The Exceptional Sales Leader Podcast

It is fascinating the number of sales leaders who find it very difficult to delegate. Many of them feel they can get things done quicker if they do it themselves, or it will be done more effectively, and in many cases they do not have a high level of trust and confidence in their team to get things done to the level of satisfaction required. Great sales leaders understand that a key to becoming exceptional is to develop independence in the team, and one of the best ways to do that is through delegation.

Sales is a fascinating study in human behaviour and psychology and can often be 100% predictable. So many sales leaders and their teams get caught up in how good they think their products and services are, that they literally get drunk on their company Kool Aid, and yet wonder why their sales results are not where they could be or should be. Exceptional Sales Leaders do not – they understand that it is not about the products and services, it is about the problems that need to be solved. They also understand that at the end of the day the customer is not interested in their product or service.

When it comes to negotiating, many sales teams and their leaders are hell bent on jumping into the detail up front, often based on either inferred pressure or direct pressure to get the deal done. When this happens, often the deal that gets done is not as good as it could have been, and sometimes the result is no deal at all. Having worked with sales teams for many years, negotiations need not be onerous. There is a simple process to follow and some key principles to be aware of. That’s what I explore in today’s episode.

If you have been in sales for any length of time, you would have come across the slick sales person and sales leader – constantly operating with a sense of urgency and focusing on closing, closing, closing. Whilst they are hungry to get the deals done, they also have more of a short term focus, almost instant gratification. If the deal can’t be closed today, it won’t be closed at all – move onto the next deal. And how does this make the potential customer feel? Potentially like a pawn in the salesperson’s game, and unlikely to seek to engage in the future. We see this everywhere in society today – buy now, pay later, don’t wait, get it now, whatever it takes. And we certainly see it in organisations where the senior leaders drive unrelenting focus on short term results, whether that be month to month or quarter to quarter. Why? In many cases, it is because their short term bonuses are linked to the short term results. Hence this drives behaviour. There is a different way and there is a better way.

When it comes to leadership there are many theories and many perspectives. A lot of people like focusing their attention on leadership strategies, emotional intelligence, building trust, coaching and mentoring, to name a few. Unfortunately not enough leaders focus their attention on identifying and then demonstrating core characteristics of leadership, and yet wonder why they are not achieving the desired results. When we are crystal clear on the characteristics of a leader, it becomes a filter through which we do everything.

Many sales leaders, when they transition from individual contributor to sales leader, continue the same behaviours they demonstrated as a sales person. They love the hunt and get excited by the prospect of winning the deal. Very often this can lead to disengagement & de-positioning of the sales team.  When it comes to leading your team, do you find yourself solving the team’s problems, believing that through solving the problem, you are serving them?  I certainly believed that, until I discovered that solving the team’s problems for them was actually creating an environment of co-dependency. As a result, I was not serving them at all. The key is to develop independent thinking within the team.  Great sales leaders recognise there is a better way – servant leadership. Serving their team so that the team has the opportunity to be sustainably successful. Are you a servant leader?

One of the biggest principles of leadership is trust – without it, it is impossible to lead and achieve exceptional results. In today’s episode I delve into an element of trust, reliability, and share some insights on personal branding and trust when reliability is not up to the mark. It is from personal experience, and goes along way to answering the question in the title of the episode!

Over the last week, we have seen a number of high profile sportspeople getting themselves into the spotlight, many of them for the wrong reasons. With a high profile comes big responsibility and unfortunately a few of them will look back on the last week with a level of regret. Many people look to these sportspeople to role model great behaviours all the time and when they don’t, the ‘knives’ come out as does the criticism. Despite their young age, the expectations are huge, and through their actions, reputations can be severely impacted. Unfortunately some choose to either deflect attention, or attempt to justify their actions, and in the process, fail to take responsibility. The positive aspect of the last week has been the way the vast majority of these sportspeople have stepped up and taken full responsibility. Not making excuses, not trying to justify and not trying to blame others.

A key question that sales leaders and their teams often overlook to ask is ‘What makes their customers attractive?’. On the surface this may sound like an obvious question & I often hear sales leaders saying things like ‘we have a great relationship’ or ‘this customer is always happy to attend events’. We need to go deeper. We need to plan upfront and really consider what characteristics of a customer would we consider to be attractive and then measure them. That’s what I cover in today’s episode.

