into your everyday sales operations seamlessly.

Whether you're a seasoned sales leader or a rising star, this episode is packed with insights and practical tips to help you turn cold leads into hot sales. Tune in and transform your prospecting game!

Welcome to Ask The Right Questions, the podcast where we provide expert insights on sales leadership. In today's episode, we're focusing on how to master your sales meetings, making them engaging, interactive, and result-driven.

As a sales leader, your effectiveness in conducting a sales meeting can significantly influence your team's performance. Learn how to captivate your team, encourage interaction, and drive meaningful results with our practical tips and strategies.

Key Takeaways from this episode:

1. Understand the clear "why" for every meeting – it's more than just data gathering.
2. Every sales meeting should be designed to help your reps achieve their objectives.
3. Always have a clear agenda for your meetings.
4. Focus on helping your reps with factors they can control, such as sales activities and methodology.
5. Use data effectively to drive your conversations.
6. Stay human and empathetic. Celebrate and share success stories.
7. Embrace your leadership style, but remember to share the floor.

We'd love to hear your experiences and tips for running successful sales meetings. Let us know what you think on Spotify!

Remember to subscribe to Ask The Right Questions on your favourite podcast platform for our latest episodes.

In this episode, we discuss the critical elements of a successful sales meeting by sharing insights on how sales leaders can create engaging, interactive, and result-driven sessions that help their sales reps achieve their objectives. We emphasize the importance of having an explicit "why" for the meeting, using data to drive the conversation, and staying human and empathetic by sharing success stories. We also discuss how sales leaders can create a clear agenda, focus on sales activities and methodology, and avoid dominating the conversation. Whether you're a seasoned sales leader or just starting, this episode provides valuable insights into creating engaging and effective sales meetings that help your team achieve their goals.

In this power-packed episode, join our insightful discussion on how sales leaders can create a helpful sales process that closes more deals. Discover the importance of going beyond surface-level stages and embracing a winning mentality. Learn how to leverage the sales process to gather valuable data and support your sales reps without stifling their creativity.

Key Takeaways:

1. Dive deeper into sales stages and avoid oversimplified steps like "send proposal" and "negotiating."
2. Embrace a supportive mentality as a sales leader, fostering growth and learning among your reps.
3. Understand the value of a well-structured sales process and how it benefits data collection and rep guidance.
4. Equip your reps with the tools to take control of the sale, even when prospects are eager and fast-moving.
5. Simplify CRM integration to avoid overwhelming reps and ensure efficient data collection.

Subscribe to our channel for more invaluable insights, and don't forget to share this episode with fellow sales leaders looking to enhance their sales process.

Tune in to our podcast on significant platforms for more in-depth discussions on the go!

Master the art of building a robust sales pipeline using social media in this must-listen episode for sales leaders and reps! With AI tools making it easier to send cold emails and Google ramping up its SPAM call detection, creating meaningful online content is more critical than ever to stand out and connect with your audience.

Tune in to uncover our top takeaways that will maximize your team's potential and skyrocket your sales:

• Ditch the sales pitch: Focus on sharing valuable content that resonates with your audience rather than pushing sales messages.
• Identify your targets: Understand your content's who, what, and why and align it with your rep's objectives to achieve maximum impact.
• Empower your team: Train your sales reps on content creation and sharing, helping them find their ideal medium to connect with their audience.
• Embrace the long-tail approach: Teach your team the art of serendipity in content sharing and how it can lead to unexpected sales opportunities.
• Foster a supportive environment: Encourage your team to support each other publicly while providing constructive criticism privately to help each other grow.
• Integrate with your prospecting process: Combine social media content sharing with prospecting and profile reviews to create a well-rounded sales approach.
• Set and track KPIs: Measure your team's success using key performance indicators to ensure continued improvement.
• Leverage AI: Learn how to harness the power of artificial intelligence in your social media strategy for a cutting-edge sales approach.

Don't miss this insightful episode that will help sales leaders and reps transform their social media presence and build a thriving sales pipeline.

Subscribe now and start reaping the rewards!

