Grow My Revenue Business Cast

You’ve heard that creating content is important for your business. You’ve heard you need a list of subscribers to market and sell to. You’ve heard the money is in the list. But what if everything you’ve heard about content marketing and list-building is all wrong? My guest today says most businesses need to re-think their approach to content marketing. They need to look at it from the point of view of the customer, from the perspective of the clients they want to reach, and not as another form of advertising.

Often times, clients ask me: what do I do if I work for an employer who is so focused on hitting a sales quota that the tenets of Same Side Selling get dismissed in favor of pitching and pushing a sale? How do you strike a balance between selling with integrity – an approach that always has the customer’s best interests at heart – and selling to meet an individual objective?

What is it about top performing salespeople who make them so successful? Is it charisma, product knowledge or luck that enables them to land the prized accounts? Does knowing the product inside and out matter more than likability? Or does personality trump expertise? Turns out, the answer lies somewhere in between. My guest today believes all sales professionals can achieve amazing results if they develop key skills — listening, curiosity and patience — to help them understand their customers at a deeper level. It’s not enough, he says, to know your product or service inside and out. A successful salesperson gets to the heart of a customer’s problems and offers customized solutions to solve those problems. On today’s episode, I talk to entrepreneur and sales expert Steve Benson about specific strategies for how you can become a top performer and the mistakes he sees organizations make that keep them from getting the results they’re after.

Have you ever been in the presence of someone who can make a room full of people hang on her every word? It’s as if she cast an invisible spell upon an audience with her charm and charisma. Have you ever wondered how she does it? How is it that certain people can command everyone’s attention so effortlessly, while others struggle to get noticed? My guest today believes that everyone has the ability to influence others and communicate in a way that captivates and motivates audiences to take action. He's going to share with you his secrets to influence and how everyone can deliver better, more memorable presentations. On today’s episode, I talk to author, speaker and master presenter Mark Jeffries about how to use what he calls the “BRAINS” of influence to get buy-in for your ideas and hungry buyers for your products and services. Mark shares some of the biggest mistakes speakers and presenters make when unpacking their ideas, and the insights he's gleaned from more than a decade on television.

We all know what it feels like to sit through a lackluster training listening to a disinterested speaker drone on and on about a topic he may know lots about, but just can’t seem to bring to life. On the other hand, we’ve also been witness to presenters who take the most dry, mundane material and make it feel fresh and exciting. What’s their secret? How do speakers turn average talks into great experiences that leave audiences feeling inspired and energized? It turns out, great presentation skills can be learned. My guest today is best-selling author and speaker Rob Jolles. Rob is a former corporate trainer who draws on his 30-plus years of training experience to "teach people how to change minds. His programs on influence and persuasion are in global demand, reaching organizations in North America, Europe, Africa, and the Far East. And in showing clients not just 'how to' but also 'why to,' he stirs individuals and companies to create real, lasting change.” Rob has developed a proven process that helps p

We’ve all been on the receiving end of pushy, sleazy sales tactics that make us want to run for cover. It doesn’t feel good. Nobody wants to be around a salesperson whose sole focus is to convince a prospect that they need what the salesperson is selling. Instead, buyers appreciate salespeople who know the kinds of problems they solve, and show an interest in learning about their clients’ problems to see if what they have is an appropriate solution. Genuine interest in your prospects' needs – as well as understanding that your solution is not suited for every problem – not only creates trust, it’s the foundation for future referrals. And that’s what I talk about in today’s episode of Grow My Revenue: three core elements that will help you achieve greater business success when it comes to working with potential clients. Plus, I'll share with you my F.I.T. strategy, as well as the specific questions you should be asking prospects to determine whether the two of you are indeed a good fit for each other. Liste

We all know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of bad marketing. We come across tasteless ads, intrusive pitches and condescending emails that make us wonder: Why do marketers think it's OK to treat customers like that? And here's one of the biggest challenges: because of marketing automation, people think it’s OK to send out stupid and bad marketing because, since it’s not taking up someone’s time, who cares right? My guest today is Bob London, former corporate marketing exec and founder of Chief Listening Officers, a B2B marketing firm that creates strategies that 'speak to the customer.' He's spent a lot of time wondering how it is that companies become so out of touch with their audiences. In the age of automation, 'stupid marketing' has gotten so out of control, it almost makes him wonder if the companies who produce terrible marketing campaigns ever listen to what their customers have to say. The short answer is 'no.' "You actually have to go and talk to customers" if you want to underst

