Ian Altman introduces the connection between high-performing sales professionals and role play. Top performers practice role playing for at least one hour per week, with some dedicating 90 minutes to two hours weekly. Ian explains that regular practice leads to better productivity and performance in sales interactions. He highlights common excuses people give for not embracing role play, such as being better in person with clients. Ian argues that people who feel they perform better in person are kidding themselves and need to embrace role play for improvement. He stresses the importance of getting feedback during role play to avoid making costly mistakes in real client interactions. Ian suggests role-playing different scenarios to prepare for various client situations, reducing pressure and improving confidence. He addresses complaints about repetitive role-playing by introducing the concept of secret cards to add variety and realism. Ian compares the practice habits of top performers in various fields, such as athletes and musicians, to sales professionals. He argues that consistent practice leads to better performance and results in sales. Ian shares success stories from members of his Same Side Selling Academy who practice role play weekly and achieve record results. He encourages listeners to adopt a weekly role-playing routine to see similar improvements in their sales performance.

Biggest Mistakes

• Believing that you perform better in real situations than in role-play.
• Not practicing and making costly mistakes with real clients.
• Always role-playing with the same person, leading to repetitive scenarios.
• Providing unhelpful feedback, either overly positive or overly critical.
• Not practicing regularly or consistently.

Best Practices

• Practice role-playing for at least one hour per week, with top performers doing 90 minutes to two hours weekly.
• Use a “secret card” system to introduce variety in role-playing scenarios.
• Implement a structured feedback system after each role-play session.
• Focus on one key improvement area at a time during feedback.
• Role-play consistently every week throughout the year.

Ian Altman and Tamsen Webster discuss her new book, "Say What They Can't Unhear," which focuses on creating messages that stick and lead to sustained action. Tamsen emphasizes the importance of aligning sales messaging with existing client beliefs and leveraging their desire to be seen as smart, capable, and good. She introduces nine persuasion proverbs, such as "Change isn't just an action, it's a reaction" and "Identity is the greatest influencer," to help salespeople build long-term buy-in. They also discuss the pitfalls of challenging deeply held beliefs and the value of validating clients' initial choices to ensure lasting commitment.

Biggest Mistakes

• Going straight to what we think will be remarkable or sticky without ensuring relevance.
• Focusing on quick action rather than long-term, sustained changes in thinking or behavior.
• Jumping to the solution without understanding why the problem is important to the client.
• Trying to change deeply held beliefs instead of finding stronger, aligned beliefs.
• Making clients feel bad about their past decisions or current vendors.

Best Practices

• Use clients' existing beliefs in your favor rather than challenging them.
• Focus on long-term, sustained changes in thinking or behavior rather than quick action.
• Give clients all the pieces of the story they need to tell themselves why your solution makes sense.
• Articulate your approach in a way that feels universally true to the client.
• Leverage the client's experience and what they know to be true to explain why your product works.

Ian Altman discusses common mistakes in sales presentations, emphasizing that clients often view them as a time to rest rather than a valuable interaction. He suggests setting expectations in advance, focusing on understanding the client’s needs, and using a “Jeopardy board” approach to tailor the presentation to their specific issues. Altman advocates for a consultative approach, where the salesperson aims to solve the client’s problems rather than just presenting their products or services. He highlights the importance of shifting the focus from price to results to achieve better outcomes

Biggest Mistakes

• Walking into a meeting with no expectations set in advance.
• Giving a presentation that focuses on your company, products, and services rather than the client’s needs.
• Including irrelevant information like pictures of your building or number of employees.
• Leaving the PowerPoint presentation up the entire time, encouraging the client to lose focus.

Best Practices

• Set expectations before the meeting, explaining that you’ll spend time asking questions to learn about their situation.
• Use a “Jeopardy board” approach with PowerPoint, only showing relevant slides when topics come up.
• Focus on the client’s problems and how you can solve them, rather than talking about your company.
• Show up as someone who is there to solve, not sell.

Ian Altman emphasizes the importance of identifying and addressing the top obstacles to sales performance, prioritizing opportunities for growth. He advocates for a tailored approach, focusing on specific problems and scenarios, building muscle memory, and developing targeted skills that can be applied broadly across the organization.