In this episode of The Ask The Right Questions Podcast, we dive deep into the top sales mistakes that might be holding your team back and share actionable strategies to overcome them. Discover how to:

1. Shift your team's state of mind to focus on helping prospects rather than just selling the product.
2. Encourage active listening by reducing excessive talking, enhanced by role-playing exercises.
3. Avoid pitching too early and fine-tune your sales process to uncover critical insights before pitching.
4. Improve communication by asking more open-ended questions, again using role-playing to build confidence and skills.
5. Leverage the power of your CRM to streamline sales efforts and boost overall performance.

Don't let these common sales blunders stand in the way of your team's success.

Tune in to this insightful episode as we reveal how to tackle these challenges head-on and elevate your sales game.

Dive into the secrets of sales success by mastering the customer journey in this must-listen podcast episode explicitly crafted for sales leaders! Uncover why grasping your customers' journey is vital to nurturing enduring relationships and propelling your sales performance to new heights.

In this enlightening episode, we delve into the following:

1. The significance of dedicating time to understanding the customer journey and how this collaboration paves the way for a smooth, engaging experience.
2. Embracing a small-shop mentality to intimately comprehend the customer journey, enabling you to fine-tune your approach and meet their requirements.
3. The power of concentrating on the customer journey to ensure you're addressing their pain points and aspirations, resulting in heightened customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Don't miss these transformative tactics for advancing your sales career and fostering unbreakable customer bonds. Listen now and revolutionize your perspective on the customer journey!

This episode describes getting your sales team to run great discovery calls.

• Should you tie your questions into the CRM?
• Should you have a set of questions that all reps should use (and stick to)?
• Why do we say reps need specific training to ask these questions?
• And why do we need discovery calls at all?

If you watch the show now, you'll discover that reps mess up their discovery calls because they don't care about or don't know the business they're talking to. They're also excited about selling - they know the answer, so they're simply looking for a moment in the conversation to demonstrate that.

To help their reps, sales leaders need to:

• Train reps on asking the questions to understand the challenge so the prospect can see you're the solution.
• Conduct role plays and training on asking these questions.
• Make the most of the training on discovery.
• Review their sales process and realize that discovery may be more of a phase than a step in the CRM.

Watch now.

Welcome to Ask The Right Questions! 

In today's episode, we discuss how you can take your sales performance from good to great by incorporating role-play and simulations into your training.

Whether you're a sales leader or a salesperson looking to improve your skills, this episode is for you. We'll dive into the benefits of using role-play and simulations, share success stories from sales teams who have implemented these strategies, and provide practical tips for incorporating them into your sales training. 

Don't miss this opportunity to elevate your sales game - tune in now!

In this episode, we delve into the crucial role that employer branding plays in attracting and retaining top sales talent.

With so many companies vying for the best salespeople, standing out and making a lasting impression is imperative.

In this episode, we break down the four pillars of a strong employer brand to help you hire better salespeople. These pillars include:

• understanding your company's identity,
• understanding your ideal candidate,
• streamlining your interview process, and
• crushing onboarding.

By following these tips, you'll be able to attract the best salespeople to your team and build a solid and successful sales team.

Don't miss out on the opportunity to learn how to hire better salespeople with a strong employer brand. Listen to the episode now!

Are you tired of seeing your sales reps struggle to close deals, despite following a rigid sales process?

The truth is one size doesn't fit all in sales. That's why personalizing your sales process is crucial for success. In this episode, we reveal the top takeaways to help you implement a more effective and efficient sales process that will deliver results.

Join us as we discuss the importance of ensuring that your sales process helps reps close deals rather than hindering them. 

We dive into how to capture the insights of your top-performing sales reps to uncover the personalization strategies they use intuitively. You'll learn the importance of documenting your sales process, clarifying what a good representative means for your team, and implementing the changes using HubSpot.

We also cover the role of enablement tools in supporting rep learning and driving change management. 

With our top takeaways, you'll be able to personalize your sales process to meet the unique needs of your buyers and close more deals. 

Tune in to learn and improve your sales performance today.

