Welcome to a special episode of Two Tall Guys Talking Sales, hosted by seasoned sales professionals Kevin Lawson and Sean O’Shaughnessey. Today’s episode is a goldmine for small business owners, consultants, and sales teams looking to scale and outperform their competition.
This is the audio version of a CEO Workshop recorded on LinkedIn on October 19. You can watch the entire webinar (along with the slides) by going to https://www.linkedin.com/events/avoidingb2bsalesmistakesthatare7113890627339128832/comments/
Sean O’Shaughnessy and Kevin Lawson have decided to release these workshops as podcast episodes. The topic of this episode is Avoiding B2B Sales Mistakes that Limit Growth.
Kevin explains the importance of avoiding mistakes and continuously refining sales strategies and skills. He also discusses businesses’ challenges, such as rising costs and limited resources. Inflation, the Consumer Price Index, and labor costs impact business owners. Kevin advises businesses to adjust their prices accordingly to maintain margins. He emphasizes the need for strategic and tactical management to overcome market factors that affect business outcomes. The goal is to increase the value of the business for future saleability.
Kevin also discusses the importance of being strategic and tactical in business. He emphasizes the need to be organized, focused, and create relevant content. Salespeople should also think like marketers to attract customers.
Kevin then discusses responding to RFPs (Request for Proposals) and suggests that businesses should decide whether or not to respond based on their industry and goals. He highlights the low success rate of RFPs and encourages evaluating if it’s worth investing time in them.
The next topic is Sales Playbooks, which are comprehensive documents that help train sales teams by outlining best practices and providing guidance on client communication. Kevin explains the benefits of having a Sales Playbook but acknowledges that many businesses may not have one or have had lackluster results with them. Finally, Kevin suggests documenting a typical sales process as a foundational step toward creating an effective Sales Playbook.