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

Guests Christie Walters & Jeff Bajorek - Hosts - The Why and The Buy Podcast This week is a pretty special episode of the Catalyst Sale Podcast.  We have a roundtable of experience on the show, and we go a little longer than usual.  Christie Walters and Jeff Bajorek from The Why and The Buy Podcast join us on part one of a two-part podcast. We discuss how Christie & Jeff met, why they launched a podcast, and what they have learned throughout the process.  We also dive pretty deep into what works in sales, common mistakes and missteps, and how to improve your success.  Questions addressed Why, "The Why and The Buy"? What Happens if you Focus too much on the tech and the tactics? What is wrong with many of the "Thought Leaders" that are out there today? As a Sales Rep - what do you do? Why does the "Wellness Check" not work? Key Takeaways The enemy of good enough is perfect Be willing to start You do not have to walk the path alone The simplest element is typically the most powerful If you know your

Are There Questions That Are Too Small to Discuss? Although we traditionally discuss some of the bigger problems that organizations run into when looking to generate sales and accelerate growth, sometimes it is the small things that can seem like big problems to new organizations. What happens when you make a decision today, with limited information, or decide to cut a corner, but it creates significant costs down the road? This week on the Catalyst Sale Podcast we discuss some of the easy questions that are sometimes missed.  The little problems that can turn into big problems down the road.     Questions Addressed Are there problems that are too small for us to address? Why is the “rolodex” hire a potential indicator of risk?   What’s the best way to connect with Mike & Mike & ask a question? Where can you go inside your own organization? Key Takeaways A question that is not asked can lead to big problems down the road. Hire the right rep for the right time. The “Magical Rolodex” does not exist.

Guest - Jennifer McClure - Speaker, Executive Coach, President of Unbridled Talent & CEO of DisruptHR How do you innovate in a role that historically has been typecast as transactional?  Jennifer McClure joins us on the podcast this week.  We discuss innovation, building business acumen, how a role in Human Resources relates to sales, and a number of other topics. Jennifer was an amazing guest.  Not only did we discover that both of us are D’s when it comes to our DISC profiles, but we also both have to push out of our comfort zones to be more extroverted in our jobs.  Jennifer talks about setting personal challenges when communicating, including personal gates, such as never being the first person to talk, and not offering a solution until you ask at least one question. Questions addressed What does disruption mean to Jennifer? What are some of the things that are happening in HR when it comes to innovation? How do you distinguish between signal and noise What are some things people should consider whe

The fundamentals are what they are - fundamental In this week’s Catalyst Sale podcast we start with Zig Ziglar, and the foundational sales skills he shared with others.  We then transition into a discussion around other thought leaders from past and present that have shared ideas and concepts that help improve performance.  We wrap up with a request of our audience.  We ask the audience to share the names of today’s thought leaders that they listen to, read, and those they would like us to engage with.   Some Zig Ziglar Quotes discussed, include the following. Your Attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your Altitude - Ziglar You can have anything you want in life if you help others get what they want in life - Ziglar If you can dream it, you can achieve it - Ziglar Questions addressed How do the timeless classics impact development today? How important is it to look back to the fundamentals of selling? How did you cut your teeth in sales? Who are the new leaders in this type of content? Community Que

Guest - Morgan Ingram, Manager, Sales Development at Terminus and Host of the SDR Chronicles The Sales Development Representative (SDR) role is another level of specialization within the sales function.  Some organizations have adopted this role and successfully integrated the position into their teams, while others are struggling with success. This week on the Catalyst Sale Podcast, Morgan Ingram, host of the SDR Chronicles joins us to discuss the SDR, the evolution of the role, mindset, and being persistent. Questions addressed What is an SDR? What works in SDR/AE handoffs? Where does the transition fail? How do you onboard a new AE/SDR? What does the transition from SDR to Manager look like? What about transitioning from an SDR to an AE role? What surprised Morgan most about the transition from individual contributor to a manager? Key Takeaways Sweat the details Define success criteria and expectations with each Account Executive As you make the transition into leadership, focus on how you can work for

