I’m 10 days from my next ultra-marathon — the Tarawera 100. The locals refer to it as “the miler…”

I’m so close to the starting line, and in the final weeks before a race, I get tired – I’m tired of training. I’m tired of early mornings. I’m tired of my diet. I’m tired of centering my life around one day in the calendar.

That’s when it’s most important to stay disciplined, to stay on track, to do the work. I didn't want to do the work this morning. I searched for reasons why I should skip this morning's run, but anything I thought of was just another excuse. So I got up, got out and did the work.

It’s the same with your startup. You’ve been pushing towards the next product launch, or the big conference, or that implementation with your “logo customer.”

It’s easy to get tired. You SHOULD be tired – you’ve been pushing for weeks and months to get there, so it’s natural to want to let down or back off a little and hope you can coast.

That’s exactly when you have to look at what you must to do to see it through, and usually that’s simply focusing on the task at hand – to just do the work.

Do the work. Go Farther.

Zach Stein joined me on my podcast, describing the decision-making frameworks he used as CEO at Osmo. (Check the comments below for a link to the episode.)

We talked about “making one decision to save a thousand” that Greg McKeown detailed in his book, *Essentialism.*

This week, I decided to skip all Super Bowl media - no ESPN, no news, no sports talk radio. I’ll be in New Zealand teaching a sales workshop when the game's on. If I can’t watch it, why do I care? 

You’ve got hundreds of decisions to make everyday – how to spend your time, which features to add, who to hire, how to price that one deal....

While many decisions are bespoke, many can be grouped so that if you make one decision, it saves a hundred later.

1. What if you decided to only check email 3x/day – at 10am, 2pm & 6pm?  

Think about how many rabbit holes you follow b/c you’re constantly checking your phone.

2. What if you decided to stop sending proposals when prospects ask for them?  

Think about how much time and energy is wasted writing them then chasing prospects, only to hear – “Ping me in …”

3. What if you decided to do 1:1s with every team member this week? 

Think how would that change your relationship abd what you’d learn about their work.

Having Time vs Making Time: A Lesson from the Trail

I’m two weeks from the Tarawera 100-miler and I’m asked all the time –

“How to do have the time to train for ultramarathons?”

I don’t HAVE the time. I MAKE the time – every week, every day.

Today, I'm on the 5:50am train to spend the day at the Alchemist Accelerator Demo Day, so making time meant crawling out to the garage at 4am for a workout.

Every day, it’s the same - making time in between everything else that I gotta do – clients, workshops, picking up my son from jiu-jitsu, swapping kitchen duties with my wife. 

Making time means bolting out the door at 6am on Saturdays for a quick 10 miles. 

Making time means deadlifts at 7am on Sunday morning. 

Making time means running hills in Bernal Heights at 4am when I’m in SF for the night.

Making time means unapologetically blocking time on a Tuesday afternoon for midday run.

I get it – the investor meetings… product releases… candidate interviews… 

You never have the time to sell, but your company, and customers, need you to sell. Stop waiting until you have the time to sell, and make the time instead.

Type WORKSHEET below & I’ll send you our “10-Hour Sales Week Planner.” It’ll help you make the time. Because that’s what you gotta do.

In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Refract Co-Founder, Richard Smith.

Richard has over ten years of sales experience working for and building high activity and scalable outbound software sales teams. He has been a regular contributor to leading sales content sites such as Hubspot and SalesHacker and was nominated as a Top 50 SaaS Sales Leader in the UK. 

Richard is passionate about fixing the broken mindset towards sales coaching and helping salespeople become the very best they can be.

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

• The importance of product demo as a catalyst in your sales process.
• Why is it important to qualify your leads.
• Understanding when it is fitting to have a smaller pipeline. 
• The importance of being vigilant when qualifying your leads.
• Keeping yourself accountable when it comes to selling your product.

Links & Resources

Richard on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/richard-smith-refract

Refract website:  www.refract.ai

The Sales Acceleration Formula: Using Data, Technology, and Inbound Selling to go from $0 to $100 Million:

www.amazon.com/Sales-Acceleration-Formula-Technology-Inbound/dp/1119047072 

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 Refract Co-Founder, Richard Smith.

Richard has over ten years of sales experience working for and building high activity and scalable outbound software sales teams. He has been a regular contributor to leading sales content sites such as Hubspot and SalesHacker and was nominated as a Top 50 SaaS Sales Leader in the UK. 

