Sales Talk for CEOs

According to Mei Siauw, CEO of LeadIQ, a tool that helps sales teams with smarter prospecting, building an outbound sales motion is the key to growth. Start early, stick with it; if you do it right, outbound sales will produce amazing results. In this episode, we talk about the outbound motion Mei built, how Ryan used the piano to book conversations with prospects and how Mei built a global, remote team of 150 people to take LeadIQ to the next level. During the show, Mei talks about how she built LeadIQ by focusing on outbound sales. You'll learn how her team uses trigger events and insights for personalization to eliminate that 'spammy' feel and get engagement with prospects.  She also discusses the organization of her sales team, including how diversity and inclusion have played a role in LeadIQ's expansion. Mei's main message: don't give up on outbound sales!  Highlights:1:12 The evolution of LeadIQ6:32 Focusing on outbound sales16:25 The importance of personalization in outbound sales22:03 Hiring for diversity29:33 Creating a gender balance36:05 Growth in the early stages: don't give up on outbound sales Quote:“Every company needs to train their sales team to find triggers and insights, to research, and then personalize. That's not easy, of course, but companies that do, book more conversations because they are engaging the prospect.”   Connect with Mei Siauw in the links below:Website: https://leadiq.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meisiauw/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

Nancy Duarte is the CEO of Duarte, a company that specializes in the art of persuasive communication. YShe’s known as “the Storyteller of the Valley” and the author of six best-selling books, including Resonate and slide:ology. Her famous TedTalk has had over 3 million views. What you may not know is that although her business was founded in 1988, she is only now growing an outbound sales team. That's right. Nancy has experienced over 30 years of exponential growth using inbound sales exclusively. Even in those early years, before the books and the fame. Want to know how she's done it? Then you'll have to listen to this episode of Sales Talk for CEOs.Click to Tweet: @NancyDuarte, #CEO of @Duarte, talks about how to grow your #biz with #inboundsales on this episode of #Sales Talk for CEOs!During our conversation, Nancy discusses how she has grown her company using inbound sales. You'll learn her strategies to get leads pounding on the door, including top-quality service, word-of-mouth marketing, and thought leadership. She also shares insight into how she qualifies leads to ensure she works with the right clients. Nancy's story includes a cautionary tale about growing too fast and the details of how she’s recently set up the company to scale. If you want to handle inbound sales more effectively, you'll want to listen to this episode! Highlights1:54 Early sales experience: "I was scrappy and tenacious."5:20 New technology, new business ideas13:37 Growing a business with inbound sales18:49 "Cautionary tale…growth brought us to our knees."23:37 Preparing to scale32:36 Adding outbound sales to a mostly inbound system40:48 Communication tip for CEOs: it's all about empathy Quote"Once you know exactly who the ideal customer is, stick with it, and then you have to learn how to say no. It's hard sometimes, but it is what it is." Connect with Nancy Duarte in the links below:Website: https://www.duarte.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyduarte/You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

Jonathan Siddharth is the CEO of Turing, an AI-backed Intelligent Talent Cloud that helps companies source, vet, match and manage software developers remotely. There are currently 1.5 million software developers on Turing, and the platform is used by huge companies like Johnson & Johnson, Pepsi, Dell, Disney, Coinbase, and more. The reason for Turing's wild success? Jonathan has strategically built a powerful go-to-market machine! And he's joining Sales Talk for CEOs to discuss exactly how he did it.During our conversation, Jonathan explains how he waited to hire his sales team until he had two important things in place: a playbook and clear evidence of product-market fit. He then describes how he set up his go-to-market machine to be an engine that feeds qualified leads to his sales team so they can do what they do best – have sales conversations, close initial deals, and work on account expansion. If you're experiencing challenges with your go-to-market setup and could use some advice, you'll want to listen to this podcast episode! Highlights1:33 Three difficulties with finding and managing remote engineering teams5:27 A shift in strategy saves a company14:02 Product market fit + playbook = time to build sales19:16 Building a go-to-market machine26:12 Understanding the customer journey32:39 Challenges caused by rapid growth41:00 Advice for building demand, product-market fit, and exponential growth45:30 Book recommendations for CEOs to learn more about sales Quote"When you have product-market fit, it feels different. It's more of the market pulling what you have rather than you pushing what you have." Show LinksHow to Grow Your Business Like a Weed by Stu HeinekeHow to Get a Meeting with Anyone by Stu HeinekeThe Narrative Gym for Business: Introducing the ABT Framework for Business Communication and Messaging by Randy Olson and Park HowellIndistractable by Nir EyalBook List Blog Connect with Jonathan Siddharth in the links below:Website: https://www.turing.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonsid/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

Here's the reality: you'll make mistakes at every stage of building a company, especially when building a sales organization. But it's what you do with your mistakes that will determine your success. Entrepreneurs who catch the error, identify the problem, and correct it quickly are those who go on to build profitable, long-lasting businesses. Making mistakes—and learning lessons from them—is part of building a successful sales organization. And we're going to dive into that more in this episode with Zvi Guterman, CEO of CloudShare, an online platform that helps software vendors deliver virtual sales experiences.In this interview, Zvi is upfront about the mistakes he's made as he's built the sales organization at CloudShare since 2007. He also reflects on the lessons he's learned from these mistakes that have helped build a strong sales team over time. We talk about many common mistakes that entrepreneurs make when building a sales organization, including growing too fast, hiring the wrong people, underestimating the importance of marketing, and overcomplicating things. For each example, you'll learn how Zvi has navigated the challenges and learned valuable lessons along the way. His insights will help your own journey as you build sales in your company, so check out the podcast now! Highlights4:55 Validating the business idea9:24 Finding the right salespeople and helping them succeed15:39 The mistake of moving too fast21:53 The importance of marketing to strengthen sales25:21 Navigating the different phases of the CEO's journey35:49 Final advice for CEOs Quote"You may have the best technology, but nothing beats hearing your potential customers." Connect with Zvi Guterman in the links below:Website: https://www.cloudshare.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zviguterman/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

Every salesperson today wants to have more sales conversations. But they're difficult to get because it's become so hard to get the buyer's attention. Want to break through the noise? Try storytelling. Learning how to effectively use story in your messaging can dramatically increase the number of sales conversations and conversions. This is a big topic, and I know CEOs are eager to learn more about using story to boost their business. That's why I invited Park Howell, author of Brand Bewitchery and host of the Business of Story podcast, as the guest for this special episode in my Experts Series.During our conversation, Park dives into the who, what, and why of using story as a business strategy. He explains what CEOs should understand about storytelling and why it's so effective. We discuss the 'how to' of good storytelling, including the ‘and-but-therefore’ (ABT)  framework, and how to get your sales team actively involved in storytelling. Finally, you'll get several examples of companies that found great success when they started using story in their message.I can personally attest to the power of storytelling because I've seen incredible results from it in my own business. If you're a CEO interested in using story in your messaging, get started today by listening to this podcast. Highlights2:32 What CEOs should understand about storytelling5:56 How CEOs can use story to help sales8:30 Future-based storytelling11:37 The power of the founder's story16:54 The ‘and-but-therefore’ (ABT) framework for storytelling24:15 Training your sales team in storytelling31:34 Real examples of how story can boost sales Quote“The number one rule is you are not the center of your story. Your customer is. It's all about them. The number two rule is your story is not about what you make. Because nobody actually cares about what you make. Your story is always about what you make happen in their lives.” Connect with Park Howell in the links below:Website: https://businessofstory.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parkhowell/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/ 

