The sales profession is challenging. You need to work hard at it to succeed. You need to learn from the best. You need to improve your skills continuously. If you think you can sell since you are a hit at parties and have a lot of friends, you may soon find that you are a failure as a salesperson. Blunt truth:
because the sales profession is so hard, you have to focus on doing everything in sales very well, or you will be considered a failure.
I call this blog, Skinned Knees because I try to relate all of the learning that I have done over the past 4+ decades (while skinning my knees in the learning process).
I hope that you learn from my mistakes so that your business will grow!
The sales landscape constantly evolves, and the tools and techniques used to reach potential clients are continually refined and reimagined. One such innovative approach to sales and marketing is pioneered by salespeople and sales managers leveraging technology to add value to their client relationships and boost their sales figures.
Megan O’Hara, an executive solution specialist in Columbus, Ohio, is at the forefront of this movement. She has developed a unique method of reaching out to clients that adds value to their lives, increases her customer access, and builds her credibility. This method is simple yet impactful: Megan sends a weekly tech tip in a short video format every Monday.
This approach is designed to keep her name at the top of her clients’ minds. In a world where attention spans are increasingly limited and competition for customer attention is fierce, being the first person a client thinks of when they need a product or service is vital. By sending out these tech tips, Megan is providing a valuable service to her clients and ensuring that she remains at the forefront of their minds.
The success of this approach is evident in the response Megan has received from her clients. Many have contacted her after receiving her tech tips, expressing appreciation for her added value to their lives and initiating further business conversations. This is a clear testament to the power of this approach in building strong client relationships and driving sales.
Join Kevin Lawson and Sean O’Shaughnessey in a compelling episode of “Two Tall Guys Talking Sales,” which delves into the power of networking and relationship management in sales. Whether you are a seasoned sales professional or just starting, this episode offers invaluable insights into maximizing your sales ecosystem without overwhelming your contacts.
Key Topics Discussed:
Activating Your Network [00:00:00]: Kevin highlights the importance of leveraging existing relationships and simple, actionable strategies to enhance your sales pipeline.
Realistic Relationship Management [00:01:36]: Sean discusses the practical aspects of maintaining a manageable network that can drive business growth.
Frequency of Contact [00:04:54]: Explore how often to engage with your network, including referral partners and past customers, without becoming a nuisance.
Digital Communication vs. Personal Interaction [00:06:00]: This section dissects the balance between digital outreach and personal connection to optimize relationship value.
Segmenting Contacts [00:08:29]: Sean shares his method of categorizing contacts into A, B, and C lists to tailor communication frequency and maintain effectiveness.
The symbiotic relationship between sales and marketing is more crucial than ever. This dynamic duo drives the revenue generation engine, which is especially crucial when businesses are keen to set a positive trajectory. Marketing’s influence cannot be understated. It often shapes the business’s success months in advance. Strategies implemented by marketing today can significantly impact revenue streams later in the year. Therefore, it’s essential for sales and marketing to align and integrate their processes to… Boosting Business Performance: Integrating Sales and Marketing Efforts
Welcome to this week’s episode of Two Tall Guys Talking Sales, where hosts Kevin Lawson and Sean O’Shaughnessey are joined by Chris Cocca, a sales expert, to discuss the vital aspects of discovery meetings and qualifying prospects for a robust sales pipeline. Tune in as they delve into the methodologies that distinguish successful sales strategies, particularly focusing on the RAIN training concept and the essential practice of understanding client aspirations and afflictions. Key Topics Discussed:… Two Tall Guys Talking Sales Podcast – The Gap Analysis Advantage: Bridging Client Needs with Optimal Solutions with Chris Cocca – E86
Territory design is critical for ensuring efficient revenue generation and optimal team performance. Sales leaders, especially those at the helm of small—to mid-sized companies, must revisit and potentially recalibrate their territory strategies to accommodate growth and maintain competitiveness. Effective territory management starts with a clear understanding of the business landscape. Ensuring that each salesperson has a viable area with ample opportunity is crucial. This may sound straightforward but involves a delicate balance of geographic and… Optimizing Sales Territories for Growth and Efficiency
In this episode, Kevin and Sean provide valuable insights into the world of selling consumable products. They emphasize the importance of understanding the unique challenges of this market, including the need for a strong value proposition and the crucial role of the salesperson in understanding and meeting customer needs. The discussion also covers effective territory management and the benefits of leveraging team strengths for cross-selling. This episode is a must-listen for sales professionals looking to excel in the consumable products market and for those seeking to enhance their sales strategies in competitive environments.
Listen to this episode of Two Tall Guys Talking Sales to gain valuable insights and strategies for excelling in the consumable products market, and to learn how to effectively grow your sales territory and manage customer relationships
In this engaging episode of Two Tall Guys Talking Sales, Sean and Kevin don’t just identify the problems associated with micromanagement but provide actionable insights and solutions for how to evolve into an effective leader. Whether you’re just beginning in sales or leading a team, their candid conversation will offer you strategies to avoid micromanagement, build trust within your team, and create a culture of success. Don’t miss this chance to learn from two seasoned sales veterans – tune in to this episode and take your sales leadership skills to the next level!
