Grow My Revenue Business Cast

Customer experience is important for retaining clients. When something goes wrong, it actually opens an opportunity to deliver a great experience for the customer. The recovery you have can better the experience the customer has when working with you.  We can all learn something when things don’t go right, we have a choice to recover and make a positive impact or neglect the problem and lose trust with our clients. In addition, we can also do small things with little cost to make the customer experience that much better even when things are going to plan. In this week’s episode, I share with you my experience with great and bad customer service on my recent trip to Italy. Throughout these experiences there was one underlying theme, customer experience is very important and recovery when something goes wrong is key.  Quotes:  “Recognize that when something doesn't go well, it actually can present an opportunity to deliver an amazing experience. Namely, sometimes when you make a recovery, it actu

Are you losing deals to no decision? In recent research, it is found that 40% to 60% of deals for the average salesperson are lost to no decision due to the client sticking with the status quo. In 2020 after going 100% virtual overnight, sales calls went from in person to Zoom. Matt Dixon, while working at a machine learning company, was able to study sales meetings from several companies to determine some of the biggest pressing problems salespeople are facing.  In this episode, Matt Dixon shares some insights from the research in his new Book, The Jolt Effect, to understand why salespeople often lose to the status quo. Matt and Ian discuss how to use these findings to better understand the seller and their fears or hesitance to implement change even if they believe in your products or services.  Join us in this conversation to learn the best approach to increase your sales performance and business growth. If you’re interested in grabbing your own copy of Matt Dixon’s new book, The Jolt Effect, cli

Are you looking for a referral to help your business or to help potential clients? The recipient of a referral should never feel like the client has done you a favor. Instead, your potential client should feel that they are getting the favor. But how do you do this?  In this week’s episode, I share with you the exact approach when seeking out a referral from a client as well as see dramatic growth in your business.  Quotes:  “We don't look for referrals until we've confirmed that we've delivered results for that client or prospect because if they don't love us, the referral isn't gonna be that great.” “We usually don't have a shortage of opportunities, we have a shortage of the right opportunities.” Looking for more guidance and support on handling all your B2B sales struggles? You can connect with Ian Altman and learn more about the Same Side Selling Academy through the links below:  Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianaltman/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianaltman/) Twitter: https

Proposals are an old school way of thinking. Now hear me out, if you could bypass the proposal stage and go right to an agreement, would you do it? In this week’s episode, I share with you how you can let go of the need to always send a proposal and start working towards a negotiation and agreement with a potential client.  Instead of sharing your ideas on how you can solve their problems, this method helps you to uncover their true needs, urgency and the exact approach you’d take to solve their problems. Using this approach allows you to skip the proposal stage, move into an agreement and generate better results. Quotes:  “Avoid the temptation. Avoid the old school method of sending proposals. Instead, have these conversations agree on the principles and then send an agreement that they can execute, and you cut out a step that isn't necessary.” “The major difference between a proposal and an agreement is that the proposal is basically signaling to your client, here's the idea that we have, do you w

You receive an RFP, how can you tell whether it is an actual potential lead or a waste of resources? Most procurement people know exactly who their preferred vendor is before sending an RFP. So how can you set yourself apart and not end up just being a column fodder for comparison? In this week’s episode, I share with you the exact approach to increase your  chances of being chose from the RFP and the questions you can ask to set yourself apart. Quotes:  “When they're asking you to participate in the RFP process, they may just be looking to get additional ideas they can feed their preferred vendor. You may be what they call column fodder, which is just additional cells on a spreadsheet.” “If on a blind RFP where they have no interaction, they win less than 5%. When they push for and get that conversation, they win more than 40%. So it's an eight fold increase.” Looking for more guidance and support on handling all your B2B sales struggles? You can connect with Ian Altman and learn more about the S

Have you explained your products or services after a client asks without first asking about their situation? If so, you have probably fallen into a common sales trap. Without finding out the potential client's problem, their urgency or how you can solve it, you are setting yourself up for the dreaded silent follow up. In this week’s episode, I share with you the exact questions and approach you need to take when talking to potential clients to set yourself apart and as the solution they need.  Quotes:  “The reason why companies tend to buy a product or service from one company versus a competitor, is how well they feel that the vendor understands their specific situation.” “If we demonstrate that we care about their situation and their business organization and we care more about the results than we care about the sale, that's when we can stand out over the competition.” Looking for more guidance and support on handling all your B2B sales struggles? You can connect with Ian Altman and learn

Are you doing your research before reaching out to potential connections on LinkedIn or are you making the common mistake of sending mass messages? When reaching out to potential clients, you want to make sure you are not only making a genuine connection but have also properly done the research just as you would before hopping on a sales call. You want to make sure you are reaching out to share your expertise to help them and not connecting with a client just to sell. LinkedIn is a marathon, not a sprint and you want to treat each connection in the same way. In this week’s episode, I share how you can use Linkedin to build your connections genuinely and achieve better results.  Quotes:  “LinkedIn is not a sprint, it's a marathon” “If you don't do your research in advance, it reflects poorly on you and your business. If you take a more disciplined approach, if you think about who can I help the most, you then reach out to those people not proactively about sales opportunities, but take more interest

