Accelerate! With Andy Paul

Terri Sjodin is the founder of Sjodin Communications and author of a new research report titled “The State of Sales Presentations 2020." She joins me today for a conversation about the common sales presentation mistakes professionals make in today’s market. As Terri and I get into, the world changed, just a little bit, even after she had finished this research. However, the net effect is that the relevance and importance of many of the recommendations that Terri makes for sellers have been amplified by the pandemic. We’ll talk about the 9 common mistakes that sales presenters have made forever and the 3 new common mistakes (Hint: they're largely driven by over-reliance on technology and a failure to connect with the audience on a human level). Finally, we'll dive into a really interesting finding in her research. That the amount of product training a seller receives is direct proportion to the number of presentation mistakes they make. There’s a very good reason for that. Be sure to check that part out.  _

Richard Harris (Founder of The Harris Consulting Group and Director of Sales Training for Sales Hacker) joins me today for a conversation about sales training. It’s one of my favorite topics. Because I believe it’s one of the areas in sales where there is the biggest room for improvement. Richard and I talk about how, as the world around us has changed, at least temporarily, if not forever, what impact that will have on how we train sellers. This is important because for many sellers, what they do on a day to day basis has changed, in ways that were unexpected. So how do we enable them to succeed? Plus, so much more. _ Arm your team with the tools they need to work from anywhere. Watch the video @ www.ringDNA.com/andy

Bob Apollo (founder of Inflexion-Point Strategy Partners) is a keen observer of where sellers should be focusing their efforts during this period of economic disruption. In today's episode, learn how to sell in the midst of a downturn. A Recession is not an excuse for not selling. Yes, it’s harder. Yes, it’s frustrating. But if you’re willing to be thoughtful and methodical about how you go to market, you can still hit your numbers. To that end we’re going to dive into the 3 criteria that sellers should use for identifying new sales opportunities at this time. These are simple and effective guidelines for every seller, Plus, we’ll dig into the concept of time to value. Or what I like to call speed to outcome. And why this is more critically important than ever in sales. _ Arm your team with the tools they need to work from anywhere. Watch the video @ www.ringDNA.com/andy

Scott Miller is the EVP of Thought Leadership at Franklin Covey and author of the book, "From Management Mess to Leadership Success: 30 Challenge to Become the Leader You Would Follow." Today we talk about management development and dig into Scott's ongoing journey to become a leader you would follow. _ Arm your team with the tools they need to work from anywhere. Watch the video @ www.ringDNA.com/andy

David Kreiger is the founder and CEO of SalesRoads. Today, David and I dig into his 4 essential building blocks for effectively selling (and managing) remote. _ Arm your team with the tools they need to work from anywhere. Watch the video @ www.ringDNA.com/andy

Jeb Blount is the founder of Sales Gravy and author of numerous best-selling books like "Fanatical Prospecting," which was the winner of ringDNA’s Sales Madness Bracket Challenge for most influential sales book. Today we talk about, well, pretty much everything. I had read Jeb’s latest book:, "The Ultimate Guide to Mastering Objections: The Art and Science of Getting Past No," I had a ton of questions prepared to ask him, and we didn’t talk about any of it! No worries though, just sit back and enjoy. I had a blast talking with Jeb. You’ll enjoy it too! _ Arm your team with the tools they need to work from anywhere. Watch the video @ www.ringDNA.com/andy

Today, my friend and erstwhile co-host Bridget Gleason (Head of Sales, TideLift) joins me on Sales Enablement Podcast #790 to talk about what SDRs and AEs should be doing NOW to prepare themselves for an uncertain career future, and how to improve onboarding new sellers and upskilling more veteran sellers. _ Arm your team with the tools they need to work from anywhere. Watch the video @ www.ringDNA.com/andy

Alice Heiman is The CEO's Sales Coach, and an award-winning blogger and speaker. Today, we dig into why managers need to go the extra mile to keep their sales teams intact during economic uncertainty and what the penalties will be if you don't. We’ll also get into why sellers need to stay super connected with their customers and Alice will provide some solid tactics on how to do exactly that. _ Arm your team with the tools they need to work from anywhere: www.ringDNA.com/andy

This is Episode 1 of Andy's brand new podcast miniseries, SELLING WITH PURPOSE. ABOUT THE SHOW: What does it mean to sell with purpose? What if a successful sale doesn’t just mean one more widget on the balance sheet, but one more life saved? How can you bring immediacy and purpose to every conversation, no matter what you’re selling? How are the most successful sales teams thriving in the face of economic uncertainty, all while working remotely? Join Andy Paul (host of Sales Enablement Podcast) for this special mini-series of nuanced and inspired conversations exploring what it means to sell with purpose in the era of COVID-19 and beyond. Hear from the world's leading enterprise sales executives who have successfully taken their sales teams remote. See how they’ve supported essential workers with the products and services they need to stay safe and thrive during this time of national crisis. And learn how selling with a sense of purpose can help you form stronger and more impactful connections with customer

