Contact management matters, maybe more than you already know. Today’s guest knows it, which is why he goes out of his way to learn and understand even more about the business he’s in on a regular basis. Today, you’ll hear about Jon Ferrara, founder and CEO of Nimble. Listen in to learn more about his history, what Nimble does and how it can help, and some of the many things that Jon knows about CRM and content management.

Episode Highlights:

• History of CRM and contact management
• How long Jon has been running Nimble
• Nimble’s relationship with Microsoft
• Where sales professionals are today
• Tools and processes for building relationships
• Why you need a process for serving others
• Nimble’s discount code: JON40
• How a Twitter comment shifted into LinkedIn, email, and Jon’s calendar
• Working on staying top of mind to prospects, customers, and influencers

Resources: 

Jon Ferrara

Nimble

Word of mouth recommendation has always been an important part of sales. Testimonials are vital. So of course, if you can find a way to leverage customer testimonials in your sales process, you can sell more effectively and close faster. Sam Shepler’s company helps you do just that. Sam is the founder and CEO of Testimonial Hero, and in today’s episode, you’ll learn more about that company and what they do. Listen in to learn why Sam decided to start Testimonial Hero, why video testimonials are so important, and what the Testimonial Hero process is like. 

Episode Highlights:

• Why Sam decided to start a company dedicated to testimonials
• What Sam was doing before Testimonial Hero
• Why Sam specializes in video testimonials
• How COVID changed things for Sam’s company
• What the process is like after testimonials are sent in
• What kicks a service like Sam’s into high gear
• Who can benefit from Sam’s service
• The specific benefits of video
• The process and timeline for Sam’s team
• How listeners can learn more about Testimonial Hero

Resources: 

Sam Shepler

Testimonial Hero

Compelling presentations are always difficult to create, but they’re an essential part of sales. And now there’s something that can help you organize and curate your various slides and get them ready to become a compelling presentation. Today you’re going to hear from James Ontra, the creator of the presentation management platform and communication strategy hub Shufflrr. Learn how Shufflr works, the different ways that it can help, and what inspired James to create Shufflrr in the first place. 

Episode Highlights:

• Whether presentation management is a part of pitch decks
• How things are changing with COVID and how Shufflrr helps
• Why people need a library of slides
• How the speaker notes work
• Getting metrics from slide usage
• How to get started with curating slides
• James’s favorite onboarding experience
• Whether marketing drives the collection of assets
• Getting copies of a presentation
• What inspired James to develop Shufflrr
• How to check out Shufflrr

Resources: 

James Ontra

Shufflrr

What do farming and sales have to do with each other, and why would you want to read a sales book written like an almanac? Today’s guest has thoughts about the connections between harvesting and sales, which is why he wrote the book Revenue Harvest: A Sales Leader’s Guide for Planning the Perfect Year. Listen in to hear more about Nigel’s work, where he gets started with his clients, and why he decided to write his book the way that he did.

Episode Highlights:

• What Nigel does
• What equity-backed means to Nigel
• Nigel’s international clients
• Where Nigel gets started with advising companies
• How well the companies that Nigel works with know their audiences
• How long Nigel works with clients
• What prompted Nigel to put sales advice into a book that reads like an almanac
• The problem with taking a short-term view
• Where to find Nigel online
• Nigel’s six-step hiring process

Resources: 

Nigel Green

Revenue Harvest

In an environment where many, if not most, businesses are suffering, how does a company grow by 300% during a pandemic? Today’s guest made it happen, and he wrote a book about it. Listen in to today’s episode to hear Marylou interview Brandon Bornancin, the entrepreneur who founded Seamless.AI and the author of the soon-to-be-released book Whatever It Takes: Master the Habits to Transform Your Business, Relationships, and Life. Listen in to hear Brandon discuss what happened to prompt him to write his book, how his company grew during the pandemic, and why it’s important to go all out for success. 

Episode Highlights:

• Brandon’s book
• What happened to Brandon that resulted in him writing his book
• What Brandon’s company did to grow 300% in a pandemic
• The daily and weekly rhythms Brandon’s company used to enact their pandemic plan
• The okay-hour system
• Going all out for success

Resources: 

Brandon Bornancin

Whatever It Takes: Master the Habits to Transform Your Business, Relationships, and Life

What is the best way to align sales and marketing for revenue growth? Today’s guest has answers. Darrell Amy is the author of the book The Revenue Growth Engine: How to Align Sales and Marketing to Accelerate Growth. Listen in to hear what Darrell has to say about the importance of processes, the power of interest, and the messaging of sales and marketing alignment.

