I hope this season has been thought-provoking for you. I’ve tried to tie together a lot of the undiscussed elements of what it takes to do your very best selling.

On the heels of last week's piece about problem-centric conversations, a dynamic young sales leader asked me a question about COI (Cost Of Inaction) calculators vs ROI (Return On Investment) discussions.

It led to a nice exchange about how to create tension in your sales discussions, what might be most effective, and what just feels like BS. 

On the heels of my interview last week with Jen Allen-Knuth, I wanted to go further into the fact that there are so many ways to excel in sales. In fact, there are more ways to do it right than to do it wrong.

Nobody cares about how you help them.

Sorry, was that too blunt for a starter? I guess the truth hurts sometimes.

Jen Allen-Knuth heads up community for Lavender.ai, after being Chief Evangelist for Challenger. When I connected with her a year or so ago, we became fast friends, and I knew she’d be an excellent guest for this podcast because of her wisdom, perspective, and witty style.

Principles have always guided my sales approach. They’ve given me the tools to actively solve problems and think on my feet in any sales situation. They’ve also allowed me to be creative and develop my own selling style.

I started this series a few weeks ago, and I’m continuing here with another rule to help you guide your approach and do your very best selling.

Jordana Zeldin is a sales coach, facilitator, speaker, and co-founder of The Practice Lab- the first-ever sales training program for B2B Account Executives ready to develop their skills like athletes, musicians and performers do theirs.

On today’s episode, I’m digging a little deeper into the concept of transparency in sales leadership after last week’s interview with Todd Caponi.

As I was getting ready to write this week's piece, I came across my friend Sam McKenna's LinkedIn post from Saturday morning. I have great respect for the work she does, but I've been particularly inspired by the way she runs her business.

Todd Caponi is the author of The Transparency Sale and The Transparent Sales Leader. He’s speaker, a sales trainer, and someone I wholeheartedly refer to as a sibling in sales. He’s also a total nerd for sales history, and uses the wisdom of the past to reflect on current events.

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to present to a group of salespeople my go-to framework for handling sales objections. It got such a response I thought it was completely appropriate to share it with you here.

There’s a lot of talk about introverts and extroverts in sales. It’s commonly believed that most salespeople are extroverts, but in my experience, the very best sellers I’ve ever worked with are introverted.

Professional selling was an enigma to me when I was getting started. I was out on my own on a daily basis: no bullpen, no sales floor, and no water cooler. Through the unfortunate timing of some circumstances, my onboarding experience wasn’t exactly robust. “Go get ‘em, kid!”

Naturally, I looked for books to read (this was before social media was a thing). I was regularly listening to audio programs from Nightingale Conant (30-day trials made it like a remote library), and while I learned a lot about what it meant to be in business (Harvey Mackay had a profound impact on me), there wasn’t a lot available at the time that was strictly about selling.

Jason Bay is a sales trainer and coach and the founder of Outbound Squad. He helps sales reps turn complete strangers into paying customers. He also happens to be a great friend and one of my favorite people in the world.

Growing your business does not have to be complicated.

With the right structures in place, the path to growth lights up in front of you.

Every stereotype comes from somewhere, but it’s about time you think about whether stereotypes in sales are helping you or holding you back. You don’t have to try and fit into a mold that just doesn’t feel right.

Selling is not an instruction manual to be followed, it’s a problem to be solved. When you embrace your own strengths, talents, and expertise, you’re capable of doing your very best work.

“I’m not trying to sell you anything. I just want to build a relationship.”

This is a trap, and you’re setting it for yourself.

It’s a bait and switch, and it shows a lack of integrity.

Leslie Venetz is a consultant and advisor that helps build commercial teams that can meet the needs of the modern B2B buyer. She spent 15 years selling to the C-Suite in enterprise sales and has been Head of Sales 3 times. 

Leslie is also fiercely passionate about DEIB initiatives, and we touch on that a little bit in our conversation today. She also hosts a business book club on Patreon, where I’ll be her guest in October.

“You’re not wrong…”

I got excited when I heard her say this. Even though it came with a skeptical eyebrow and half a smile, I knew I had my prospect exactly where I wanted her…

Thinking.

You know those people who tell great stories? They’re magnetic and captivating. They hold the attention of an entire room and make time stand still. Those are special people, and you don’t have to be one to tell great stories.

I used to think that I wasn’t a good storyteller, and then a couple of people told me exactly the opposite, and I started thinking differently about the concept.