Grow My Revenue Business Cast

Today, we are talking about a topic that is near and dear to my heart, which is integrating sales and marketing so that they're not seen as two different universes, but instead, kind of one and the same, joined at the hip. Meredith and I talk about the common pitfalls that companies fall into.

What are the biggest mistakes that you see people make when it comes to sales follow-up? They don't. We've all heard the research that the average salesperson gives up after two to three times. It takes a person eight to 10 touches or messages to make a decision. We'll show you the best ways to follow up with potential clients.

Ian Altman and Meredith Elliott-Powell discuss how people are looking at the end of the year, going into the next year as we are coming out of the pandemic. A lot of people are making decisions about how they approach their sales, marketing, and business development. What are some of the big mistakes that you're seeing people make? Then we're going to talk about what people should be doing instead to drive better results.

In the Same Side Selling Academy, one of the popular questions I am seeing is about how to capture attention and network when in person networking events, trade shows, and "let's just grab coffee" are no longer options. So how should you handle networking when the notion of networking has changed dramatically? Find out my tips for what NOT to do, plus a 4 step process to capture the right kind of attention when networking online.

In this episode, I want to talk about the 3 biggest mistakes I'm seeing being made during and coming out of this time of crisis. For many, these past few months have been devastating. You want to emerge from this crisis and drive meaningful results, but there are three big mistakes that I've noticed. If you can avoid these three, then you're likely on the path towards success. Have a listen and you'll find out my suggestions for what works and how to avoid these mistakes.

I'm joined this week by Sean Dailey. Sean is an experienced marketing executive who helps businesses leverage digital marketing and social media ads to grow. I met Sean through a mutual client where he combined his expertise in digital marketing with the principles of Same Side Selling to generate incredible results. I'm certain that you'll be as impressed as I was when you find out how he did this and how simple it was to execute.

We're joined this week by Colleen Stanley, president of the sales development firm Sales Leadership. Colleen is the author of three books, and we're going to be talking about her latest one, Emotional Intelligence for Sales Leadership. Salesforce named Colleen one of the top influential experts of the 21st century. And we're only 20 years into that century. In this episode we talk about the importance of emotional intelligence when looking to grow and train a successful sales team and how combining this will the skills of the job produces great overall performance. There were so many important parts to this discussion that can help you and your teams - especially in times of change. Listen in and you will no doubt get huge value from this episode.

In this episode, I want to talk about time and materials billing versus fixed price billing. Over the last dozen years, I've had the pleasure of working with many companies who sell services to their clients. Most of them have historically priced their services by the hour. I want to suggest why that might not be a great idea for you or your clients. This concept may make you feel a little uncomfortable, but take a listen and you'll see how a change in approach could make all the difference to you AND your clients

"So who are my best customers versus the not best and how can I optimize everything I do in the future around making sure that my best customers achieve their goals." - Robbie Kellman Baxter I'm joined this week by bestselling author of The Membership Economy, Robbie Kellman Baxter. We discussed her new book, 'The Forever Transaction: how to build a subscription model so compelling your customers will never want to leave', which was released in April, 2020. She coined the popular business term 'membership economy', which is now part of the business lexicon. Her clients have included Netflix, the Wall Street Journal, and Microsoft, as well as dozens of venture backed companies. I got huge value from our discussion, I'm certain you will too and be inspired to also join the "Membership Economy"

Lisa Earle McLeod is an expert in motivating and leading organizations. She helps organizations accelerate revenue growth, increase competitive differentiation and ignite emotional engagement with a customer-driven methodology called Noble Purpose. She's the author of several books, my favorite being Selling With Noble Purpose and also Leading With Noble Purpose. Research shows that organizations with a noble purpose bigger than money outperformed the market by over 350%. In fact, salespeople who sell with a noble purpose, whose intention is to improve the lives of their customers, outsell target focus salespeople. On this episode, Lisa shares the steps you can take to start selling with noble purpose when coming out of a crisis. Lisa and I share so many views in common. I think you'll really enjoy this discussion

In this week's I wanted to speak with you about the challenge many people face when your potential client wants you to follow their process for making a purchasing decision. It may be that your client wants you to follow a process that you know won't result in success for either of you. So how do you gain control from the beginning? And if things start to go off track, how can you turn it around? Let me introduce you to a roadmap that will follow a buying process that ensures success, not a crazy one that leaves you and your client destined for failure.