Richard is passionate about fixing the broken mindset to sales coaching and helping salespeople become the very best they can be.

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

• The importance of having a meaningful conversation that therefore creates a positive experience for your customer.
• Focus the discovery call on where the sales are won or lost.
• Create a checklist from your experience with leading indicators for good sales conversation.
• The need for approval that salespeople have and how it can work against them.
• Tips to create an environment where you can ask tough questions and lower the resistance in the sale.
• How to use the simplistic questions in your discovery call.
• Why the phrase ‘I think’ can negatively influence you in your sales.
• Frameworks to analyze your sales conversation to improve and make your own sales conversation better.

Links & Resources

Richard on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/richard-smith-refract

Refract website: www.refract.ai

The Sales Acceleration Formula: Using Data, Technology, and Inbound Selling to go from $0 to $100 Million:

www.amazon.com/Sales-Acceleration-Formula-Technology-Inbound/dp/1119047072 

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.

“Daily Dose: The past is the past” 

If you've watched my videos lately you know that two months ago, I ran a 200-mile ultramarathon around Lake Tahoe.  For the last eight weeks, I've been celebrating and enjoying my personal glory of finishing this race. 

There comes a time where you've got to transition from what you've done to what you're going to do.  Even my friends around me are asking – "Man, that was really cool. What's next?" 

This past week, I've accepted a simple, important lesson –

The past is the past, and it's time to move on to the future. 

Too often, we can find ourselves lulled into a sense of completion, a sense of finality. We feel great about that product launch or that new customer or the leads we got from the conference booth.

When you've done something important and hard, you absolutely have to take time to celebrate. You must take the time to rejoice in your accomplishments.

After that celebration is over, huddle up with your team and ask, "Okay, what's next?" and get back to work.

For me, I registered for two new races, two 100-milers, one in February and one in June.  I might have a third in August. Regardless, I'm not past the past, and looking ahead to what's next.

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“Daily Dose: One Step at a Time"

I just signed up for my next ultra marathon – it's in February down in New Zealand.

This past weekend, I built out the next three months – what does the training look like? What's January going to look like?  What's December gonna look like? What is the rest of November going to look like?

From there I break it down week-by-week – When are my long runs in the hills and how will I fit in my training with the holidays.

People ask me all the time – "How do you train? How do you get ready for these races?" 

And there's something that I realized over the weekend as I was getting ready for my one workout on Sunday morning. 

As much as I put together monthly training programs or three-month training programs and how I want each week to look, the one thing that matters is the next workout.

For your company, the lesson is the same.

When you're building your company and you're growing your sales, too often we fixate on where do we need to be by the end of the year? Where do we need to be by the end of next quarter? 

Yes, you've got to set the vision. You need to know where you want to go. 

But when it comes down to it, it starts with doing those 20 calls today. It starts with preparing the right way for the next meeting. It starts with having the right plan of action for that conference you're flying to tomorrow. 

Everything begins with that one thing that's in front of you – next sales call, the next customer, the next product release. 

Just do the next thing, do the one thing that's in front of you, that's gonna get you closer to where you want to do – one step at a time.

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed TaskDrive's, Chief Revenue Officer, Mark Colgan.

Mark has over eleven years of experience in B2B sales and marketing. As the TaskDrive CRO, Mark leads the growth strategies across 100-person remote sales, marketing, customer success, and product teams.

 In his spare time, he helps B2B SaaS companies scale revenue with their sales and marketing automation and customer journey optimization.

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

• His process for lead research at TaskDrive.
• Signals to use when you are doing lead research. Some examples are hiring, press releases, online articles, technology change, and job titles.
• How to use inbound and outbound marketing strategies in your sales process.
• The importance of identifying the customers that are actively buying, open to buying and the ones that are not buying.
• Strategies to target and win back the customers that are not actively buying.
• Identifying some key lead sourcing playbooks for B2B companies.

Links & resources

TaskDrive: taskdrive.com

Mark Colgan on LinkedIn: 

www.linkedin.com/in/markcolganmarketing

[Blog Post] 14 Lead sourcing playbooks for B2B companies:

taskdrive.com/lead-generation/lead-sourcing-playbooks-for-b2b-companies

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“Daily Dose: Dude – Are you good?”

