Bill Caskey recently gave a speech on the most common “sales blunders”
that cost salespeople and their companies millions of dollars. He reviews parts of his list of 20 sales blunders on today’s podcast—and gives you some new ways to think about old problems. Bryan Neale is absent this week (although we do know where he is).

By the way, if you have a sales problem you want them to review, go to www.askbillandbryan.com.

This was a letter from a podcast listener. He’s a sales manager and has seen success with some of the concepts he’s learned on the podcast, but his people ain’t buyin’ it.  How does one teach people who don’t want to be taught? Bill and Bryan deal with some of that resistance and what you can do about it. They also deal with what people say that are dead give-aways for someone who is not in learning mode.

Sometimes we get a question that, on the surface, seems like a straightforward question. But upon closer review, it becomes an inner game (mental) issue that demands a little more time. This week, such a question comes from a listener who is pursuing a prospect that has a good relationship with a current vendor. Bill and Bryan tell the questioner how to change their thinking so they can get some traction in the account.

Ever thought you were communicating your value really, really well—only to look at your prospects and find them dozing? Well, that may be extreme, but rest assured, if your message isn’t compelling, they’ll mentally check out and you’ll never get them back. This episode is about focusing on your message—how you deliver it to people—what it is—and what to avoid while talking about it.

Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale address these topics and more in today’s episode.

Often we talk about the objections and distractions that occur during the sales process. But today, we have different news—news of a PERFECT SALES PROCESS from one of Bryan Neale’s clients. In this episode, you’ll learn how to think about the components of the sales process so you can bring it into your world. And we’ll give you a chance to rate yourself on how perfectly you execute.  

Today’s episode is about the issue of building relationships and some of the fallacies that we buy into when we’re in the market looking to grow our business.

Bill takes a 10-point-checklist look at the things you can be doing right now to build REAL relationships---not fake ones.

 

We get access to a high level researcher this week that will shed light on your customers' value. Noah Grayson, Walker Information, sat down with Bill and relayed stories of what some of the largest companies in the US are learning about customer value and how to deliver it.

E-mail Noah at ngrayson@walkerinfo.com

In this week’s episode, Bill and Bryan address a real life situation of a client whose competitor is stealing (buying) customers. They address what is really happening beneath the surface and show you some ways you can prevent customers from leaving.

One caution: Don’t wait until it’s too late. Begin now.

Isn’t it time you took inventory of your skills and competencies as a professional salesperson? Is it possible that, over time, your skills have deteriorated? You know the saying, “You lose what you don’t use.” In this episode, Bryan and Bill review several of the 10 Skill Sets needed to be a great salesperson.

You can email them at listener@advancedsellingpodcast.com  (Subject line: Skills) to get all 10. In the document, you get  a chance to rank yourself. If you’re sales manager/leader, there’s even space to assess your entire sales team.

The world is full of articles on techniques—golfing—tennis—internet—marketing—and of course, selling techniques. Today, Bill and Bryan address this in a slightly different light. There is a “technique” (singular) to selling that is more important than the “techniques” used to sell. We don’t like the idea of “sales techniques” – it becomes rather manipulative. So listen in today and get some good “technique” advice.

In this episode, Bryan and Bill dissect a deal from an actual client phone call. The issue is what do you do in the 11th hour of a deal when everything that you thought was true—was untrue? You’ll hear both hosts weigh in on the situation, then hear the advice that Bill actually gave.

This is not a new topic for us at ASP, but we did have another letter from a listener whose manager asked her to "stop selling small stuff and start selling big stuff." Our advice may surprise you—and  it may be useful to you if you find yourself in the pressure cooker that is today's modern sales environment. Bill and Bryan also talk about a listener who took our advice, built a blog, and now has a success story you should hear.

If you have a question to put into the mix, go to
http://www.askbillandbryan.com

This is a special treat this week because we have a client who just
landed a large deal with a new customer. And much of what he used
he learned right here at The Advanced Selling Podcast. In this episode,
Jeff spends 15 minutes telling you exactly what sales strategies and tactics he used and how he executed the sales process to land the deal.

In Bryan Neale’s absence this week, I enlisted Phil Bounsall of Walker Information to talk about the issue of client loyalty. As sales professionals, a loyal client is a referring client. And since most of us count on referrals to grow our business, keeping your eye on loyalty is a MUST DO. Phil has excellent insight and tips on how to improve client loyalty.

In this episode, Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale address a question from an audience member on how to prospect when you're already busy. And Bryan reveals a communication technique that helps as you're explaining to a prospect what you do.

