Catalyst Sale Podcast: Sales Training | Sales Strategy | B2b | Selling | Marketing

In this episode, Mike and Jody discuss the importance of saying “I don’t know” when talking with prospects or customers. Key Takeaways: It is shocking how many people are uncomfortable saying “I don’t know.” It is important to follow-up with “I will find out,” “I will get an answer,” or “I’ll get back to you.” Don’t be dismissive when using “I don’t know.” You come across as more confident saying “I don’t know,” followed by one of the phrases than to fill in the gaps with random information. Saying “I don’t know” can lead to customer confidence that you aren’t just trying to see them a bill of goods or make things up as you go along. It’s important to take notes throughout your call. Find a note taking system that works for you. It’s critical to follow-up with the prospect/customer after saying “I don’t know.” Decide to take some type of action. If you follow-up after saying “I don’t know,” you will build a reputation as someone who solves problems. Leverage “I don’t know,” follow-up with an answer, execute

In this episode, Mike and Jody discuss how to prepare for your initial conversation with a prospect and why the preparation piece is important.  Questions Answered: How do you prepare for the initial conversation with a prospect? Key Takeaways: Determine how you found out about the person you will be talking to. Did they contact you or did you identify them as a prospect? I want to gather as much information as I can about the person based on the data we have collected from our website, etc.. Identify some of the things you would like to know about them. Realize that some information you will be able to get only by speaking directly with them. Validate that they have a problem and validate that they care about solving the problem. Your initial call should be about discovering things about them and their company. Deliver some sort of value back to the prospect. Have a clear understanding of the design of the call. Have desired next steps defined prior to your call. If you take the combination of the researc

In this episode, Mike talks with Dan Cockerell about his new book, What’s The Culture In Your Kingdom? Key Takeaways: The book is broken into 4 sections: Leading Yourself, Leading Your Team, Leading Your Organization and Leading Change. Studies have shown that CEO’s who have emotional intelligence have better results. It doesn’t take a lot to be good at connecting with people. Growth mindset is key. You never know the door that you open, what door will open after that. Don’t sell a product, invest in a relationship. Ask your team, how many people did you introduce yourself to? Ask your team, what are you putting into place now that will pay off in 6 months? You need to reward individual performance and you need to reward team performance. If you want to know what your customers want, go talk to your customers. If you adjust your behavior and make your team more successful, it will come back to you.  Show Links:  www.cockerellconsulting.com How’s The Culture In Your Kingdom on Amazon Work With Catalyst Sa

In this episode, Mike and Jody talk about ways to start the year off right even if you have already abandoned your New Year’s Resolution.  Questions Answered: How do we start the year off right? What do we do to get back on track? Key Takeaways: People cannot disrupt the attitude that you take, the effort you put forth, the attention you use when doing work. Go back to the why behind the decision and start executing again. There is no shortage of good things you can do. You have to do the work and build a daily practice. Get the work done that you can control. Things will get tough, there will be challenges. Listen to or read information from Simon Sinek If your why remains the same, get back to it again tomorrow. Move forward Reflect on what things got in the way. Feel comfortable cutting goals short if they are not actually helping you solve the problem. Show Links: Steve Anderson podcast episode - The Bezos Letters The Catalyst Sale G.A.M.E. Plan Root Cause Analysis  Ending 10K Steps Work With Catal

In this episode, Mike and Jody talk about why it is a good idea to break down a problem in order to execute and solve.  Key Takeaways: You aren’t going to know where your blindspots are until something or someone helps reveal those things. If you can break a problem down enough, then you can get it done. Establish time, understand risk, and then make a decision. Be specific about what you want to solve and why you want to solve it. Limit it down to the things that you can achieve, that you can execute against. In order to execute on the exciting things, you have to do the early things really well. This Episode of The Catalyst Sale Podcast was brought to you by the Catalyst Sale G.A.M.E. Plan - www.catalystsale.com/gameplan Work With Catalyst Sale: Listen to our free resource (this podcast) and then put the action items into practice. Share your work with us via Twitter or hello@catalystsale.com Invest in a Catalyst Sale course - self directed. Find our courses here  Hire us as a consultant/advisor within