Territory Planning - A Catalyst Sale Approach This week on the Catalyst Sale Podcast we discuss the components that makeup the territory plan, including starting from ground zero, and defining your area of focus. Traditionally this starts as a whiteboard exercise for us. We start with a blank whiteboard and go through yes/no questions to refine our focus. Given that this is a whiteboard exercise, a visual follows. In previous episodes, we have discussed the Account Plan and the Call Plan. The territory plan establishes the guardrails that the Account Plan, and subsequent call plans fit within. The call plan is the day to day detail. The three of these should tell the story of how you accomplished your objectives. The Territory Plan is a preview of what’s to come. Questions Addressed How do you start building out a territory plan? Where does Account Planning fit into this process? How much time does this take? What if territory planning is not something that is required in my current role? What are some comm

Guest - Tiffani Bova - Global, Customer Growth, Sales and Innovation Evangelist at Salesforce and host of the What’s Next Podcast Tiffani Bova joins us on the Catalyst Sale Podcast this week to discuss innovation within the sales profession, customer experience, taking ownership of your personal development, and “What's Next” in sales and customer success. Have you thought about the transition from optimization to transformation to reimagining the customer experience?  Customers and prospects are looking for sales professionals who understand their objectives, needs, requirements, and their business.  Successful sales professionals do right by the customer, and build relationships for the long term. Questions addressed What does it mean to “Reimagine” sales? How does diversity impact sales and team success? What does “how you sell matters” mean? “What's Next”, and what is Tiffani excited about in sales, customer experience, and technology? What will the best brands do in the future? Key Takeaways Innovatio

Listener Question - When does it make sense to buy a mailing list or leads? Buy vs Build is one of the most common questions facing business leaders today.  Jordan, a listener in Texas, asks when does it make sense to purchase a list?  We address Jordan's question, but also get side-tracked in the discussion and dive deeper into the concept of buy vs build.  This week on the Catalyst Sale podcast we discuss how to create a list when prospecting, and we also discuss how to improve your success when buying a list from many of the services that are out in the marketplace. Questions for Consideration When does it make sense to buy a list vs building a list? What factors do we consider when it comes to buying vs building a list? What are the risks with either approach? How does Catalyst Sale evaluate lists? Key Takeaways Whether buying or building - make sure you take the time to test. Identify your buyers and influencers before investing resources.  Who is the buyer?  What are their roles? Create the list base

Special Episode - Lessons learned in Podcasting with Jody, Mike & Mike This is a unique podcast, it will be posted both in the Catalyst Sale Podcast feed & the Jody Maberry Show feed. This week on the Catalyst Sale podcast Jody, Mike, and Mike discuss the Catalyst Sale podcast, lessons learned, the importance of finding a good partner, and why we chose podcasting.   Questions Discussed What have you learned over the course of the past 12 months? How does the podcast fit into your sales process? What is sales, and how does a podcast relate? Why Podcasting? What are some of the surprises that have come with the podcast? Key Takeaways Nerves got the best of us early on, we finally found our stride when we went off script.  Over time we have gotten more comfortable. We have received great feedback on the many guests we have had on the show.  In hindsight, we would have invited guests early in the process.  Consistency is critical - it helps build set expectations, build trust, and has helped us continu

Is Your Process Slowing your Progress or Improving Performance? Process supports scalability and execution.  An effective process is important when creating predictable growth.  Lack of process usually results in higher risk, confusion, and inconsistency.  This week on the Catalyst Sale podcast we discuss how process potentially prevents or limits progress. We also discuss how process for the sake of process may be driven by ego or a lack of understanding. Process for the sake of process stifles creativity, and may take the focus of the team away from the things that really matter. Questions for Consideration What if a rep/team member challenges you on a current process? Constantly ask yourself - why are we doing this? Where Can I Improve? Is this process for you, or is it for the benefit of the team/organization? Key Takeaways This is how we have always done it - should not be your fall back. Create a culture where asking questions is expected - your team should trust you, you should trust your team. When

