When your voice drives the sale away before it started.

Take a breath. Really, take a deep breath before you pick up the phone. While you're at it raise your arms, lower your shoulders, sit up straight, smile then make that call, walk into the meeting, take the stage. Speech patterns and bad habits can tune your audience out, even an audience of one, before you get further than your introduction. This will cost you revenue and waste everyone's time.

Take tips from voice and dialect coach, Susan E. Finch. This show should have been a video - it was so much fun and packed with applicable tips to keep you from being annoying. The biggest culprits?  Women! Women 17 - 35 and this voice fry issue where they sound like they are swallowing their words. Next, the gutteral hiccup - that punch that only belongs in the Cockney community in London.

How about the fillers: Like, ya know, sooooo, and.... um, uhhhhh? Time to break yourself of those habits. They scream insecurity and require your listener/audience to strain to get to the point you are attempting to make.

When we need to hire someone, we go through the interview process, background checks, checking to see if their past is linked to a bunch of workman's comp cases with former employers.... but once we decide to hire them, do we assume they are articulate? Do they know how to present ideas to their new team? Clients? Speak on behalf of the company? Why don't we teach our staff how to think on their feet and respond articulately? Surely there are Toastmaster's chapters near you. Give them bonus points for going through it or pay for it for them. You'll be glad you did. You'll give them confidence. AND if they really have bad habits, consider a speech coach, like Susan E. Finch. These professionals can quickly identify and help them work through bad habits. May not hurt you, either. 

Susan suggested the movie, "In a world" from 2013. GREAT examples you can remember. It's about the voiceover industry.

Challenge:

RECORD yourself to see how you sound. Use video if possible. Introduce yourself to you. Would you buy from you? Would you want to slug you? Would you TRUST you?

Really listen and ask an HONEST colleague to do the same and give feedback. Do it for your department. You'll all benefit from this improvement.

About our guest, Susan E. Finch.

Susan Finch is a voice and speech coach who is passionate about supporting people in becoming clear and connected communicators. As her background is in theater she is able to bring vitality and fun to her clients.

Specialties include:
- accent reduction
- vocal production (finding power, ease, volume and range)
- clarity of articulation
- ease in communication (eliminating fear of public speaking)

She coaches people how to communicate with confidence and excellence.

When to outsource sales training to jump start growth.

Hey CMOs, CEOs how do you have your SDRs embrace an external group of SDRs to train your existing team on how to secure that first meeting and take it to conversion? 

Our guest is Whitney Marshall, Co-Founder of Qualified Meetings. Their goal is to operate as an extension of your sales team – our only goal is to convert highly qualified opportunities that meet both of our standards. 

Why wouldn't you invest in a proven process and full-service program that will predictably grow your pipeline, while simultaneously providing data intelligence, resulting in an improved go-to-market strategy based on real data and conversations? Or do you think hand your reps a call list, sitting them in the corner telling them to dial their little hearts out and close deals is enough training?

About our guest, Whitney Marshall – Sr. Director, Client Engagement & Co-founder

As a skilled professional, Whitney has extensive, in-depth experience specializing in Sales Development from a Client Engagement perspective. As the “foundation builder” for some of the most successful Sales Development programs in the IT industry, Whitney has developed and refined processes that ultimately lead the Sales Development program to be repeatable, scalable and continually functional through any employee changes with the utmost visibility and accountability.

“Working with companies who struggle to put intelligent process and standardization around outbound prospecting has provided me with a wealth of knowledge of this ever-growing commonality in organizations today. As industry sales approaches evolve with new methods and best practices, a program that can maintain integrity, revenue contribution and expansion through these changes has proven to be a critical component lacking in a growing number of businesses. With qualifiedMEETINGS, we are able to customize, implement and manage a process that is repeatable and scalable, all while providing intelligent analytics and the highest qualifiedMEETINGS for our customers’ pipelines”.