This kid was 8-years-old and he needed to know.  This was serious business – a birthday party kickball game with all of his friends from school.

Another dad and I jumped into the mix to make things interesting for the kids.

Team captains were selected and it was time to pick teams.  This 8-year picked his best friend first, and when it came time for his next pick, the best friend pointed at me and said – “Pick him! Pick him!”

With my running and training regimen, I’m a pretty athletic-looking guy. Not to mention I’m a 45-year-old adult playing against a bunch of kids.  It was pretty obvious to me that he should pick me net.

But none of that mattered to him. He didn’t know about the three Ironmans. He didn’t know about my 100- and 200-mile ultramarathons. 

To him, I was just another person in the crowd. All he wanted to know is if I was going to help him win. That’s it. Plain and simple.

It’s like that with your company.  

Your customers don’t care about your funding. They don’t care who your investors are. They don’t care about what you’ve done before. They don’t care about your past success.

All they care about is what you can do for them, right now, today. Can you help them win in their game?  

He did pick me, and when he did, I felt like I had something to prove to show him that he made the right choice. 

Completely silly, right? But that’s how it should work. Nothing is a given.

Earn every customer. Help them win. 

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed former CEO of Osmo Systems, Zach Stein.

Zach is an entrepreneur living in Oakland, California. He was previously the CEO of Osmo Systems, a hardware startup building AI-driven solutions for aquaculture (fish and shrimp farms), and now he and his co-founder are working to launch a new project that focuses on combatting climate change.

I first met Zach through the Highway1 Accelerator Program – he was a participant and I was one of his mentors.  About a year later when Zach and his team were starting their go-to-market work, he became a client in our Startup Selling Coaching Program.

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

• His journey as an entrepreneur and what led him to work on environmental challenges.
• Decision-making processes based on identifying a lack of clarity, weaknesses, and pain in the business operations.
• Using “Name it to Tame It” – a psychological process to articulate a problem and identify potential solutions.
• How to use questions to orient a decision-making process.
• Creating a clear set of rules for your team focus and daily activities.
• “Say it out loud” – sharing your idea with your team and have them reflect what you just said to their understanding. This creates clarity to prevent ambiguity.
• How can rulemaking allow you to avoid decision-making fatigue. 

Links and resources:

Highway1 Hardware Accelerator Program: highway1.io

[book] Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio

 www.amazon.com/Principles-Life-Work-Ray-Dalio/dp/1501124021

[book] The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: An Illustrated Leadership Fable

by Patrick Lencioni www.amazon.com/dp/0787960756

[book] The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business by Patrick Lencioni

www.amazon.com/Advantage-Organizational-Health-Everything-Business/dp/0470941529

Daniel J. Siegel, neuropsychiatrist & developer of “Name it to Tame It.” 

[book] The Whole-Brain Child

 www.drdansiegel.com/books/the_whole_brain_child/2

[Blog post] An Entrepreneur’s Lessons Learned

 scottsambucci.blogspot.com/2008/08/lessons-learned-confessions-of.html

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed keynote speaker, sales coach, and author, David J.P. Fisher.

David is a speaker, coach, and author of nine books including the best-selling ‘Hyper-Connected Selling’ and ‘Networking in the 21st Century: Why Your Network Sucks and What to Do About It’.

With more than  20 years of experience as an entrepreneur and as a sales professional, he combines nuanced strategy and real-world tactics to help professionals become more effective, efficient, and happy.

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

• David’s book of haikus and his participation in Slam Poetry in Chicago.
• The importance of building trust and relationships with your prospects and customers.
• David’s concept of being a ‘‘Sales Sherpa’’ and why is it important to bring your customers through their journey and use information that they already have to understand what it means to their company.
• Why your product demo is not destinations in your sales process – it is the place to provide credibility of your promise.
• The Edelmen Trust Barometer - The value of relationships and how trust is a spectrum.
• Tactical tips for using LinkedIn for your networking and trust-building

Links & Resources

The Edelmen Trust Barometer: www.edelman.com/trust-barometer

David on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/iamdfish

Download a Free Copy of"19 Ways to Immediately Skyrocket your Sales Network” here: davidjpfisher.com/podcast/startup

About Slam Poetry on Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetry_slam

David’s books on Amazon:

• Hyper-Connected Selling: Winning More Business by Leveraging Digital Influence and Creating Human Connection – www.amazon.com/dp/1944730052
• Networking in the 21st Century: Why Your Network Sucks And What To Do About It – www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SGOGQ8M
• Five Seven Five: A Daily Glimpse of Chicago Life as Seen Through Haiku – hwww.amazon.com/gp/product/1944730079

In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Sarah Tuneberg, Co-Founder and CEO at Geospiza.