Do networking events make you squeamish? Do they make you feel sleazy and slimy, like you just want to run home and shower after having participated in one? Or maybe it's not that bad for you. Maybe you just want to develop a professional, online relationship with someone you admire, but you have no idea where to start – or what to even say to that person. My guest today is going to explain how the same principles that apply to face-to-face, offline networking are true for online networking and, if done right, can be the greatest driving force in your business. Networking doesn’t have to feel icky or gross. In fact, it can be fun and profitable if people take the time to invest in nurturing the relationship, instead of simply trying to make a sale. In this episode, I talk to Dave Delaney, the founder of Networking For Nice People, an online community for sales professionals, business leaders, and people looking to build professional relationships that both feel good, and are mutually rewarding. He is the au

Do ever feel like you’re putting in double the effort for less than half the results in your business? Or maybe you’re scared of turning down potential clients because you’re afraid your sales pipeline might dry up, so you wind up working with clients that drain your energy and resources? My guest today is going to explain why saying ‘yes’ to every client that walks through your door is the wrong approach to building and sustaining a successful business – one that feels invigorating rather than draining. He’s going to share with you his secrets to quadrupling his business in just 18 months while turning down 80 percent of the leads that inquire about his services. On today’s episode, I talk to Raman Sehgal, the founder and CEO of ramarketing, a digital marketing and PR agency, about how he was able to grow his business fourfold by weeding out less-than-ideal prospects. Raman shares his biggest mistakes, the lessons learned from his early days in business, and how you can avoid making the same mistakes. Tod

There's one thing that's constant, and that's change. But why is it that some organizations seem to manage change so effortlessly, while others appear to buck it? Turns out most companies approach change all wrong. They see change as a barrier that needs to be overcome rather than the by-product of something that’s happened. On today’s episode, I talk to Tamsen Webster – part idea whisperer, part message strategist and part presentation coach – about ways companies (and people) can navigate change and get buy-in for their ideas. She’s also the Executive Producer of TEDxCambridge, the largest and oldest, locally-organized TEDx events in the world. Today we’re going to talk specifically about change, how we can get people to embrace change and how to affect change in our organizations. Whether we’re trying to change the minds of our customers, our sales reps, the people on our teams, or people in our personal lives, we can all benefit from learning how to navigate this inevitable force to achieve the outcom

Have you ever wondered what top-performing sales professionals do to achieve extraordinary results? You may be tempted to think that top performers have special talents and abilities that their peers don't. And you wouldn't be entirely wrong in thinking that – high performers do take certain actions that allow them to achieve outstanding success. But where you might get it wrong is in thinking that those behaviors and actions can't be learned or practiced. They can. Today, I'm going to share with you the key concepts and mindset that will help you move the needle in your business to achieve the sales results you're after. We're going to discuss the thinking and attitude that top performers have that allow them to achieve extraordinary success, and that you could adopt, too. Plus, I'll be weighing in on specific strategies that you can use with prospects who shop around for new vendors after having worked with existing vendors for a long time, and what to do in competitive situations like that. Listen in fo

Constructive feedback and discussion is vital to the health of any organization. But what happens when that feedback triggers an adversarial response from someone that creates an impasse, rather than a bridge, to understanding? Today’s guest is CEO and executive performance coach Alison Whitmire. Alison is the President of Learning in Action Technologies, a company committed to her passion of making the non-conscious conscious. Alison has worked with hundreds of top performing executives to help them be more effective leaders and communicators. The lessons she shares regarding the role of empathy in communication in this episode may inspire you to look more closely at the way you communicate in your business and in your life. “One of the key challenges in any genuine, authentic communication can be a lack of empathy,” Alison says. “Until we have an empathetic point of view for an opposing point of view, we’re missing really valuable information and that’s true almost in every context, particularly in the

If you’re a company with a great product or service, marketing is critical to your business growth – both online and off. In fact, creating great marketing can be the difference between booming sales and flailing sales. But great marketing doesn’t happen in a vacuum or the confines of a boardroom. Great marketing is created when organizations takes risks. When they’re creative. When they’re obsessed with their customers. My guest on today’s episode of the Grow My Revenue Business Cast is marketing and branding expert Ann Handley. Ann is the Chief Content Officer for MarketingProfs, an online education resource for modern marketers, and the author of the Wall Street Journal best-seller Everybody Writes. Today, we cover the common mistakes businesses make when coming up with their marketing strategies, why ‘going viral’ is not recommended, and how developing a 'pathological empathy' for your customers is the number one thing that will move the needle in your marketing. I know you're going to love this talk,

The most recent presidential election in the United States proved that predicting – or as my guest today calls it, ‘probability calculation’ – is a dangerous way of reading an audience. It essentially amounts to throwing darts at a board, he says. If companies want to create products and services that best meet the needs of their ideal customers, they need to have solid research to support their business objectives – otherwise they might wind up guessing at the wrong outcomes. On today's episode, I talk to Tom Webster, Vice President of Strategy and Marketing for Edison Research, the organization behind exit polling for national elections in the U.S. For more than two decades, Tom has conducted political polling for some of the most contentious elections in U.S. history, as well as market research for some of the top companies across the nation. What he’s learned about the role of research in business decisions may surprise you. “You need the input,” Tom says. “There’s no such thing as a perfect study. The

