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Sales Expert Interviews at SalesTactics.org

Sales Expert InterviewsSales expert interviews are rare. Nobody thinks to interview them. And the reason why? They are usually busy working, and not connected with the online marketing sphere that likes to interview experts. Most people have heard of marketing consultants; few have heard of sales trainers.

Over the past 60 days or so, I have interviewed five sales experts. I have also been interviewed several times as a sales expert. So here we now have a library of sales expert interviews at SalesTactics.org. Do not take this lightly. Where else can you find such discussions? I arrange these interviews to show you the concepts I talk about are not the unproven theories of a lone thinker, but shared by many oft-unheard fellow experts in the sales training field.

Five Key Sales Expert Interviews at SalesTactics.org

Here are the five sales expert interviews completed over the past two months:

Richard Ruff on How the Fortune 1000 Train Their Sales Teams

Monika D'Agostino on Commitment in Sales Training

Eddy Ricci, Jr., on Training Gen Y Salespeople

Claude Whitacre on Local Online Marketing

David Brock on Change in Selling Organizations

and as a bonus from earlier this year,
Dave Kurlan on Effective Phone Selling.

It's said that if you read three (just three!) books on a subject, you will know more about it than 95% of the population. Consider how much farther ahead you will be about selling if you absorb these interviews.

Sales Expert Interviews with Jason Kanigan

I have also been fortunate enough to have been interviewed several times recently. Rather than "just" cold calling or typical sales ideas, I've been able to discuss the mindset of a successful salesperson. This is one of my most valuable interviews to date.

Business Unleashed did a written Q&A with me on getting started

Inner Success Radio had me delve into the mindset of a successful salesperson

Nicholas Loise, president of Glazer Kennedy Inner Circle, interviews me on high ticket selling (episode 24).

This is a virtual library of sales training methodology you could pay a considerable amount of money for. Think about it: what do you think the billable hourly rate of each of these experts is? And totaled together? At a bare minimum we have a $1000 program on this page. And it's provided here for free.

>> Jason Kanigan is a sales force developer. If you know someone who will benefit from seeing this information, please Share it. Also, you can Like our Facebook page to be advised of new content like this. And if you have a question about any of these interviews or another topic in sales, please comment below to let us know! We want to hear from you. And if you'd like to get better customers, better projects and make more money, get The Small Business Sales Effectiveness Report available FREE at the top of this page! <<

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David Brock On Change: Interview with Jason Kanigan

David Brock On Change

David Brock On Change In Business Strategy

I spoke with David Brock on change: specifically about generating and training client organizations to tackle change. Dave calls himself a business strategy consultant and as a principle of Partners In Excellence he's had many years of experience with large multinational firms.

When working with clients, Dave shares a huge issue: they often want to switch strategies when there isn't an immediate result to the change. They must own the execution piece of the shift. And, not surprisingly, the "Why" has to be big for the client to energize with the change.

The disconnect I've noticed between the top level executive looking at a quota or financial performance sheet and the activities of their front line salespeople is echoed in Dave's experience. By scheduling time for top officers to spend with clients and sales ridealongs, their knowledge of what's really going on can be quickly increased. Brock's example of the Japanese CEO who had not seen a customer in nine months except by accident was shocking.

Additionally, David talks about sales managers lacking organizational measurement tools to understand key drivers of performance. Watching lagging indicators, like revenue, is dangerous because by the time you realize there's a problem, it is often too late to do something about it. Leading indicators must be identified to ensure the right activities are being done. For instance, if we simply increase the number of dials salespeople are making, we could find ourselves merely having more bad conversations.

Towards the conclusion of our conversation, Dave and I discuss channel partner sales. This is an option for answering the question, "How do we get to market?", and a rare opportunity to discuss the channel method with a knowledgeable guest.

Listen to the full interview with David Brock on change right here:


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or to download Click here

If you missed the previous discussions here about articles by David Brock, expanding on the topics of what the core principles of selling are and understanding your numbers, you can see them here and here.

>> Did this audio interview raise any questions for you? Comment below to let us know! Also, please Like or Share to get this content in front of someone you know it could help. <<

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Where Is Sales Training Headed?

Where Is Sales Training Headed (Click to Enlarge)Where IS sales training headed? Articles from trainers in the UK, North America and Australia demonstrate underlying trends that they're all agreed upon.

The idea that sales is about convincing, persuading, pushing and even features and benefits is outmoded. Most of us know this. And the traditional big company concept of putting salespeople into three week long classroom programs isn't as financially feasible as it was. Plus all kinds of new technologies have sprung up. Delivery methods have changed. And if you haven't taken your audience, many of whom are now 20-something Millennials, into account, your training program could fall flat with a dull, costly THUD.

David Brock of Partners In EXCELLENCE, who we have learned from before, reminds us that regardless of the technology we're using--from the phone on up--that sales is always about:

  • interactions betwen people
  • exchanges in value between people
  • change
  • continual learning and improvement.

If one of these is missing or violated, the sales process is probably going to be a disaster. Consider the pushy out-of-date salesperson who tries to get a prospect to buy something they don't need or want: the exchange of value is missing, the desire for change by the prospect is non-existent, and there's no desire for learning and improvement. This situation is even likely to result in angry fighting--the failure of interaction between the two parties.

So regardless of the technology used to deliver sales training, the content must adhere to these principles.

So Where Is Sales Training Headed?

UK trainer Bob Apollo notes that without continuous reinforcement of technique, sales training is useless. An expensive initiative by a company in training is a waste of money unless the firm is committed to ongoing reinforcement of the methodology they paid for their sales staff to learn.

A second major shift is from features and benefits of products or services to understanding why and how your customers buy. Sales staff must know the problems their market is facing, and speak the jargon or technical language of that audience. Otherwise they will not be seen as helpful partners, but rather as product pushers.

Australia's Sue Barrett makes her vision even more clear: online resources and e-learning, regularly scheduled mini-training sessions, in-field coaching and "discovery learning"--interactive classes with roleplaying and Q&A.

The theme here is structure: there must be a plan and it must be strictly adhered to. Barrett also warns that the eyes of company executives will be on the bottom line, meaning their intention will be to have sales staff out of the field and revenue-generating activities for the minimum time possible.

Where Is Sales Training Headed: The Next Five Years

Josiane Feigon from the US shares 18 principles to creating an effective sales training environment for millenials (the Gen Y grads we've been discussing recently, who are pouring into the marketplace and will be taking it over during the next decade). The themes of mini-coaching sessions, continuous feedback, instant access to answers, and FUN! are weaved through Feigon's list.

So the future of sales training is this: the principles of human interaction won't change, but the focus is--to why and how people buy. Training programs will be delivered in mini-sessions designed to minimize the time salespeople are out of the field, and as much as possible will be done online. Finally, the attitude and delivery of these programs will be made to please the Gen Y audience now taking over the workplace. A sales training program that doesn't accomplish these things will be left in the dust.

>> Jason Kanigan is a sales force developer. What's in YOUR ideal sales training program? Comment below to let us know! And if you haven't picked up The Small Business Sales Effectiveness Report yet...what's stopping you? It's FREE and essential to your sales success! <<