She leads an interdisciplinary team of problem solvers focused on developing data-driven, evidence-based solutions, models, and processes that reduce risk and enhance resilience, especially for the most vulnerable.  

She is passionate about harnessing data, analytics, and technology to solve complex challenges.  After more than a decade in emergency management and public health, Sarah founded Geospiza to transform the way climate risk decisions are made.   But the real reason I asked Sarah to join us on the podcast was because of the lead generation systems she’s built for Geospiza, specifically using LinkedIn and LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator tool.

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

• Sarah’s experience in solving Climate change issues.
• What are some of the best practices to help you generate leads at the top of your sales funnel
• How Sarah and her team use LinkedIn for outreach and messaging structure.
• Sarah’s experience, challenge, and insights that she’s gained as a female founder.

Links & Resources

Sarah’s LinkedIn Profile  - www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-tuneberg

Geospiza company page - geospiza.us

Sarah’s TEDxMileHigh Talk:

“We know how to save lives in disasters - why don't we?”  www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=zmanP8WDNwQ&feature=emb_logo

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Oscar Santolalla, Author and Sales Engineer at Ubisecure. 

Oscar has spent years in product management and sales roles in the tech industry. Since 2014, Oscar has been hosting the public speaking podcast ‘Time to Shine’, in which he has interviewed more than one hundred communication professionals.

Oscar is a communication expert and his mission is to help technology companies present better, inspire people, and sell more. He regularly writes for international blogs and gives talks and workshops worldwide. 

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

• The different types of product demos – ranging from the trade show booth to the pre-sales call to the full-on “Big Group” demo.
• The importance of having a different script for each product demo, with a consistent message for each one.
• The importance of having a “main message” that focuses on a central theme for your product demos.
• The ‘WOW’ moment in a product demo.
• Preparation and avoiding common pitfalls that happen around product demos.

Links & Resources

Oscar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oscarsantolalla/

Oscar’s Book: Create and Deliver a Killer Product Demo: Tips and Tricks to Wow Your Customers: https://www.apress.com/us/book/9781484239537

Use Promo Code: KILLERPRODUCTDEMO for a 20% discount

Time to Shine Podcast: http://www.timetoshinepodcast.com/

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Brett Gilliland, Co-Founder & CEO at Elite Entrepreneurs.

As the original leader of Infusionsoft’s "Built to Last" efforts, Brett spent 10 years helping Infusionsoft grow from less than $10M to over $100M in revenue.  Brett's roles at Infusionsoft included: Built to Last Champion, Strategic Advisor to the CEO, VP of Infusionsoft, and VP of Leadership Development. He also Co-Created the Elite Programs with Infusionsoft’s CEO, Clate Mask. 

Brett has experience in high-impact, trusted-advisor roles in both large and small organizations across multiple industries. He has worked with hundreds of $1M-$10M entrepreneurs and their teams to develop and implement the organizational and leadership processes and systems they need to grow. 

When he isn't busy serving Elite businesses, Brett loves family life with his beautiful wife, Sharon, and their 8 children!

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

• The five (5) stages of a small business.
• The definition of each of the five stages.
• The challenges that most entrepreneurs experience when they're in each stage.
• The challenges in growing from stage to stage.
• Solutions for overcoming the growth challenges in each stage.
• Company culture and the importance of setting the company’s vision as the CEO.
• The challenges when it comes to building, managing and growing a team.
• How can you ‘gift’ ownership of certain roles to the people on your team.
• Strategies and ways you can make your team grow.

