Rooted In Revenue

If you are in sales, you'd better know if you are transactional-focused or lifetime-focused when it comes to how you approach prospects and customers. There is no wrong version, but you need to know which you are. Your sales manager needs to know which you are too. That deep honesty will allow you to play to your strengths. The theme of this episode is two-fold - being in awe of the fantastic things people you encounter do and who they are, and knowing yourself to the core. If you don't like it, change it. There is also homework at the end from both of us. A favorite quote from The Big Kahuna is, "It doesn't matter whether you're selling Jesus or Buddha or civil rights or 'How to Make Money in Real Estate With No Money Down'. That doesn't make you a human being; it makes you a marketing rep. If you want to talk to somebody honestly, as a human being, ask him about his kids. Find out what his dreams are - just to find out, for no other...” Jason Beck, this list of movies for sales professionals is for you.  You can listen to our commentary in this episode. Check them out - some are not available on Amazon or Netflix at this time - but check back. The more extensive commentary is on Salesman.org - sign up for their newsletter, too.  Used Cars with Kurt RussellJerry MaguireThe Wolf of Wall Street (duh)Death of a Salesman 1985 - or see it on stage - so powerfulMoneyballSeize the Day - Robin WilliamsIn Pursuit of HappynessTin MenGlengarry Glen RossTommy BoyDiamond MenLord of WarLove and Other drugsThe Big Kahuna - a sleeper and feel-good movie about salesThe Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard   Jason Beck is Vice President of Sales at Enerex, retail energy's trusted data platform, providing secure connectivity to the entire value chain — brokers, suppliers, agents, customers, and utilities — to drive efficient transactions. Their flagship service, Sparkplug, is the #1 retail energy sales platform in the world, powering over 10% of US commercial and industrial (C&I) transactions. He's also been a wonderful guest on Market Dominance Guys. Connect with Jason on LinkedIn.

It’s been proven that kindness in the workplace has a stunning ROI. Kindness decreases stress, reduces employee burnout, and builds increasing levels of happiness and satisfaction in the workplace.  Susan's guest is author Linda Cohen. They visit about the simplicity of transforming your business to incorporate kindness as a method of recruitment, retention, reputation without spending a lot of money. Her ideas are so simple you can start them today. Imagine a company culture where employees feel valued, recognized, and empowered enough to go the extra mile for customers and colleagues; where the leadership is able to be authentic, transparent, and connected to their team. The Economy of Kindness: How Kindness Transforms Your Bottom Line provides real-life examples of companies that have employed kindness as their secret weapon to build and maintain their organizations. Join Susan and Linda for this 20-minute discussion about The Economy of Kindness: How Kindness Transforms Your Bottom Line .

Christopher Lochhead wrote a book called Play Bigger. He was the CMO of Mercury Interactive and a couple of other real high-flying Silicon Valley startups and just an awesome guy. But he has a saying. He likes to say, "Thinking about thinking is the most important thinking you do. A lot of what we're talking about is stepping back because it's so easy to default to, Hey, I just raised my Series A; I'm in MarTech, let's go get somebody out of drift or let's go get a sale. Let's go find someone in Salesforce marketing. Let's go get a director from Salesforce to run our marketing. Oh, they'll crush it for us. And it's a natural default, right? And then a person comes in and because they weren't clear... And usually that person, they don't know how to vet. So, they're told this and they're super excited. Oh, wow. This is my chance. Put a stamp on it, but they forget that I'm not going to be in Salesforce anymore. Meaning, I'm not going to have, first of all, the Salesforce brand and just all the power of that. I'm not going to have all the resources.

Mark Donnigan from Growth Stage Marketing says, "It's important that a professional team work together and all the executives should be rowing in the same direction and all these kind of truisms, which are all true but there are some very profound implications to how we market and how we sell, which gets wrapped up in go to market as a result of the fragmented buyer's journey that we are in today." He also reminds us, "think about how you talk about yourself, how you talk about what you do. And even as a full-time employee, in fact, I could argue that as a full-time employee, it matters as much or even more because it's so amazing when you hear one person who just describes themselves in kind of the HR job description. What do you do?" Listen to the first half of this interview to walk away walking a little bit taller, and able to go into interviews with more confidence.