Have you ever wanted to peer inside a potential customer’s mind to understand how he or she makes a buying decision? Have you ever wondered what key questions a prospect asks himself when deciding whether or not to buy your product or service? Do you wish you could crack the code on how a customer thinks so you can shorten the sales cycle and achieve the business results you’re after? In today’s episode I discuss a few of the common misconceptions salespeople have with regard to their prospects’ buying and decision processes – and how to develop the skills necessary to uncover a buyer’s real motivations. Plus, I'll be weighing in on how businesses get it wrong when describing what the customer's buying cycle looks like, and how you should look at it instead. Listen in for those topics and more on this special solo edition of Grow My Revenue. Listen to this episode and discover: · How to glean better insight into the sales process in order to achieve better results. · The types of questions you should be a

If you’re a business with an online presence, content marketing is critical to growing your business and building relationships with customers, which can have a direct impact your bottom line. In fact, creating quality content that is both relevant and useful to your audience can be the difference between being seen as a trusted leader in your field and being ignored. Too many organizations make the mistake, however, of not creating a sound content strategy, which inevitably leads them to making costly mistakes that confuse – and lose – potential clients. My guest on today’s episode of the Grow My Revenue Business Cast is content creation expert Ahava Leibtag. Ahava helps businesses develop strong, coherent content strategies that allow businesses to showcase their expertise online and be seen as leaders in their industries. Today, we cover the common mistakes businesses make when developing their content strategies, why it’s important to have a designated person leading the charge, and the number one thin

Have you ever wished you could add more hours to your day just so you could cross more tasks off your to-do list? Do you spend most of your days going from meeting to meeting only to feel like you haven’t accomplished what you need to accomplish? Do spend countless hours going through your email and still feel like you’ve barely made a dent in it? If so, you’re probably making the kinds of mistakes productivity expert Neen James says most people make when thinking about time. “We’ve got to look at time differently and think: Is this the best use of my time right now?” she says. In today’s podcast episode, Neen talks about the biggest mistakes people make when thinking about time and productivity, ways they can organize their day so they can get more done with less effort, and why it’s important. As the author of Folding Time: How to Achieve Twice As Much in Half the Time, Neen talks about how the notion of “time management” is no longer useful or effective, and how people should look at time if they want t

We’ve all heard the clever, catchy truisms tossed about in corporate environments that sound like sage advice: "A penny saved is a penny earned." "You get what you pay for." "You can’t switch horses mid-stream." They sound good on the surface. Some of these witty aphorisms may even hold a kernel of truth. But dig a little deeper, and you begin to discover that these widely-held and unchallenged beliefs can cost companies lots of time, money, and opportunity. My guest on this week’s episode, best-selling author and negotiation expert Jack Quarles, calls these toxic statements ‘Expensive Sentences.’ Left unchecked and unexamined, these simple little proverbs or phrases have the power to drain valuable resources from companies, keeping them from reaching their full growth and potential. Jack co-authored "Same Side Selling: A Radical Approach to Break Through Sales Barriers" with me. In his latest book, "Expensive Sentences: Debunking the Common Myths that Derail Decisions and Sabotage Success," he looks at

On this episode, I'll be answering these questions plus weighing in on the impact of social media in ways you may not have considered. Listen in for those topics and more on this special solo edition of Grow My Revenue. Listen to this episode and discover: · Should you use a script in sales calls? · What active listening really means, and how to apply it to your sales team. · How do you learn the most about your potential client? · When are questions powerful, and when are they not? · And so much more… Episode Overview Have you ever received a phone call from someone selling something, and you could tell they were reading from a script? That is the number one reason I dislike the use of scripts. Although I'm a proponent of having a process, I discourage anyone from reading scripts verbatim. Instead, I suggest a particular formula and sequence you can follow to uncover the real information when dealing with a potential client. In fact, you can use a script, but be sure you understand why you are asking ea

You know how important content marketing is to your success, but how do you actually use it as a tool to build trust? Joining us to answer that question and others is my great friend and two-time visitor to the show, Marcus Sheridan. Marcus is a best-selling author of several books, and is also the quintessential case study in successful content marketing. I'm bringing him back because he is the de facto expert on this topic. Today we cover the five ways to build trust with content marketing, the biggest mistakes most companies make regarding content marketing, and his latest book, "They Ask You Answer." I know you're going to love this talk, and you're going to learn a ton on today's edition of Grow My Revenue! Listen to this episode and discover: · Who has to be involved in your content marketing if you are to be ultra-successful? · Why doing content marketing right means starting at the bottom of the sales funnel, not the top. · What you can learn from CarMax. · How to become a purple cow in your field,