Links & Resources

Connect with Brett:

Elite Entrepreneur: growwithelite.com

Brett Gilliland on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/built2lastchamp

To receive a copy of the 5 Stages of Small Business Infographic, text “Stages” to 72000

Books & Resources:

The Rule of 3 and 10: www.sequoiacap.com/article/the-rule-of-3-and-10

Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter www.amazon.com/Multipliers-Best-Leaders-Everyone-Smarter/dp/0061964395

Leadership and Self Deception: Getting Out of the Box

www.amazon.com/Leadership-Self-Deception-Getting-Out/dp/1576751740

The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Peace-Resolving-Heart-Conflict-ebook/dp/B00SGET4BS

The Outward Mindset: How to Change Lives and Transform Organizations 

www.amazon.com/Outward-Mindset-Change-Transform-Organizations-ebook/dp/B07V4GKZCV

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable

www.amazon.com/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Fable/dp/0787960756

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't 

www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0066620996

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Joe Curtis, Chief Operating Officer at Pango Group. Joe expertly manages the operations, sales and marketing efforts of

the business.

Pango Group is a family of companies that provides personalized services for a diverse range of

real estate and escrow related transactions. In addition to escrow services, the subsidiary

companies focus on the areas of notary, insurance, document archiving and leasing: offering

clients a full range of services. Pango Group owns and manages 20 offices throughout California and has a staff of more than 50 escrow officers and over 250 employees across the state.

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

• The difference between a transactional sale and a relational sale.
• The importance of a follow-up system for the transactional sale.
• Terminal Unique Syndrome - what makes your company unique in your sales process.
• The importance of being your authentic self.
• How do I set a quota for my prospective customers.
• Why Joe doesn’t use sales quotas at his company.
• Training opportunities for your sales team in order to be successful.

Links & Resources

Find Joe on LinkedIn here: www.linkedin.com/in/joecurtis

Pango Group: https://pangogroup.com/

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I interviewed Jason Bay, Chief Revenue Officer at Blissful Prospecting where he helps sales teams remove the stress from prospecting.

His sales experience dates back to 2008. At 19, he ran his first six-figure business painting houses while attending school at Oregon State University. He's worked with hundreds of sales reps and personally closed millions of dollars in revenue during his career.

Some of the topics that Jason and I discussed in today’s podcast are:

• The importance of having a process for your outbound prospecting that reduces stress.

• How you can use the lesson from improv and stand-up comedy to you selling.

• How to use the REPLY method as the foundation for your sales messages.

• How infrequently we see our clients go back to their current customers to get verbiage about the problem they’re solving every single day.

• The importance of running your outbound cadence manually before you automating it.

• Being HUMAN in your sales.
• Segmenting your prospects - why you should not treat everyone equally.

• How to use video as part of your prospecting plan of action

Links & Resources

Jason Bay - www.linkedin.com/in/jasondbay

Blissful Prospecting - blissfulprospecting.com

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Leah is a Customer Success pioneer with almost two decades of experience.

After successfully starting and growing Customer Success teams for over 8 successful startups, Leah decided to go out on her own and join BetterGrowth as a Founding Partner. BetterGrowth is an agency that focuses on in-house talent for SAAS companies around the world.

BetterGrowth's core offerings include a model where they hire, train, and employee Customer Support agents, sales agents, and recruiters in their Portland office.

 In just over 7 months BetterGrowth has grown its Portland Oregon team to over 15 full-time employees focused on servicing some of the world's top technology companies. 

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

• Defining what is ‘Customer Success’ from the buyer's point of view.

• The importance of being an investigative reporter as part of your customer success work.

• Getting clear about your known outliers and challenges when creating your implementation plan.

• The importance of setting up a clear cadence with your new customers.

• The ‘80/20 rule’ - the biggest kryptonite in customer success.

• Who runs the quarterly business reviews.

• Conversation programs for customer success for upsells and renewals.

• The ‘triple-A’ scorecard for your customer success team.

• Leah’s dedication and active work around diversity and inclusion around the LGBT community.

Links & Resources

BetterGrowth: www.bettergrowth.co

Leah Chancy on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/leahchaney

Thanks for the rainbow logo... but let's do better.

www.linkedin.com/pulse/thanks-rainbow-logo-lets-do-better-leah-chaney

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I had the privilege of sitting down with Dan Martell.

Dan is a serial entrepreneur having built several multi-million dollar technology companies starting at the age of 17. He's also an award-winning angel investor, having invested in 35+ companies like Intercom, Udemy, Hootsuite, and Unbounce.

Today he's an executive coach focused exclusively on B2B SaaS working with the founders from ClickFunnels.com, Proposify.com, Carrot.com, and many others to help scale their businesses. He splits his time between Canada (where he grew up), and San Diego with his wife Renee and two boys.

