Daily Dose: First Principles for Startup Founders – Sales is an Everyday Activity [Part 2]

This is Part 2 our series – First Principles for Startup Founders

In this episode, Scott focuses on the principle:

“Sales is an everyday activity.”

Booking booth space at a few industry conferences… Outsourcing your lead gen work to an SDR firm to batch and blast your market… Paying a marketing firm thousands of dollars every month to create DemandGen…

They can be good short-term forcing functions to drive leads and generate sales behavior, none of those are scalable or install a culture of sales in your startup.

Founders need to take action everyday, to take better control of their sales process. Making sales an everyday activity also gets founders more clarity about what we're doing every day, while giving themselves, their team and the market confidence.

👣 Now, let's talk about YOU and YOUR startup’s journey... 👣

If you're a startup CEO that's on your journey to make the climb to $100mm ARR...

If you’re one of those rare breed of founders that’s willing to acknowledge & accept that there are no shortcuts...

If you're willing to work step-by-step, day-by-day with patience, persistence & perseverance...

Then I’ve got some pretty incredible news…

I'm partnering with Amy Volas & Avenue Talent Partners to bring you a 2-day, IRL immersive experience specifically for startup founders & CEOs whose companies are selling to the enterprise.

Yes this an "In Real Life" event – next month at a top-notch location in a world-class city with 5-star amenities provided by us.

You'll work alongside Amy Volas, me, the SalesQualia team & an unrivaled peer group of fellow founders & CEOs ready to transform their business and mindset, and yours.

👇 Here's the criteria...👇

You MUST:

✅ Be a B2B tech startup founder doing at least $50k MRR right now.

✅ Be willing to invest time, energy and focus for two days to work on scaling your sales & your team.

✅ Be friendly & coachable – you will openly ask questions & share ideas.

✅ Acknowledge & accept there are no short cuts, hacks or magicians that will bestow you a $100m revenue engine.

✅ Keep a secret…

We have VERY limited space & tickets available for purchase because of our venue & how we’re running this IRL immersive event.

If this is you, and you’re ready to transform your business and yourself...

Send an email to scottsambucci@salesqualia.com and my team can send over the details of how to save your spot for this exclusive, in-person, immersive event

Let’s do this, shall we?

When things get tough, go back to First Principles. That’s what these next few podcast episodes are all about.

In this episode, Scott focuses on the principle:

“Focus on Now now; worry about Later later.”

I’m seeing a lot of trepidation in the market right now, especially for startup founders, and founders are nervous for lots of reasons.

First, founders are seeing and feeling the crunch when it comes to the financing and funding part of the world. VCs and investors are pulling back because they like to mitigate risk, not take risk.

A second reason is the general economic slowdown. Now, I never subscribe to the excuse that the economy is slow, therefore I can't sell my stuff. As a startup, you should be focused on early adopters and nailing a niche of early customers ready to take action regardless of the macroeconomy. 

That said, if you’re selling to the enterprise, you know that large companies like the Fortune 500s are pulling back. They're pulling back on budgets. They're pulling back on expenses. They're pulling back and cutting their own workers, including some of the people you might have been working with as part of a sales deal over the last 6 months. All of a sudden you find out that person just isn’t there anymore. 

Thirdly, I think the reason for some anxiety started with the sales goals and projections founders established early in the year. Many teams go into the new year with a fervor and excitement and enthusiasm – this is going to be OUR year, putting together strategies and sales plans, maybe having hired a sales team in the last few months, expecting that now they're going to be fully onboard. Plus there are some deals in the sales pipeline which carried over from Q4.

When everything slows down, against what we wanted or needed for the year, it’s time to get back to basics and First Principles.

—

👣 Now, let's talk about YOU and YOUR startup’s journey... 👣

If you're a startup CEO that's on your journey to make the climb to $100mm ARR...

If you’re one of those rare breed of founders that’s willing to acknowledge & accept that there are no shortcuts...

If you're willing to work step-by-step, day-by-day with patience, persistence & perseverance...

Then I’ve got some pretty incredible news…

I'm partnering with Amy Volas & Avenue Talent Partners to bring you a 2-day, IRL immersive experience specifically for startup founders & CEOs whose companies are selling to the enterprise.