Have you ever had a potential client come to you and say, “we spoke before about what your company does, we are ready to buy, just send us a quote and we will get right back to you because we are excited to start”? Afterward, you hang up the phone pumped thinking you just scored an easy win and after you send the quote, they go silent.  All the sudden, you are confused about what happened since they said themselves they were ready to buy and now you are left with the dreaded followup. So what went wrong?  In this episode, I share with you how to qualify leads to truly understand their problems, their urgency and how you will help them achieve their desired results. When you take the discipline to find out what your potential client is trying to solve and if you do need to follow up you know exactly how you can serve their needs.  Quotes:  “Take the discipline to find out more about what it is they're trying to solve, to make sure they're gonna get the results that will give you an opening

If you invest in a program and don’t see results, you are hurting your sales organization because they begin to think that the trainings are a waste of time. When you invest in a program, there are key factors you want to consider beforehand. In this week’s episode, I dive into how you can understand your organization’s biggest problem areas as well as make sure the training has a reinforceable process for your team to follow. The only way to true success and to see the needle being moved for your team is to hold your team accountable to a process they can follow and practice.  Quotes:  “If you spend money, and you don't get results, then it hurts the entire industry. And it actually hurts your sales organization, because then they start to think, Well, I'm not going to do the sales training stuff, because it was useless last time” “If you don't practice, if you don't reinforce whatever you learn, after you've had the training, you're not going to succeed.” Looking for more guidance and support on h

Welcome to the 300th episode! I am thrilled on this episode to share with you some of the many success stories from the Same Side Selling Academy. I am not sharing with you the wins we have on our end but the wins our client’s have had throughout their time learning and implementing the Same Side Selling techniques.  These success stories are from Academy members who show up consistently to learn, practice and follow a proven process to put the client’s results first and show they are here to solve problems, not just to sell. Join me as I share some incredible wins and success stories with you to celebrate the 300th episode. Quotes:  “We asked how they did it, they said well, we just followed the process that we talked about every month in the Same Side Selling Academy. And we just stepped through with this client and the client basically sold us instead of us selling them, which is really what this whole methodology is about.” “If you put yourself in uncomfortable situations with your peers, so tha

Have you ever forecasted a deal to happen and the clients seem excited to work with you and all the sudden they stop returning your calls or emails? Or maybe they do respond but they let you know they have to push the deal out 1,2 or 3 months? You were certain this deal was going to happen but now you are confused and wondering what caused this sudden delay.  In this week’s episode, I share with you the approaches you can use to qualify your leads to uncover their level of urgency and commitment to solving their current problem. By asking the correct qualifying questions, you can gain more insight into how likely your potential client is to follow through with the deal. Join me on this week’s episode to learn more Same Side Selling techniques.  Quotes:  “The fact that you spend a lot of time and you forecast this deal is not a good reason for your client to follow up with you.” “So when it comes to timing, if someone says, oh, yeah, we're really interested in your solution. Great. So what happe

There is a difference between the top sales performers and the people in the middle, effective training. There are three main components to a high performing sales training program and in this episode I share with you exactly how you can replicate that for your own business.    We are honored that the Same Side Selling Academy is ranked in the top five sales programs globally but with that did not come mistakes early on. In this episode, I will not only share the formula to an effective and high performing sales training program but also the mistakes we made early on to help you avoid the same. Join me in this week’s episode to hear how you can use the Same Side Selling techniques to build a sales training program to help truly move the needle for your team.  Quotes:  “If you practice for just one hour a week, you'll outperform your peers. Because in doing this research with many, many different organizations, what I found is that less than 5% Practice at all. So if you carve out an hour a

You gather all this information from meetings for your pipeline reports, but do you keep falling into the trap of the client choosing another vendor, pricing difficulties or they ghost you? If so, you may be falling into these common pipeline traps that don’t actually ask or measure the necessary information to move the needle.  In this week’s episode, I share with you the exact questions you should be asking and the evaluations you should be making to increase the chance of a potential client choosing your business over another vendor. You want to make sure you are getting an honest evaluation of not only the client’s problems but also the urgency at which they want to solve them. Join me in this week’s episode to hear how you can use the Same Side Selling techniques to bring in a much higher percentage of opportunities.  Quotes:  “A pipeline should not be a pipe dream. A pipeline should be an honest assessment of the opportunities that you have that are likely to happen.” "We need to make sur

