Force Management

Our podcast series “Lessons Learned in Sales” continues this week as John Kaplan talks with Force Management Facilitator Marty Mercer. Marty shares some great stories, including: - How he became a seller and he didn’t even know it- A beneficial lesson in patience that he learned that drastically shifted his sales career- Why he didn’t sell anything in the first nine months of his career- How a colleague nearly broke their computer fifteen minutes before a presentationThis episode is packed with lessons that both reps and managers can use to propel their careers forward in the right direction.Here are some additional resources based on the conversations with Marty:- Virtual Selling Tips & Tricks [Podcast]- Stacking Customer Requirements in Your Favor [Podcast]Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website. 

Our final episode in our “Skill/Will” series (link to the diagram below), takes a deep dive on your people with low will, level 1s and 2s. Low-will people aren’t who you want on your teams, but you may be dealing with some of these people right now. Hear how you can manage low-will people to the best of your ability and avoid people losing will while they’re on your teams. Here are some additional resources on Skill/Will:- The Skill/Will Model Infographic [Diagram]- https://bit.ly/3ftMTDS- The Skill/Will Model Explained [Article]- https://bit.ly/3hP2X6hCheck out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website. 

Continuing our series on the “Skill/Will” Model (link to the diagram below), this episode covers people with high will, level 3s and 4s. High-will talent are the people you want to have on your team, they’ll improve your ability to succeed and maintain competitive advantage in your market. This episode shares what you can do to keep and leverage your level 4s (high will, high skill) and how you can help your level 3s (high will, low skill) become top performers as well.Here are some additional resources on Skill/Will:The Skill/Will Model Infographic [Diagram]https://bit.ly/3ftMTDSThe Skill/Will Model Explained [Article]https://bit.ly/3hP2X6hFour Questions Every Sales Organization Needs to Answerhttps://bit.ly/3c3jfnzCheck out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website. 

Sales leaders can achieve great success when they take ownership of their talent and coaching process. Maximize your talent efforts and coach your people in a way that takes into account their skill level and motivation. This episode kicks off our three-part series on coaching the “Skill/Will” model (link to the diagram below). In this episode, John Kaplan covers how sales leaders and managers can use this model to adjust their coaching cadence and tailor it to the individuals on their sales team. Here are some additional resources on Skill/Will:- The Skill/Will Model Infographic [Diagram]- https://bit.ly/3ftMTDS- The Skill/Will Model Explained [Article]-https://bit.ly/3hP2X6hCheck out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website. 

Unlock the full potential of your Customer Success teams by building alignment with your sales teams and your buyers. Kathleen Schindler, Force Management Managing Director of Customer Success, takes a deep dive on how sales and company leaders are equipping post-sale teams to execute on critical buyer outcomes. Tune in to hear real-world examples of how these leaders enable their entire customer-facing organization to have value-based conversations that drive company-wide impacts.Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.Here are some additional resources on aligning Sales with Customer Success:- How Sysdig Built Sales & Customer Success Alignment - Sysdig Customer Case Study- Building a Culture of Buyer Alignment 

Our second episode of our podcast series “Lessons Learned in Sales”, John Kaplan talks with Force Management Facilitator Antonella O’Day about her sales career including:- How she got a deal done in 8 minutes- A mistake she was grateful to have happen early in her career - How she found Force Management by looking for the top sales training companies- One piece of advice that has helped to elevate her careerYou won’t want to miss the lessons that made an astronomical impact on her sales career.Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.Here are some additional resources based on the conversations with Antonella:- Making Discovery Uncomfortable [Podcast]   - https://bit.ly/35rzbNa - Overcoming the Seller Deficit Disorder  - https://bit.ly/3gnFjwr  

Attaching to a big business problem gets you access, funding and urgency. How do you find the pain and then how do you attach your solution to it?John Kaplan covers: - How salespeople can get credit for helping buyers solve big business problems.- How to attach decision makers and champions to their company’s big business pains in a way that supports your success.- How to align your differentiation to solving business pains to improve your ability to beat competition and win.Here are some additional resources on attaching to business pains:- Helping Buyers Reach Their Own Conclusions [Podcast]-https://apple.co/2S7lfop- Executing Effective Discovery [Podcast]- https://apple.co/3xqbstD- How to Enable Reps to Sell Higher [Podcast]- https://apple.co/3gEgexPCheck out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website. 