Whitney began her Client Engagement career with ForeScout Technologies where she co-developed, implemented and managed a program that streamlined onboarding, lead transfer, opportunity creation and analytics which was the foundation for exponential growth in new logo acquisition. Recently coming from CollabNet where she introduced and implemented the program management process for Sales Development, Whitney is bringing this highly sought after expertise to qualifiedMEETINGS. Her knowledge expands to companies that want to grow their pipelines year over year with a program that has proven results.

Decision Makers Have Disabilities.

Teresa Huber and Susan Finch talk about the importance of an ADA compliant website. When most marketing departments think of disabilities and ADA compliance, they think about blind people, those in wheelchairs and more obvious issues. Don't forget about those with dyslexia, those who are color blind, hearing disabled. You may not realize how much of your buyer personas include people with a variety of disabilities. Why would you want to exclude them from viewing your site, doing research on your site and ultimately paying for your product or service? Join us for some interesting facts and example, as well as tools to do a quick assessment of your existing sites.

Visit her website - you will learn VERY interesting facts immediately on the home page. 

Tools for quick assessments so you can initially know, "... just how bad is it?"

webaim.org
achecker.ca

About Our Guest, Teresa Huber, CEO Get ADA Accessible

WHY WE DO IT
Website accessibility gives equal access to everyone, no matter their physical or other limitations. Website accessibility also ensures businesses, schools, federally funded organizations, and government agency websites are complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act - ADA and Section 504/508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

WHAT I DO
We work with website owners to get their website accessibility at the AA level following the standards as outlined in the worldwide standards set by WCAG 2.0 and used by both the ADA and Section 504/508 of the Rehabilitation Act to protect website owners them from costly fines, possible legal litigation, or loss of federal funding by not having an accessible website. 

WEBSITE | LINKEDIN

5 Tips to Whale Hunting for Global Accounts

Author, Barbara Weaver Smith joins Susan Dec. 6 for this episode (listen live on this site at the right). Her first book, Whale Hunting, exposed us to how to succeed in landing larger accounts. Whale Hunting provides your B2B company with a clear, step-based model for successfully finding, landing, and harvesting whale-size accounts–the kinds of accounts that transform your business. It can mean the difference between merely surviving and thriving spectacularly. But you have to be smart and you have to be prepared!

In this episode we go to the next level: Whale Hunting for Global Accounts.

Some of the tips covered help you get in the mindset and secure your partners and team to handle this global accounts.

1. A big tip is that perhaps you've heard of the US Department of Commerce, but you may not know what they do or can do for you and your business. This is a VERY helpful partnership. The episode gives you specifics of how they help businesses small and large secure global accounts. You can go to their (somewhat dry) site here >
2. Changing your thinking of your business and your clients is the most critical piece. They are ready to be global or already are. You need to make sure you fit into that picture to enjoy a bigger version of your current status with them as a supplier. Be the solutions for ALL locations, all divisions. 
3. Expanding your team will most likely be necessary. BUT your clients may have more in place to assist you than you realize. 
4. Time to make some new partners, as well. EVERYONE can grow and be more successful with your new mindset, including your clients. AND you will build strong loyalty from them.

Listen in and take notes.

Selling to Healthcare & Hospitals - you need to be able to understand all the terms.

My guest is Heather Williams, the Vice President of Business Development at Strategic Dynamics, Inc. Heather helps organizations sell more effectively to their customers . She works with several healthcare companies but also works with other industries as well including finance. Heather works with senior level executives and HR to ensure organizations are hiring the right talent for all positions. Today we are discussing her book, “Selling to Hospitals & Healthcare Organizations.

To sell effectively in this new ecosystem today’s sellers must understand the role and function of hospital and alternate site personnel and their language. We call this Business Acumen. Sellers that understand the language and business of hospitals receive immediate credibility, which is a foundation for building communication and trust.

As hospitals migrate from a fee-for-service reimbursement methodology to payment for value, based upon patient outcomes; they are creating new business models and new relationships with insurers, physician practices, single and multi-specialty community clinics, ambulatory surgery centers, diagnostic imaging centers, specialized treatment service centers, specialty hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and other healthcare entities.