Guest - Jen Spencer - Vice President of Sales & Marketing, SmartBug Media Jen Spencer joins us on the Catalyst Sale Podcast this week to discuss partners - where to start, what works, common errors, and how to reduce risk.  Mike and I also share our experience with partners, both as a partner and a company looking for partners. Jen shares her expertise, and fills in the blanks.Partners can accelerate your path to revenue.  They can open up new markets, and provide an opportunity to test feasibility and fit. Questions we address How do you identify good partners? When is it time to exit a partnership? What should a partner on-boarding program include? Why might you choose a partner approach? What are some of the common errors when building a partner program? Key Takeaways Begin with the end in mind (This is an ongoing theme that most listeners will recognize) Treat your partners like you would treat your direct sales team Continue to evaluate success and adapt the relationship as necessary. Thank you

Patience Matters in Sales? An aggressive mentality tends to be something we look for when identifying sales potential.  It is a characteristic that we reinforce when recognizing top performers and one we tend to highlight during an interview process.  What about patience though?  Where does patience fit in?  Can you be patient and aggressive?  Is there a difference between patience when it comes to your career vs how you manage sales cycles? This week on the Catalyst Sale podcast we discuss patience, revealing urgency, and the importance of planning. We also discuss how a lack of patience may be driven by ego, and the risk of letting your ego get in the way.   Planning is critical in sales.  When it comes to managing sales cycles, a project plan can help you help your customers navigate the decision process. Develop a plan, and work the plan. When it comes to your career, an honest assessment of where you and where you want to go is important to your long term success, and determining if you are on the right

Have you ever meet an emotional Sales professional?   Emotions are part of the game in life, and certainly in sales.   Don't let yourself get too high or too low.  If you read the press clippings or listen to the noise, remember that you are never as good as they say you are, nor are you as bad as you might think you are.  The inverse also applies. This week on the Catalyst Sale Podcast we talk about the impact success and failure can have on your sales career.  We discuss the importance of staying the course and trusting your process.  We also discuss why it may be necessary to reevaluate your process.  One of the worst mistakes a sales rep can make is to allow a slump, a stall, or a loss prevent them for future success. The second worst mistake is allowing success to take their eye off the ball, and lose focus. Remember - the only constant is change.   Thank you for rating and reviewing the podcast via iTunes, Google Play, or your favorite podcast platform.  Ratings & reviews help others discover the po

Listener Question - What are some best practices when working with a recruiter? Mike Conner is back this week, he and I tackle a listener question from Max in California.  Max is interested in our perspective on working with recruiters.  Specifically best practices, best approach & some ideas around what has worked for us in the past.   Recruiters - they can be the key to a successful job hunt, or the perceived that prevents success.  Mike Simmons and Mike Conner discuss best practices when working with recruiters, and how to identify a great recruiter, on this weeks episode.  We also discuss some horror stories we have experienced as part of a hiring project we are currently working on.   It is amazing how early career sales professionals (and even those later in our careers) can miss the easy things.  We share some general thoughts on the importance of finding a good fit when working with a recruiter, why building a relationship is critical, and how you should treat this like you would any other complex

Guest - Ira Bernstein - Founder, Rampt Consulting Ira Bernstein joins us on the Catalyst Sale Podcast this week to discuss onboarding - what works, where to start, common errors, and how to reduce risk.  Mike and I also share our experience with companies we have worked for and with, while Ira fills in the blanks and shares his expertise. Organizations who onboard effectively, establish outcomes, create a plan, execute, and look at learning as on an ongoing experience.  It doesn't need to happen in 2 weeks, what if it happens over a 2 month period?   Perspective is critical - start first with where you want the employee to be. Questions we address What's the purpose of assessment in the onboarding process? How do you test for desired behavior? What about manager accountability? Where does onboarding fit? Is there value in the designer “carrying a bag”? Key Takeaways When considering building your onboarding program - design with an expected set of outcomes. Determine if knowledge transfer is occurring - se

