In The Sales Arena

Do This ONE Thing To Crush It Every Day! - ITSA #033 Hey gang ... Thanks for tuning in to this episode of "In the Sales Arena"! We have a great show as we talk about the "one thing" we can do to make every day awesome and we are going to focus in on the part having a great attitude plays in how successful we are.  I love this old quote by Zig Ziglar - "your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude"! I even do a lousy job of trying to imitate how Zig used to say that in his audio programs. I even say him live and heard him share this quoy=te as a young sales rep way back in 197?????. Who cares! I am going to share a number of ideas about how to develop, maintain and protect a positive attitude like: Practicing positive responses Understanding the principal of Garbage In-Garbage Out (als known as GIGO) and how important that is Being careful about who we hang out with and the influence that has one us But the "one thing" I have come to experience that can have the greatest influence on our at

3 Keys To Deciding If You Are In the Right Sales Job! - ITSA #032 We have been very fortunate through the years to do sales training all over the world for some of the best of the best sales organizations. During all of that sales training I find myself assessing their teams and many times the individuals. The questions I find myself asking a lot are; Is this person in the right sales position? Should they be in sales at all? Today we are going to tackle 3 keys, or ways, to determine if you are in the right sales job? Key #1 – are you working for the right company? Established or new Big or small How much support do they provide? Training available? Management style? Key #2 – are you selling the right product? Do you love the product? Passionate about it? Fun? Does it impact businesses or people’s lives? Do you believe in it? Sales style required Key #3 – can you build the sales career, and life, you want in this sales position? Money? Growth opportunities? Will selling this product, for this company, allow

Cheating Competitors - 3 Things To Think, And Do, About It!                A lot of discussions lately about integrity, ethics and character in sales! Today we are going to talk about what to do when your competitors are cheating or acting unethically! As we look at this challenge it is important to make a distinction between … Doing things that are illegal Doing things that are unethical First – let’s be clear about what is going on Is what they are doing illegal? Would you consider it unethical? Would you consider it immoral? Does it lack integrity? Three words of caution ...  Caution #1 – about using our standards for what is ethical, moral and/or lacks integrity! Caution #2 – let’s make sure everything we are doing passes the same set of standards! Caution #3 – let’s make sure this isn’t just an excuse for someone who is doing a better job than we are! Second – let’s determine how we are going to do business regardless of what others do! There is no such thing as situational ethics! Are we doing anyt

Donald Kelly The Sales Evangelist - ITSA #030 Hey gang - This Master Sales Interview with Donald Kelly is going to go down as one of the very best we have ever put together! Partly because of his background, partly because of insights and partly because of his incredible enthusiasm! Here is a little about Donald from his own website www.thesalesevangelist.com. Check it out ... Donald Kelly - The Sales Evangelist Just like most of you, I am a real life sales professional hustling in the world of software sales. If you were like me, you had no clue how to really sell when you started in sales. Over the years I’ve received training/coaching from some of the industry’s leading experts. I applied what I was learning and started seeing a significant difference in my performance and income. I started doing “BIG THINGS”! I personally feel that when you find something of value you should share it! That’s why I love sales so much. I became very passionate and started “evangelizing” about sales. A good buddy of mine, Ja

4 Things Every Sales Pro Needs To Do When We Mess Up! Welcome – this podcast is all about what to do when we mess up or make a mistake – and we will! The buzzword for this is “recovery”. What we need to remembers is clients don’t expect us to be perfect they just want to know when something goes wrong we will fix it. To be successful at "recovery": We have to fix what happened We have to fix the relationship Step #1 – Ask the client what went wrong?What is the problem? Where did we mess up? Don’t avoid! Listen and “shut up”! Don’t rationalize, justify, or defend even if what they say isn’t accurate from your understanding. Continue to ask – is there anything else I need to know? Note! It isn’t over until they feel they’ve been heard! Step #2 – own the mistake! Keep in mind the language is "I" made a mistake when you did it and we made a mistake when your team does it! It is never “they” made a mistake. Explain what happened, when necessary, so the client understands you understand and never make excuses! St

Welcome to ITSA #028 and 3 reasons why it is important to identify your "Ideal Clients". First - think of words that describe the "ideal client"and determine which of your clients match those words. Second - think of words that describe the worst clients and determine which of your clients fit in that pocket. Third - once you have this then; If we know who the "ideal clients" are then we can market and sell to them accordingly. They are simply easier to sell to, they close faster and easier, and at a higher margin. They are a lot more fun to do business with! Our Listener Question of the Week (LQOW) is:  My company is doing some things I think lack integrity. What should I do? Listen in to get all the details and the answer to the LQOW!