Last week I spoke about the importance of understanding key stakeholders within your customer’s organisation, as part of your Account Plan, so that we can identify the formal hierarchy, as well as the informal decision & influencing hierarchy. Today, I cover the importance of gaining a deeper understanding of your customer’s business by looking at your customer through 4 different lenses. If you would like a copy of the template I refer to in the episode, please send me an email at [email protected]

Coaching for many sales leaders is a real challenge – predominantly because either they do not know how to effectively coach, or do not have access to a simple structure to follow. For sales leaders who are dedicated to driving exceptional performance with their team, coaching is non-negotiable and a priority. And utilising a simple yet powerful coaching model only enhances their ability to unleash the potential of their sales team.

In looking at what drives outstanding sales performance, irrespective of industry, it is very easy to look at the surface level metrics, such as conversion rates, sales numbers, even the quality and experience of the sales executives. Whilst these metrics may be legitimate indicators of performance, we can often ignore key triggers that enable sales leaders to unleash the potential of their sales teams. In looking at the exceptional sales leaders, who oversee teams that drive outstanding and sustainable results, there is one discipline that they prioritise-which is a non negotiable. And whilst ‘every’ sales leader can specialise in this area, the vast majority of sales leaders will focus on this for a short time, and when the results start to roll in, they start to roll back on their focus. Not exceptional sales leaders. They make this discipline a key part of their daily agenda.

In working with sales leaders and their teams, I’m amazed at how many leave their sales success to chance. Whilst some find themselves catching lightning in a bottle, where they come across a customer just at the right moment, and in the right step in the buying process, the vast majority do not. In selling, especially strategic selling, it is crucial that we plan, and not just a selling strategy, but develop an Account Plan. This is macro planning, and an investment of time and effort up front, can bring unbelievable rewards at the pointy end of the sales process. In this episode, I cover one aspect of Account Planning that is a must for all sales teams.

If there is one certainty in leadership it is that change is inevitable and will only continue to accelerate, and as leaders, it’s critical that we understand change and continue to adapt to it. A key element of this is understanding and becoming intentional around our leadership shadow, essentially the impressions we are creating every single day. Is our shadow a shallow one, or are we casting a long shadow based on our actions, our role modelling and our consistency. That is the topic for today’s episode.

When the results are flowing, and it feels like everything we touch is turning to gold, sales and sales leadership is super exciting. It can often create a feeling that the results will simply continue, and that we are unstoppable. This can create a false sense of security. And this can lead to a drop off in discretionary effort – it only takes a few percentage points in reduced application to start to impact the results. Exceptional sales leaders are fully aware of the dangers of complacency. They are also fully conscious of the Law of Polarity, and so never ever take their results for granted. They know that if they do not ‘maintain the rage’, the results can very quickly change.

As a leader, you have many levers to pull and buttons to push in order to drive sustainable and exceptional performance. A key element of this is building leadership awareness, being conscious of your own strengths and blind spots, as well as being conscious of the teams key characteristics, strengths and blind spots, so that you can utilise these for best advantage to drive the team forward. In this episode I explore the 3 core areas around leadership awareness, and explain that when we can tap into them fully, the results are almost limitless.

Not sure about you, but I often found myself and my team being the ‘catch all’ in business, being asked to undertake activities that were not directly linked to driving positive customer revenue, but because we ‘owned’ the customer relationship, the business thought it appropriate to load up the responsibility. This can be not only frustrating, it can also lead to business inefficiency, not to mention, having a detrimental impact on revenue generation. As sales leaders who are expected to continue to deliver significant year on year growth, we have to get more ruthless when it comes to the activities we get involved in. If it is not revenue generating, then why are we doing it?

One of the key principles to understand as a leader is this – your team is and always will be a reflection of you. It is therefore so important to become the role model that your team requires and demonstrate the behaviours that you would like to see play out in your team. Which begs the question – Are you a glass half full leader, or a glass half empty leader? The answer to that question can have a huge bearing on the culture that is created in your team, as well as on the results that the team generates.