In this episode, Mike talks to Liston Witherill. Liston is the Author of Serve Don’t Sell, the Chief of Sales Insights at Serve Don’t Sell and is the host of The Modern Sales Podcast.  Questions Answered: What is the connection between environmental science and sales? Why do sales folks struggle with systems thinking concepts? Do you believe people struggle with practice? Why is it important to discuss ethics in sales? What challenges our ethics when it comes to sales? How can we create better alignment between business and personal ethics? Key Takeaways: Environmental Science and Sales both need systems thinking What are the variables and factors that influence how the system works? How can we picture our business as a system that has inputs and outputs? The only way to make sales a science is to have really large data points and the reality is, that is tough to get. We can apply the scientific method to sales - hypothesis, test, ask questions, isolate for certain variables. Science is about finding cause

Jeff Noel is back for a special episode of the Catalyst Sale Podcast. We talk about a number of things, with a specific focus on Home. Make sure to take the 72 hour challenge that we mention at the end of the podcast. I'm going to keep the show notes short - your can learn more about Jeff Noel by following his podcast "If Disney Ran Your Life" or following him at junglejeff.com Jeff's Podcast - If Disney Ran Your Life Jeff's Blogs Mind Body Spirit Family Health Work Health Jeff's Twitter Jeff's first episode on the Catalyst Sale podcast Thank You  Please send listener questions and feedback to hello@catalystsale.com or contact us directly on twitter, facebook or LinkedIn. This podcast is brought to you by Catalyst Sale - you can learn more about Catalyst Sale, and the products and services we provide via the following links. Growth Acceleration - Plateau Breakthrough Product Market Fit The G.A.M.E. Plan  - a Catalyst Sale Course

In this episode, Mike talks with Amber Naslund. Amber is a Principal Consultant at LinkedIn. She leverages her expertise to help some of the top brands in the world build outstanding digital content strategies. Questions Answered: Why can’t we do more of what the internet is good at? Are there ways for us to leverage the good? How can we converse better on social channels? How can we get better? How do you differentiate between fundamentals and tactics? Key Takeaways: The internet is its own magnifying glass of what we all are. The internet brings us closer to so many things that we are insatiably curious about. The internet makes it easier than ever before to lean into community. People feel seen and a sense of belonging. It is critical to use our ability to connect to advocate for what we care about. It takes a conscious effort to pull away from the negative. You have the power to unfollow, block and mute. You need to tend your own garden. Reinforce your boundaries. Slow down enough to have empathy for o

In this episode, Mike talks to George Randle, Managing Partner at EF Overwatch and Co-Author of Talent War. Questions Answered: What inspired the book? Why do we fall into the trap of thinking industry experience is critical? Why do HR professionals struggle with pushing back? What is effective intelligence? What is resilience? What is Hire for Character, Train for Skill? Key Takeaways: Drive home the point that it is critical to have people with the 9 character attributes we talk about in the book. Look at your company through the lens of talent. If we know the problem we solve for, we have much more context for the role we are trying to fill. How many leaders actually know what is making someone successful? Effective Intelligence - a person’s ability to apply their knowledge to real world scenarios. Resilience - the ability to get back up and keep going after a failure. B and C level players don’t have the ability to see A level players. A level players have team ability Character attributes are more pre

In this episode, Mike and Jody discuss how to be in Sales without being salesy.  Questions Answered: What advice do you have to help folks avoid being "Salesy"? Key Takeaways: When people think of “salesy” they think used car salesman or door to door sales people and they don’t want to be that because they don’t feel comfortable with that approach. You have to believe in the product you are selling. Even more important, you have to believe in the problem you are solving for. You can be more empathic to the customer if you believe in the problem you are solving for. Ask questions and then take a genuine interest in the response. If you don’t want to have that kind of conversation, pause, think about it more and come up with a different approach. Sales is not about convincing people of things, it’s about compelling folks to take action. Work With Catalyst Sale: Listen to our free resource (this podcast) and then put the action items into practice. Share your work with us via Twitter or hello@catalystsale.c