If someone is completing a form, you never want your customer to take any action that they don't know what's next for them. They need to know what's next and how long it will take. This is just one tip from Sonia Portwood and Virginia Robbins from PCBB. Customer service can make or break your business. Look at everything that you do from the point of view of your customers and you can't go wrong.  Virginia reminds us to be brave when a customer leaves. Pick up the phone and ask what happened and how you could improve. It will only make you more successful. We made so many sudden changes last year and now it's time to review, adjust and make sure we are truly listening to our customers and incorporating their problems, hiccups, and complaints to be better at serving them to hopefully avoid repeating the mistakes.

What are the questions you should ask before you select a network security advisor? What should you ask yourself? What are your accessibility needs? Be sure to include the factor of your team's cell phones. How secure are they? The simple requirement for facial recognition to login can save headaches and disasters. Listen to this short episode walking through the logic and some actionable tips. 

When we all were sent home suddenly, not everything was ready for this transition, including the security of the workspace we were cobbling together at home, in closets, on kitchen tables, our cars, coffee shops. Many companies have continued to evolve policies, purchase equipment for those working remotely. But many haven't been able to. This episode will help those companies start that thought process and catch up.  Michael says, "Treat your remote and home network the same way you would your corporate environment. Having policies in place that you review regularly helps you stay on top of this." Michael tells the story of someone who was able to work from home, but what the company didn't realize, she was sharing the computer with her student daughter. This left a lot of vulnerability because the company didn't send her home with a dedicated computer, or cite the requirements to protect company information and that of their clients. This episode helps us pick up where we left off when we started working from home. Many aren't going back. It's working out well. Follow these tips to ensure it continues to work better and improve constantly.

Today, I am interviewing Craig Ostbo. I met Craig because Nina Hambleton, who was on our team, everybody loves Nina. She said, "You need to interview my professor because he's the real deal. And he knows everything about international marketing and has so much passion and joy for this." From a touring musician to the perfect timing getting into the natural, the organic, and sustainable world of products, and taking clients brands global is the story he's telling us today. He's also shared some free resources and advice.

"I understand that your clients are your gold, and I'm not going to do anything to tarnish that." Doug C.  Who is your ideal client? do not be afraid to truthfully state it. Everyone is not our client. Dream it! You are not being ungrateful grabbing all the crumbs. Free up your time, free up your effort. What do you want your income level to be? Is that enough? It may be fine, everyone has their own level of gratification.

Continuing our discussions with Ledge on ways to quickly jump start your sales team, and ultimately your company's revenue and joy he tackles good vs bad leads and why they all need to be addressed. He says, "From the funnel standpoint, you can use some automation for that, but ultimately make sure you have sales and marketing work together on a human look at the discernment in your funnel. Is this a fit? Why is it not a fit? If it's not a fit are there any flags that I can indicate ahead of time from an automation standpoint?" He continues, "It's unethical to even try to take somebody's money for that when down the street there could be a provider that could help them out." Tune in for tips, insights, and your inspiration.

Ever the optimist, Award-winning Magician, Scott Tokar, is looking forward to the irreplaceable trade shows he is a part of regularly. His corral of other performers know they can adjust and do online appearances, but nothing replaces the barker at a trade show driving people you never reached before to hear your message through entertainment. This episode of Rooted in Revenue first appeared on SLMA Radio.  Susan Finch interviews Scott to talk about adjusting, the value of performers to help carry the "hosting" load at virtual and in-person events, as well as how you can plan for when in-person events return or how to stand out with your hybrid or virtual event.

Until you address the emotion in a volatile situation with compassion and respect, you will not diffuse a situation and may do more damage raising the intensity to a blistering crescendo. This is the continuing conversation that started a couple of weeks ago with Melissa Agnes. In this episode, we deep dive into one aspect of our response to a crisis, confrontation, and conflict as our brands and key people are bombarded with heavy emotion.