Some of the topics that we discussed in today’s podcast are:

• Why Dan calls himself “The Chief Instigator”
• The mindset of thinking in decades – and why you should make decisions based on what you would want to be doing in the next ten years from now.
• The strategic mindset you need to take as a start-up founder.
• The importance of learning from the mistakes from other people make so you don’t have to make them.
• The idea of either fixing the track or the vehicle that you’re on or jump on a new one.
• The “Front Page” rule and the pain of indecision.
• The importance of building an achievement list for yourself to help you build confidence in yourself.
• Understanding why issues in your business are a reflection of your personal life.
• The challenges entrepreneurs face by not trusting themselves to take action.
• Dan’s story as an at-risk youth. 

Links & Resources

Facebook Personal Page: hwww.facebook.com/profile.php?id=829175116

Facebook Business Page: www.facebook.com/Danmartell

Instagram: www.instagram.com/danmartell

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/danvmartell

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In this episode of the Startup Selling Podcast, I had the privilege of sitting down with John Messina.

John currently leads North American Sales at Amplitude Analytics where he helps their customers leverage customer data to build the best product experiences possible.

 He has built sales teams at Enterprise B2B SaaS companies ranging in size from 8 to 500 employees for the past 10 years. He loves helping teams scale and figure out how to go from initial sales success to a team full of successful salespeople. 

Some of the topics that we discussed in today’s podcast are:

• Finding the ‘sweet-spot’ for hiring.

• The biggest mistakes that startups make when hiring their first sales team members.

• When is the right time to hire a sales team at a startup?

• Signals to tell you when to hire and bring in a new salesperson to the team.

• The “Whiteboard problem”

• How and where to find perfect recruits.

Links & Resources

John Messina on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jomessina

Amplitude: amplitude.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 had the privilege of sitting down with master storyteller and CEO, Susan Lindner. 

Susan is the CEO at Emerging Media which is an award-winning PR, branding, marketing, and social media agency, that helps the visionaries and entrepreneurial leaders make their mark in the ever-changing media landscape. 

Emerging Media creates and aligns a solid brand foundation, lead-generating marketing, awareness building PR and an engaged social community that helps disruptive companies to rise above their competitors to industry leadership. 

Some of the topics that we discussed in today’s podcast are:

• How to use storytelling in your sales process.
• Susan’s experience as an epidemiologist and getting Red Light District prostitution brothels to use condoms.
• The importance of thinking of your customer’s journey.
• The four-step process for creating a story behind your company.
• The importance of creating a platform around company’s goals and services.
• The four-step process for creating a story-telling environment to connect with your target customer.
• Four questions you should ask every customer after getting them onboard.

Links & Resources

Susan Lindner on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/susanjlindner

Emerging Media: emergingmediapr.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 had the privilege of sitting down with another guest from Lever, his name is Erik Bulichi. Erik is currently a Senior Sales Manager for the corporate segment at Lever, a modern applicant tracking system company. 

Erik started his tech sales career at 8x8, a cloud communications and customer engagement solutions provider located in Santa Clara, California. From there, he found himself at a small startup called DemandForce. 

Erik held a few different leadership roles and exited three years after Intuit acquired the company. Then he found himself back in the startup world, this time it was in the head of sales capacity at Zozi, a booking and resource management solution in the tour and activity space. 

Some of the topics that we discussed in today’s podcast are:

• How Erik and his team build their sales process. 

• “The Buyer’s Journey” - how do we truly create empathy around their situations or problems.

• Marketing qualified leads (MQL) versus sales qualified lead (SQL).

• What constitutes a sales qualified lead.

• How Erik and his team implemented ‘APV’ (always provide value) in their sales process.

• The difference between inbound leads and outbound leads and how to handle them. 

Links and Resources:

Erik Bulichi: http://bit.ly/2GxbSpr

Lever: www.lever.co

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Stitcher | Spotify | iTunes | Soundcloud | SalesQualia.com

Plus, whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your startup…

1. Grab a free copy of my book

It explains the core selling strategies that EVERY startup needs to sell, if you really, really have to and don’t know how…  Click Here

2. Join me on my monthly LIVE Sales Q&A

Every month, I tackle YOUR sales questions on anything and everything sales – Prospecting, Pipeline, Sales Metrics, Buyer Behavior and more…Click here to save your spot and send me your toughest sales question.