Yes this an "In Real Life" event – next month at a top-notch location in a world-class city with 5-star amenities provided by us.

You'll work alongside Amy Volas, me, the SalesQualia team & an unrivaled peer group of fellow founders & CEOs ready to transform their business and mindset, and yours.

👇 Here's the criteria...👇

You MUST:

✅ Be a B2B tech startup founder doing at least $50k MRR right now.

✅ Be willing to invest time, energy and focus for two days to work on scaling your sales & your team.

✅ Be friendly & coachable – you will openly ask questions & share ideas.

✅ Acknowledge & accept there are no short cuts, hacks or magicians that will bestow you a $100m revenue engine.

✅ Keep a secret…

We have VERY limited space & tickets available for purchase because of our venue & how we’re running this IRL immersive event.

If this you, and you’re ready to transform your business and yourself...

Send an email to scottsambucci@salesqualia.com and my team can send over the details of how to save your spot for this exclusive, in-person, immersive event

Let’s do this, shall we?

Over the last 10 years, Monica has built sales teams for Panjiva (acquired by S&P Global), Trello (acquired by Atlassian), and RedIQ (acquired by Berkadia/Berkshire Hathaway).

Then, in 2018, She decided to change everything.

She wanted to help founders and sales teams reach their goals in the fastest way possible. She wanted to get out of the day-to-day grind and get to the heart of what was going to drive meaningful results. Now, She has helped over 100 companies unlock their next level of growth, delivering well over $20M in revenue and $100M in value creation.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

• The Concept of Product Led Growth
• The Concept of Hyper-Specialization
• The South Park Model of Account Management
• Importance of Customer Journey Post Sales 
• The Concept of Highlight Moments 

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

Links & Resources: 

5ive Limes: https://www.linkedin.com/company/5ive-limes/

Monica’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-stewart/ 

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

BluBrry | Deezer | Amazon | Stitcher | Spotify | iTunes | Soundcloud | SalesQualia

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

Getting an enterprise deal across the finish line can feel like you've just crossed the 25 mile mark... and you've still got 25 more to go 😩

How do you sustain momentum in long deal cycles? What's required to get that deal to the finish line?

Scott Sambucci shares lessons learned from being an ultramarathon athlete AND an enterprise seller. The two have more in common than you might think 😉

Some of the topics that we covered are:

• Sustaining momentum with large buying committees
• Keeping deals moving even when all you hear is silence
• Mindset and preparing yourself for the long haul
• Lessons from the trail 

...and so much more! 

Join us to learn how to sustain momentum with long, enterprise deals! 

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

Links & Resources: 

Alignd's website – https://getalignd.co

B2B Power Hour – https://b2bpowerhour.com

Morgan's LinkedIn – https://linkedin.com/in/morganjsmith/

Nicholas' LinkedIn – https://linkedin.com/in/nicholasthickett

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

BluBrry | Deezer | Amazon | Stitcher | Spotify | iTunes | Soundcloud | SalesQualia

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Brandon Bornancin.

Brandon Bornancin is the #1 best-selling author of 3 books, a serial salesperson (sold over $100M in sales), an eight-figure entrepreneur (2x), an inventor of Seamless.AI, and a motivational speaker who is obsessed with helping you maximize your success.

Over the past 10 years, Brandon has built a following of salespeople & entrepreneurs in the millions, he’s sold hundreds of thousands of his books, popularized the concept of "Sales Lists", and founded the software company Seamless.AI that helps over 150,000 salespeople maximize their sales…. all in just 2 years.

Brandon is on a mission to positively impact 1 billion and help the world connect to opportunity. He does “Whatever It Takes” to help you maximize your success and make over $1,000,000 in sales. When you win his SIX FIGURE CLUB AWARD or SEVEN FIGURE CLUB AWARD, he sends you your very own custom-built President’s Club Award worth over $1,000.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

• Brandon’s Journey as a founder of a Startup
• Importing of building a Sales Process 
• The 7-7-7 Framework 
• Importance of list building and ICPs
• Tips for adding Human Approach to Outbound 

Links & Resources: 

Website – https://www.seamless.ai/ 

     https://www.brandonbornancin.com/

Sales Secrets Book – https://www.amazon.com/Sales-Secrets-Worlds

Whatever it Takes Book – https://www.amazon.com/Whatever-Takes

Sales Secret Podcast – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sales-secrets/id1455492030

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonbornancin/

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

BluBrry | Deezer | Amazon | Stitcher | Spotify | iTunes | Soundcloud | SalesQualia

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Amy Hrehovcik.