In this episode, we wrap up our conversation with Coach John Mosley Jr, from East Los Angeles College and featured on Netflix’s Last Chance U: Basketball. John Kaplan pulls out some of the top takeaways for sales leaders — and how they can use some of these coaching techniques to create value for their sales team. If you haven’t listened to parts 1 and 2, tune into those first, then come back here.More on the conversation and how to support the ELAC’s Men’s Basketball Program: Links to Support the ELAC Basketball Programhttps://bit.ly/3tYLYknThe Skill/Will Model Infographic [Diagram]https://bit.ly/3u7qp17Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website. 

Don’t miss — part 2 of our conversation with Coach John Mosley Jr, from East Los Angeles College and featured on Netflix’s Last Chance U: Basketball. Coach Mosley shares more insights on coaching a team to success in another energetic episode. If you haven’t listened to part 1, you may want to listen to that episode first! You can support Coach Mosley and ELAC Student Athletes here:- Donate to the ELAC Men’s Basketball Program- https://org.eteamsponsor.com/ETS/supportUs/311056148- Donate to the ELAC Student Athlete Fun- https://elacfoundation.com/elac-student-athletes-fund/Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website. 

From the Last Chance U: Basketball series, and East Los Angeles College, Coach John Mosley Jr joins John Kaplan for a conversation on—you guessed it—coaching. While they operate in different courts, this is an episode you don’t want to miss. Support Coach Mosley and ELAC Student Athletes:- Donate to the ELAC Men’s Basketball Program- https://org.eteamsponsor.com/ETS/supportUs/311056148- Donate to the ELAC Student Athlete Fund- https://elacfoundation.com/elac-student-athletes-fund/Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website. 

Have you ever caught yourself babbling in a sales conversation? John Kaplan has, and he shares some spirit around asking yourself the question - “Why are you talking?”Show your customer you’re focused on them and want to genuinely understand their business pain. John Kaplan joins us to walk through some small tricks he uses to make sure he keeps sales conversations focused on the customer. Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.Here are some additional resources on keeping the focus on the buyer:- Why Your Active Listening Skills Are Crucial to Hitting Your Number    - https://bit.ly/3hlHPUK- Improve Your Active Listening Skills [Podcast] - https://apple.co/2R1Tq0H- 3 Things You Need In Every Deal  - https://apple.co/3xWEJwt

How do you ensure you’re selling for a great company or moving to a great company?Part of believing that what you do matters, means loving what you do. Companies make great promises when looking to hire top sales talent or retain top performers. Be confident you’re in the right spot and making the right moves in your sales career. John Kaplan shares his opinion on how elite sellers ensure that they’re selling for great companies, including:- What evidence to look for- How companies enable salespeople to operate at an elite level- How to test the internal operations and traits of a sales organizationCheck out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Sales Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.Here are some additional resources on picking a great company:- How to Ensure You're Selling For A Great Company - https://bit.ly/2RqFk8B- Signs You’re Working for a Company That’s Staged for Growth - https://bit.ly/3vGHQGG- Four Questions Every Sales Organization Needs to Answer  - https://bit.l

Great conversations only happen when salespeople aren’t afraid to be uncomfortable.Being elite often comes down to being the person who can ask great discovery questions with patience, empathy and confidence. Force Management Facilitator Antonella O’Day shares how to dig deep in discovery conversations in a way that creates a healthy tension in the conversation, including: - The biggest misconceptions when adding positive tension to sales conversations- How to prepare to drive interest from buyer- Best practices for helping sellers dig deep in a way that’s empatheticHere are some additional resources on discovery:- Executing Effective Discovery Podcast - https://apple.co/3dSpXi6 - Our Most Popular Content on Executing Effective Discovery  - https://bit.ly/3vkqP52 Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

This episode is the first in our new podcast series “Lessons Learned in Sales”, John Kaplan talks with Senior Director of Consulting and Facilitation Patrick McLoughlin about his own career including:- The lessons he’s learned from some great managers and the mantra he uses today- The worst mistake he ever made- The time a colleague stole a prospect’s glassesThis is a conversation you don’t want to miss! Here are some additional podcasts featuring PaddyMac:How to Move Yourself Beyond Mediocrity [Podcast]    - https://apple.co/3xbK1n9The Handoff: SDR to AE [Podcast]  - https://apple.co/32z7hgMImprove Your Active Listening Skills [Podcast]     - https://apple.co/3ek5YYzCheck out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Sales Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.  