3. Work with me and my team privately

If you’d like to work directly with me to take your company from Start Up to Ramp Up to Scale Up, just reply to this message, put “Private” in the subject line, and tell me a little about your business and what you’d like to work on together, and I’ll get you the details! 

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 had the privilege of sitting down with Jonathan Soares.

Jonathan is the founder and CEO of Agency Labs, a powerful and trusted engineering partner that collaborates exclusively with leading digital, creative and ad agency teams globally.

He and his team have delivered more than 600 projects for IBM, Nestlé, eBay, and more, helping some of the world’s leading in-house teams and agencies achieve peace of mind in every aspect of technical production.

Some of the topics that we discussed in today’s podcast are:

• Collaboration versus competition with companies, whether the competition is direct or indirect.

• The idea of being honest and compassionate with your customer's needs.

• Vision versus purpose - balancing where you want to go with your company and what actions can be taken on a day to day basis to reach your goal.

• Practical tips to step away from spreadsheets and growth goals and to become more human when building your business.

• The idea of ‘being human’ when it comes to managing your company as a founder and CEO.

Listen & subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Stitcher | Spotify | iTunes | Soundcloud | SalesQualia.com

Plus, whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you grow your startup…

1. Grab a free copy of my book

It explains the core selling strategies that EVERY startup needs to sell, if you really, really have to and don’t know how…  Click Here

2. Join me on my monthly LIVE Sales Q&A

Every month, I tackle YOUR sales questions on anything and everything sales – Prospecting, Pipeline, Sales Metrics, Buyer Behavior and more…Click here to save your spot and send me your toughest sales question.

3. Work with me and my team privately

If you’d like to work directly with me to take your company from Start Up to Ramp Up to Scale Up, just reply to this message, put “Private” in the subject line, and tell me a little about your business and what you’d like to work on together, and I’ll get you the details! 

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 sat down with Alex Berman. Alex is the chairman and founder of a marketing and lead generation agency called X27. 

Alex is responsible for generating millions in B2B sales for his clients over the course of his career. He also creates weekly YouTube videos to help agency owners grow their businesses and bring in more revenue teaching them how to optimize B2B sales cycles and put inbound marketing strategies in place.

He’s also a former director of marketing at the 60-person, three-time INC 5000 agency in NYC and a YEC member.

Some of the topics that we discussed in today’s podcast are:

• Creating emails that will get you a meeting with top Fortune 500 executives.

• How to craft a good email from subject line to closing, and how to iterate until you get it right.

• Alex’s use of YouTube for lead gen in his own business.

• The 3% Rule - Why you shouldn’t edit your marketing copy or the email template you’ve written. 

• The differences between sales and marketing and why they should be separated in a company.

Links & Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

• x27marketing.com - Qualified lead generation 
• Alex Berman’s Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UCAr7M4Pz-c1WCpIz3YAJQeQ

Listen & Subscribe to The Startup Selling Show Here:

Stitcher | Spotify | iTunes | Soundcloud | SalesQualia.com

As a Startup, if you’re interested in how to solve a problem, how to build a product, and most importantly, how to impact your customers and change your industry, feel free to grab a copy of my recently released book called: “Stop Hustling, Start Scaling: Ramp Up Your Startup’s Repeatable Revenue with The Q Framework”

And, if you’re interested in learning more about Startup Selling, one of the easiest ways for me to help you is to give you a (free) copy of my book called: “Startup Selling: How to Sell If You Really, Really Have To And Don’t Know How.”Just go to www.startupselling.co and you can download your free copyright there.

Thanks so much for listening!

Social Selling Strategies Using LinkedIn, Video & More: An Interview with Autoklose CEO Shawn Finder

In today’s guest episode I had the privilege of sitting down with CEO and Founder Shawn Finder as we discussed the topic “Social Selling Strategies Using LinkedIn, Video & More.”  

Shawn is the CEO and Founder of Autoklose; the first sales email automation platform powered by machine learning. Their searchable database is jam-packed with millions of verified B2B leads. Pick a niche, generate a targeted list, turn autopilot mode on, and you’re done. You don’t have to make cold calls or deal with a gatekeeper anymore. 