Amy Hrehovcik is a revenue human for life and card-carrying member of #TeamHuman. After selling enterprise tech for a decade, Amy pivoted to Sales Enablement where she built out two sales enablement departments.

These days, Amy helps sales leaders launch their first internal sales enablement podcast. Who says learning to sell can’t be mad fun?!

She’s also the host of her own hit show Revenue Real Hotline. When not working, Amy can be found chillin at the beach with her dog Lola and a book.

Some of the topics that we covered are:

• What is Sales Enablement?
• How are you using content in your sales?
• How to think about training and developing your sale?
• How do you go from that founder-led sales process into one that allows you to make the impact you want with your startup?

Links & Resources: 

Website - www.revenuereal.com/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyhrehovcik/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/amy_hrehovcik

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

BluBrry | Deezer | Amazon | Stitcher | Spotify | iTunes | Soundcloud | SalesQualia

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I was interviewed by Scott Cowley.

Scott Cowley began selling at 15 and has helped industries ranging from Healthcare to Fintech to Event Management. Scott has personally closed deals on every inhabited continent (if you can help him with the only uninhabited continent, Antarctica, please reach out) and led teams selling in multiple languages. 

He is the founder of The Sales Mastermind, a business serving founders who sell but aren’t “sales” people with consulting, coaching, and community.

Some of the topics that we discussed in this episode are:

• What is it that most founders don’t know about sales?
• How sales is a process and how it works. 
• Why should you never think about sales as “closing the sale”.
• Implementation in the sales process.
• How to avoid proposals?
• How to lead the sale?
• Mistakes that founders make when it comes to building up their sales process. 
• When and how to find repeatability in your sales process so you can hire and grow your sales team.
• Why should sales be 6 months ahead of the product?

Link & Resources:

Scott Cowley on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/scottcowleyau

The Sales Mastermind: www.thesalesmastermind.com

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Stitcher | Spotify | iTunes | Soundcloud | SalesQualia.com

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show

In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Ethan Beute.

As the Chief Evangelist at BombBomb, coauthor of Rehumanize Your Business, and host of The Customer Experience Podcast, Ethan has collected and shared people’s video success stories in a variety of formats for a decade. He’s even sent 10,000 videos himself. 

Prior to joining BombBomb, he spent a dozen years leading marketing teams inside local television stations in Chicago, Grand Rapids, and Colorado Springs. 

He holds undergraduate and graduates degrees from the University of Michigan and UCCS in communication, psychology, and marketing.

Some of the key topics that we discussed in this episode are:

• How to rehumanize your sales process?
• What does it mean to be more human?
• How do we use videos as a tool kit?
• How video allows you to be more empathetic and curious in a way that email cannot do. 
• Being seen and heard by using videos
• The paradox of vulnerability
• The psychology of proximity
• Social reciprocity
• Commodified products 
• Video creates irrational buyer forces

Link & Resources:

Ethan Beute LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ethanbeute

BombBomb Website:   bombbomb.com

BombBomb on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/bombbomb

Rehumainze Your Business by Ethan Beute: bombbomb.com/book

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Stitcher | Spotify | iTunes | Soundcloud | SalesQualia.com

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Andy Paul.

Andy has written two award-winning sales books, Zero-Time Selling and Amp Up Your Sales, is ranked #8 on LinkedIn's list of Top 50 Global Sales Experts. He has consulted with some of the biggest businesses in the world including Square, Philips, Grubhub, and more, making him one of the leading voices in the sales industry today. 

With more than 175,000 followers on LinkedIn, Andy is a highly sought-after speaker and sales sage who has made it his life's work to bring you strategies and insights that enable you to generate more wins and massive value. 