Available on Amazon

Buying the book will keep you in the loop for updates and book 2 coming out in 2019.

In this episode we cover:

1. Who would find this book useful?
   1. Anyone who is calling on Hospitals or Healthcare Organizations. This includes, sales personnel, marketing, operations (for equipment implementations) or product service personnel.
   2. Sellers must understand the role and function of the hospital and their personnel (the jobs they perform) and then be able to speak their language.
   3. Private citizens will also find this book useful if they want to increase their knowledge base about healthcare organizations and personnel. After all we all need healthcare and it helps to be more knowledgeable about our options, the different institutions and the people who deliver the care.

2. What is included in the book?
   1. The book is broken up in 2 parts and then 4 Appendices
      1. Hospital Business Acumen & Clinical Terms
      2. Hospital Physician & Key Healthcare Personnel

• The Appendices includes Acronyms & Medical Industry Abbreviations, Anatomical Orientation Terms, several Healthcare Agencies & Organizations, and lastly some common Prescription Terms

3. How do you use this with your clients?
   1. We let them know this is available and a great resource for on-boarding new company personnel who do not have any healthcare experience or who may be required to call on personnel in a new department or entity that was not previously served.
   2. For those that have experience, this is a great resource to keep on-hand as reference There may be a Healthcare acronym that you may not be aware that is in the book.

Sales Engagement to Enable the Buyer = Buyer Enablement

What have you learned about Buyer Enablement, beyond the evolution of Sales Enablement?

The sales people need to see how the buyers are responding to what they are doing.

What do buyers really want from salespeople? Well, we're not doing a very good job of getting them what they truly want.

If we're going to enable our salespeople, we need to ENABLE them to help the buyer. If they can't, we are failing at Sales Enablement.

The old sales training techniques no longer work. The role of the sales person has shifted over the past two years. Sales people are an information conduit to allow the buyer to preview what they may need. They almost become a concierge. It becomes a service role. Sales people have to evolve.

Do Sales & Marketing need to be aligned? You'll have to listen to find out. 

Susan's guests today are Orrin Broberg, CEO/President, Modus and Alice Heiman of Alice Heiman, LLC and co-founder of Tradeshow Makeover.

-----------------

About Modus:

Modus-built applications are intuitive because salespeople don’t have the time to be trained. Salespeople can customize their presentations and you can create strategies which govern the content users see. Your salespeople in France will only see collateral in French.

Modus Provides Companies a Complete Digital 
Transformation of their Sales Distribution Channel Strategy

What is The Modern Seller and Why You Need to Become One.

Today's guest is Amy Franko, author of The Modern Seller. (available on Kindle or hardcopy). Some of the points we cover in this interview include big points taken directly from her book. 

• The big five skills that modern sellers need to become successful.
• What it means to be agile in sales and why that’s critical.
• How an entrepreneurial mindset can boost sales.
• Why being “holistic” is an important trait.
• How an energy routine can help build motivation and discipline.
• The proven approach to take in creating your network.
• What makes an ambassador unique.What characteristics make a great sales person?
• How would you define modern selling? What's changed in the past 5, 10, 20 years?
• What are some of the biggest trends influencing buyers in today's market?
• What advice would you give to someone struggling to stay motivated in their sales role?
• How can sales people continue to develop and keep sales strategies "modern?"

People are saying about the book:

“Amy has nailed it with The Modern Seller. This is exactly the mindset, skills, and agility sales professionals need to succeed and thrive in this fast-evolving selling environment. Our team is striving to make this transition right now. We see it as critical to our growth—and survival.”
Pete McChrystal - President & CEO, Accent Technologies

“The Modern Seller is an insightful, must-read book. If you don’t know what a modern seller is and how to get there, you will be left in the dust. This book is a critical guide for paving the way to becoming a modern seller.”
Andy Quintana - SVP Business Development, Partnerships & Alliances, Accent Technologies

“The Modern Seller is filled with actionable insights and practical strategies to set you apart from competitors, make you irresistible to today’s buyers and ultimately, drive more revenue. In short, YOU become the differentiator.”
Jill Konrath - Author of More Sales Less Time & SNAP Selling

The Seller’s Challenge - Gatekeepers, concerns vs. objections.