Biggest Mistakes

• Trying to do too much, too quickly, which is like trying to boil the ocean.
• Attempting to change every behavior, focus on every nuance, and change the entire process from beginning to end.
• Taking a generalist approach and casting a wide net, which captures a lot of junk along the way.
• Overwhelming salespeople by asking them to apply new approaches in every scenario and situation.

Best Practices

• Focus narrowly on specific areas that will move the needle the most, rather than trying to change everything at once.
• Identify the three biggest areas where the team is getting stuck and focus on fixing those.
• Determine which specific types of opportunities will drive the most growth.
• Ask each salesperson to identify two opportunities per week that fit into the target category and practice the new approach before contacting clients.
• Start with a hyper-specific approach and then gradually expand its application to other scenarios.
• Focus on the problems that you solve for specific types of clients or industries.
• Practice and refine the new approach regularly to build confidence and muscle memory.

Ian Altman shares strategies for optimizing trade show experiences. He emphasizes setting objectives, identifying key attendees, and tailoring booth design and messaging to address attendees' problems. Altman advises against collecting numerous business cards and instead, engaging in meaningful conversations that address the attendees' needs. By prioritizing the attendees' problems, organizations can achieve better results from trade shows.

Action Items

• Update booth design and messaging to focus on top problems solved
• Reach out in advance to known attendees to discuss trends
• Schedule follow-up calls with interested prospects to qualify for fit
• Analyze leads captured to prioritize the subset of folks for in-depth discussions

Next steps

• Set up a time to meet with interested attendees after the trade show.
• Schedule a call the week after the trade show with attendees who expressed interest.
• No specific individuals were assigned responsibility for follow-ups.

Outline

• Focus on specific objectives and goals for trade shows to ensure the best results.
• Engage prospects with industry trends and initiatives to build meaningful connections.
• Focus booth design and messaging on problems solved, not products offered.
• Ask attendees what inspired them to stop by, then tailor the demo to their needs.
• Ian Altman: Focus on solving problems, not selling products.
• Identify ideal clients, gauge interest, and schedule follow-up.
• Avoid demos and ask open-ended questions to understand problems.

Ian Altman emphasizes the importance of understanding why a client's interest in a solution may have waned, and encourages sales professionals to ask the right questions to determine if a problem is significant enough to warrant a solution. He highlights the need to build a business case for investment in a project or solution, providing evidence of attempts at alternative solutions and convincing the client or prospect of the urgency and importance of solving the problem.

Outline

Sales techniques to uncover client needs and prioritize solutions.

• Urgency in sales often leads to pushing clients instead of understanding their priorities.
• Speaker emphasizes importance of asking right questions to determine if a problem is worth solving.
• Speaker advocates for active listening and empathy to build trust and convince clients of solution's value.
• Speaker Ian Altman shares insights on how to address objections and sell to clients effectively.
• Altman encourages listeners to check out the Same Side Selling Academy for valuable resources.

• How EW Motion Therapy Adopted Same Side Selling.
• Saw alignment with company values.
• Differentiation was a big challenge.
• Client Vision Pyramid helped explain service levels.
• Referrals grew 34% year over year.
• Aiming for 30% referral growth this year.

Issues & Risks

• Commoditized market with many competitors.
• Staff didn't see themselves as part of the sales team.
• Difficulty training staff in sales and marketing.

Next steps

• Continue using Same Side Selling Academy.
• Provide staff with Same Side Selling books.
• Conduct regular sales training for all staff.
• Roleplay sales scenarios.
• Submit emails and materials for review.
• Reach out with questions in the Monthly Coach’s Corner in the Same Side Selling Academy.

Questions discussed

• How are you different from competitors?
• How do you explain your service levels?
• What results have you seen from Same Side Selling?
• How easy was Same Side Selling to implement?
• What feedback have you received?
• What's the biggest takeaway from Same Side Selling?

Outline

Adopting Same Side Selling in a physical therapy practice with 6 facilities in Alabama.