Sales Leaders and their teams the world over are constantly searching for the secret elixir that will differentiate themselves, their products and services, from the competition. Many of them look at the product and service space and try to create tangible differentiation in terms of features and benefits. Others perhaps focus on post sales implementation and relationships to separate themselves. However there appears to be an untapped resource readily available right now that has the potential to be a game changer, and yet many are not embracing it. It is the power of video. Recording short, specific and directed videos for your key business prospects and customers is delivering incredible results for those embracing the technology, and in today’s episode, I had the privilege of speaking with Tyler Lessard about the power of video in sales and marketing. Tyler is the VP Marketing and Chief Video Strategist at Vidyard and is leading the way in providing a platform that makes it easier for sales people and sales leaders to reach their targeted customers through video. If you do not have video as part of your sales & marketing strategy, I guarantee that it will become a key part of your strategy after listening to this conversation. To connect with Tyler on LinkedIn, please click here.

If you analyse every successful person, whether they be in sport, business, and especially sales, every single one of them has at least one mentor. They recognise that in order to achieve great things, they cannot do it alone, so they consciously choose to sit on the shoulders of giants. Navid Momeni is a perfect example of this. Having been identified as a ‘great salesman’ at the age of 9, Navid has made it a non-negotiable in his career to surround himself with mentors who can teach him, who can guide him, and who can challenge him. And as a result, he has achieved extraordinary results in his sales career, and is now dedicated to paying it forward and mentoring sales people, sales leaders and business start ups. A fascinating conversation in today’s episode, which I thoroughly enjoyed – I trust you do as well. To connect with Navid, go to: LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/salescoachnavidmomeni/ Website – https://www.salesguruglobal.com/ To purchase a copy of his best selling book, “How To Become A Sales Master”, click here.

I absolutely love community sport and I have the privilege of overseeing the female AFL football program for 2 clubs here in Gisborne- our Junior & Senior club. We are 2 weeks into the season and already the girls are finding the competition significantly harder compared to last season. The reason being is that, as a club, we decided to move into a different league, where the standard is much higher and the competition a lot tougher. And the lessons are coming thick and fast. The girls are realising that in order to improve, to fast track their development and to challenge themselves, they must surround themselves with players who are better than them. It is great to watch as our girls are rising to the occasion and adapting really well. So it is in sales and sales leadership. We must surround ourselves with great people, who will challenge us, and force us to improve and take our performance to an entirely new level.

Just about every sales person and sales leader on the planet is looking for tactics and strategies to fast track their sales results. How can they get access to the key decision maker quicker, be able to add value to the buyer, and in the process, shorten the sales or buying cycle. In today’s episode, I enjoyed a terrific conversation with Chris Beall, CEO at ConnectAndSell. Chris has an extensive business and sales background, working predominantly in the start up space, and today oversees a business which empowers sales leaders and their teams to supercharge their sales results through the targeted and effective use of technology. I hope you enjoy the conversation. To connect with Chris, go to: LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-beall-7859a4/ Website – https://connectandsell.com/ Podcast – Market Dominance Guys

It’s often been said that the higher you rise in terms of success, the less competitive it is.  Why is that? Many people, teams & companies throw in the towel too early. When the going gets tough, they stop and look for other opportunities hoping for better results. What separates exceptional teams and exceptional leaders is the acknowledgment that achievement takes consistent and persistent effort, as well as the knowledge that the last mile is always less crowded. So what do they do?  They focus on the one percenters & they are relentless

One of the great privileges of being a Podcaster is the opportunity to have conversations with some phenomenal people. Today’s conversation is another beauty. Jamie Shanks is the CEO of Pipeline Signals and Sales For Life, and the inventor of Social Selling. From beginning his sales career as a commission only sales person, Jamie has built a very successful sales career and his organisation Sales for Life has trained over 250,000 sales and marketing professionals around the world, on how to take full advantage of social selling, in order to fast track results. I hope you enjoy listening to the conversation as much as I enjoyed having it. To connect with Jamie, go to: Website – https://pipelinesignals.com/ LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamestshanks/

As a coach, mentor and facilitator, I have the privilege of working with a wide variety of teams, as well as many different types of leaders, helping them make positive progress, and ultimately become exceptional in their role and in their industry. What’s really interesting is how quickly I can identify the leaders and the teams who will differentiate themselves from their competition and hence who will more than likely deliver higher, more consistent & more sustainable results. And it is not based on my ability to ‘crystal ball’!! These leaders and their teams have an unwavering commitment, almost to the point of being manic.