In this week’s podcast, Bill is going “solo” and talks about the first call “protocol.” We’ve received a lot of mail recently on “filling the sales funnel,” but the first discussion you have with a prospect is still vital. You have to set the tone in the right way. And to do that, you MUST have the right frame of mind going in.

In Bryan’s absence this week, Bill reviews three more of the core sales philosophies that govern sales success. He addresses money and budget, how to find out early where the prospect’s mind is, and how to reframe who your competition is. As always, you can email us at listener@advancedsellingpodcast.com to ask a question or make a comment.

In this week’s podcast, Bill and Bryan address a common question they get, “Does my message change depending upon who I call on in the organization?” The answer is YES. But hear some of their counsel on how to think differently when you’re in front of different people.

It’s not the sales funnel that’s important…it’s all the stuff “above” the funnel. So what action can you take to the suspects that are orbiting the funnel? In this episode, Bill and Bryan walk through the Top 5 Techniques (you can email us for the other 5 at listener@advancedsellingpodcast.com –subject line: FUNNEL).

So if you don’t have enough in your sales funnel, you may not be practicing the right Rules, Tools and Attitudes to fill it up.

In this economic time, how you communicate your value—and WHAT it is—will be very important. Here, Bill and Bryan pick up on a topic they began a few months ago—what is your personal value to your customers and how does it show itself in the sales process? All sorts of goodies here.

Today, Bill and Bryan discuss the age-old-but-still-modern problem of how to get to the decision maker. In today’s economic climate, companies are more discerning about their spending patterns and that means the decision process is changing. You, as a sales professional or manager, need to know how to navigate through the maize of roadblocks inside companies. And this podcasts gives you ideas on just how to do that. By the way, go to www.askbillandbryan.com to submit a question for future podcasts.

Do ever feel like when you talk about your value it leaves people cold? Or maybe you wonder if your value really is special. We have a client who is wondering that very thing. So in this podcast, Bryan reviews the client issue, and we give you four ideas of how you can improve the value you bring. Then, we want you to weigh in on the fifth. The way you do that is listen to the podcast, then send an email to listener@advancedsellingpodcast.com with VALUE in subject line.

You are a leader—whether you’re in a position of leadership or not. In many companies, the leadership is not provided by the “one in charge” but by everyone else. So as a sales professional, you need to be in an “attitude of leadership.” Thus, we asked Kevin Eikenberry to be on this week. He wrote a book called “Remarkable Leadership,” which is a must read for anyone in business. Kevin gives us some tips on how best to have the attitude of leadership.

On this week’s episode, Bill, Bryan and Brooke talk about the framework for an effective Personal Business Plan and how to handle prospect resistance on price. We deal with this issue because we’ve heard from listeners that their prospects are suddenly quite price sensitive.
While that’s understandable, we want to make sure we’re asking the right questions.

Catalytic Value. Ever heard of it? Listen to this entry of ASP and you'll dramatically change the way you think about what you bring to your market. The ideas in this episode are for ELITE salespeople only.

BUT WAIT-THERE'S MORE! You also get our inaugural "ASP Premium Content" offer. It's an idea that made one listener a lot of money. You'll have the chance to get the same advice.
 

Do price objections bother you? In this episode, Bill and Bryan talk at length about a popular formula for handling price objections. They debunk this formula and give you a new way to handle those pesky price objections from prospects. We realize that in this economy price becomes more of an issue and a resistance point, and we want to help you navigate through it.

In today’s episode, Bill and Bryan answer some of your mail. One question is “How do I handle an office where everyone is snooping on me?” And the other is “How do I continue to sell during a recession?” That last one has been a huge issue for many salespeople. We’ll answer this one and also bring it up over and over this year.  We also encourage you to go to http://www.2009salescompetencies.com and download the 12 competencies that every salesperson needs to have this year.

Well, this is part two of our series on 2009 sales competencies. We’ve had a lot of people request the e-book that we created. You can go to

http://www.2009salescompetencies.com

and pick up a copy. In this episode, Bill and Bryan address the second group of competencies which includes a) being a problem-finder; b) being a problem-solver; and c) being skilled at new business initiation.