The 6 Levels of Relationship – Pursuing Sales Mastery - ITSA #022   This is the third in 4 podcasts on what it takes to be a sales master in 2015. So far we have talked about the power of a sales process and value based selling. Today we are going to talk about the 6 levels of relationship and how important it is to be intentional about building Levels 5 and 6. Yes! We are always measuring everything! Why? ·      Consistency ·      Repeatable ·      What we measure we can improve ·      Awareness!  We define The 6 Levels of Relationship like this … ü   Level 1 – I am an unknown (we will define as they don’t even know who I am or who my company is)  ü   Level 2 – I am known (defined as they know who I am and who my company is but they don’t know what we do) ü   Level 3 – I am a vendor (we will define as I am on their list to buy from and they may or may not be buying from me)  ü   Level 4 – I am a supplier (we will define as they are buying from us with some regularity) ü   Level 5 – I am a partner (defined

Value Based Selling – Avoiding The Price Trap By Learning To Sell Value! - ITSA #021  Hey gang! Welcome to In the Sales Arena #021. We are going to talk about one of my favorite topics today and a topic I see transform the careers of a lot of sales people when they get ahold of this idea in the sales training programs we deliver. Today we are going to talk about Value Based Selling.  Let me ask you a few questions … Are you tired of quoting, quoting and quoting some more where you win some and lose some? Are you tired of the whole “price is king” rat race? Would you like to sell more volume? At a higher margin? With clients that are more collaborative in nature and appreciate what you bring to the table? Would you just like to have more fun at work every day?  Well, there is no silver bullet. Sorry! But, there is an answer to being able to do all of the above and it begins with knowing the value you bring to the table. When I say know it I mean to master your value like I asked you … “what’s your birthday”? S

Mastering the Sales Process - ITSA #020  Welcome to “In the Sales Arena” podcast #020! This is our second podcast of 2015 and what we are calling the year of sales mastery. As we go through the year ahead, in all of our content, we want you to have all of the tools you need to build the sales career, and life you want in 2015!  Our hopes for you can be summed up like this; ü    If you are new … we want to help build the foundation for a great year and long term sales success ü    If you are stuck in the middle we want to help you get to the top ü    If you are already at the top and wanting to stay there, we want to help you blow the roof off the numbers In this episode we are going to talk about the sales process and how critical it is to master it! I know-it isn’t very sexy! During this podcast we are going to share with you the following: ü    The 8 step process we teach and a little about each ü    5 reasons why mastering the process is so critical ü    Why you should care!  So, hope you enjoy this one.

A Year of Sales Mastery - What Does It Take To Be the Best of the Best?   Welcome – Happy New Year! Hope you had a great holiday season and that you are rested up and ready to go here in 2015. Our theme for 2015 is A Year of Sales Mastery. In this episode we are going to talk about …  What do we mean by mastery? Why would you want to be a master of selling? What is it going to take to be a master of this profession of sales? What we will be focusing in on in 2015 are the following 4 areas of mastery: ü     Understanding and quantifying the “value” we bring to clients and customers! ü     Intentionally building Level 5 & 6 relationships – you are the person they go to! ü     Executing a proven sales process – what are the steps to consistent volume and margin in selling? ü     Becoming an extraordinary person, professionally and personally, at the core level. In this session we discuss Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Outliers” and in particular his 10,000 hours to mastery! The question we have to ask ourselves

Hey gang ...  We were not going to do a podcast this week but as I got up this morning I felt compelled to sit down to do a quick one just to say THANK YOU for an incredible 2014 and to share how excited we are heading into 2015. There are a lot of awesome things on the horizon for TheSalesGladiators.com and our "In the Sales" Arena podcast as well as some new additions to our premium In the Sales Arena members. And, we are launching our modular based, online sales training in January for folks who want a focused learning opportunity to grow their sales skills. So, to say the least, we are jacked up about what lies ahead! Again ... thanks! You guys are the best, we really appreciate you and we are looking forward to an awesome 2015!   Jim J

It is Christmas Eve as we post this last podcast for 2014 and first we hope you are enjoying the holiday season and celebrating it however your traditions dictate and enjoying every moment of it! 2014 has been a phenomenal year and we expect 2015 to be even more fantastic! Over the past 7 podcasts we have been discovering together what it will take for 2015 to be Our Best Year EVER! So far we have discussed how important it is to: Have a plan - our plan! Develop and defend a great attitude! Be committed to our success - "I will do whatever it takes"! Create a vision - that goes beyond a paycheck or a career! Keep learning - invest in our own success! Take responsibility for our results - we are who, what and where we are because of the choices we make! Todays podcast simply focuses on how much I believe you are capable of doing this in an incredible way and saying ... "LET'S GO"! The "Sales Tool of the Week" - is a look ahead at what we have oin store for 2015 for you. We are calling 2015 "THe Year of Sales

Taking Total Responsibility - ITSA #016   Hey folks … welcome to In the Sales Arena Podcast #016! We are in podcast 6 of a 7 part series titled: Living Life Large – How To Have YOUR Best Sales Year Ever In 2015. So far we have talked about the following; ·       The importance of creating a plan ·       Being passionate and enthusiastic about being in sales ·       Being committed – I will do whatever it takes mentality ·       Having a vision for what we do, and creating the career and life we         want by being in service to others ·       Keep learning and growing by investing in our own sales training This week we are going to lean on you a little bit by talking about how important, or even critical, it is that we take total responsibility for our results! We answer the question … what if I have a bad? ·      Boss ·      Territory ·      Product ·      Service Department or Shipping Department ·      Economy where I work ·      Or even a bad company! In the podcast we deal with all of that by asking ou