Angela Saunders is the CEO of Vorum, a company that provides digital workflow solutions worldwide for the design and manufacturing of custom prosthetics and orthotics. Started in 1989 by Angela's father, the company has seen big changes since Angela became CEO two years ago. She's not starting from scratch, though. Angela is taking the trust her father built over decades and strategically leveraging those trusted partnerships to scale the company. To learn about her journey and get inspiration for your own, check out this episode of the Sales Talk for CEOs podcast.During the episode, Angela and I talk about the trust that her father built with clinics, hospitals, and individuals throughout Vorum's 33-year history. When Angela stepped in as CEO, one of her first objectives was to define the core customer, so she explains how she did that and how she created a sales growth plan centered around this core customer. You'll also learn how Angela is coordinating a massive mindset shift in the business as they seek to scale through their relationships with trusted partnerships. Get all of this and more by listening to the episode now! Highlights2:10 Enabling a better patient experience7:15 Building a business based on trust11:33 Narrowing down the core customer16:28 A sales growth plan centered around the core customer21:52 A company-wide mindset shift33:31 Analyzing wins and losses35L41 Breaking free from silos Quote“We're all trying to work with each other to make something greater than what we could do as individuals.” Connect with Angela Saunders in the links below:Website: https://vorum.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrsaunders/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/ 

People are bombarded with emails and sales messages. Response rates have plummeted. The number of quality interactions with prospects has declined. As a result, each interaction is more valuable than ever before. By using sales discovery to truly understand the prospect, you can build a relationship and partner with them to solve the challenges they’re facing. In today’s world, every CEO should be looking to improve sales discovery, and that’s why you’ll want to listen to this episode of Sales Talk for CEOs with Jody Glidden.Jody Glidden is CEO of Introhive, a customer intelligence software that does discovery research and delivers valuable insights about clients and prospects to your sales team. During our conversation, we talk about how important ‘discovery before discovery’ is to successful calls with prospects. We explore how technology for sales discovery has changed throughout the years and the problems with the current methods. You’ll also learn about using relationship intelligence before discovery calls and the role of storytelling in overcoming objections during calls. Each interaction your sales team has with a prospect is valuable! Learn how to improve your sales discovery by listening to this episode of Sales Talk for CEOs. Highlights4:47 Two reasons why sales discovery is harder today12:09 An eye-opening experience in sales21:17 Analyzing the problems with sales discovery26:40 Using relationship intelligence for sales discovery32:44 Team-based sales training (including storytelling)39:57 Discovery BEFORE discovery48:50 Maintaining executive alliance with the sales team Quote“That’s the primary function of our customer success department. They get measured on the happiness of our customers. It’s not so much on the upsell. Upsell is a side effect of customer happiness.” Connect with Jody Glidden in the links below:Website: https://www.introhive.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodyglidden/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

Lars Grønnegaard is the CEO of Dreamdata, a SAAS company that gathers, joins, and cleans revenue-related data to help B2B businesses understand what is driving sales so they can focus on what works. Like most new companies, Dreamdata started with founder-led sales to get their first customers, but within 18 months Lars realized he needed a professional sales team. In this Sales Talk for CEOs episode, Lars offers some invaluable advice!Lars and I discuss the importance of finding new sales hires with an entrepreneurial spirit. We explore why previous experience does not necessarily translate to a new startup environment. We talk about experimenting (and using data) to find what works and offering fair compensation to your first hires. Finally, we explore the ways in which Lars is still highly involved in the sales process even now that the professional sales team is handling the bulk of the work. If it’s time to hire your first salespeople (or if you’ve been trying to do so—unsuccessfully!), you’ll want to listen to the tips offered in this podcast. Highlights1:57 How a problem inspires a solution5:20 From founder-led sales to a professional sales team in 18 months9:50 Hiring for entrepreneurial spirit13:45 Learning from the data to discover what works17:50 Hiring for the entrepreneurial spirit29:41 CEO…but still head of sales36:20 Encouraging more referrals Quote“The most fundamental thing we went looking for was an entrepreneurial spirit. You have to love the concept of being part of building something. You’re living in the house while you’re building it and remodeling everything at the same time. So we went looking for people who would like that.” Connect with Lars Grønnegaard in the links below:Website: https://dreamdata.ioLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/larsgroennegaard/Article on B2B Attribution You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/ 

Dr. Barbara Kinnaird is CEO of Response Biomedical, a point-of-care testing solution helping to diagnose acute diseases. A microbiologist by trade, Barb stepped in as CEO after a significant company downsize, and she soon discovered there were many other problems in the business that needed fixing. One of the big ones? Lack of clarity on who the core customer is. Research in this area led Barb (and the company) to a huge mindset shift: from focusing on product features and end users, to concentrating on channel partners."I think we're on the right path with the core customer being the channel partner," says Barb. "It's a little bit differentiated in this industry, so I think it helps us because they feel the love." During this episode of Sales Talk for CEOs, you'll learn about Barb's journey, including moving from public to private, finding investors, and trying to understand sales. You'll also find out how Barb has restructured Response Biomedical to support channel partners and compete with big companies in this fast-paced field of medicine. Highlights3:30 From microbiologist to product development to CEO8:24 We've got some problems to fix…12:07 Who are we selling to? A shift in focus to channel partners22:26 Setting up a system to support channel partners28:56 On the horizon: showing more love to channel partners, a streamlined product33:04 Growing as a CEO Quote"When you aren't really sure about how to do sales, you're going to be agile, and you're going to move, and you're going to try again because you don't have a preset way." Connect with Barb Kinnaird in the links below:Website: https://responsebio.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbkinnaird/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

On this episode of Sales Talk for CEOs, Steve Benson, CEO of Badger Maps, joins me as an Expert to talk about what CEOs can (and should!) be doing to level up sales at their company. Now hold on a moment before everyone goes, "Wait a minute, I have a sales leader who does that. I have a CRO in place. I have a VP of sales." Yes, I'm sure you do. But CEOs always have a role in sales, regardless of whether the company was just founded or is a mature business. The role changes as you grow, which is what we're talking about during this podcast, a special episode in my Experts Series.During our discussion of how CEOs can level up sales, Steve and I focus on three important roles in sales that CEOs must embrace. CEOs are responsible for building the sales organization. Steve has tips on how to do that and how the strategy changes based on how long your company has been in business. CEOs are responsible for creating a feedback loop and using that to make decisions. Steve shares his thoughts on how the CEO can get data and what to do with the feedback you receive. CEOs are responsible for creating a culture of learning and curiosity. Steve offers advice on how he trains and develops his sales team, as well as makes ideas on how to make changes when needed. These are three roles that every CEO should look at improving in their company in order to level up sales. Get started today by listening to this episode! Highlights5:58 Building your sales team8:55 Staying involved in the feedback loop14:20 Taking action on the feedback you receive19:08 Coaching VPs of sales to make the right hires24:32 Making changes to your sales organization29:00 Developing your sales team internally and externally33:22 The benefits of peer-to-peer training38:30 Encouraging a culture of learning QuoteGreat CEOs are, first and foremost, on the sales and customer success team.As a CEO, you should be in the sales seat, driving new business, keeping customers happy, and have your fingers on the pulse of those parts of the business. Connect with Steve Benson in the links below:Website: https://www.badgermapping.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenbenson/  You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/ 