Some of the key topics that we discussed in this episode are:

Topics & Key Words:

• The importance of relationships in Sales
• Courage
• Sales Manager vs Sales Coach
• Misallocation of Attention
• Productivity Growth: https://www.bls.gov/lpc/prodybar.htm
• Returns of Time Invested
• Parado

Link & Resources:

Andy Paul on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/realandypaul

Andy Paul: Amp Up Your Sales: Powerful Strategies That Move Customers to Make Fast, Favorable Decisions: amzn.to/30IxUQ0

Sales Enablement Podcast with Andy Paul: 

www.ringdna.com/sales-enablement-podcast-with-andy-paul

Herbert Simon: Bounded Rationality: amzn.to/33IYeeK

Herbert Simon: Administrative Behavior:amzn.to/2Gv112x

Paradox of Choice: amzn.to/33IROwd

Peak-end Rule: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak%E2%80%93end_rule

New B2B Buying Journey & its Implication for Sales:

www.gartner.com/en/sales/insights/b2b-buying-journey

The Identification of Solution Ideas during Organizational Decision Making:

www.jstor.org/stable/2632813

Meet Liverpool's secret weapon: throw-in coach Thomas Grønnemark: es.pn/3nE9qBx

Zero-Time Selling: 10 Essential Steps To Accelerate Every Company's Sales: amzn.to/3nvfZpD

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Stitcher | Spotify | iTunes | Soundcloud | SalesQualia.com

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

As soon as you begin to think that there's a good time or a bad time, you've lost it. Your prospects are out there, every day on different channels. Find them and talk to them.

When I was at Blend, Sunday afternoons were my best day. Why? Because the executives I was targeting were catching up on email and messages from their home office.

When I sold textbooks 25 years ago, I'd walk the university hallways into the late afternoon to find that one professor in the office.

Today, running SalesQualia, our future customers are startup founders. It's Friday at 5:16pm and we just booked two meetings for next week from LinkedIn chat messages.

Prospecting is a mindset – either you believe in your bones that your customers want to hear from you because you solve an important problem, or you're just going through the motions.

Make it happen for yourself.

Check out the LinkedIn Live here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/scottsambucci_whens-the-best-time-to-do-your-prospecting-activity-6710340824145702912-kPzm

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Stitcher | Spotify | iTunes | Soundcloud | SalesQualia.com

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Nick Casale.

Nick is the Director of Sales at Sendoso, the leading Sending Platform, where he’s responsible for the mid-market and enterprise sales teams. As the third employee and first sales hire, Nick built Sendoso’s sales process from the ground up before stepping into management to focus on scaling the sales organization. 

Nick is passionate about empowering sales reps to rise above the digital noise and connect with prospects and customers on a human level. Prior to Sendoso, Nick was an early sales hire at Talkdesk.

Some of the topics that we discussed in this episode are:

• The difference between implies versus actual ROI.
• How to track the results from sending a physical object?
• The three specific areas in your sales funnel where you could be using physical impressions. These are: 
• 1. At the start of your sale “engagement” stage
  2. Using it mid-funnel as a way to build rapport to pull a deal from early, to middle, to late stage.
  3. At the end of the sales funnel “close to conversion”.
• What are some gifts/objects that you could be sending?
• How gifts can help you with building a relationship and in your conversion rate. 
• Nick’s experience as an early-stage company leader and moving from Account Executives to Director role. 

Link & Resources:

Sendoso: sendoso.com

 Nick on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/casalenick

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Stitcher | Spotify | iTunes | Soundcloud | SalesQualia.com

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Anthony Garcia.

Anthony is an expert in sales training, recruiting, goal achievement, and motivating salespeople to peak performance. He created his 1st business and built a team of over 100 sales reps at the age of 22 and has gone on to coach and mentor hundreds of top-performing sales professionals whose accolades have been national rep of the year, rookie of the year, and hall of fame. 

As an 18-year veteran of sales, Anthony has achieved top accolades in direct sales, B2B, and medical sales.  In his previous roles, he has trained and developed sales teams for Cutco Cutlery and Paychex.  His experiences have included managing teams of highly compensating sales professionals, facilitating international training programs, and launching products in new and emerging markets.