In this episode, Mike and Jody answer a listener question about building comp plans. Listen in to know what you should consider when building a comp plan and what you want to avoid. Questions Answered: What should I consider when developing a comp plan? What are common mistakes people make when doing a comp plan? Key Takeaways: Know what you are trying to accomplish Know what modeling you are comfortable using when thinking about the over-arching cost of sale. Know how much risk you are willing to take on in instances where someone exceeds the plan by a significant number. Mistakes Made: Going back and implementing what you did last year Applying the same concepts to next year Trying to make the comp plan the same for everybody across the team Comp based on validated opportunities Test your modeling to see where it breaks down Be direct and deliberate with all the stakeholders within the business Adjust for whatever variables you can isolate for Work to simplify as much as you can 3 distinct groups - 1

In this episode, Mike talks with Tanner Brock about the conclusion of the three month test with Catalyst Sale.  This is the fourth round of this series.  Check out episodes 212, 215, and 220, if you missed the first three sessions. Questions Answered: What would Tanner never do again? What did we learn throughout the test? What would have done differently? What will change as we go forward? Work With Catalyst Sale: Listen to our free resource (this podcast) and then put the action items into practice. Share your work with us via Twitter or hello@catalystsale.com Invest in a Catalyst Sale course - self directed. Find our courses here or contact Tanner - Tanner@catalystsale.com Hire us as a consultant/advisor within your team or organization  Ep 212 Ep 215 Ep 220 Thank You  Please send listener questions and feedback to podcast@catalystsale.com or contact us directly on twitter, facebook or LinkedIn. This podcast is brought to you by Catalyst Sale - you can learn more about Catalyst Sale, and the products

Listen in as Mike and Jody discuss how to use the Catalyst Sale G.A.M.E. Plan template for goal-setting and execution. Questions Answered: What is the G.A.M.E. Plan? What do each of the letters stand for? How do we download the guide? Key Takeaways: A framework you can use to help improve your ability to execute on your goals. G = Goal A = Activities Actions you are going to take to reach your goal M = Metrics Measurables - A way to hold yourself accountable E = Execution Things you use to keep you focused. When you run into hard times, what will you look to, in order to move forward. The why behind your goal Show Links: The G.A.M.E. Plan Let us know how you are applying this document to your life. podcast@catalystsale.com  Work With Catalyst Sale: Listen to our free resource (this podcast) and then put the action items into practice. Share your work with us via Twitter or hello@catalystsale.com Invest in a Catalyst Sale course - self directed. Find our courses here  Hire us as a consultant/a

In this episode, Mike and Jody discuss some of the traps Mike has identified that keep people from obtaining their goals. Questions Answered: How did you come up with the 7 Traps? What are some of the traps? How do we download the guide? Key Takeaways: There are things that we all do and reasons that we do these things. Imagine if you put a little structure behind it, how much more you could accomplish.  Trap # 1 - Being Vague With Your Goals Take a more specific approach Design backward so you can start executing Trap # 2 - Not Breaking Your Goals Down Into Smaller Components That Can Be Measured and Tested Breaking into smaller components helps you execute You can constantly evaluate whether or not you are making progress Trap # 4 - As Soon As I Fail, I’m Done Every day is a new day Failure is a lesson you learn from Put controls in place so you don’t succumb to failures. Even if you fail, you made some sort of progress. Show Links: Seven Crucial Mistakes That Keep You From Winning Let us kn

In this episode, Mike and Jody discuss the importance and value of practice. Key Takeaways: There is a time and place for thinking Planning is so important in all the work we do. You can draw a correlation between business and many things - business and sports, business and cooking, etc… You increase your ability to execute if you operate in that muscle memory mode. There is value in being intentional in the way you practice. Ask what missed opportunities your sales team had See if your team can ask follow-up questions during your role play exercises/scenarios Make sure to practice discovery calls Be thoughtful about how you approach things Work With Catalyst Sale: Listen to our free resource (this podcast) and then put the action items into practice. Share your work with us via Twitter or hello@catalystsale.com Invest in a Catalyst Sale course - self directed. Find our courses here  Hire us as a consultant/advisor within your team or organization  Thank You  Please send listener questions and feedback to