My guest this week is Jason Bay, who together with his wife Sarah, runs Blissful Prospecting. Jason is a returning guest because the great value he's delivered on his prior appearance. He's one of the true same side people I've encountered in the prospecting world and he knows just how to drop the right video or email to prompt a response. We discussed how to prospect successfully both during a crisis and then coming out of a crisis. He also shares a free resource created just for listeners on the future of prospecting, which I know you will find useful. I always learn a ton from Jason and I'm sure you will too.

I'm joined this week by Meridith Elliott Powell and Dr. Mary Kelly. They're the co-authors of the new book 'Who Comes Next: Leadership Succession Made Easy'. Meridith is an award winning author, keynote speaker and business strategist. Mary Kelly is a PhD economist, corporate strategist and leadership development expert and one of the first women to graduate from the Naval Academy. Mary served 21 years as a commission officer on active duty in the Navy. She comments that some of her favorite jobs included being an intelligence officer, a chief of police, an HR director, and being part of the team that ran Pearl Harbor. Between the two of them, Meredith and Mary have authored nearly 20 books. I was clearly not the smartest person in the room in this conversation about succession planning. Please be sure to check out the resources that Mary and Meridith generously offered and be sure to pick up the book, which contains a roadmap of exactly how to plan for success.

We're joined this week by technology strategist and futurist, Crystal Washington. Crystal regularly appears on major television networks and in business publications and she's the author of two books, 'One Tech Action' and 'The Social Media Why'. This particular quote I think sums up how valuable this episode is for right now: "I think a lot of people believe that the more technology we utilize, the more we should automate things in our sales processes. I take a very opposite approach. Yes, there's room for some level of automation, but I think in the new world that we are moving into right now, relationships matter more than ever. And so I'm a bigger fan of us using technology as a prompt for person to person interaction." Crystal shares so much great information and if you ever have a chance to see her speak in person, don't miss the opportunity.

This is a solo episode where I talk about competition. Specifically, when you start speaking with a potential client who already has a relationship with another vendor, what's going through your mind? In this episode I give you some strategies and examples on how we can delve way deeper than just price, build trust and help stand out from the competition. I also talk about a tool called the Client Vision Pyramid, which is covered in more detail in the Same Side Selling Academy, and will kelp you to deal with discovering more about your competition and how to stand out.

For 30 years Bob Burg helped companies, sales leaders and their teams to more effectively communicate their value, sell at higher prices with less resistance and grow their businesses. He's best known for his Wall Street Journal and Business Week bestseller, the Go-Giver, which he coauthored with John David Mann. It's been translated into 28 languages. Across the four books in the Go-Giver series they've reached nearly 2 million copies. Bob is an advocate, supporter, and defender of the free enterprise system, believing that the amount of money one makes is directly proportional to how many people they serve. We had an excellent discussion about influence and human nature. Bob is a legend and you're about to understand why.

I'm joined this week by Meridith Elliott Powell who is a brilliant sales mind who's written many books, is considered a top sales expert to follow by LinkedIn and happens to be one of my favorite fellow keynote speakers. We're going to discuss how selling in times of crisis is not a bad thing, that it isn't time to stop and how adapting the way we communicate with and show understanding of clients' situations is so important. Listen into our discussion for ideas on how you can adapt not only how you sell, but the products and services you can offer in challenging times. I think you'll also gain an understanding of why Meridith is one of my favorite peers.

This is a special solo episode on selling and communicating under stress. I recorded this episode at a time when when we are under siege from a global pandemic. Businesses across the spectrum are closed. Citizens are either literally or essentially under quarantine and at home. So how do you continue to grow your business under these times or how do you survive and do the best you can do? Let me guide you through some examples and some ideas that you could apply yourself.

In this solo episode I talk about getting to the truth in complex selling situations. I often say that effective selling is not about persuasion or coercion. It's about getting to the truth as quickly as possible and sometimes you might find that you have something in your process, in your system, something about your business offering that your client or prospect just says, those don't work for me. If you're looking for a simple way to be not only open in your discussions, but to get decisions that everyone feels comfortable with, listen in and see how this approach makes a difference for you.

I'm joined this week by David Meerman Scott, he's the co-author of the new Wall Street Journal bestselling book 'Fanocracy' which he co-wrote with his daughter, Reiko. He's a multi bestselling author. If you've ever heard the term 'Newsjacking', that's one of his other books. Part of our conversation was around the joy of writing a book in collaboration with his daughter, the experience of becoming best selling authors together, but we also covered so much more from the book that you can apply to your organization straight away that combines David's experience with Reiko's background in neuroscience and medicine. I'm sure you'll agree that we had a fascinating conversation. You'll learn a ton from the talented David Meerman Scott.