In last week’s episode Bill and Bryan talked about how to communicate your value. But this week, they talk about that issue when it relates to the current economic climate. As sales strategies, your hosts deal with these questions in all of their current client work with sales forces around the world. The economy is on everyone’s mind—especially salespeople who call on prospects that are fearful. (11:42)

This is an extraordinarily difficult time to express your value to prospects. It seems like everyone is focused ONLY on money (“What does it cost?”). Yet there are ways to alleviate that. If you’re in professional sales today, you must know how to communicate what you do in a way people are compelled to hear more about. Bill and Bryan address tactics to use to sell your prospects more effectively. (13:12)

Today’s question came from a listener through www.askbillandbryan.com, who wanted to know how to respond to customer demands that could not be met. That in turn got Bill and Bryan talking about the various demands that customers/prospects put on salespeople. You’ll learn how to handle these when they come up, and maybe even avoid them altogether. (11:10)

Now that we’re well underway in 2009, we thought it helpful to take more questions from our listening audience.

Question #1: How to change your mindset to get into prospecting mode. New business development is critical this year. So Bill and Bryan talk about this.

Also, if you had trouble downloading the “2009 Sales Competencies” e-book, then go to http://www.2009salescompetencies.com and you can download it there. (13:56)

 

 

So what do you need to be good at? I know that sounds like a crazy question but it might be relevant. In our sales training business, we believe this: If you’re struggling with ANY part of the sales process, then it’s probably a result of insufficient skill in that area. So, in this episode, Bill and Bryan talk about a few of the new competencies that the salesperson of the future needs to have. Then you can sign up for the rest of them online at www.2009salescompetencies.com. (12:36)

Sometimes we come across a person—a client in this case—who embodies our principles (and does what we say!!). In this case, the Direct Mail Diva (Stephanie Summers), sits down with us and tells us how she’s created a blog that is helping her sales efforts. She’s truly a sales 2.0 type—and you’ll learn from her.

Also, you’ll get access to a PDF report on blogging—just for our listeners. Email us at listener@advancedsellingpodcast.com. Put BLOGGING in subject line.

Check out Stephanie's blog at www.directmaildiva.blogspot.com.

Duration: (13:56)

Ever wonder if you look like the same old salesperson the prospect sees everyday? I know we all can’t imagine that, but what if you really look do like that? That wouldn’t be so good, would it? Well, in this episode, Bill and Bryan answer a question from the www.askbillandbryan.com website. It comes from a listener who’s concerned that he might be sounding like everyone else. And that frustrates him. (12:31)



 

A valuable episode on a problem coming up more frequently these days—how to handle it when the prospect makes crazy demands in the sales process. One in particular is when they want you to come in and spend an inordinate amount of time doing unpaid consulting. Bryan and Bill take an actual coaching example to talk about how to handle this. (14:52)

 

Ever wonder if you raise expectations too high for your prospects? So that when you do business with them, there’s no way they can be satisfied? Well, you might do it unknowingly. And this is what Bryan and Bill discuss in this week’s episode. (12:27)

 

Over the last few weeks, Bill and Bryan have been working on this idea of “What trends are going to affect salespeople in the future?” As they started to outline the things they were seeing in the market, they thought it would be useful to have a podcast focused on that. Now, we must tell you that this podcast is about 30 minutes (longer than our normal episodes). But they felt the information here is vital for a sales team and salespeople to know as they pursue new business in the future. The key element of all this is that if you’re not watching trends, then they can slip up on you and pass you by. So, if your sales and revenues are not where they need to be or could be, then you might be a victim of old thinking. (29:54)

How you begin a relationship (we’re talking business relationship here) with another person will determine what you both get out of that relationship. Have you even considered the tone with which you begin a prospect relationship? And how do they filter your information? Whatever you say will define the balance of the sales call. In this episode Bill and Bryan help you think through that and give you plenty of tips on how to better begin it.

Every great company has rules it lives by. You might call these “codes of conduct.” But every sales professional should also have a code they live by. In this episode, Bill and Bryan give you five parts of that code—and give you the opportunity to get the other five they didn’t have time to talk about by emailing listener@advancedsellingpodcast.com.

If you’re like most people in sales management, you struggle with motivating and leading your team. In this episode, Bill and Bryan interview the authors of "There Is No Box," a book on leadership. Authors, Steve Coats and Tom Heuer, redefine what it means to be a sales leader. Sales professionals will learn from this approach as well, since they are the ones calling on customers trying to help them "get out of the box." This is a good episode to listen to in a group setting. Ask youself the question: are we doing these things?

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.

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!

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 wondered why your prospects sometimes just don't act on your offer? Could it be you just aren't getting them to admit their problems to you? Well, this podcast episode with Bill Caskey and Brooke Green deals with exactly how to do that. Most sales strategies forget about that very thing - how to understand the compelling reasons a prospect has for changing.