Many CEOs struggle to find sales leaders, including sales managers and VPs of sales. Not Patrick Parker. Patrick is the CEO of SaaS Partners, which helps early-stage entrepreneurs and builds in-house products to start new companies. Patrick is launching new businesses all the time, yet he never struggles to find sales leaders. His secret? Patrick has identified the exact traits to look for in new salespeople, and then he strategically grooms them into leadership roles. If you want to learn the formula for successfully developing sales leaders from inside your business, you’ll have to listen to this episode of Sales Talk for CEOs!Patrick has always been interested in team-building and has a passion for lifting people up. During our discussion, he talks about this background, and then we dig into the details of finding the right salespeople that show promise. You’ll learn Patrick’s theory on promoting people from within and how he uses incentives to build up individuals and teams. We also dive into the exact traits to look for in new sales hires, including self-awareness, motivation, curiosity, and agility, and how you can evaluate those characteristics during the job interview and in daily work. If you’re a CEO who has struggled to find the right sales leaders for your company, listen in to learn how you can groom the perfect managers and VPs from inside your business! Highlights6:19 A passion for lifting people up9:12 Promoting people from within15:09 Using incentives to build individuals and teams18:16 Traits to look for in promising sales team members  21:06 Understanding what motivates your team30:22 Building a culture of curiosity and growth35:48 More indicators of a person who can ‘level up’ Quote“When you strengthen the weakest team member, it makes the entire team stronger.” Connect with Patrick Parker in the links below:Website: https://saaspartners.io/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickbparker/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/ 

Lead generation is often ranked as one of the biggest challenges of growing a business. That’s why I invited expert Brian Carroll to the Sales Talk for CEOs podcast to discuss what CEOs should know about generating leads for complex sales. Brian is the founder of Markempa, an empathy-based marketing company, and the author of the bestselling book Lead Generation for the Complex Sale. In this episode, he shares expert advice and actionable strategies for CEOs to evaluate their current lead generation practices and make adjustments that will increase sales.In this interview, Brian diagnoses the problem of many marketing messages, and he encourages CEOs to see things differently by developing empathy and trying to understand the world of the customer. He shares many practical steps CEOs can take, including conducting customer journey interviews, keeping an eye on specific metrics, and employing strategies like empathetic listening and emotional leadership. This episode is for CEOs who want to improve lead generation by evaluating current methods and guiding their teams to adopt better practices. If this sounds like you, then listen in today! Highlights1:45 Diagnosing the problem with most marketing messages7:25 How to conduct customer journey interviews16:09 How to use empathy indexing to improve the customer experience21:53 Specific metrics CEOs should use to assess their sales team and processes30:25 Analyzing sales calls to improve strategy and training35:55 The value of empathetic listening44:24 Three questions to ask to improve your sales processes48:00 Using emotional leadership to empower your team Quote“We need to understand what’s the mind of our customer, what’s the heart of our customer, and what are the things that they really care about.” Connect with Brian Carroll in the links below:Website: https://www.markempa.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianjcarroll/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

Amy DuRoss is the co-founder and former CEO of Vineti, an enterprise software platform for personalized cell and gene therapies. Personalized medicine—designing custom therapeutics for each patient to cure diseases like cancer—is a whole new terrain in the pharmaceuticals industry. So, what’s it like to start and build a company in a brand new category? In this episode of Sales Talk for CEOs, Amy talks about what it takes to become a trailblazer in a new market, including the role of passion, storytelling, networking, and referrals. If you’re a CEO entering a new market (or innovating in an old one!), you’ll want to listen in.During the episode, Amy talks about how Vineti got its start with one customer who took a chance on the company because they shared the same passion and vision. Next, she explains the role of storytelling in acquiring additional customers and the importance of networking to build a pipeline. Finally, Amy and I discuss making complex sales more customer-focused and the customer success team’s role in growing trust and reference-ability. Listen to Amy’s advice and take some of her tips to become a trailblazer in your own industry! Highlights2:28 Seeing the gaps in the medical market7:52 How to sell a business in a new category13:08 Forming powerful partnerships18:21 Crafting a story that carries itself  25:40 Customer-focused complex sales38:45 Increasing reference-ability46:18 A continuous learning mindset Quote“It’s genuinely felt in the marketplace—that our team is committed, and we’re out there working day and night, united by this shared mission, culture, and values.” Connect with Amy DuRoss in the links below:Website: https://vineti.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-duross-695b743/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

Account-based marketing is one of the hottest growth strategies right now (note: it's not new, just hot), with companies in all industries looking to create a personalized buying experience for targeted accounts. If you're a CEO who wants to unleash the power of account-based marketing in your own business, you'll want to listen to this episode of the Sales Talk for CEOs podcast. My guest, Blake Williams, is the founder and CEO of Ampfactor, an account-based marketing that teaches companies to do this, but all of his business has come from referrals. Find out how he grew sales and how he serves his customer.In our discussion, we talk about account-based marketing from two standpoints. First, you'll learn how account-based marketing can help you focus on specific prospective clients in order to build relationships that lead to a sale. Next, you'll discover how account-based marketing can help you expand opportunities with your current clients and increase your revenue potential. If you're interested in account-based marketing (or you're doing it but want to up your game!), then this episode is a must-listen. Check it out below! Highlights:1:14 The importance of an account-based focus for complex sales6:54 Leveraging relationships and referrals11:25 Outbound marketing to build relationships17:17 Growing your sales organization25:04 Winning hearts and minds with account-based marketing33:12 Are your salespeople developing coaches?40:03 Call to CEOs: Challenge your thinking and align your strategies    Quote“The goal is to win hearts and minds, get them to engage, and start creating targeted content.” Connect with Blake Williams in the links below:Website: https://ampfactor.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blakewilliamsmba/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

Darren Dixon is the founder and CEO of Fyxify, a software platform for the home services industry that connects consumers and contractors. He describes Fyxify as "the most energy-efficient software in the world" because the company's vision is to address the problem of global warming by equipping homeowners and service providers with the information they need to handle home maintenance in an energy-efficient way. This vision permeates everything they do at Fyxify, from sales to hiring to customer experience. If you are a CEO who wants to build your company around a strong vision, you will want to tune into this Sales Talk for CEOs episode to learn about how Fyxify is standing out in this area, and how you can too. In this episode, Darren discusses the CEO's role in sales as being the person in charge of the company's vision. He explains how the CEO needs to communicate this vision clearly and consistently to the sales team and check their understanding by "inspecting what you expect" instead of assuming. Darren and I also discuss the importance of creating a reputation (online and offline) that reflects your vision and values, and we touch on how you can attract the right people to your business when your mission permeates the workplace too. This episode is for CEOs who want to get more strategic with their company vision and use it to drive sales, hiring, operations, and the customer experience. Listen in now! Highlights0:50 The mission of Fyxify: addressing global warming4:59 Understanding the target market15:26 The CEO in the sales role18:54 Taking charge of the vision23:00 The importance of repetition28:09 Everyone is watching…always32:07 When vision and mission permeate the workplace35:14 The marketing battlefront today: customer experience Quote"My job in sales transitions into a role in which I am making sure that the vision of our organization stays very, very clear to the people who are in charge of communicating it. That's the challenge that organizations have as they grow." Connect with Darren Dixon in the links below:Website: https://fyxify.pro/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darren-dixon-663b4511 You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