Host Question - What is an SSI Score? Jody threw us a curveball this week, with his own question.  He has heard Mike and I give each other a hard time about our individual SSI score, and finally asked - what is an SSI score?  This prompted a discussion and a Catalyst Sale Research Project. There’s an old saying in business - “Be careful what you measure, because what you measure is what you will get”. In sales the sales profession, we measure a number of things - from booked revenue, which is a lagging indicator of success, to several leading indicators tied to sales process velocity and opportunity valuations based on sales process execution.  We discussed some of these metrics on a previous podcast with Matt Ostanik On this week's episode of the Catalyst Sale Podcast, we discuss a research project we are kicking off at Catalyst Sale.  We are interested in gathering industry data on the LinkedIn SSI score.  Is there a direct correlation between the SSI score and individual or team sales performance?  Is the

Guest - Matt Ostanik - Founder, CEO, FunnelWise Matt Ostanik is our guest on this week’s podcast.  Matt is the CEO of FunnelWise. He previously founded and grew Submittal Exchange, a provider of web-based collaboration tools for commercial construction projects. In a five-year period, Matt grew the company from two employees to more than 100 and more than 100,000 users of their software. He sold Submittal Exchange to Textura Corporation (NYSE: TXTR) in 2011 and remained its president. He served on the executive team at Textura when the company completed a successful IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in 2013. We discuss the relationship between Sales & Marketing in organizations, including... What works in data in marketing and sales. How consistency in vocabulary can help. The Revenue Funnel Science Framework How “Your Data Always Tells a Story” The risks associated with confirmation bias What should your data do (i.e answer 1 question, ask 2 more) Matt and I discuss these topics and more on this week'

Listener Question - Proposal Templates This week on the Catalyst Sale podcast we review another listener question. Lynn asks about proposal templates, and if it is common to use templates that are more focused on the vendor's business than the customer.   In her organization, they use a template that focuses on their business and the market, and wonders if this is the right approach.    Unfortunately, yes, this is far too common these days.  Proposals many times are re-used, each one building off the most recent successful version.  Should you use a proposal template for your customers? It depends, in a highly transactional business a proposal template might make sense.  This would include scenarios where someone is purchasing off-the-shelf materials like staples, paper clips, paper, etc.   Can you formalize the approach to proposals without templates?   Yes, the structure can be formalized, but not the content.  The content should be delivered in the context of what you know about your customer.   On this we

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work John Maxwell famously wrote, "Teamwork makes the dream work".  This is critical to our success as individual sale reps (account executives, account managers, SDRs, BDRs, sales leaders), and to Catalyst Sale as an organization.   This week on the Catalyst Sale podcast we talk about the importance of partnerships in business, and how finding the right business partners allows you to divide and conquer when necessary.  A good partnership, where the same skills are shared by those involved, can help you amplify your capabilities when needed. In sales, and in life, it is important to leverage the strengths of the team.  The collective intelligence of the group provides an opportunity to learn from experience, minimize failures, prevent stalls, and increase your success. A couple of important points discussed on today's episode include Identifying your internal partners Building Rapport (also discussed with Dan Tyre) The importance of diversity in partnerships (Dan Peter) Never failin

Guest - Drew D'Agostino - Founder, Crystal Knows This week on the Catalyst Sale podcast Drew D’Agostino, Founder, Crystal Knows joins us to talk about building trust with your customers, prospects, team members by understanding their perspective, tendencies, and personality type.   Crystal Knows is embedded into our sales technology stack at Catalyst Sale.  We discuss how we use this technology to prepare for meetings, and communicate in general.   Our sales team and the teams we work with perform better as a result of this tool.  Crystal Knows is part of our call planning process. Drew discusses how various personality types can work well together, and where conflict can occur.  We discuss common behaviors/tendencies of each of the 4 DISC profiles and touch on a couple of the 64 combinations of DISC profiles.   Why DISC Because it teaches empathy. Empathy is the ability to share and understand another person’s feelings. To employ empathy is to be able to view another perspective in an authentic way. The DISC