If things get in the way of closing sales, it affects revenue. Duh. This is the second half of our discussion about the book by Tom Williams and Tom Saine - a must read and MUST HIGHLIGHT, The Seller's Challenge: How Top Sellers Master 10 Deal Killing Obstacles (concerns) in B2B Sales. 

Points covered include:

1. Procurement (or Purchasing) can be a challenging obstacle for many sellers. How would you advise a seller to deal with Procurement?
2. I noticed that you use the term “concerns” in lieu of “objections”. Why was that?
3. You describe Gatekeepers in a novel way. Tell our listeners about that.
4. You have a chapter on managing price demands. What are 1-2 takeaways for our listeners in that chapter.
5. Will you be offering any training or keynotes on the topics in the book?
6. Are there any other tools available to be used in conjunction with the book?

Get the book on Amazon:  https://amzn.to/2LJ057j and in bookstores

Reach Tom Williams:

[email protected], LinkedIn
www.strategicdynamicsfirm.com  

and Thomas Saine:

[email protected]

The Seller’s Challenge

This is a two part interview about the book by Tom Willliams and Tom Saine - a must read and MUST HIGHLIGHT, The Seller's Challenge: How Top Sellers Master 10 Deal Killing Obstacles (concerns) in B2B Sales. 

In this first half I asked them about several chapters and key points of the book.

1. What was the genesis for the book? How did it evolve?
2. What is stakeholder mapping and why is it important?
3. You wrote an entire chapter on status quo. Why?
4. What role in sales training should insight-selling play?
5. For sellers that handle RFPs that chapter is a must read. What are 1-2 takeaways that are important for our readers to know?

Get the book on Amazon:  https://amzn.to/2LJ057j and in bookstores

Reach Tom Williams:

[email protected], LinkedIn
www.strategicdynamicsfirm.com  

and Thomas Saine:

[email protected]

Our next episode will cover Gatekeepers and their changing role and value, Price Demands and Procurement.

You asked for their email, now what?

I find this common with smaller B2C businesses where you create a way to subscribe and never do anything beyond collecting the information.

A subscriber is someone who has already shown an interest in your company, products or services. They trusted you with their email address and possibly other personal information such as a name, country or more. You have their interest, NOW. So what happens after they subscribe? You need to be able to answer these questions:

1. What does their confirmation email look like?
2. What does the first email they will receive after that look like?
3. What is the call to action? Is it still relevant from the time you created it?
4. When was the last time you tested EVERY drip in your campaign and every step of subscribing?
5. How many automated drips do you have to go out them, and at what regular intervals after they subscribe?
6. Do each of those have a link back to a landing page on your website and a call to action relevant to the email message that went out to them?

Remember: One message, one ask in an email. Keep them focused.

When you create your drips to you try to save time by duplicating the previous one and editing it slightly? Nothing wrong with being efficient, but don't be sloppy. Make sure your call to action link, AND the image in the email go to the same landing page that continues that topic. Don't just take them to your home page where they are left to wonder around "the lobby" of your website. Keep them focused and moving forward toward conversion. You want them to either do another thing or give you the order or set an appointment. You also want it interesting and helpful enough they'd be inclined to forward your email or share it out to their people.

I HIGHLY recommend enlisting someone NOT working for your company to subscribe and go through the journey. You want a detail-oriented person who will click on the image and the call to action. Ask them to give you feedback about the email - content, links working, landing page. PAY THEM to do this or give them a gift card or something, if it's a friend. OR return the favor for them. My husband is my tester. He's caught images that the link didn't match the call to action, typos. We get in a rush sometimes and need another set of eyes. Our websites also change in structure every few years so they links need to be updated.

Want help creating or testing your subscriber journey? Email me: [email protected] and we'll set a time to meet.