Brent Keltner is the founder and President of Winalytics LLC, a go-to-market and revenue acceleration consultancy. His upcoming book, The Revenue Acceleration Playbook, teaches CEOs and go-to-market teams the importance of having authentic conversations with potential buyers. In this episode of the Sales Talk for CEOs podcast, we dive into the topic of authentic conversations: what they are, how to spot them, and how they differentiate your business. The episode will leave CEOs contemplating what authentic conversations with their customers look like and how to build and train a sales team that can have these conversations.We cover all aspects of having authentic conversations with buyers during our discussion. You’ll learn how to find out if your team is currently having authentic conversations, how authentic conversations can lead to better discovery calls and more sales, and how to hire salespeople with an aptitude for having authentic conversations. If you’re looking to differentiate yourself from the competition, having authentic conversations is the way to do it. Listen in to learn more! Highlights1:27 Authentic buyer conversations9:50 Outbound and inbound marketing for lead generation10:56 The importance of referrals (and how to get more!)15:20 Better discovery calls: shifting from shallow discovery to value discovery18:44 Hiring the right salespeople for authentic conversations23:24 The importance of playbooks in marketing, prospecting, and selling31:30 Saying goodbye to product pitching and traditional selling33:51 Authenticity wins Quote“We talk about the work we do as building an authentic buyer journey and having authentic conversations, which means simply, don’t talk about your product until you know how it will make your customer more successful, and then talk about your product aligning to what their goals are for a better future.” Connect with Brent Keltner in the links below:Website: https://winalytics.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bkeltner/The Revenue Acceleration Playbook: https://winalytics.com/our-book/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

Voice of the customer research is more than just sending out a customer survey or asking for a review. It involves conducting strategic interviews, often handled by a third party, to get targeted insights for your business. Every CEO should be looking at voice of the customer research, which is why I invited expert Tonya Bjurstrom, founder of Dirby Group, a voice of the customer research company, to join me for this episode of Sales Talk for CEOs. In it, we discuss everything that CEOs need to know to get started with voice of the customer research.In this episode, you’ll learn what voice of the customer research is, its benefits, and how you can use the information for customer retention and growth. Tonya also shares examples that demonstrate the power of voice of the customer research—when you learn how it’s worked for other companies, you’ll want to try it in your business too. Finally, we discuss how to structure your interviews using KDIs, and how to know when it’s time to employ voice of the customer research in your business. This episode has everything CEOs need to know to get started with voice of the customer research. Dive in now!  Highlights:2:47 Customer listening: the missing element6:45 Using voice of the customer research for retention and growth7:16 Why you should use a third party to get voice of the customer data11:00 The key benefit of voice of the customer research13:29 Voice of the customer example 1: saving a big client19:00 Voice of the customer example 2: avoiding a bad investment27:22 Identifying KDIs – key desired insights30:12 Knowing when to conduct voice of the customer research Quote:“Who better to help you understand why companies should buy your product than companies who bought your product?” Connect with Tonya Bjurstrom in the links below:Website: https://www.dirbysolutions.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonyabjurstrom/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

Leeatt Rothschild is the CEO of Packed with Purpose, a specialty corporate gifting company that sources from minority-owned companies with superior products that make a social impact. Social mission affects everything at Packed with Purpose—from how they market and package products to the people they hire. In fact, Leeatt has worked hard to build a mission-aligned sales team, which has greatly contributed to the company's success. The truth is, every CEO needs to think about creating a mission-aligned sales team. That's why you'll want to listen to this episode of Sales Talk for CEOs to learn how Leeatt does it.In this episode, you'll learn how Leeatt has taken the value of 'social mission' and woven it into every aspect of sales and marketing in her company. We discuss finding mission-aligned sales team members and why this is so important for growing your business and reaching sales goals. We also talk about the art of active listening and how you can use the words and stories of customers to improve every area of your marketing, including your website, emails, sales scripts, and brochures. Whatever your specific company values are, this episode will give you ideas on how you can weave them into your sales and marketing too. Listen in now! Highlights1:28 Finding a unique place in the market8:04 Becoming obsessed with an idea13:00 "If I don't take this idea to market, someone else will."19:50 Seeing sales as helping28:43 The scrappiest market research: listening to your customers34:44 Hiring people that are mission-aligned40:45 Making it easier to be your customer (and harder to be your competitor)   Quote"As the CEO, I need to be at the 10,000 foot view, but I also need to get on the ground because on the ground is where you get all the insights.” Connect with Leeatt Rothschild in the links below:Website: https://packedwithpurpose.gifts/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leeatt-pwp/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

Torrance Hart is CEO of Teak and Twine, a corporate gifting company that works with sales, marketing, and HR teams to use strategic gifting to accomplish goals. Once Torrance embraced her role as sales leader, there was no turning back. She now loves her work leading sales and credits her involvement in the sales process as one of the primary reasons for the rapid growth of Teak and Twine. Her story is a great example of what owning your role as sales leader can do for your business!In this episode, you’ll learn a little about Torrance’s company and how you might use strategic gifting to achieve your own business goals. You’ll also find out how Torrance leads her sales team by focusing on ‘worktopia’ and collaboration. In addition, we discuss our favorite sales and entrepreneur-based podcasts and some hot business topics like EOS and account-based marketing. Listen in now! Highlights1:05 Strategic gifting for sales, marketing, and HR7:07 Virtual gifting to build engagement12:35 A big project inspires a big pivot  17:02 An important realization25:00 Creating “worktopia”28:08 Maintaining a collaborative atmosphere32:17 EOS and finding an ‘integrator’38:08 Account-based marketing Quote“What keeps me motivated is bringing a fresh perspective and new ideas to the team each day." Connect with Torrance Hart in the links below:Website: https://www.teakandtwine.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/torrance-hart-7a1764188/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

The startup industry is littered with failed businesses that didn’t reach the five-year mark. It’s a shame because there are a lot of great products, ideas, and services out there that never make it because these early-stage startups don’t get the help that they need. That’s why I’m excited to welcome my guest for this episode of Sales Talk for CEOs: Craig Zingerline, CEO and founder of Growth University. Growth University delivers on-demand training programs geared toward early-stage startups to give them the information they need to make better decisions and grow their startups faster.In this interview, Craig shares advice for some of the common problems that startups face, such as choosing the wrong marketing channels and not understanding potential buyers. He also discusses some of the success strategies that Growth University uses, including details about their customer acquisition strategies and how he protects his time by disqualifying potential buyers who aren’t a good fit. If you are a startup CEO, this is a must-listen episode! Highlights2:04 Helping startups succeed9:54 Choosing the wrong marketing channel12:23 Not understanding your potential buyers16:10 Gathering data through curious conversations27:07 Refining your product from beta-version feedback34:34 Four customer acquisition strategies42:23 The importance of qualifying the potential buyer45:34 Disqualification how-tos Quote“Every founder needs to get the tooling in place so they can understand where each customer is coming into the buying process. The key is to know where your business is coming from. Which lead source is producing the best results.” Connect with Craig Zingerline in the links below:Website: https://growthuniversity.io/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigzingerline/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/ 