Episode Highlights:

• What got Darrell interested in writing a book
• The alignment between marking and sales and revenue growth
• The revenue growth engine processes
• The core numbers a business needs to know
• The power of interest
• The messaging of marketing and sales alignment
• How to get a focused message in a large company
• The step by step process outlined in Darrell’s book
• The tools available on Darrell’s website

Resources: 

Revenue Growth Engine

Text “revenue” to 21000

What’s the best way to sell services? How does selling services differ from selling products? How can you convince a prospect that a particular professional service is right for them? Today’s guest is Liston Witherill, and his message is: serve, don’t sell. Listen in to hear what Liston has to say about what “serve, don’t sell” means, what the success path for selling services is, and the four steps that he recommends. 

Episode Highlights:

• Why Liston got into professional services
• The success path for selling services
• What “serve, don’t sell” means
• Understanding that you’re adding value
• Drawing the map
• Understanding clients’ motivation
• Helping people make decisions
• Showing what’s possible
• Which slides should be in your slide deck
• Asking questions that demonstrate that you understand the prospect’s problem
• Case studies and testimonials
• What’s in Liston’s training

Resources: 

Serve Don’t Sell

Modern Sales Podcast

What is authentic persuasion? How do you build a rapport with a prospect? What does empathy have to do with making a sale? These are some of the questions that today’s guest will answer. Jason Cutter is the founder and CEO of Cutter Consulting Group and the author of the book Selling With Authentic Persuasion: Transform from Order Taker to Quota Breaker. Listen in to today’s episode to hear Jason talk about his book, the persuasion framework, and how to blend urgency, empathy, and rapport when talking to a prospect. 

Episode Highlights:

• How Jason came up with the title of his book
• Where to start becoming more authentic and persuasive
• How you add value in sales
• Where Jason was before he got into sales
• The sales success fundamentals that every sales conversation has to have
• The persuasion framework
• Methods for building rapport
• Active listening
• Blending urgency with rapport and empathy
• Finding out why the person wants to buy
• How intangibles factor into the sale
• What authenticity and persuasion have to do with the referral process
• Where listeners can learn more about Jason

Resources: 

Jason Cutter

Cutter Consulting Group

Selling With Authentic Persuasion: Transform from Order Taker to Quota Breaker

What do you know about team selling? What are the advantages to approaching sales from a team position? In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Trish Bertuzzi, founder and CEO of The Bridge Group and author of The Sales Development Playbook. Listen in to hear what Trish has to say about what team selling models look like, what the benefits of the team selling approaches are, and how you can start thinking about team selling as an option in your business.

Episode Highlights: 

• What team selling means
• What a team selling model looks like
• Hybrid roles
• How to start looking at team selling as an option
• Different versions of team selling
• Developing a team sales strategy that makes sense for you
• What account hierarchy looks like
• The continuity of team selling
• What you can learn from being part of a team
• Why you need to think differently about your selling model
• Where sales goes from here

Resources: 

Trish Bertuzzi

The Bridge Group

Following up is a vital part of the sales process that is often overlooked. Are you following up when you should be? What are the best strategies for following up? What method of follow up is most popular – and is the most popular method really the best method? To learn more, listen to today’s episode in which you’ll hear from Jeff Shore, who’s recently released a book geared toward giving you the information that you need to know about the importance of and best practices for follow up.

Episode Highlights: 

• Why Jeff wrote his new book, Follow Up and Close the Sale
• How the book is organized
• What follow up isn’t
• What follow up is for
• How follow up shows customers how much we care
• The strategy of follow up
• Why email shouldn’t be the number one method of follow up
• Jeff’s definition of the lead conversion hour
• How to get immersed in the follow up process
• The story of Bill Porter
• The knee of the curve

Resources: 

Follow Up and Close the Sale: Make Easy (and Effective) Follow-Up Your Winning Habit

Over the years, it’s become more and more obvious that the subscription model is a viable business model for any number of products and services. How can you develop a membership mindset? What can successful subscription models teach you about sales? Today’s guest is the expert on the subject. Listen in to hear from Robbie Kellman Baxter, author of The Membership Economy and the new book The Forever Transaction. In today’s episode, Robbie discusses her background and qualification, what she knows about cultivating good customers, and what listeners can do to get started on a membership mindset. 

Episode Highlights: 

• How Robbie came to be an expert in her subject
• Parallels to the SAAS world in Robbie’s process
• B to C companies vs B to B companies
• How Robbie decided to write her book
• Where to get started with a membership mindset
• Indicators of good customers
• Putting customers on a path to success
• Whether surveys important at looking at where clients are
• Top three things listeners can do to get started
• The difference between customer support and customer success

Resources: 

Robbie Kellman Baxter

The Forever Transaction