In reflecting on a number of conversations and interactions I have had with people over the last couple of weeks, I have come to the realisation that I have been making numerous assumptions. Assumptions such as my message being crystal clear, of my requests being accepted and actioned, and unfortunately it has become apparent, that they have been anything but. It feels as though I have been on a completely different planet. And my epiphany has been that this is my fault. I am 100% responsible for my communication, and therefore must be 100% responsible for the responses to that communication. I cannot afford to make assumptions. And neither can you.

So pumped to have the AFL Season kick off again, and as a diehard Melbourne supporter, I was especially pleased that they were able to again come out on top in their first game of the 2022 season. It didn’t come without challenges though, which is the topic of today’s episode. When challenged, what do you do? This has particular relevance to us as Sales Leaders, because how respond to challenges will ultimately determine what we achieve.

A thought provoking question in this episode – ‘In order to be exceptional, are you prepared to quit?’ What is interesting as I observe leaders, especially in sales, is that many of them are driven by certainty, have a need to follow a proven formula and possess a relentless focus on achieving the numbers. Many of them unfortunately do not acknowledge that this approach is, in many cases, actually preventing them from becoming exceptional. They are following what they consider to be a tried and true pathway, and yet, they are not achieving the results they desire or the fulfilment and satisfaction they crave.  What they need to do is quit. And perhaps you need to quit as well.

As a Podcaster, I often get the opportunity to have conversations with some phenomenal people, and today is no exception. In today’s episode, I sit down with Tiffanee Cook, a speak, storyteller, high performance coach, fellow podcaster, and all round great human. We discuss learning how to embrace uncertainty, getting out of our own way, stepping outside of the comfort zone and everything in between. I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation and I trust that you enjoy listening.

On the back of yesterday’s episode, I thought I would share some thoughts on becoming a mentor, and in helping to create a shortcut for others. Mentoring is a privilege and it certainly comes with responsibility, and not everyone is either open to it, or up to it. Hence, we must be very clear on why we would like to become a mentor. Would love your thoughts.

If you have followed me for a while, you know that I am passionate about leadership, coaching and mentoring, and firmly believe that as leaders, we must be constantly coaching, mentoring and developing. However, I’m staggered at the number of leaders who do not have a mentor, or do not seek a mentor. In today’s episode, I share some thoughts on the benefits of mentoring, as well as talk through the critical skills that a mentee must possess in order to get the best outcome from a mentoring relationship.

Like most sports loving fans around the world, I woke to the tragic news on Saturday morning that Shane Warne had tragically passed away. The sobering realisation as I tried to comprehend the news was that Shane was 52 years of age, only a year younger than me. I then reflected on the age when my father passed away – he was 54, & it prompted some significant reflection & thought over the weekend. One of the key questions I have been asking myself this weekend is ‘Am I living my life as if time is endless?’ which has also prompted reflections into my leadership development, coaching & mentoring, & whether I have been challenging my clients & their teams strongly enough. Experiencing a sudden shock like a death or significant change in circumstances can often prompt this reflective practice, however it does beg the question as to why. Why does it take an event such as this to create a ‘reality check’?

With bigger and bigger expectations being placed on leaders today, especially in sales, it is not uncommon for leaders to become almost robotic and clinical with their approach to either process or the numbers. And often the result is a team culture that lacks cohesion, lacks trust, and ultimately fails to deliver sustainable results. In today’s episode, I had a wonderful conversation with Mark LeBusque and we discuss why putting human back into leadership can deliver results in a sustainable way. To connect with Mark, go to: LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklebusque/ Website – https://marklebusque.com/

For many people, sales can be very challenging, carrying high expectations and being subjected to constant pressure to perform and deliver the numbers. Sales does not have to be complicated though, and as sales leaders, we have a big role to play in creating an environment that either enhances a level of complication or simplicity. When your sales team is behind target, where do you focus your attention? On the numbers, or on the process? Where do your senior executives focus their attention? If we want to drive sustainability and exceptional performance, it cannot be all about the numbers.