According to Orrin, the three stages of business growth are as follows:Stage 1: You’re scrappy and entrepreneurial with a ‘let’s just get it done’ kind of attitude. As for sales, you do most of the work yourself.Stage 2: ‘Let’s get some kind of management in here!’ becomes your mission. You start to grow your sales team and add people in layers into the organization. You may even start to get some investors.Stage 3: The 3 p’s are in place: people, process, and product. Backed by a good board and investors, and with trusted sales, marketing and customer success managers in place, you are free to become a future-oriented, strategy-focused leader.Having made it to Stage 3, Orrin takes a look back at the journey that got him there, sharing advice for each stage and the kind of things he wished he knew along the way. No matter which of the stages of business growth you are currently in, you are sure to gain new insight that will help you reach your next milestone. Highlights10:20 – Building relationships to land big customers14:14 – The 3 stages of business growth18:32 – Stage 1: The scrappy entrepreneur23:43 – Stage 2: Learning to delegate31:24 – Setting yourself up for success in Stage 335:52 – How to know you’ve made it to Stage 338:22 – What’s coming in the future Quote“When you have a well functioning team it frees leadership to focus on the vision and where the business is going.” Connect with Orrin Broberg in the links below:Website: https://www.gomodus.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/obroberg/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

Connection is everything. When your marketing message resonates with your customers, selling becomes easier, retention becomes easier, and your customers become powerful evangelists who market and sell for you. To achieve this, you have to find the right words that make your customers lean in. You have to create marketing that is music to your buyer’s ears.In this episode of the Sales Talk for CEOs podcast, my guest Kate Bradley Chernis shares advice on how to do just that. A former live radio DJ, Kate is now the CEO of Lately, a software that uses artificial intelligence to learn the voice of brands and create writing models based on the words, key phrases, and sentence structure that will get the highest engagement. Kate has used Lately technology to get a 98 percent sales conversion rate with the company’s organic messages, and she is sharing tips for creating marketing that connects to customers in this podcast episode.As Kate explains, the problem with a lot of marketing is that marketers are trying to find ‘the right words that sell.’ “The objective isn’t actually a sale,” says Kate. “The objective is first to engage. Get to the next step. Get the reaction. Get them to lean in. Get that long play going.”In this interview, Kate discusses the importance of making a connection as you start conversations with potential customers via marketing. Using the neuroscience of music, she explains how marketing messages should be crafted to offer familiar ‘touch points’ that cue nostalgia, memory, and emotion. This, in turn, builds trust, which is the basis for customer acquisition and loyalty. Sound interesting? Then listen in to learn how you too can create marketing that is music to your buyer’s ears. Highlights2:37 The rollercoaster of the CEO8:27 Getting specific about your ideal customer17:58 Why the objective of your marketing isn’t a sale21:17 Believing in yourself (and not the naysayers)28:26 Creating two-way street marketing30:33 Making music to your buyer’s ears39:00 Creating a seller-free experience Quote“The objective isn’t actually a sale. The objective is first to engage. Get to the next step. Get the reaction. Get them to lean in. Get that long play going.” Connect with Kate Bradley Chernis in the links below:Website: https://www.lately.ai/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katebradley/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

Product. Sales. Marketing. Customer Success. If you want to grow your business, your entire go-to-market team has to be in perfect alignment. Providing a seamless experience makes such a huge difference to customers, but it’s often hard to achieve. Luckily, you’ll get plenty of ideas and inspiration in the latest Sales Talk for CEOs podcast.My guest for this interview is Pouyan Salehi, CEO of Scratchpad, a workspace designed specifically for sales and revenue teams. Scratchpad has a unique bottom-up sales model where—on the one hand—the end-users of the software (sales reps) are not the buyers, but—on the other hand—the end-user experience is instrumental in getting sales conversations with decision-makers at large companies. A fully aligned go-to-market team is crucial to success, and, in this interview, Pouyan shares how he achieves it.As Pouyan explains, aligning your go-to-market team has nothing to do with tools and processes. Instead, you have to start with mindset, prioritizing ‘delight’ and ‘experience.’ “We’re a software company, and we build a product, and people buy the product. But that’s just one component,” says Pouyan. “What we’re essentially doing for every user interaction that we have is we’re giving them an experience. We’re delivering an experience, and that experience should be one of delight.”This mindset drives sales and customer experience at Scratchpad and has brought the entire go-to-market team together into one cohesive unit. Although Scratchpad is only two years old, the company has established a base of raving fans that any CEO would envy! Listen in to hear how Pouyan has done it, so you can apply the strategies to your business too. Highlights2:25 Designing a space for sales team efficiency7:24 Understanding diversity in sales reps9:26 Balancing structure and individual flexibility13:45 Selling your idea and testing your value proposition20:25 Designing a complex go-to-market motion29:40 Building a fully aligned go-to-market team35:19 Creating raving fans Quote“What we’re essentially doing for every user interaction that we have is we’re giving them an experience. We’re delivering an experience, and that experience should be one of delight.” Connect with Pouyan Salehi in the links below:Website: https://scratchpad.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pouyansalehi You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

If there is one thing to take away from this episode of Sales Talk for CEOs, it’s that CEOs should be making connections. If you’re not reaching out to customers, employees, peers, and mentors, you are missing out on opportunities to learn and grow. I understand that this doesn’t come naturally for everyone, but when you hear about the benefits of networking, evangelizing, and building relationships in today’s interview, I know you’ll be motivated to make it a priority.This episode features Amir Reiter, CEO of CloudTask, a B2B Lead Generation company helping SaaS companies drive revenue growth through teams of sales development professionals. Amir has spent his career focusing on relationships, and it is these relationships with customers, employees, mentors, and peers that have helped him build the company to what it is today.In the interview, Amir shares many stories about how he has used networking, evangelizing, and relationship-building to grow his company, including stories about:How he initially built the company by creating a network of people who believed in him and the product—and that network became the voice of awareness for others.How he hires as few employees as possible but really takes employees under his wing to develop their confidence and help them feel like part of the team.How he actively seeks out relationships with other business owners to learn from their mistakes, and how recent advice caused an important shift in his business model.How he prioritizes evangelizing for the company by strategically using social media and finding networking opportunities. Amir Reiter has built CloudTask out of (in his words) persistence and trial and error. Every step of the way, he reaches out to others and observes the world around him to make better decisions. His story is sure to motivate you to do the same, so you, too, can strategically build relationships to grow your business. Highlights:3:45 Following your passions8:35 Using networking to get to the next level11:04 Defining your success as customer (and employee) success14:50 Confronting your limiting beliefs21:38 The role of CEO as evangelizer24:49 An important lesson: less is more33:10 Building team culture Quote:"As the CEO, one of the most important things I can do to increase sales is build strong relationships with my team, our customers, and others who play a role in our success." Connect with Amir Reiter in the links below:Website: https://www.cloudtask.com/LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/amirreiter/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