 As the author of the International Best-Selling book “Catapulting Commissions”, he provides strategies to get into the mental game of selling. Anthony has delivered numerous keynotes focusing on complacent sales syndrome, goal achievement, and S.M.A.R.T.E.R. goal setting.

He is also the host of the Catapulting Commissions podcast where he discusses the complacency that robs people of their full potential and interviews some of the world’s top sales performers and entrepreneurs.

His thoughts and opinions have been featured in Forbes, CNBC, FOX, and CBS.  

Some of the topics that we discussed in this episode are:

• The importance of identifying limits.
• The limitations that we have and could be preventing us from hitting your next phase of growth.
• “Crossing the Redline” when selling your product.
• The complacent sales syndrome and how it’s robbing your growth. 
• How can you become a “dream manager” so that you can understand your team?
• How do you help push your team to get to the outcome they want to achieve?
• Catapulting Commissions and understanding how to get to the next big outcome.
• The power circle of influence (people that support you). 
• How do you eliminate doubt?
• The importance of getting clarity with you and the people around you. 

Link & Resources:

Website: anthonypgarcia.com

Anthony on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/anthonypgarcia99

Catapulting Commissions by Anthony Garcia: www.catapultingcommissions.com/free-book-page1593218776016

Book: Dream Manager Matthew Kelly: amzn.to/3hA0IzD

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Stitcher | Spotify | iTunes | Soundcloud | SalesQualia.com

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Doug Sandler.

Doug has over 30 years of business experience as an entrepreneur and leader. His book, Nice Guys Finish First is a #1 ranked Amazon Best Seller.  As podcast host of The Nice Guys on Business Podcast, Doug has interviewed Gary Vaynerchuk, Arianna Huffington from HuffPost, Dan Harris from Good Morning America, Ron Klain, White House Chief of Staff, and dozens of celebs. 

Doug specializes in teaching others the "how-to's" of building relationships and strengthening connections. He is a nationally recognized speaker and writer.  

Some of the topics that we discussed in this episode are:

• The importance of using podcasts as a way to influence and create community.
• The virtues of podcasting and how you could be using it in your market.
• The importance of having a specific market niche and how it can be helpful for your audience.
• Ford Mustang Podcast by Doug Sandler and how his message educates people.
• What are some ways to start your own podcast?
• How do you go from idea to implementation?

Link & Resources:

Doug Sandler on LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/in/doug-sandler-1a346649

Nice Guys on Business Podcast: www.niceguysonbusiness.com

TurnKey Podcast: www.turnkeypodcast.com/toolkit

Nice Guys Finish First by Doug Sandler: amzn.to/2Z0jQAs

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Stitcher | Spotify | iTunes | Soundcloud | SalesQualia.com

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Doug Sandler.

Doug has over 30 years of business experience as an entrepreneur and leader. His book, Nice Guys Finish First is a #1 ranked Amazon Best Seller.  As podcast host of The Nice Guys on Business Podcast, Doug has interviewed Gary Vaynerchuk, Arianna Huffington from HuffPost, Dan Harris from Good Morning America, Ron Klain, White House Chief of Staff, and dozens of celebs. 

Doug specializes in teaching others the "how-to's" of building relationships and strengthening connections. He is a nationally recognized speaker and writer.  

Some of the topics that we discussed in this episode are:

• Book: Nice Guys Finish First by Doug Sandler.
• How does being a nice person help you with sales?
• The importance of putting people over products whenever you’re selling.
• The importance of putting your clients over technology.
• Accepting the reality of the numbers when you’re selling and getting rid of the “Head-trash”. 
• The core tenants for making you a nice guy. 
• Focusing on your customers and being honest with them. 

Link & Resources:

Doug Sandler on LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/in/doug-sandler-1a346649

Nice Guys on Business Podcast: www.niceguysonbusiness.com

TurnKey Podcast: www.turnkeypodcast.com/toolkit

Nice Guys Finish First by Doug Sandler: amzn.to/2Z0jQAs

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Stitcher | Spotify | iTunes | Soundcloud | SalesQualia.com

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

Blend officially reached unicorn status this week, with the announcement of their Series F – now valued at $1.7 billion.

