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.

We talk often at the podcast about B2B lead generation. But the topic could literally be the focus of a year's worth of podcasts.

Why? Because it is, bar none, the most popular topic clients come to us with. So, today, we'll talk about a cold call technique (even though Bill and Bryan HATE cold calls) that you can use to generate new discussions with prospects.

Also, you first time listeners--send us an email at listener@advancedsellingpodcast.com with FIRSTTIMER in the subject line. Let us know how you heard about us and pose a question to us!

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.

Ever wonder if you're doing the right behavior to grow your business? Or "enough" of the right activity? Bill and Bryan talk about 4 of the 10 areas that they recommend you assess yourself in--all having to do with 'sales activity.'  In their practice they run up against a lot of prospecting pain, but upon further inspection, find that people are not doing enough of the right behavior. So this is your chance to assess.

If you'd like the actual PDF of the assessment, email them at mailto:listener@advancedsellingpodcast.com   - SUBJ: Behavior. Kathy will send the entire list so you can assess.

Managers, you can also use this PDF to assess your entire team.

Last week we did the Skills Assessment portion of professional growth. Today, Bryan and Bill talk about the “inner game.”

It is our belief that all “great performers have great minds.” It doesn’t mean they’re smart. It means they are wired for success. So in the sales profession, what should you be thinking that allows you to DO the things you need to do? The hosts give you a few to chew on, then you can email them at listener@advancedsellingpodcast.com (“inner game” in subject line) for the rest.

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 week on the Advanced Selling Podcast, Bill and Bryan talk about the ethical consideration that keeps you from moving forward. What to do? What to do? Intent (a core principle on the ASP) comes to the forefront in this discussion. You are invited to weigh in by emailing Bill and Bryan at listener@advancedsellingpodcast.com.

 

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.

Sometimes we just need to have bold, bad sales moves. In this podcast, Bill and Bryan talk about two bold moves you can make as you pursue the sale.These moves are not intended to get someone to buy—that’s not cool. They ARE intended to move the sale along—or move it out.

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.

Due to the holiday week, Bryan is taking some much deserved time off and Bill chose this week to share live audio from one of our MasterMinds programs. (MasterMinds is a peer group of high achieving sales professionals.) Bill and the group address the issue: What mental platform do you need to operate from?

Happy Memorial Day!

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.

Well it's been a while since we posted a Mailbag episode. We're getting so much mail--and so many questions--that we take three of them today. The most important was from a young lady who feels her product might be inferior to her competition--and she isn't totally sold on it.

This is a powerful topic. Bill and Bryan delve into the inner game of this--and give you some counsel if this is happening to you. They also answer the question of 'how do you handle it if your sales manager isn't aware of the "podcast teachings?"'

If you have a question, go to www.askbillandbryan.com and post it there. We'll get to it as we can.

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.

This is part 1 of our 2-part series on sales competencies—what do you need to be good at to succeed in professional selling today? Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale address the background on these competencies and how you can make them your strong points. Good for B2B sales teams and salespeople. If you’re a sales manager, play this at your next sales meeting and create discussion on whether or not you believe in these.

There is a Caskey concept that keeps coming up and that is the application of Detachment in the sales process. Very few other sales strategies/systems deal with this because it’s a difficult notion to get your arms around.  In this week’s episode, Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale address this issue head on. What does detachment mean? How can it be used to strengthen your results? And what you should stay away from. (15:08)


Check out the competencies you'll need for
2009. Download your free E-Book at
www.2009SalesCompetencies.com

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)

Salespeople, what’s the number one attribute of the best manager you’ve had? Bryan recently conducted an informal poll, and the answers are surprisingly simple. In this episode Bill and Bryan discuss the attributes of a good sales manager and continue a previous discussion on motivation. (15:00)