The Advanced Selling Podcast: Sales Training | Leadership Coaching | B2b Sales Strategy | Prospecting Tips

If you’re a sales manager you’re going to love this epsiode because Bill and Bryan talk about how to train/coach your sales team on two very important topics. Even though most sales managers don’t invest tons of time in training (they probably should) there are many coaching moments that happen between manager and seller. They address the thinking behind some of these strategic changes. On the other hand, if you’re a sales person, you will still get plenty of content from this episode, because they address two issues that hold people back – whom you call on at your prospect company and how you think about prospecting.

Can sales and marketing co-exist and work TOGETHER in a company? Many find angst and tension between these two functions. Our guests today shed light on how Yin and Yang, cats and dogs, and even sales and marketing people can work together...productively.

Well, no one ever admits that their ego gets in the way of success. Especially sales people--for it comes with the territory that you need a big ego to be successful in sales. Or does it? We think there are several questions you should ask in the sales process. But you won't be able to if you have your ego out of balance. In this episode, Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale give you several questions you should ask and give you a way to get the rest of the questions via email.

Everyone wants to sell to large accounts. Is there any magic to it? Do you need a whale net to catch them? Well, there is some magic, and while we don’t review ALL the steps in this podcast, this is a start of how to begin thinking about your pursuit of the large account. Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale talk about pursuing the large account. You can also go to google video and search on Advanced Selling Podcast to see the video version of this.

Do you really know what your customers want from a sales professional? You might be surprised! In this podcast, Bill Caskey speaks with George Grubb, President of G&S Research, about what customers value from vendors. George works in the pharmaceutical industry, however much of what he has learned is directly applicable to sales of any kind. He also talks about the sales person of the future—and what attributes he/she will have.

In this podcast, Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale go back into our last teleseminar and select three questions that they get all the time: 1-How do you handle a follow up call after a networking event; 2-How to "get" someone to call you back; 3-How do you handle it when you are selling an off brand? They spend a few minutes on each question--and of course, a few minutes trying to bring humor to the episode. You can also see this episode on YouTube. Go there and search on "Advanced Selling Podcast."

Do you sell to women differently than you sell to men? Hmmm. Interesting question that we deal with in today’s podcast. Bill and Bryan speak with Brooke Green, one of our consultants, about the gender approach to selling. Being a woman in sales, she gets this question all the time from both her male and female clients. She also introduces the podcast audience to a new endeavor that will interest half the people who listen!

Can we learn something from the presidential candidates? Or, can they learn something from great salespeople? Well, we think the latter. In this podcast, Bill and Bryan take a look at the communication styles of those running for president and bring us some lessons in substance and style that we can use in our effort to generate sales. While this is not an episode with a specific political slant, it takes issue with MOST politicians and how they communicate their message.

You make calls all the time—interact with prospects constantly. And if you're like us, you have things that you face each and everyday that are unique, unusual, and which sometimes stump you. On this podcast we take one of the most common sales problems—how to keep the prospect excited—and keep things moving. And also we give our podcast listeners a preview of a One Hour Teleseminar we're doing on February 7 at 1:00PM EST. Go to www.askcaskey.com to find out more. And listen to this podcast so you'll get the answer to the question—and get a sample of how this teleseminar can help you. Oh, by the way, the telseminar is free.

Ever had a buyer change at the most inopportune time? Actually, it seems like that’s the only times buyers change—right when you’re in the middle of a sale. But what should you do about that? Most sales training doesn’t really address the seriousness of the issue. But Caskey and Neale do on today’s episode of The Advanced Selling Podcast.

Have you ever felt like you were obligated to quote? It happens usually when you have a client who is “going out to bid” and you’re invited to play. While we don’t like the whole ‘blind bid’ process, we do realize that sometimes you must play the game that way. “To quote or not to quote” that is the question. Bill and Bryan deal with this at length in this podcast. There are a variety of circumstances that dictate your reaction—and they give you some guidelines during this cast

So, how do you handle conflict with a prospect—yet still preserve their dignity? This happens a lot when your buyer has a distinct impression of your value or an opinion of their pain—and you know it’s wrong. If you mess this up, you’ll lose rapport. If you handle it right, you can get past it and move on. Caskey and Neale talk about being right versus being rich.

Ready to take a walk down memory lane-and laugh your (you know what) off? This episode of The Advanced Selling Podcast recounts some of Bill and Bryan's funniest, most embarrassing, stupidest experiences as salespeople. They take you through their own personal TRUE stories that many of you will likely relate to and hopefully can laugh about. Be ready to send them your story after you hear theirs.

Your role as a sales manager/leader should be to ELEVATE YOUR TEAM. Yes, you can show them how to sell, and mentor them in the sales process—but your one overriding objective is to make them self-sufficient. This podcast gives you five things you can do immediately to help you grow and help your team grow as well. If you’re struggling to grow your team, then maybe you’re looking at it all wrong. This podcast will help change your mind—just a little.

This episode reveals the secret behind elite performers and good performers and examines the one core difference Bill and Bryan's process has over all others out there. The good news is - it doesn't matter what process you use: Miller Heiman, SPIN, PSS, Sandler - Bill and Bryan's philosophies shared in this episode can dramatically change your results.

Lead generation continues to come up as one of the most important issues facing sales people today. There just never seems to be enough in the funnel. Today, Bryan Neale and Bill Caskey talk about a new strategy that you can use to help bolster leads—and help you generate marketing content from your intellectual capital. One of the perspectives here is you must stop acting like a sales person—and start acting like a business owner/marketer. Begin thinking of yourself as a “go to resource” for solutions. If you can get there mentally, this podcast will make tons of sense.

Ever had a huge account you were pursuing (or are pursuing)? And you get so wrapped up in the pursuit that you forget the fundamentals of selling? Well, it may not happen to you, but it does happen often. This week's sales training podcast is an interview with Brooke Green, one of our consultants who recently coached one of her clients helping them win a multi-million dollar deal. Brooke talks about what went into the coaching and how it might help listeners who have large accounts they are pursuing.

We have been thinking about what the future sales force will look like lately. Why? Well, there are a ton of trends that are beginning to impact sales forces and sales people – globalization – googlization – commodity pricing – readily available information on the web - etc. So we went out and looked for someone who had studied this from the perspective of: what do customers want from the seller? We found Ben Ball (Senior VIce President, Dechert-Hampe & Co.). So in this interview, you’ll hear what his study told us about what the sales person of the future might look like – act like. Sales managers/leaders: listen carefully.

Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale share a "how to" for proposal writiing and discuss what components every good proposal should (and shouldn't) contain.

In keeping with the fact that 80% of sales success has to do with how you think and your selling strategy, Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale take on the issue of “How Do You Need To Think?” in order to be successful.