Hiring the right sales leader is something that every CEO has challenges with, so this episode of the Sales Talk for CEOs podcast is a great opportunity to improve your strategy and avoid some common mistakes. By hiring the right sales leader for your company, you’ll be able to build the kind of sales organization that really supports your business, and that allows you, as CEO, to take on the role of strategist, evangelist, and thought leader.The perfect guest for this topic is Elay Cohen, CEO and co-founder of SalesHood, a sales enablement platform. The role Elay has taken in sales is the role I hope all CEOs can get to. But there were some bumps along the road to getting there, which is why Elay is openly sharing some of the lessons he learned while trying to find the right sales leader, so you can avoid the same mistakes.During this interview, Elay takes us on his own journey to find the perfect sales leadership for SalesHood. He recounts the missteps along the way, including his first hire, who looked great on paper but wasn’t a good fit for the company, and his second hire that failed because of a misunderstanding related to job title and role. You’ll also learn how Elay landed his current co-leaders in sales who are exceeding sales goals and gearing the company up for amazing growth in 2022.By finding the right sales leaders for his company, Elay is able to take the role of chief strategist, visionary, and evangelist of his business.  Of course, getting to this place in your career is only possible when you find the right people to lead your sales team. The information in this podcast is sure to ease the process! Highlights8:18 The importance of your first customers13:00 When to hire a sales leader20:51 The journey to find the right sales leader24:14 A lesson on title inflation27:45 When to consider your top sales rep as head of sales30:36 The CEO’s role in sales after finding a sales leader36:00 A red flag when interviewing sales leaders39:48 Final takeaway on hiring your first sales manager Quote“Recruitment and finding the right people has been the hardest thing. I never would have thought. I would have thought building the company, getting customers, innovating… No. The hardest thing in the last eight years has been finding the right people for the company.” Connect with Elay Cohen in the links below:Website: https://saleshood.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elaycohen You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

As an entrepreneur, when you first launch your company, you often start out doing most of the work yourself. However, at a certain point, it’s time to hire a team so you can focus on the higher-level work required of a CEO and grow your business. But who should you hire first? When should you bring on a sales team? What hiring strategies can help you find the best talent? How should you organize your team for top performance and growth? All these questions (and more!) are answered in my latest Sales Talk for CEOs podcast.This episode features Jacco van der Kooij, Founder of Winning by Design, a global B2B revenue consulting and training company founded in 2012. In this interview, Jacco takes us back to those early days when he was running the company by himself, through his years as CEO, and up until today when he has passed the CEO baton on to someone else and stepped back into the role of Founder of the multi-million-dollar international company.In this interview, you will learn why Jacco suggests not to hire your sales team first (and who you should hire instead!). He also shares two hiring strategies his company uses to make it easier to find the best candidate for your position (and quickly eliminate those who won’t make the cut!). Finally, you will find out about the intriguing way he groups his team members into customer-focused pods to enable them to become powerhouses for customer service. At the heart of it, this episode is all about growth and how your hiring and team organization can set your business up for success. Listen in, and you are sure to get amazing insight to grow your company too. Highlights:3:22 Growth via recurring revenue8:10 Why you shouldn’t hire for sales early15:37 Two unique elements to include in your hiring process17:14: Taking a multi-dimensional approach to growth21:50 Organizing your team: units instead of individuals27:25 The evolving role of CEO in sales31:05 When it’s time to step back35:35 Marketing: entering the realm of science  “Selling is not what the customer wants. What the customer is involved in is buying. Instead of selling to them, which is against their nature, help them to buy, which is human nature from the get-go.” Connect with Jacco van der Kooij in the links below:Website: https://winningbydesign.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaccovanderkooij You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

The companies that are succeeding today are the ones that are looking at themselves from their customers’ perspective. How do your customers see your business? Do they understand your products and services? How do they want to buy from you? Whether you have been in business for five years or 100, your customers’ perspective will always play a pivotal role in the success (or failure) of your business. So, are you listening to their valuable feedback?No matter how old your business is, you must constantly change and adapt to what your customers are telling you. That’s the subject of my latest Sales Talk for CEOs podcast, where Erik Frank - CEO and President of Tristate Amature and Electrical Works - shares the details on the major overhauls that are happening in his 101-year-old business. Erik is completely rebuilding his marketing and sales strategy from the ground up – all based on what they are learning from their customers.Erik’s strategy includes gathering extra insight into the customer experience through conversations with customers, a newly launched customer survey, and continued customer outreach. The strategy also involves changing up the sales team, including better training for customer service representatives, hiring more sales staff, and finding that crucial new hire for VP of sales.This episode is a must-listen if you feel that your sales strategy isn’t quite hitting the mark with your customers. Whether you’re just starting your business or have been at it for decades, there is ALWAYS room to make your marketing and sales more customer-centric. Highlights3:10 Bringing sales experience into the role of CEO8:35 Customer-focused rebranding11:25 Why train your customer service team in sales15:18 Using customer surveys to gather data17:31 The importance of sales leadership21:00 The CEO’s role in sales: selling the vision of the company23:00 Growing your sales team to accommodate customers’ needs in the future Quote“Today, the companies that are succeeding are looking at themselves from their customer’s perspective and the way their customer wants to buy from them versus the way they have been selling to them for sometimes 30 or 100 years.” Connect with Erik Frank in the links below:Website: https://tristatearmature.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ebfrank/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below:Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

HIGHLIGHTS1:20 Changes to hiring during the pandemic8:25 Growth of sales operations during the pandemic11:25 How to integrate roles on your team to serve customers better14:10 The CEO’s unique role in sales18:38 Balancing a CEO’s many responsibilities22:40 Switching your sales strategy when inbound calls increase25:07 Growth opportunities on the horizon  “The customer wants it to be seamless. They don’t want to have your services coming from 15 different directions and different messages. They know what they want, and they want it to be seamless. They don’t really care what happens behind the scenes. They just want good results, a good outcome.”   Connect with Bronwyn Allen in the links below:Website: http://www.highprofilestaffing.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bronwynallen/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

HIGHLIGHTS3:19 The journey to becoming the CEO of basketball8:24 Knowing CEO skills, playing the sport and understanding the fans10:57 Finding solutions for the first challenges you have to face as a CEO19:10 Holding each member and each department of the organization responsible for revenue and the customer’s experience27:35 The CEO as the spearhead and pivot of the organization30:35 Keeping sports stakeholders engaged during the pandemic through innovative thinking QUOTES3:25 “If I wrote down a piece of advice to myself: specializing in a particular area is helpful as you move through.”9:23 “You need to be authentic. In anything, authenticity is key. Because people buy from people at the end of the day. If you have strong knowledge of your product, your services, and you understand your customer, you obviously are going to be more successful.”20:28 "If we don't collaborate, the customer may choose to work with somebody that's easier to deal with than our organization. Simplifying that for all the people and strategically working more... systems on actually putting the customer on the center... and everybody in that value chain have responsibility for the customer"35:05 “That innovative thinking and people putting themselves and making themselves available has been the beauty of what this pandemic has brought about in a number of different areas”   Connect with Maria Nordstrom in the links below.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-nordstrom-89b71a8Website: https://www.bnsw.com.au/Twitter: https://twitter.com/marianordstrom3 You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