In this episode of Ask The Right Questions, we delve into the critical issue of maintaining mental health and well-being in the sales industry. 

As a sales leader, it's essential to understand the role you play in your team's performance and well-being. In this show, we'll discuss the expectations you should have for your team and provide practical tips to promote mental health in the workplace. 

You'll learn about the eight elements contributing to a supportive work environment and how to use your CRM to identify early signs of burnout in your team. 

Join us as we explore the vital role sales leaders play in promoting the health and well-being of their teams. 

Listen now to unlock the secrets to maximizing your team's success and avoiding burnout.

Welcome to "Empathic Selling," where we explore the power of emotions in the sales process and how understanding your customers' emotions can lead to more successful sales outcomes.

In this episode, we'll discuss the importance of being aware of the role emotions play in the sales process and how sales leaders can expect their salespeople to be mindful of feelings and their significance throughout the sales process. We'll also discuss the importance of looking out for how people feel through body language and words and being aware of your reps' emotions.

We'll explore how a prospect's emotions can switch between the beginning and end of the sales process and how to be aware of this and include it in role plays, coaching, and training. We'll also cover practical steps that sales leaders can take to operationalize the use of emotions, including playbooks and training, and CI.

By the end of the episode, you'll better understand the role of emotions in sales and how to use empathy to drive successful outcomes. Our top takeaways from this episode include the following:

• Being aware of feelings and their importance throughout the sales process.
• Looking out for how people feel (body language, words, etc.).
• Beware of your reps' emotions.
• Be aware that prospect emotions switch between the beginning and end of the process.
• Include the role of emotions in coaching and training.
• Incorporate playbooks and training to operationalize the use of emotions.

Thank you for joining us on "Empathic Selling." We hope you found this episode informative and actionable. 

Be sure to subscribe to our podcast for more valuable insights on leveraging emotions in sales.

Is product knowledge essential in sales? My answer - it depends.

Do you have a complex, expensive, or technical product? Then yes, it's vital for your salesperson to deeply understand your solution and be able to speak confidently about it.

But in smaller, simpler sales environments - you don't need that same level of knowledge. The wins come from identifying a prospect's pain and determining if your solution can solve it.

In this show, we explain why:

• Salespeople need to understand what the product does. Still, it can't be a veil to push a product.
• Sales leaders must focus on finding people who are good at communicating with clients.
• Sales leaders should use their Conversation Intelligence tool in HubSpot to identify product and communications coaching moments.

Alyssa Milot, a Fractional CMO at The Zen Strategy, talks about why sales leaders need to care about their company's 2023 marketing plan and how sales leaders benefit from knowing their company's 2023 marketing plan.

Your company's 2023 marketing plan is more than just a document. It's a roadmap for the future of your business, and it needs input from all stakeholders.

In this episode, we're talking to Alyssa Milot about why sales leaders need to care about their company's 2023 marketing plan.

Sales leaders have a lot on their plates. They're responsible for setting revenue targets, meeting clients, and developing new sales strategies. And that's just the tip of the iceberg!

As a sales leader, you've got to keep your finger on the pulse of your company's business strategy—especially when it comes to marketing. 

• But what exactly does that mean?
• What is a marketing plan?
• How do you use it?
• And why should sales leaders care about it?

The best sales leaders help their reps actively listen during a sales conversation.

Salespeople are in a unique situation. They have the burden of making their quota and doing whatever it takes. Still, they also have the power to develop relationships with their customers to help them grow their business over time.

Sales reps should focus on listening and understanding the customer's problem. To do that, they need to ask questions and listen deeply to uncover the pain points or challenges that keep the customer up at night—the business problems they need to solve.

A great question could also help sales reps gain empathy, understand the pain points better, and explore other potential solutions with the customer.

Asking questions is how a salesperson can exercise active listening in a sales conversation, helping them adapt and adjust their approach when the needs of the customer change throughout the discussion.

This episode discusses why sales leaders play a significant role in helping their salespeople actively listen and what leaders can do to help a salesperson get better. If they're not listening, it's hard to pick up on what the other person is saying.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• What a salesperson should do,
• What top sales leaders do to help their teams, and
• How to operationalize coaching to scale your efforts and improve results over time.