Competitors catch up to your solutions. When they do, your “unique” differentiators won’t hold up. Marty Mercer stops by the podcast to provide tips on steering a buyer’s solution requirements away from your competition (including an impending “do nothing” or “no decision”). He teaches how to effectively prepare for conversations around decision criteria, so you can build out a list of buyer solution requirements that will validate a premium price. He also covers what to do when a customer shares a capability that you know your solution is at a disadvantage for. This episode is one of those that you’ll want to save and come back to time and again for a refresher when you’re up against challenging competition or need a solid win. Here are some additional resources on influencing customer requirements:- Navigating the Decision Process with Multiple Buyers [Podcast] - https://apple.co/3tiTSFI- How to Ask Trap Setting Questions - https://bit.ly/2Qf6gYx- Prepare and Practice to Confidently Execute Sales Cal

One of the most basic things you can do as a sales organization is ensure that your executive team and entire company is aligned on the key value and differentiation of your solution. When you have consistent answers to the essential questions, you have the framework to equip sales to articulate your solution’s business value and differentiation in a way that drives bottom-line impact. John Kaplan joins us to discuss how companies generate consistent, cross-functional agreement on the four essential questions, and why it’s critical to accelerating business growth.Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.Here are some additional resources on generating company alignment with the buyer:- Four Questions Every Sales Organization Needs to Answer - http://bit.ly/3c3jfnz- Intercom Increased Average Deal Size by 261% After Generating Alignment http://bit.ly/3e63YVn- The Secrets to Aligning Your Company on Customer Value and Differentiation -http://bit.l

Selling too low in an organization is a common challenge for many salespeople. Brian Walsh shares best practices from salespeople and company leaders who have enabled their teams to sell higher, aligning to bigger business problems. He covers: - How sales leaders and managers can look inward to improve their ability to equip sellers to sell higher and drive accountability around pursuing high-level opportunities- The framework and point of view salespeople need to get in front of decision makers higher, wider and deeper in a sales organization and make an impact- How sellers can leverage people lower in an organization to determine who key players are and gain access to them (i.e. why sellers shouldn’t right these people off)Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.Here are some additional resources on Selling too Low:-Navigating the Decision Process With Multiple Buyers [Podcast] - Why Sales Reps Struggle With Metrics in a Sales Conversation- h

Improve your ability to navigate your buyer's decision process and win deals that involve multiple decision makers.John Kaplan walks through key tips for getting multithreaded in your deals and to ensure you’re communicating effectively with the key players in the buying organization, including: - What actions you can take early on in the sales process to effectively influence a customer’s decision process- How to get higher, wider, and deeper in your organization to determine key decision makers and multiple buyers who will have a say in the final “yes”- Tips for making an impact in front of each stakeholder in an opportunityCheck out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.Here are some additional resources on decision process:- How to Ask the Right Questions in Your Sales Conversation- http://bit.ly/2NoJ7Sy - Why Sales Reps Struggle with Metrics in the Sales Conversation - http://bit.ly/3keTi86- Executing Effective Discovery [Podcast]- http://apple.c

Selling to an economic buyer is always challenging and often different from one deal to the next. Improve your ability to make economic buyers and decision makers stand in their moment of pain and demand an urgent solution to their business challenges. John Kaplan breaks down three key questions you need to answer for your economic buyer in order to propel a deal forward. Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.Here are some additional resources on economic buyer:- Close the Excuse Department and Shorten Sales Cycles- http://bit.ly/3dzElMA- Maximize the Effectiveness of Proof Points [podcast]- https://apple.co/3btxqSy - Earn Your Right to Keep Talking [Templates]- http://bit.ly/2NQTDln 

Gearing up to launch a strategic initiative or are you in the middle of creating an adoption plan? Kathleen Schindler, Force Management Managing Director of Customer Success shares current best practices sales leaders are using to make changed behaviors stick. Kathleen supports some of our most successful customers and sales teams as they work to roll out new sales capabilities and make them stick. She shares:- How sales leaders and managers are leveraging the remote environment to drive adoption and accountability- What to think through when developing the long-term adoption plan for your sales initiative- How to incorporate managers in the adoption plan and support their ability to drive on-going reinforcement.Check out this and other episodes of The Audible-Ready Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.Here are some additional resources on reinforcing an initiative- Insights on Maintaining Virtual SKO Momentum- http://bit.ly/3uH7H1J- How to Equip Managers to Drive Lasting Results from a Sales In