In addition, Autoklose is a well-rounded outbound sales platform featuring an automated lead generation software, email drip campaign management tool, and different CRM integrations. 

Some of the topics that we discussed in today’s podcast are:

• Shawn’s background and how he made the transition from finance to sales. 

• How to use social media as part of your outbound outreach and campaigns - specifically LinkedIn

• Content development - How to get more likes, comments, shares, and reviews.

• The importance of being the “Brand” and using the different networks even before using the new automated platforms.

• The right way to use LinkedIn to build your network - starting from sending an invite to interacting with the prospect.

• When the best time to post on your social network is when you have a super busy schedule.

• New and improved software tools and features to promote your business on LinkedIn.

There you have it. Thanks for listening. 

Links & Resources

Find Shawn Finder on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/shawnfinder

Autoklose: autoklose.com

LinkedIn Live on TechCrunch: techcrunch.com/2019/02/11/linkedin-debuts-linkedin-live-a-new-live-video-broadcast-service

Meet Leonard: meetleonard.com

Automate your work on LinkedIn with Linked Helper: linkedhelper.com

Listen & Subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Stitcher | Spotify | iTunes | Soundcloud | SalesQualia.com

Also, if you’re interested in learning more about Startup Selling, one of the easiest ways for me to help you is to give you a (free) copy of my book called: “Startup Selling: How to Sell If You Really, Really Have To And Don’t Know How.”  https://www.startupselling.co

Just go to www.startupselling.co and you can download your free copyright there.

As a Startup, if you’re interested in how to solve a problem, how to build a product, and most importantly, how to impact your customers and change your industry feel free to grab a copy of my recently released book called: “Stop Hustling, Start Scaling: Ramp Up Your Startup’s Repeatable Revenue with The Q Framework”

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.

We have a first in today’s episode! It’s our first returning guest. Joining me on the show today is Marylou Tyler. 

Marylou is the founder of Strategic Pipeline, a Fortune 1000 sales process improvement consulting group. Her client roster includes prestigious companies such as Apple, Bose, AMA, Talend, CIBC, Gartner, Prudential, UPS, Logitech, Orkin, AAA and Mastercard.

Marylou is also an author and a contributor of two #1 bestselling books – “Predictable Revenue” and “Predictable Prospecting.” Both books have sold over 60,000 copies worldwide.

She specializes in optimizing top-of-funnel sales process and implementing predictable new sales opportunity models. Her approach walks clients through a 7-point outreach framework that is part behavioral, part predictive and part creative, which when combined together, yields a persuasive storytelling process for sales outreach.

Here are the highlights of the topics that we covered in today’s episode:

• The Yellow Brick Road Matrix – Selling new products vs. existing products and selling to new clients vs. existing clients.
• Becoming a pleasant and reliable machine as a salesperson, entrepreneur and founder. 
• The five (5) levels of a prospect perception of a problem - starting from “unaware” and going to “extremely aware.”
• The Engagement Pyramid – a process for lead-scoring that shows what to offer your sales leads as the next step in your sales process.
• The importance of disqualifying potential customers that might not be ready to take action with you, and discover the ones that are ready to take action. 
• The Importance of Storytelling in your Sales and the five (5) steps of the story arc.

Show Notes

Marylou Tyler:

• Website: www.maryloutyler.com
• PredictableEDU: https://predictableedu.com

Robert Cialdini:

• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion: www.amazon.com/Robert-B.-Cialdini/e/B000AP9KKG

Nancy Duarte:

• TED - Talks Recommended:
• www.ted.com/talks/nancy_duarte_the_secret_structure_of_great_talks?language=en
• Nancy’s Books: www.duarte.com/books

Chet Holmes

•  The Dream 100 strategy: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol2j3NLguBM
• The Ultimate Sales Machine [book]: www.amazon.com/Chet-Holmes-Turbocharge-Relentless-Strategies/dp/B004S7Y002

Twila Tharp’s book, “The Creative Habit” – www.amazon.com/Creative-Habit-Learn-Use-Life/dp/0743235274

Listen & Subscribe to The Startup Selling Show here:

Stitcher | Spotify | iTunes | Soundcloud | SalesQualia.com

Make sure to grab your free copy of my book – “Startup Selling: How to Sell If You Really, Really Have To And Don’t Know How.”

Just go to www.startupselling.co and you can download a free PDF version of the book.

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.