We leave you with the top takeaways.

Everyone knows assessments aren't always the most popular thing. When we don't necessarily have a framework for looking at them as anything other than black and white, it's hard to approach them in any other way. But when done right and leveraged correctly- assessments can help build better teams, build a better business and lead to better results.

Assessments can be beneficial if you're interested in improving your team's sales force or effectiveness. But they don't have to be used so lamely: you can use this information to help your team members improve their skills, mainly when you use the data in your HubSpot CRM.

Sales assessments can be helpful if you're responsible for hiring, training and developing people. But they can also become unhelpful when misused. We're taking a brief look at the power of assessments and how to use those tools to your advantage. This episode offers tips to help you get more out of a sales assessment.

How to make sales and leadership assessments work for you:

• It's not about right or wrong; use evaluations to establish the strengths and risks of a rep.
• Know when the examination is being used and the purpose of the evaluation.
• Talk through the answers with your reps.
• Operationalize it - don't just leave the results in a file. Add the results to your HubSpot CRM and use it as a 1-on-1 coaching and aggregate data.
• Work with your sales team to get buy-in.

Contact Paul to use his sales assessment to make the best decisions for your team! https://questionz.ca/

Is it time to make sales boring?

I found this interesting read in the Atlantic that argues that baseball has gotten boring because of the Moneyballisation of it. Should we, as sales leaders, aim to make sales boring by focusing on data and scalability?

In parallel, Jon Selig shares a story of reps in a non-SaaS environment where sales are still very much relationship driven.  

So my question is, should we make sales boring or keep the art of it?

This is an episode about how sales leaders should plan for 2023 and how sales leaders can ensure success is achieved.

What does sales success look like in 2023? Is top-down goal setting work best? What about bottom-up? What's the role of motivation?

What do sales, your team and the company look like? How will you plan, execute, track and report on that strategy?

Paul and I discuss the following:

• How sales leaders need to plan 2023
• How to help your sales reps plan for 2023
• How to help yourself prepare for 2023
• How to use HubSpot to keep yourself and reps accountable to help achieve 2023 success

Enjoy the show!

#sales #salesleaders #2023 #planning #plan #planningprocess #goalsetting #motivation #motivate #motivating #motivational #crm #success #innovation #change #transformation #leadership #leaders #futuresales #hubspot #salesdashboard

This episode explores the most significant reasons companies have difficulty following a defined sales process and what sales processes offer to organizations and their salespeople. Sales processes allow you to sell more value to your prospective buyer.

The sales team is selling more and selling more value. It seems like it's something most companies would want.

So why do so many get it wrong?

In this show, we answer the following questions.

• What is the most challenging part of the sales process?
• Why do most salespeople fail?
• Why is it important to follow a sales process?
• Which aspect of the sales process is usually the weakest in most organizations?
• How HubSpot can help you follow your sales process.

Enjoy the show!

Marketing. It's still one of those things that people either love or hate.

Business leaders can't seem to allocate enough time and resources for marketing. They can't build a scalable marketing practice that can provide sustainable, long-term growth.

Small business owners don't want to wait six months to see results but also want to ensure they're investing in the proper marketing practices.

Too often, companies have a sales-driven approach to marketing. They are more focused on growing revenue today than on building a repeatable process that will allow them to scale their marketing over time.

Marketing teams must balance the urgent need for results with a long-term, sustainable plan to help get them there.

In this episode, Alyssa, Fab and Paul share advice on linking their lead funnels to larger marketing plans so you can balance immediate business needs with long-term growth.

Enjoy the show!

We often hear this question.

It seems like a simple enough question. If you asked 100 small business owners, you'd get many different answers and opinions. 

Sales reps will always tell you that they're doing great. 

- "I'm doing all the right things!"

- "We're out in the field!"

- "We called all our old customers!"

For every sale, they say, "I was right there with them." So how do we hold sales reps accountable?