If you have been following me for a while, you would know that I absolutely love facilitating and coaching, interacting with people and helping them reach their full potential. And every so often I will have a workshop participant who is unsure, who lacks confidence, who externalises and perhaps does not take full responsibility for their actions. In this episode I discuss this, along with mindset, and reflect on a phenomenal quote ‘Your Greatest Fear’. Hopefully this serves you, and serves your team.

Another phenomenal conversation today, this time with Andy Paul, a very successful sales professional, Author, Podcaster, Speaker, and #8 on LinkedIn’s list of Top 50 Global Sales Experts. Andy’s approach to sales is counter intuitive, it goes against the ‘salesy’ mantra that many sales organisations across the world operate by, and through this approach, he has been incredibly successful. We discuss this as well as key concepts from his latest book, ‘Sell Without Selling Out’. Enjoy the conversation and let me know what the key takeouts were for you that will help you and your team move towards being exceptional. To connect with Andy, go to: Linkedin – https://www.linkedin.com/in/realandypaul/ Website – https://www.andypaul.com/ Email – [email protected] To order his book, go to https://www.amazon.com/Sell-Without-Selling-Out-Success/dp/1989603572//

Irrespective of where you are currently in your leadership career, you are on a Hero’s Journey. You will encounter obstacles, you will be invited to enter a new world and refuse the call. You will meet mentors along the way who will help guide you and prepare you for your greatest challenge, and each step is a necessary step in your development. In today’s episode, I had a phenomenal conversation with Paul Glover, a man who has fully embraced his Hero’s Journey, who has experienced some very tough challenges, and has tapped into the lessons from those challenges and is now paying it forward, helping executives and business owners unleash their potential and embrace their own Hero’s Journey. I’m sure you will gain significant value from the gold that Paul shares. To connect with Paul, please go to: Website – www.paulglovercoaching.com Email – [email protected] LinkedIn – Paul Glover

In my experience, many sales leaders focus very heavily on process, the mechanics of sales. Driving the behaviours that will deliver the results, and this is definitely required. Why is it then that many teams are not achieving their potential – where you can have 2 teams of equal talent and equal opportunity, and yet one achieves amazing results and the other team flounders? It comes down to a powerful and yet easy to overlook element.

Sales leadership is not for everyone – it comes with great responsibility, great ambiguity & complexity, challenges and opportunity. We are all products of our environment which often results in sales people being promoted into sales leadership roles & the only model they have to follow is their sales manager & what they have seen in the environment. Hence the focus is on the hard and tangible kpi’s – monthly sales quotas, number of emails sent, number of calls made, number of presentations delivered, conversion conversations had. This can become very inward focused, self focused, and result in pushing behaviour. There is a better way.

As a leader, are you expecting your team to take risks and push the envelope, and yet you are operating quite conservatively? In other words, you don’t take risks and push the envelope? I see this often – the sales leader sets the expectation, encourages their team to take affirmative action, and yet when mistakes are made, instead of celebrating them, they chastise and criticise. It is as if they want the great results, but do not want to go through the ‘process’ in order to get them. Sales leaders who adopt this approach stifle the growth and development of their team. They build a team of people who second guess themselves, don’t take risks, and seek perfection rather than progress, because of the perceived ramifications of ‘failure’. It is a self fulfilling prophecy, where results are mediocre at best and the team is barely engaged. Exceptional leaders accept that ‘failure’ is a key ingredient to success. Without making mistakes, there can be no real progress.

Following on from yesterday’s podcast where I discussed leading upwards and developing the courage to have the conversation, I thought that I would delve a little deeper into what I believe is at the heart of curiosity. And this skillset is something that all sales people and sales leaders can continue to improve in, and when they do, it can exponentially improve not only their confidence, but often their outcomes.