On this episode, Mike is joined by Tim Clarke. They discuss building out process & timing and how you can build out your revenue operations engine. Tim is a Managing Partner at Growth Sigma. Growth Sigma helps growth leaders align and execute against the four most important parts of the enterprise sales system.  Questions Answered: How does system design apply in the context of Sales and building out revenue engines? What are the 4 P’s? Why do we overcomplicate building out a process? How can we build a culture over a period of time? What types of lifecycles do organizations go through? What are some questions reps can ask during an interview to know if an organization is using a systems based approach? Key Takeaways: 3 Roles of a Chief Revenue Officer Recruiting, onboarding and developing great Sales talent. Build an unbeatable Sales culture Build the sales execution system, go to market strategy, understand the buyer journey, sales process and scale. Chief Revenue Officers should be spending 10

In this episode, Mike and Jody discuss confidence in sales, asking for help and enjoying the thinking that sales requires.  Questions Answered: How do we gain confidence when starting in Sales? Why do Sales experts not seek help? How do we enjoy the thinking that goes into Sales? Key Takeaways: Being able to trust the process leads to confidence When you have a stable set of systems, tools, methods and approach, you can improve confidence and capability. Territory Planning - understanding your ideal customer Account Planning - who, what, why, where, when, how Call Planning - who will be in the room, what are their objectives, what are our objectives, desired next steps Ego is the biggest challenge We struggle with “I don’t know.” If we check our ego at the door then we can improve our interest or capacity for asking for help. Don’t just assume people aren’t asking questions in the background. If you aren’t enjoying the process, maybe it isn’t the right field for you. Redirect into something you do enjoy. I

In this episode, Mike talks with Tanner Brock about his continued onboarding experience with Catalyst Sale.  This is the third round of this series.  Check out episodes 212 and 215, if you missed the first two sessions. Questions Answered: What’s not working? What are some of the things we will test regarding follow-up? What are some common challenges? What are some things we are going to start? Key Takeaways: Spraying and praying approach is not working. Squinting too much to fit people in. Go back and use frameworks to readjust. Focus more on people, not numbers. We may know what we should do, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into what we do. Stop creating unrealistic plans for the day. Create a combo of sequences to use with various prospects. Personalize the sequence to the people. Try to add value every time you reach out. Common challenges: deals stall, pipeline development, articulating what we do, confidence. Focus on and celebrate the little things. If you go into it positive, you have highe

Mike Conner is back.... In this episode, Mike talks with Mike about ways to apply basic sales skills when job hunting, along with a number of other things.  Don't miss the last 10 min where we discuss some foundational things many sales pros miss. Questions Answered: How can you apply sales skills to a job hunt What basic things can early Sales Pros do better? Key Takeaways: Be sure to take time to have an evaluation process. Ask if you really enjoy what you are doing. Ask, is this new thing that I am looking to do the right fit for me? If you do good things over a long period of time, things tend to work out. Use the following criteria when thinking about a new position: Who is hiring? Who is thriving? How have they navigated their way through our current working environment? Are they living their mission? Try to make meaningful connections. Basic things that any early Sales Professional can work on doing better: Pick the company you are going to invest your time in wisely. Ask questions and take th

In this episode, Mike and Jody discuss a listener question regarding the Catalyst Sale Frameworks. Questions Answered: Why is it that the Catalyst Sale Frameworks are effective not just for sales, but for other areas of life? How does it change things to have a plan? Where else can the frameworks apply? How often do you think of the frameworks being used outside of sales? Why did you decide that The Reset was worth doing? Key Takeaways: Sales is Life and Life is Sales. In any engagement, you are likely trying to compel someone to take action. There is a direct correlation between the stuff we do everyday and sales. Life skills - communication, gathering data & conducting research, leveraging story, time management, project management. Having a plan creates a higher level of predictability that you will reach the desired outcome. By applying these processes and frameworks, you can get better in sales and in life. Sales for Non-Sales Professionals is for anyone who is interested in solving problems, in m