These announcements lead to a bunch of messages and questions –

What was it like starting the sales process as the first head of sales?

Where did we find our first customers?

How did you get on the path to unicorn status in the early days?

So... I decided to kick-off my LinkedIn Live account by sharing 4 key factors that made a huge difference in getting from 0 to 1 at Blend.

Check out the LinkedIn Live here: https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6699690106762092545/

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Stitcher | Spotify | iTunes | Soundcloud | SalesQualia.com

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Greg Accardo.

With over 20 years of business and sales experience, Greg serves as the Director of the LSU Professional Sales Institute. Since 2015, he has been in the Department of Marketing conducting extensive work developing and executing strategy, acting as the industry liaison, chief fundraiser, managing budgets, overseeing internships and placements, overseeing & coaching the university sales team and sales competitions, job fares, and other PSI events.

Greg teaches two sections of undergraduate classes for Professional Sales and Sales Practicum. He also teaches Advanced Professional Sales and Negotiation Tactics & Strategies for LSU Executive Education. 

He successfully launched a CRM education program in partnership with HubSpot for all current and future LSU PSI students.

Some of the topics that we discussed in this episode are:

• The evolution of sales as an academic pursuit. 
• The evolution of inside sales and how it went from telemarketing to a true sales position. 
• The development and science of marketing and how it has augmented the evolution of sales.
• The percentage of business majors coming out of college to focus on sales as their first job.
• National and International sales competitions occurring across the country.
• How you as an employer can be involved in these sales competitions as a judge, sponsor, etc.

Link & Resources:

Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-accardo/

LSU Professional Sales Institute: https://www.lsu.edu/business/psi/index.php

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Stitcher | Spotify | iTunes | Soundcloud | SalesQualia.com

Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Jeroen Corthout.

Jeroen is the co-founder and CEO of Salesflare, an intelligent CRM built for SMBs selling B2B, mostly popular with agencies and SaaS companies.

Salesflare itself was founded when Jeroen and his co-founder Lieven wanted to manage the leads for their software company in an easier way. They didn't like to keep track of them manually and built Salesflare, which pulls customer data together automatically.

It's now the most popular CRM on Product Hunt and top-rated on review platforms like G2 for its ease of use and automation features.

Some of the topics that we discussed in this episode are:

• Jeroen’s background story.
• How do you think about a CRM that you own and use?
• How do you follow up with leads and customers?
• How do you bridge gaps?
• How to make your leads feel as if they’re the only person you’re talking to?
• Proper account mapping and adopting the outreach/communication with your sales leads based on individual situations.
• What are some nudges for follow-ups?
• How do you get thoughtful with your follow-ups and establishing the links between accounts and people at the accounts you are targeting?

Link & Resources:

Salesflare website: salesflare.com

Jeroen's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jeroencorthout

Jeroen's podcast, Founder Coffee: foundercoffee.salesflare.com

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

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Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Todd Caponi.

Todd is the author of the 3x best-book-award-winning, The Transparency Sale, a speaker & workshop leader as Founder & CEO of Sales Melon LLC, and the Managing Director of Chicago’s VentureSCALE. Todd is also a multi-time C-Level sales leader, a behavioral science nerd, and has guided two companies to successful exits.

Some of the topics that we discussed in this episode are:

• Tommy Boy the movie and ways to set up the distinction between Authenticity and Transparency. 
• Todd’s book – The Transparency Sale.
• The importance and techniques to disarm your prospects using The Transparency Sale method.
• Ways to be truthful when it comes to measuring ourselves.
• The Result’s Formula – It looks at four specific KPIs that if you’re moving in the right direction, larger changes and growth will occur in your sales or company.
• Prospecting and the importance of adding value.
• The importance of focusing and doing firmographics studies

Link & Resources:

Todd Caponi on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/toddcaponi

Todd Caponi on Twitter: twitter.com/tcaponi

The Transparency Sale: www.transparencysale.com

Book: The Transparency Sale: amzn.to/2BxenrF

Media Kit for more information: www.transparencysale.com/mediakit

Five Great Rules of Selling by Percy H Whiting: amzn.to/2XHRo5Y

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Steve Benson.