HIGHLIGHTS2:50 How Sendoso started - finding creative ways to connect with people5:20 Interviewing for creativity 15:10 Building a strong company culture 20:20 Adapting to modern sales 24:58 Following up with customers27:41 Why stay with named accounts?  QUOTES4:57  “Creative thinking is one of those soft skills that are underutilized and undervalued… add creativity or if you want to be more creative that’ll be a skillset that will stand out”5:32 “I think creativity is something that all you CEOs out there - make sure that your sales leaders are interviewing for creativity”15:57 “I’m really trying to create a culture where it’s a ‘one team, one dream’ and the CEO is not too cool for school, he’s in the trenches working with everyone else.” 24:25 “People should not just disappear from a customers life, they should be around and the customer knows they're available and a part of a team that's helping lift everybody up.”26:51 “Any day can be ‘we love our customers day’” Connect with Kris Rudeegraap in the links below:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rudeegraap/Website: http://www.rudeegraap.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/rudeegraap You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

HIGHLIGHTS1:20 What exactly is Xactly and who are their ideal customers? 7:00 Sales journey to CEO 11:55 Entrepreneurial enthusiasm26:42 Sales organization’s evolution after 16 years30:10 The balance of having partners and direct sellers 38:20 From private company to public, then to private and going back to being public  QUOTES11:30  “So many things could go differently, so many startups fail for so many different reasons - but that never entered my mind. Looking back, I didn’t understand that - but at the time the idea of it not working was never ever in the realm of possibility”11:55 “I call that entrepreneurial enthusiasm, if you didn’t have it - you won’t make it. You have to believe, you can’t even look back and think that it’s not gonna work - that’s not the way we think as entrepreneurs”24:24 “CEOs can really be the chief evangelist for their company and it makes a huge difference. It’s more about that networking and developing and drawing people to you because they see you and they see “oh, this CEO isn’t afraid to be out there, is available we can talk to him” Connect with Chris Cabrera in the link below.Website: https://www.xactlycorp.com/LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophercabrera/Twitter: https://twitter.com/cabrera You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

HIGHLIGHTS3:30 Before Clarity Voice: how Gary had started as tech support and then trained in sales6:08 The CEO being the first salesperson of the company15:13 Realizing the need for a sales leader 20:18 When the CEO manages his own sales team26:46 Technology doesn’t solve all problems 30:01 The richness of business QUOTES3:30 “With any entrepreneur, when they look back to when they started the company and what led up to it, there were many things that happened that built them to where they are ready to move on to an opportunity.”5:48 “If I could hit moderate success in pitching non-sales people to pay for the privilege of joining a direct-selling organization, it should be a breeze to talk to small businesses about having better phone communications”14:40 “It took me some time to really get through my thick skull that hiring superstars wasn’t gonna work.”15:10 “I was resistant to hiring a sales leader because I couldn’t see or justify such a large expense for someone who wasn’t a direct producer. Huge mistake, that mistake probably caused me millions of dollars over the last ten years” 22:20  “I had to make the real decision: ‘do I wanna be small and in control of everything or do I wanna grow?’ And that was my choice…you really have to ask yourself ‘do you have to grow?’” 30:01 “The richness of business is the journey getting there. Some of it is in the struggle and in figuring things out. But it’s also in enjoying the successes, recognizing the achievements and liking what you’re doing and whom you’re doing it with - both your team and your customers.” Connect with Gary Goerke in the links below:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-goerke-cfe-4611424/Website: www.clarityvoice.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClarityVoice1/Twitter: https://twitter.com/ClarityVoice1 You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

HIGHLIGHTS2:18 How and why Jamie started Proactivate8:45 Recognizing when to hire people 12:39 Strategically building and maintaining partnerships16:00 Partnerships versus cold-calling 19:23 Mindsets that are helpful for serving clients and growing your business - mindset versus skillset QUOTES5:26 “It was me selling, for sure, in the beginning and doing a lot of it. In the first week I got 25 appointments”9:26 “Adding a salesperson would be worth a million dollars in revenue to my company… I hired some sales team member and then took them through a very specific sales bootcamp because I knew that they would be the lifeblood of my company”11:10 These client relationships and referral partner relationships, they’ve been really key. A lot of them have been great friends and partners in business. I work really hard in just maintaining that and growing some of those strategic relationships. 15:34 “If you’re thinking, ‘how can I find some partners?’ Jamie has just laid it out for you: think about who else sells to the same audience that you sell to, what would be important to them in having a partner and how you would build that. Start with one and see how it goes. Be strategic about it and pick up a few more.” 20:55 “80% of our success is based on mindset and yet we spend all this time interviewing people based on skillset and training people based on skill set.”  Connect with Jamie Crosbie in the links below:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiecrosbie/Website: https://www.proactivate.net/ | http://www.jamiecrosbie.com/Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/www.proactivate.net/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/proactivate/Twitter: https://twitter.com/jmcrosbieYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC39bcl4OzWzBBJE-Wbw5Lfg/videos You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

HIGHLIGHTS[3:06] Being a business owner with a sales background[6:59] Getting people onboard in your company - what you can do as CEO[10:50] Building the sales organization in your company[20:41] Supporting sales and the CEO's growing role[25:51] Making your customer feel important, secure and happy[31:00] Hiring outside help to communicate more freely in the office QUOTES[6:30]  “It's really useful to have a sales background starting a company, at first you are not just selling a product, you're selling for people to join a company”[7:00]  "If you're a CEO you better be good at sales and telling your stories if you want others to come to your company right now"[12:56]  "You do need to have experience with hiring sales people and it's definitely a skill"[20:43]  "If I keep my toe on the water too much, it hurts the company from a sales perspective because I'm spread too thin… you see this a lot in companies, whatever the CEO is really great at is what their company is weak at"  [24:46] "Talking to your sales people is a great way to keep your fingers on the pulse of the business" Connect with Steve Benson in the link below:Website: https://www.badgermapping.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenbenson/ You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

HIGHLIGHTS2:00  From Goldmine to Nimble, Jon’s entrepreneurial journey8:20  Be present for your family's growth. Don't let your career get in the way of being with your loved ones. 18:17  The secret sauce to making connections and closing sales - listening more and being human29:24  Integrating more and more communication systems into Nimble 33:04  Making it easy for the buyer to buy from youQUOTES2:02  “It really starts with our first company that I co-founded called GoldMine. I started that company out of a personal need, I struggled as a sales person.” 8:20  “I came to the conclusion that I’m on this planet to grow my soul and the best way to grow my soul is to be present with people who love me and help them grow. So I decided to dedicate that time to being a present father, husband, and member of my community”15:55  If you share content… those influencers will start conversations with you and you have to reel them in to do one on one face to face”16:10  "You don't want to start talking about yourself and your products. What you want to do is prepare for the meeting, learn about them... ask some questions and shut the F up and listen... " 23:10  “You just have to be thoughtful, share what you believe in, interact with the people that you want to interact with you then it starts to work.” “You have to be human…”34:14  “I encourage every CEO listening today to go be their own customer, to go try to buy from their own company… pretend you’re your own customer and evaluate yourself from that perspective… many of you will be shocked.” Connect with Jon Ferrara:Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Jon_FerraraWebsite: http://www.nimble.com/Blog: www.nimble.com/blog   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonvferraraYou can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