How To Make 2015 Your Best Sales Year Ever! The Power of Learning - ITSA #015   Again our focus in this 7 part podcast series is ending 2014 on a roll so we can start 2015 off with a ton of momentum! This week we are talking about how important it is to invest in our own sales training and growth in addition to whatever our company is, or isn’t, providing for us. Did you know that the average sales professional that we have trained, with 10 or more years in sales, has 10 or less days of formal sales training? That is the data from us surveying our clients from major companies! And sales people are the lifeblood of the companies they work for! Yet, it takes 30 hours of training to receive a Certified Purchasing Professional accreditation and an additional 30 hours to receive a Certified Purchasing Manager accreditation.  Bottom line? Most sales people are poorly equipped and undertrained to deal with today’s much more informed and educated, via the internet, buyers. In this podcast we are recommending some ver

Vision - ITSA #014 This is Part 4 in our 7 part series How To Make 2015 Your Best Sales Year Ever.  This episode looks at the part that creating a powerful Vision plays in what we accomplish in 2015! So far, in the first 3 episodes, we have covered having a plan (your plan), being passionate about what we do and what we can accomplish, and we have talked about the part commitment plays in our success. In this episode we discuss having a "vision" for what we want to accomplish in 2015! We are going to approach the subject at 3 different levels... Beginner - where we all start out if we have never been taught how to create a vision for our life and career or if perhaps we didn't grow up in a way where creating a "big picture" vision for our life was a way of thinking.  Then we are going to look at an intermediate approach where vision is the backbone of how we live.  And last, we are going to talk about 1 main vision that can fuel outstanding personal and professional success for the rest of our lives. Beginner

This is the 3rd Living Life Large episode in a series of 7 focused on what it will take to make 2015 our best sales year ever!.  This episode is about how important it is to be committed to the sales careers we want to have and the life we want to build right along with them.   Planning this podcast brought back memories of my college days as a basketball player and baseball player. I was always curious why some very talented athletes never quite made it while others with less physical abilities excelled. Same held true in my sales career and in the last 20+ years as a consultant helping clients select, develop and retain top sales talent. The best athletes and sales people I have seen were not necessarily those with the most gifts but were those that were willing to do what others wouldn't. They were then and are now simply the men and women who are willing, within the moral and ethical guidelines we should all be bound by, to do whatever it takes to be the best of the best. They are committed! To have our b

This is the second in our 7 part series Living Life Large - How To Make 2015 Your Best Year Ever! We are focusing on how to develop, maintain and defend having a great attitude and consistently positive outlook on life. There are so many reasons why keeping a positive outlook is so critical to our success in sales! Here are just a few ... People like being around positive people! Clients will look forward to seeing us when we walk in the door, or talk to us when we call on the phone, if we are always bringing a positive attitude with us! Maintaining a positive attitude is huge as we work to develop the resiliency we need to deal with the inevitable ups and downs of our sales career! Keeping a great outlook day in and day out will help us see possibilities clearer as opposed to the blinders our crumudgeon competitors seem to have because of their lousy attitudes! Work, and life, are just a lot more fun (as they should be) if we stay positive! This podcast is going to share 3 different ways we can go about de

What would it take to make 2015 your best year ever? What needs to happen for you to "Live Your Life Large"? What can we do to finish 2014 strong that can help make 2015 our best year ever? How we treat November and December 2014 will have everything to do with how big a year 2015 is going to be. The tendency in sales is to let off the gas peddle down the stretch as we have already made our quota or not made our quota and we start managing our numbers by holding back orders to get a great start in 2015. Truth is that is a huge momentum killer. This podcast will deal with 4 reasons we as sales people tend to coast this time of year and what we can do to turn those challenges around! Note: This is the first in a series of 7 podcasts titled Living Life Large: How To Make 2015 Your Best Year Ever that will take us through the end of 2014 with tons of energy and allow us to start 2015 with the momentum we need to make next year awesome!

Cold calling, at best, is a challenge for even the best of sales pros! That said, there are many who excel at it and it is the cornerstone of building very successful sales careers. This podcast is focused on why cold calling is so difficult and speaks to some creative ways, one you might loathe or perhaps adore, and a couple that you can incorporate tomorrow. all of them are proven, by yours truly and others as well, to work! So, take a few moments to listen to this podcast on "Cold Calling" and then go knock on some doors. We think you will have more fun this way and you will find you are winning more than you lose this way! Enjoy the podcast ... Jim J

There are a number of things that can stall out a sales career but the "one thing" I see over and over again is when a sales rep starts playing with the numbers! It generally starts out with manipulating what we are projecting for the year in a way that makes it as easy as possible to make quota while, at the same time, keeping the sales manager happy! The second phase has us either holding orders back at the end of the month/quarter/year because we have already exceeded our plan so we can front load the upcng month/quarter year! Or, we are running around at the end of one of those cycles, like a chicken with our heads cut off, just to make the number. This podcast speaks to the dangers of these tendencies, and others, and what to do about them so our numbers stay on a constant growth trajectory instead of stalling our sales career!