Steve is the Founder and CEO of Badger Maps, the #1 route planner for field salespeople. After receiving his MBA from Stanford, he joined Google, where he became Google Enterprise's Top Sales Executive globally in 2009.

In 2012 Steve founded Badger Maps to help field salespeople be more successful by optimizing their routes and schedules to save time and be on time so they can sell more. 

He hosts the Outside Sales Talk podcast where he interviews industry experts on their top sales tips. He is also the President of the Sales Hall of Fame.  

Some of the topics that we discussed in this episode are:

• Steve’s process of getting on to podcasts and shows.
• How to think through the process of ‘outside sales’.
• How do you make adjustments in a world where you can’t go out and sell?
• How to leverage your Product Champion in ways that you’re not doing but you should be doing?
• How to think through and how to build an account map?
• How to think about motivation as a Sales Leader or CEO?
• What should you be doing as a Sales Leader to keep your reps sharper?
• Why you should not be discounting your price.
• How to shift the structure of compensation plans for your sales team. 

Link & Resources:

Outside Sales Talk Podcast: www.outsidesalestalk.com

Badger Maps for Field Sales: www.badgermapping.com

Steve Benson on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stevenbenson

Sales Hall of Fame: www.badgermapping.com/sales-hall-of-fame

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Ernest Owusu.

As the Sr. Director of Sales Development at 6sense, Ernest leverages his passion for helping others succeed as well as his insights from the field to foster a winning team. With previous experience as an NFL athlete, Ernest thrives in team environments full of high collaboration and healthy competition.

Outside of the office, you’ll find him tackling the industry’s diversity problem by mentoring and empowering under-represented people so they can confidently grow their careers.

Some of the topics that Ernest and I discussed in this episode are:

• Ernest’s background as an NFL athlete.
• How to research and how to hire?
• What to look for in your SDR hire?
• How does it work being an SDR manager?
• What to look for and what are some lead indicators when hiring?
• Strategy Adjustments: What to do when you see a dip (things that worked in the past but no longer do)?
• How do you make strategy adjustments when you have dips?
• How Ernest runs his sales meeting with his team. 

Link & Resources:

6sense: 6sense.com

In-Market Demand Report: bit.ly/3f05XY8

Ernest Owusu on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ernestowusu

Jeb Blount, Fanatical Prospecting: amzn.to/3fZhM2g

Trish Bertuzzi,  The Sales Development Playbook: amzn.to/2OW0rLO

Jeremey Donovan, Leading Sales Development: amzn.to/3fTVlLM

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Doll Avant.

Doll, Founder and CEO of Aquagenuity, is an award-winning inventor & data scientist, a graduate of Harvard University, & TEDx speaker, honored on Google’s home page with the global designation of “Google's Woman of Water” for creating the “world’s largest water database.”

She has been featured by the New York Times, SoftBank, BMW, Coca-Cola, Forbes, WIRED magazine, and on the homepage of Google for making it easy for any citizen to safely answer the question: “What’s In Your Water?”

Some of the topics that Doll and I discussed in this episode are:

• The transition from being a data scientist to becoming an entrepreneur.
• The known data collection challenges that Doll had.
• How to make the data useful to test the quality of your water.
• The unknown challenges in her journey with Aquagenuity. 
• Doll’s experience as a Black entrepreneur.
• The ability to tell a story and transfer enthusiasm. 
• Becoming a TEDx speaker. 

Link & Resources: 

Aquagenuity: aquagenuity.com

Doll Avant on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dollavant

Check your AquaScore for free at myAquaScore.com

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

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Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.

In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I was interviewed by Adam Springer. 

Adam has been the first salesperson for three startups, successfully growing to $1 Million ARR in under a year then scaling it out to $5 million.

He specializes in B2B complex sales and has helped over 100 companies create sales systems to get to and above $5 million in revenue.

Adam hosts the Startup Sales podcast which speaks with Founders, VC’s globally to create actionable insights for creating early-stage sales processes.

Some of the topics that Adam and I discussed in this episode are:

• Where to start if you’re an early-stage sales team?
• How and where to look for your first 10-paying customers?
• 2/2 metrics – Friction and Value: How many values can you add to a target customer and how many frictions it takes to implement your solution.
• When to hire your first salesperson?
• What are the biggest mistakes that Startups make when hiring?
• What are the problems when you’re hiring Mr. & Mrs. Rolodex? 