As a Sales Leader, there are many times when targets and kpi’s are distributed, policies are implemented, and objectives changed – all of which can leave you scratching your head & potentially feeling disempowered. The company, and the senior leaders have simply made the decision and often made promises to the market. Whether we like it or not, it is part of the game. How we deal with it though, is up to us. Exceptional leaders understand that leading is not just about leading their team, it is also about leading upwards. And this is what I explore in today’s episode.

Why did you become a leader? If you are not a leader today, but have aspirations to become a leader, why? When I ask that question of leaders, many of them do not have a genuine or specific answer. For many leaders, especially sales leaders, it can be the allure of ‘rock star’ status – having the position, the influence, the power, and having a massive following of raving fans, worshipping their every move. We don’t want that, as it is not sustainable. Exceptional leaders focus on something else, and that is what I cover in today’s episode.

In working with leaders, I often get the opportunity to observe them in action and it is really interesting the wide spectrum of reactions and responses to situations I observe. Some are as cool as a cucumber, whilst others are hot heads, going off the deep end based on the slightest trigger. As leaders, we must continue to understand that our team is a reflection of us, and therefore we must be significantly more conscious of how we respond to situations, because we are being watched like a hawk. In this episode, I share a simple yet powerful technique that can assist leaders be significantly more measured in their responses.

In working with Leaders and their teams, it is fascinating to observe the number of people who see themselves as being highly emotionally intelligent, and yet their behaviour indicates there are significant gaps. In today’s episode, I discuss the 4 categories of Emotional Intelligence, based on the work of Daniel Goleman, and then delve into the one skillset that I believe will elevate your influence more than anything else. It may sound easy, but it is certainly not easy to do for many people.

If there is one trait or attribute in sales that we must get really good at, it is learning to be more self sufficient. I am staggered at the number of people who either get everything handed to them, or expect everything to be handed to them. As sales leaders, we must be very conscious of the environment we are creating and maintaining, especially if that environment is one of co-dependency. This is what I explore in today’s episode.

Over the weekend we lost a legend in the personal development industry, Bob Proctor. I first came across Bob’s work in the early 2000’s, and I admit, from day 1, I was hooked. Whether through his books, training programs, or his video messages, he continued to promote growth mindset, a focus on abundance and possibility thinking. Much of the philosophies that I live & lead by today can be directly attributed to Bob’s work. For that, I am eternally grateful. Bob never set out to create a legacy. If you listen to his story, he was working in a firehouse, just trying to make ends meet, when he met a man who would change his life forever – Ray Stanford. Ray handed Bob a book, Napoleon Hill’s ‘Think And Grow Rich’. Not only did the book lead Bob to change his thinking about what was possible for his own life, it lead him on an Odyssey that would see Bob become one of the most revered and sought after personal development educators and leaders in the world. Bob made it his life’s work to teach & inspire others to do more, and become more. Millions of people have been positively impacted by his work. So what does this have to do with us as Sales Leaders? Everything!

There were a number of situations that took place this week where people, both individually and collectively, were allocating blame to external things to justify their position or their behaviour. And in nearly every one of those situations, emotions were high and the results were not great. In today’s episode I share a very simple, yet powerful model, that enables us to maintain a higher degree of control, and therefore create the opportunity to deliver an alternative result. Would love your feedback.

On today’s episode, I have the privilege of speaking with Art Harding, Chief Operating Officer at People.ai about sales and sales leadership in the digital age. Art has travelled a different pathway to most sales leaders and presents a very powerful perspective on what exceptional sales leadership looks like today and into the future. Some of the key topics we discuss include: How data & information leads to the role of the sales person being even more important Sales leadership challenges in the digital age The importance of real time feedback and coaching The modern sales ecosystem The power of simplification Identifying the metrics that matter Establishing the true baseline 3 key areas sales leaders should be focused on It is a great episode for all sales leaders and aspiring sales leaders and is packed full of value. To connect with Art, please go to: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arharding/ https://people.ai Email – [email protected]

In speaking with a number of clients over the last few days, it has become evident that some of them are trying to implement too much, too quickly. The weight of expectation is so great that they get caught up in a perpetual cycle of doing, which ultimately leads to inconsistent results and in may cases, overwhelm. Many of them are trying to boil the ocean and wondering why the temperature isn’t changing. We need to do something different.