Have you encountered the VP of Business Prevention, the person who always finds a way to kill a deal? Instead of complaining about this person, you need to alter your approach to selling your product or service. You want to focus on discovering what key factors are important to this key decision maker and how you can best present your product or service to solve their problem.  In this week’s episode, I share exactly how you can gain transparency and trust with the VP of Business Prevention to increase your reliability and sales.  Quotes:  “Their reluctance comes down to one of two things. They either don't believe in the impact of doing nothing. Or they don't believe in the results that allegedly, you're saying you can deliver for them.” “Once they realize that you are more interested in the outcome or result than the sale, it builds a level of trust.” Looking for more guidance and support on handling all your B2B sales struggles? You can connect with Ian Altman and learn more about the Same

The customer experience has changed over the past few years. The expectations for access, immediacy, flexibility and convenience as customers have shifted and we must learn how to differentiate ourselves from competitors.  In this week’s episode, Ian is joined by David Avrin. David is one of the most in-demand Customer Experience speakers and consultants in the world today. David Avrin, CSP, Global Speaking Fellow, has shared his content-rich, entertaining and actionable presentations with enthusiastic audiences across North America and in 24 countries around the world. David helps organizations better understand and connect with their changing customers and clients to help future-proof their businesses. David's insights have been featured on thousands of media outlets around the world. He is also the author of five books including the acclaimed: It's Not Who You Know, It's Who Knows You!, Why Customers Leave (and How to Win Them Back) and his newest book: The Morning Huddle -- Powerful Customer Experien

Scheduling a demo shouldn’t be your goal, piquing the interest of executives with the problems you solve should be your biggest priority. To successfully generate sales after demos, you want to focus on piquing interest, determine if you are a good fit and deliver evidence that you can provide results. In this week’s episode, I share how you can shorten sales cycles and have clients less concerned about price by using the Same Side Selling approach. Quotes:  “Instead of focusing on what it is that you're selling, which nobody cares about, you need to look at it through the lens of your customer.” “Make sure the executives first get those early adopters in there who understand what the underlying process is, how people are going to make decisions and whether or not the right messaging is correct.” Looking for more guidance and support on handling all your B2B sales struggles? You can connect with Ian Altman and learn more about the Same Side Selling Academy through the links below:  Linkedin:

A common mistake executives make after coming up with a new product or service offering is trying to hire a sales team before knowing exactly how or why your customer would buy the offering. How can you hire any sales team before understanding what moves the needle for your potential client? In this week’s episode, I share with you a formula to follow that allows you to understand your potential client’s problems and messaging as well as how to hire a team and develop processes for success.  Quotes:  “Instead of focusing on what it is that you're selling, which nobody cares about, you need to look at it through the lens of your customer.” “Make sure the executives first get those early adopters in there who understand what the underlying process is, how people are going to make decisions and whether or not the right messaging is correct.” Looking for more guidance and support on handling all your B2B sales struggles? You can connect with Ian Altman and learn more about the Same Side Selling Academ

When asking your clients questions, are you framing your questions to elicit the response you want to hear or to get the truth? One common trap that people fall into is trying to get people to agree with us. However, if you ask your clients questions with more skepticism, you can begin to uncover the truth. In this episode, I share how pivoting the way you ask your client’s questions can help gain transparency, build trust and increase your success.  Quotes:  “Effective sales is not about persuasion, or coercion. It's about getting to the truth as quickly as possible.” “If we ask questions in a challenging way, if we ask questions, actually, in a negative tone, instead of in a positive tone, we will actually elicit a positive response.” Looking for more guidance and support on handling all your B2B sales struggles? You can connect with Ian Altman and learn more about the Same Side Selling Academy through the links below:  Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianaltman/ (https://www.linkedin.

Are you aware of what the potential is for SEO for your business? Are you currently using SEO but making one of these common mistakes? In today’s episode, Eli Schwartz, previous leader of SEO at Survey Monkey and author of Product Lead SEO, shares how you can properly use SEO for your B2B company. Eli discusses what exactly product lead SEO is, what types of businesses shouldn’t use SEO, how to properly implement SEO to increase sales revenue.  Quotes:  “When I think about SEO, and the potential for SEO, it is so first of all, not not enough people are aware of what that potential is. And it's literally uncapped.” “I think that is the absolute biggest mistake people make, which is not recognizing the potential from this channel, and how to optimize for the channel, not how to optimize SEO but optimized for the channel with how you structure who you hire and how you invest into it.” Looking for more guidance and support on handling all your B2B sales struggles? You can connect with Ian Altman and lea

LinkedIn is a useful platform for reaching potential clients but are you making this common mistake? When reaching out to potential clients, you want to make sure you are not only making a genuine connection but have also properly done the research just as you would before hopping on a sales call. In this week’s episode, I share how you can use LinkedIn to build your connections and reputation rather than destroy it with terrible automated messaging.  Quotes:  “use LinkedIn as a platform to build your reputation rather than destroy it.” “Take the time to do a little bit of research. Take the time to authentically connect with them. Figure out areas where you can add value. And then when it becomes an opportunity for you to talk about what it is that you do. Don't talk about what you sell. Talk about the types of problems that you solve, the types of clients that you work with.” Looking for more guidance and support on handling all your B2B sales struggles? You can connect with Ian Altman and learn