Links & Resources

Startup Sales: startupsales.io

Adam Springer on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/b2b-startup-sales-expert

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

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GROW. Because that’s what your competitors are doing.

Over these past 6 weeks, I’ve coached and talked with over 100 B2B #startups across the health care, retail, manufacturing, construction, and financial sectors about their sales and selling strategy.

“Selling to hospitals is impossible…”

Two of our clients have signed 5- and 6-figure contracts in the past two weeks.

“Retail is dying.”

One client is on-boarding 7 new customers in the next 2 months. Two more teams selling to large-scale retailers joined our program because of the opportunities they're seeing.

“Manufacturers are getting hammered.”

Two teams have added customers, including a Fortune 500, to help with production systems and payments.

“I’ve got to cut back my sales team.”

One client just hired a salesperson to take over an entire customer segment and another has reps hitting 150% of quota.

These teams are no different than any other startup in this market, except for one thing…

They made the decision to #grow – to resist “ride it out" as a strategy.

The global economy is $80+ trillion. Your market NEEDS you now more than ever. Find them & help them.

#growth #startupselling

In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I was interviewed by Joseph Fung. 

Joseph is the CEO of Uvaro, a tech sales career accelerator, and of Kiite, a sales enablement platform purpose-built to provide sales teams with the information they need when they need it. 

As a graduate of the University of Waterloo’s Computer Engineering program, Joseph is a repeat Founder & CEO with multiple successful exits. He speaks frequently on the topics of sales leadership, diversity, and corporate social responsibility. 

He is an active early-stage investor who ensures that the majority of his investments are into women-led companies. Joseph also sits on the boards of Communitech, the Golden Triangle Angel Network, and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony.

Some of the topics that Joseph and I discussed in this episode are:

• How I first got into sales 
• My transition to product management
• My biggest surprise in tech 
• My journey as a sales advisor

Links & Resources

Kiite - kiite.ai

Uvaro: uvaro.com

Podcast: uvaro.com/podcast

Joseph Fung on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/josephfung

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Latane Conant.

Latané was instrumental in aligning sales and marketing in her previous position as CMO of Appirio, resulting in 5x more effective field marketing programs and a 300% increase in inbound leads.

Now as the Chief Market Officer of 6sense, Latané empowers revenue teams to compete and win in the age of account-based buying through 6sense’s solution — allowing them to uncover, prioritize, and engage with demand by uniting one common, AI-powered platform. 

This allows them to know everything they need to know and do anything they need to do, ultimately generating 40% more opportunities, closing deals 2x faster, and winning 2x more often. 

Some of the topics that Latane and I discussed in this episode are:

• “The Dark Funnel” – The activity and research your buyers are doing before contacting the seller.
• Identifying which accounts are “in-market”.
• “New Inbound” – Get clear on the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), the buyer’s intent, and focusing your marketing and sales effort on the account that are “in-pocket”.
• “In-pocket” – problem aware and solution aware. 
• The importance of demand capture versus demand gen.
• The value card and how you create content for the different buyers.
• The importance of using video and how you can create quick content. 
• How to leverage AI to create an amazing customer experience.
• The importance of orchestrating to create a positive experience for your buyer.
• The importance of the “next best action” with your prospects.
• Racial inequality and improvements we can all be making when it comes to diversity within our teams, customers, and community.

Links & Resources

Rapid Adoption. Immediate Impact: 6sense.com

Latane on Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/latane-conant

Manifesto for the Future of B2B Customer Engagement: 

hub.6sense.com/breakthroughplus/manifesto-for-the-future-of-b2b-customer-engagement-latane-conant-cmo-of-6sense

SV Academy: sv.academy

[book] White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism  www.amazon.com/White-Fragility-People-About-Racism/dp/0807047414

[assessment] Impact of Unconscious Bias 

trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/modules/workplace_equality_inclusion_challenges

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

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Thanks so much for listening! Tell a friend or ten about The Startup Selling Show, and please leave a review wherever you’re listening to the show.