HIGHLIGHTS01:46 Starting RFPIO and helping companies respond to RFPs more efficiently10:07 Ganesh's sales experience was a natural progression to CEO 14:01 Trial and error: Changing company goals to figure out behavior19:21 Celebrate sales milestones and recognize the efforts of every team member23:15 Filling the organization structure with the right people at the stages31:45 Future forecast for RFPIO and success with an onboarding specialist38:46 Sales tips for fellow CEOsQUOTES08:27 "We realized salespeople never logged into those system. They have accounts already working on. They don't want to log in. So go with cheaper solution."14:26 "Compensation drives behavior. The second one is, time kills deals. Two things it is always in my mind. When we started scaling, we as an organization were looking at what is that year 1, what is the behavior that we want?"19:34 "We as a company celebrated every small milestone the sales team brought in. Everybody from top to bottom, even an intern who's on the engineering team was made part of the sales team."25:21 "My entire sales team knows it will change. Either the quotas will change, the territories will change, the industries will change, but not in between."39:07 "Make sure you're not creating a conflicting competition plan. Make it clean and simple, easy for sales team to understand, and go after it. It'll make your life so much easier." Connect with Ganesh Shankar in the link below.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ganeshshankarcr/You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

HIGHLIGHTS01:47 Innovating the training process with Spekit10:44 Melanie's background in supporting sales and overcoming self-limiting beliefs18:39 Learning how to sell a product and being deliberate with hiring a sales team26:55 Having a clear company vision and hiring the first head of sales37:30 Creating an online presence to evangelize and attract clients40:34 Building up the sales team and adapting to changing buyer behaviors48:32 Sales advice for fellow CEOsQUOTES09:16 "How do we reimagine the way that employees learn at work? And how we make that easier, more personalized, more data-driven experience for them."21:52 "I deeply, deeply, deeply believe that if you want to solve the problem better than anyone else, you need to understand the problem better than anyone else."25:28 "I'd just be intentional about hiring your first head of sales because they're going to shape your culture, your sales culture, but at the end of the day your sales team shapes the culture of your company."32:05 "For me to excel at my role, I need to grow personally to a level that's faster than the growth of the company and that's hard when you're on hyper growth mode. But learning how to be an effective sales manager is probably not the best use of my time."50:06 "I think it's really important to get super, super clear on the psychology and characteristics or whatever you want to call it of your buyer so that you can map out the kinds of sellers that I think are going to be the most successful."Connect with Melanie Fellay in the link below.Website: https://spekit.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melaniefellay/You can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

HIGHLIGHTS02:11 Mario's accidental entry into sales and realizing that sales is the art of helping09:44 From accidental salesperson to accidental entrepreneur 12:54 Ask yourself these questions before striking out and becoming an entrepreneur 17:23 Being CEO means you are still involved in sales21:26 Scale your business with remote sellers29:56 CEOs must oversee sales teams and ensure company values are preserved34:15 Future forecast for Vengresso and technologyQUOTES08:51 "We're just focused on, really, sales as human to human. Human to human engagement. That's it. That's as easy as it is and if we understand that, then we can explode our sales."19:02 "As a CEO of any size company, small or large, you will always be selling. You're always going to be selling no matter what."25:25 "I could hire somebody with an amazing great income out of Colombia for a couple thousand dollars a month, they live like kings as a result of that type of salary, and I save 40,000 dollars a year."33:19 "It is no different than if you think of a salesperson. That evolution, instead of it happening over 21 years with a child, it really happens over the course of 2 years with a salesperson."36:37 "So that is critical to a salesperson and a CEO is making sure that you've got the skill mapped to the technology."Connect with Mario Martinez Jr. and Vengresso in the links below.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mthreejr/Remote Selling Made Simple: 5 Practical Tips for a Successful Organization: https://vengreso.com/blog/what-is-remote-sellingFlyMSG: https://vengreso.com/flymsgYou can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

HIGHLIGHTS02:11 Mario's accidental entry into sales and realizing that sales is the art of helping09:44 From accidental salesperson to accidental entrepreneur 12:54 Ask yourself these questions before striking out and becoming an entrepreneur 17:23 Being CEO means you are still involved in sales21:26 Scale your business with remote sellers29:56 CEOs must oversee sales teams and ensure company values are preserved34:15 Future forecast for Vengresso and technologyQUOTES08:51 "We're just focused on, really, sales as human to human. Human to human engagement. That's it. That's as easy as it is and if we understand that, then we can explode our sales."19:02 "As a CEO of any size company, small or large, you will always be selling. You're always going to be selling no matter what."25:25 "I could hire somebody with an amazing great income out of Colombia for a couple thousand dollars a month, they live like kings as a result of that type of salary, and I save 40,000 dollars a year."33:19 "It is no different than if you think of a salesperson. That evolution, instead of it happening over 21 years with a child, it really happens over the course of 2 years with a salesperson."36:37 "So that is critical to a salesperson and a CEO is making sure that you've got the skill mapped to the technology."Connect with Mario Martinez Jr. and Vengresso in the links below.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mthreejr/Remote Selling Made Simple: 5 Practical Tips for a Successful Organization: https://vengreso.com/blog/what-is-remote-sellingFlyMSG: https://vengreso.com/flymsgYou can learn more about and connect with Alice Heiman in the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

HIGHLIGHTS01:27 Julie as an "accidental entrepreneur" and rebuilding the structure of ValueSelling 09:37 Challenges with recruiting passionate people and translating languages14:18 Figuring out the ideal profile for ValueSelling's independent contractors18:37 Company culture has a direct effect on a channel's effectiveness21:18 Strengths and obstacles: Collaboration and adapting to change and technology29:53 Hiring direct sellers alongside independent contractors35:53 Future forecast: Adaptability is the number one skill40:11 Advice for CEOs to get more involved with salesQUOTES11:37 "We also then put in place some incentives for my existing channel to go clone themselves and go find people that would help. So that became some of my recruiting arm."22:22 "As we've grown in scale, some of the processes that worked when we were a company of 10 or 12, no longer work when you're 60, 70, 80 people, right? So we've had to change some business processes. Everything today is technology-enabled."26:37 "It doesn't matter what you're going to do. You should learn accounting, you should learn finance. because every business needs that. And every business decision, you need to understand the language and finance."35:16 "They have got such a fertile referral network that all they have to do is nurture and maintain and invest in that network, and the business is coming to them. We're going to tap into that in any way, shape, or form."41:23 "When we flip what we think selling is from pushing to creating that pull with people, where they're leaning in, tell me more, I want to learn more, I think you can help me. That's where I think CEOs can add the most value."Connect and learn more about Julie Thomas in the links below.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julieathomas/You can learn more about Alice Heiman by visiting the links below.Website: https://AliceHeiman.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/

On this inaugural episode of Sales Talk for CEOs, guest host Park Howell interviews Alice Heiman to get the backstory of her career and how this podcast came to be. More about Alice Heimanwebsite: https://AliceHeiman.comFollow Alice on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliceheiman/More about Park Howellwebsite: https://businessofstory.com/Follow Park on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parkhowell/