A newsletter is one of the best tools you can use to maintain a relationship with your existing customers and qualified prospects that are uninterested in buying your product or service at this time. By sending out a newsletter quarterly, you can keep your brand top-of-mind so that when they are ready to make a purchase, they will think of your company first. You can reach an even wider audience by posting your newsletter on LinkedIn.
There are several benefits of sending a newsletter to your customers and qualified prospects, including:
Keeping your brand top-of-mind: By sending out a quarterly newsletter, you can keep your brand top-of-mind so that when your customers or qualified prospects are ready to make a purchase, they will think of your company first.
Developing a relationship with customers and qualified prospects: A newsletter is a great way to establish a relationship with your customers and qualified prospects. You can build trust and credibility with your readers by providing valuable information in each issue.
Reaching a wider audience: Posting your newsletter to LinkedIn provides you with an opportunity to reach an even wider audience. When you post your newsletter on LinkedIn, include a call-to-action so that your readers know what you want them to do next.
Generating leads: Including a call-to-action in each issue of your newsletter is a great way to generate leads.
Increasing sales: By sending out a quarterly newsletter, you can increase sales by reminding your customers of the products or services they’ve purchased from you in the past and introducing them to new products or services that they may be interested in.
Building customer loyalty: A newsletter is also a great way to build customer loyalty. By providing valuable information and helpful tips, you can show your customers that you value their business and are invested in helping them succeed.
Enhancing customer service: In each issue of your newsletter, include contact information for customer service so that your readers know how to reach someone if they have questions or need assistance.
Boosting morale: A well-written and informative quarterly newsletter can boost your employees’ morale by keeping them up-to-date on company news and developments.
I recently spoke to Robert Gillette, the host of the podcast Reclaiming Sales. It was a great conversation! We discussed many things that will benefit beginning sales professionals. Specifically, we discussed:
Get to know your prospects better, understand how they make and lose money.
Get curious, and stay that way… even when you’ve heard your 100th prospect tell you the same thing.
Build your belief, it will keep you company when times get tough.
You can listen to our conversation by subscribing to Robert’s podcast here. You can also subscribe by going to Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and many more that are listed here.
The following is a transcription of our conversation for those that prefer to read rather than listen. The transcription is as close as possible to the spoken word but effort was made to try to make it a little more readable with fairly grammar correct phrasing, sentence structure, and paragraph structure. Where the commentary overrode grammar or the use of synonyms, the spoken word was chosen.
Announcer 0:30
You’re listening to Reclaiming Sales because you don’t need to sell your soul to be successful with your host and fellow salesman, Robert Gillette.
Robert Gillette 0:41
Robert Gillette Reclaiming Sales Podcast Host
Hey everybody, welcome back to the show. My name obviously is Robert Gillette, and I have a new friend of mine. I know everybody I meet on the show, I say my new friend, but it’s true so far—a gentleman named Sean O’Shaughnessey. Honestly, the reason why you’re on the show, to be totally honest, is he, you engage with me, you commented on the things that I post, and you send me messages. And you know, when you’re doing a podcast, it’s like screaming into the void. And so when the void reaches back out and gives you feedback, it’s incredibly helpful. I’m used to performing on stage, in general, so I just wanted to have you on the show, first of all, to get your perspective on what we’ve been talking about so far. But, still, you also have some pretty deep claws into this whole sales game as well, and you have some perspectives that I just want to explore and see what we can uncover over the next 20 minutes or so. But before we get onto that, Sean, why don’t you, I guess before you take off your sales guy hat, what do you sell and who do you sell it to.
Sean O’Shaughnessey 1:42
I am the CEO of a company called New Sales Expert. I sell sales management to companies with bad sales management or don’t know how to have sales management.
Robert Gillette 1:56
Okay, and we don’t have a lot of, you know, people on the show who aren’t salespeople. But I guess my first question to you before we move too far into this is. Do you think it’s harder to sell to salespeople or to sell to non-salespeople? Is it hard to sell to people who sell for a living?
Sean O’Shaughnessey 2:16
Sean O’Shaughnessey CEO and President New Sales Expert, LLC
So it’s I think it’s easier to sell to salespeople because we like to hear a good pitch. I actually sell, though, to the CEO that is frustrated because he doesn’t know how to manage a sales force. So that’s actually whom I sell to. And that’s the problem I solve.
Robert Gillette 2:32
Okay, so you’re actually selling to a CEO or someone at that C suite level.
Sean O’Shaughnessey 2:37
Correct. I’m usually selling to the founder of the company. And he is in a situation where he can’t figure out how to manage salespeople, how to recruit salespeople, and how to make salespeople better. So that’s what I do for him or her.
Robert Gillette 2:51
Unfortunately, mostly him, but we’re working on that diversity by brute force. We’re doing it as a country anyways.
So let’s, let’s roll this back to the beginning of your career, how did you get into sales. And why did you stick with it all those years?