Salespeople are self-selling and will sell themselves short before they showcase their lack of skills or knowledge.

When it comes to keeping sales reps accountable, it does not necessarily have a one-size-fits-all or silver bullet system but rather a process where you can blend your current workflows and tools for keeping sales representatives accountable into one central place that everyone on the team uses - so that everyone is on the same page - from operations to managers to heads of reps.

This video explores the why, how, who and when of keeping sales reps accountable: 

• What does it mean to keep your representatives accountable?
• Why do you need to keep reps accountable?
• Who's "job" is it to keep reps accountable?
• Where do you find the data you need to keep them accountable?
• How do you keep it updated?
• When should you be keeping them accountable? Weekly meetings? Daily meetings?

Stop wasting your leads' time. Stop pitching.

When you meet someone for the first time, how do you get them to pay attention?

Inbound leads are probably further along in the buying process than outbound leads, but does that matter?

Tactically, yes. The truth is, though, no one wants to get pitched.

Instead, try to get things rolling by starting a conversation.

In this episode, Paul and Fab answer these core questions:

• What's the goal of the elevator pitch?
• What's the difference between an Inbound lead and an Outbound lead?
• When should you deliver an elevator pitch?
• How should you deliver an elevator pitch (via phone, Zoom, email, LinkedIn, etc.)?
• How can your HubSpot CRM help your reps have the right elevator pitch?

Salespeople are heroes in their way.

They're the ones who are out there on the ground, making the phone calls, looking for new customers and ultimately using their time, energy and expertise to make sure that we're growing your business.

They're amazing.

But, economic uncertainty is plaguing many businesses and sales organizations today. With customers looking to their bottom lines and companies working harder than ever to cut costs, not grow, the prospect of getting new business in the door seems even more challenging. 

In this episode, we discuss working with sales teams during difficult times.

Building a solid brand positioning is hard, and it's essential. But it doesn't have to be intimidating.

A strong brand positioning means you can quickly and efficiently communicate what your business is about. It means that your company stands for something. 

In this episode, Alyssa Milot joins us again to go through exercises you can use to build a strong brand positioning for your organization, product or service.

Enjoy the show!

Sales is hard.

Prospecting is harder.

And prospecting is where all salespeople struggle the most.

How can we prospect more consistently? How can we transcend the fear and discomfort and put ourselves out there, reaching out to our prospects and asking for their business?

In this episode, Paul and Fab unpack the fear of prospecting to help you break through your reluctance and create a compelling process to reach out confidently to your ideal customers daily.

The biggest question in sales is whether to pay somebody a commission for their behaviour or results.

We've seen both.

Results-based pay is more straightforward, but performance-based can be more motivating.

But here's the thing: Companies should evaluate performance with established metrics before the reps hit their goals, regardless of which method they choose.

Pre-established metrics communicate to them - and their bosses - that it doesn't matter what type of behaviours they adopt, only that these behaviours yield the desired outcomes.

They're motivated to do whatever it takes to hit their targets, not to perform in a way that demonstrates proficiency.

Instead of focusing on actual performance, can a results-focused sales compensation plan emphasizes less important behaviours?

Have you ever considered using LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook or Twitter in your business?

In this episode, we sit with Alyssa Milot to share her tips and advice on how to get started and succeed. 

Find out how she helps small businesses with social media makeovers.

Enjoy the show!

Salespeople hate updating the CRM.

So we automate, compromise and simplify. And what's wrong with that?

At the core - nothing. But refusing to update your CRM is an indication that there's an underlying problem.

You stay on top of your deals, contacts and companies by keeping your HubSpot or Salesforce up-to-date. Not doing so can be an indication that there's a lack of accountability in the sales and service teams.

So, by all means, automate. But make sure your team is held accountable.  

In this episode, we discuss the implications of sales admin tasks.

How do you know if you're marketing is working?

Evaluating the success of marketing efforts is tricky. Software like social media and email tools give you tons of data.

But is it the correct information?

In this episode, we sit with Alyssa Millot to talk about how to evaluate your marketing efforts.

In sales, you need to forecast what revenue will come this week, month, quarter and year.