Meridith Elliot Powell is the author of several books including, "Who Comes Next? Leadership Succession Planning Made Easy." In this episode, we discuss sales follow up and how to ensure you are in front of the right buyers at the right time. _ Arm your team with the tools they need to work from anywhere. Watch the video @ www.ringDNA.com/andy

Justin Roff-Marsh is the author of, "The Machine: A Radical Approach to the Design of the Sales Function," and Founder of Ballistix, a Los Angeles-based sales consultancy. In this episode, Justin and I challenge sales orthodoxy on a wide range of topics. Tune in to see why I love having Justin on the show to confront the conservative, hidebound thinking that dominates in sales. 

Mike Schultz is the President of the RAIN Group. In this episode, we talk about the new report RAIN Group published on B2B sales negotiations titled, "Top Performance in Sales Negotiations: Surprising Research on Tactics Sellers and Buyers Use, What Works, and What Doesn’t." Mike and I dig into why good business deals are as much about good selling as they are good negotiation. We then get into RAIN’s Six Essential Rules of Sales negotiation, what Mike’s team found was the most effective sales negotiation tactic, and why that tactic is rarely seen by buyers. 

Scott Leese, Founder of Surf & Sales, Co-Host of the Surf & Sales podcast, and author. In today's episode, we learn of Scott's amazing resilience in combating a life-threatening illness and how he used that experience to launch his successful sales career. Listen and learn why Scott and I both hated making cold calls and what we did to avoid them! (Hint: It's get promoted to manager)

Maura Thomas is the author of "Attention Management: How to Create Success and Gain Productivity Every Day." In today's episode, Maura shares with us why “time management” is not the solution for increasing your personal productivity. When distraction is the enemy, and that distraction comes in an increasing number of digital forms, the cure is "attention management." Listen and learn how to manage your attention in a communications economy driven by capturing and holding your attention.  _ Arm your team with the tools they need to work from anywhere. To learn more, visit www.ringDNA.com/andy.

Gessie Schechinger is the VP of Sales at Zibtek and the CRO at OnCourse Sales Engagement Platform. In today's episode, Gessie and I dig into how sellers should think about automation as a vehicle for retention and the battle for the "soul of sales". Plus, we explore new ways to measure sales rep productivity. _ Arm your team with the tools they need to work from anywhere: www.ringDNA.com/andy

This is part one of my interview series with the four finalists of ringDNA’s Sales Madness BEST SALES BOOK bracket competition. Over 5,000 people voted and four authors were crowned the greatest of all-time: Jeb Blount, Keenan, Mike Weiberg, and Paul Smith. Today, Keenan joins me to talk about why GAP Selling is such a hit, as well as the future of sales, what it means for salespeople, and how sales teams can successfully navigate it.

Kevin "KD" Dorsey (VP of Inside Sales at PatientPop) and I discuss how to improve inside sales performance and why taking responsibility for investing in our own sales-education has been key to our success. _ Arm your team with the tools they need to work from anywhere: www.ringDNA.com/andy

Antonio Garrido is CEO of Sandler Training in Miami and author of a new book titled, "The 21st-Century Ride-Along: How Sales Leaders Can Develop Their Teams in Real-Time Sales Calls." Listen and learn why ride-alongs are a powerful yet underutilized development tool in the sales leader’s toolkit. We'll get specific on how sales manager's can plan and execute a successful ride-along, why they'll need to allow their reps to fail, and how not to allow themselves to fall victim to The Lone Ranger-Syndrome.

Meet Ben Cohen, Head of Sales Excellence and Marketing (North America and South America) for HELLA. If you're not familiar, HELLA is a $10 billion German enterprise with nearly 40,000 employees serving the automotive industry worldwide. In this episode, Ben joins me to talk about how to effectively transition major account sellers (who historically have nurtured critical strategic relationships with face-to-face selling) to virtual and remote sellers. We'll then dig into how Ben and HELLA define sales excellence and how they measure success.

INC Magazine management columnist and author of the new book “Wait, I’m the Boss: The Essential Guide for New Managers to Succeed from Day One," Peter Economy joins me talk about why leaders can’t wait on their company to train and enable them to be a good manager.