An accurate forecast allows you to determine future investments and hirings.

They're crucial, but not all sales leaders know how to forecast with their teams.  

In this episode, we discuss forecasts and how to run forecast calls with your reps.  Enjoy the show!

Sales coaching is one of the best ways to ensure your reps level up.

Spending time with each one and helping them learn from their mistakes is a crucial responsibility of a sales leader.

In this episode, Paul and Fab share how to best coach sales reps and how your CRM is an essential coaching tool.

(NOTE: Paul experienced technical issues during the recording and dropped off before the end)

Interviewing salespeople isn't easy. After all, sales aren't your typical job and require particular skills and aptitude.

And there's a lot of advice out there.

In this episode, Paul and Fab talk about recruitment in sales and share some best practices.

Enjoy the show!

Upsells, cross-sells, and renewals are the lifeblood of a company.

Especially those with recurring revenue and usage-based pricing.

But while we talk a lot about sales and marketing roles and responsibilities, we don't spend as much time looking at sales and service/account management functions.  

In this episode, Paul and Fab explain who should handle expansions in your organization.

Enjoy the show!

How do I generate leads? How do I qualify them?

It's a big topic, and so many companies struggle with it. 

But it doesn't have to start that way.  

In this episode, Fab and Paul sit with Alyssa Milot from Zen Strategies to discuss:

• Free lead generation strategies
• Sales and marketing alignment 
• The roles of sales and marketing teams in lead generation 
• The importance of SDRs

...and much, much more.

Enjoy the show!

Your salespeople aren't calling? They're constantly updating, tweaking, but never actually selling?

Are they lazy? Can you motivate lazy salespeople?

We uncover the truth behind sales "laziness" in this episode.

Enjoy the show!

WARNING: We veer off track and riff on various marketing and RevOps topics during the show, so enjoy!

Marketing and RevOps need to work better together to help to company achieve its revenue goals.

In this episode, we sit down with Alyssa of ZenStrategy to review marketing's biggest pitfalls and how both teams can work together.  

A Sales Manager job is interesting.

Different roles, different job descriptions, and little-to-no job or manager training, it's more often than not, the path to growth for a lot of salespeople.

In this episode, we discuss -

• What's the role of a sales manager?
• What skills does a sales manager need?
• Why do sales managers matter so much?
• Who does a sales manager work with most often?
• Where do they spend their time?
• When should a sales manager coach their team?
• How does a sales manager use their company's CRM?

Enjoy the show!

The number of sales tools available to teams keeps growing. But do they matter? 

Are they moving the needle?

Or is good old-fashioned elbow grease all you need?

Naturally, tools matter, but there's a caveat...

Enjoy the show!

Should sales reps be comedians?

Well, not necessarily, but if your sales (and marketing) teams are having a hard time connecting with their audiences, you'll want to listen to this episode.

Revenue teams should understand a comedian's process of writing jokes to figure out how to stand out in their markets.

In a crowded world where every rep is sending the same email templates, gaining a deep understanding of your audience (and writing up a few jokes along the way) goes a long way.

In this episode, we sit down with Jon Selig - a comedian and founder of Comedy Writing for Revenue Teams, to discuss:

• How he got into comedy?
• Why he started working with sales and revenue teams, and what is "Comedy Writing for Revenue Teams"???
• Why do salespeople and marketers have a hard time connecting with their prospects? (inbound, outbound, traditional)
• How can we elicit more emotions?
• How can you make sure your teams use comedy daily?
• What does success mean to him?

Marketing is one of the three critical pillars of your revenue generation.

Yet organizations still ignore it, misunderstand it and underinvest in it 🤷

That's why we sat down with Alyssa Milot, a fractional CMO who's worked with countless startups to help build out their marketing efforts.

In this episode, we talk about:

• How Alyssa got into marketing and became a fractional CMO.
• What marketing challenges do companies have these days.
• How she suggests companies market, sell and service (inbound, outbound, traditional).
• How does she make sure she achieves her goals and objectives?
• What does success mean to her?

Enjoy the show!