• Ethan White, CEO of EW Motion Therapy, shares their experience adopting Same Side Selling for over a year, growing from 2 small rooms to 6 facilities in Alabama.
• Ethan explains how the company's focus on quality care and reputation has led to a mindset shift in their sales approach, aligning with their values of teaching, empowering, and transforming their people.
• The company's reliance on referrals from physicians and athletic facilities created a challenge in aligning their sales process with their values, but the "Same Side Selling" approach has helped to address this issue.

Differentiation in physical therapy market.

• Ethan highlights the challenge of differentiation in a commoditized market, emphasizing the importance of a clear message to convey to referral sources and patients.
• Ethan shares how the "Client Vision Pyramid" has been a valuable tool in explaining the difference between their practice and others in the market, particularly when conversing with physicians.
• Effective care teams with physical therapists and orthopedic groups can yield great results.

Implementing Same Side Selling in a physical therapy business.

• Ethan describes seeing a 34% growth in referrals and a target of 30+% this year since implementing Same Side Selling.
• Ethan highlights the importance of aligning marketing and sales with physical therapy practice, citing a 24-year history of engagement with patients.
• Ethan emphasizes the importance of seeing oneself as a salesperson, not just a healthcare professional, to effectively serve clients and build long-term relationships.
• Ian Altman asks Ethan about the adoption and feedback from their team on the Same Side Selling method, with a focus on the client vision pyramid and concise business case.
• Ethan explains that while the training and roleplaying process can be challenging, investing time and discipline in it has led to better results and a more cohesive approach to sales.

Sales growth and professional development in a healthcare company.

• Ian Altman highlights the importance of asking questions and seeking feedback to improve sales performance.
• Ethan emphasizes the value of self-evaluation and strategic market development in utilizing the Same Side Selling Academy.
• Ethan describes how the company's new approach to sales and marketing has led to significant growth, with a focus on training all staff members in marketing and sales techniques.
• Ethan highlights the importance of having competent and trained staff in all areas, including finance, marketing, and sales, to achieve professionalism and growth.

Using "Same Side Selling" to improve client relationships and results.

• EW Motion Therapy prioritizes helping clients find real solutions to their problems, earning trust and delivering results.
• Ethan highlights the importance of delivering results and being integrity-based in business.

Which subject lines might your audience open in their inbox?

How to come across as subject matter experts, not stereotypical sellers

What is the goal of your cold outreach? Are you trying to get too much, initially?

Where do LinkedIn Polls come into play when it comes to Cold Outreach?

What should be your goal of the discovery meeting? Hint: It's not getting a meeting.

Topics covered:

- Effective follow up after a break like the holidays or when it's been a while since contacting someone

- Two scenarios: after a break, or when they've gone "dark"

- The key is to "disarm" and not make it about selling

- Focus on understanding what issues they wanted to solve originally

- Acknowledge that priorities may have changed and it's okay if they tell you it's no longer a fit

- For cold calls, discuss common issues others in their role/industry face without assuming they have the same problems

- Use the Client Vision Pyramid to understand their current needs and see if you can add value

Answering "What Do You Do?"

In this episode, Ian Altman discusses effective strategies for answering the common question "What do you do?" in networking and sales situations.

Key takeaways:

• Get context first. Before answering, ask a bit about the other person's role or industry. This allows you to frame your answer relevance to them.
• Spark interest. Give an intriguing response that prompts further questions. Ex: "We help law firms keep more of their money."
• Focus on problems you solve. Don't just state what you do. Talk about common struggles you help clients overcome.
• Use the "Uber for X" framework. Describe yourself as the "Uber for [your field]." This simplifies what you do.
• Follow the "entice, disarm, discover" model from Same Side Selling. Share results, deflate sales concerns, and learn about their needs.
• Present yourself as a problem solver, not a salesperson. This builds trust and transparency.

Key Quote:

"See, when you meet somebody, you can either show up as someone who's there to sell something, or someone who is there to solve something. We always want to make sure we're showing up as someone who's there to solve something."

In this week's Same Side Selling podcast, host Ian Altman discusses three important topics: the common trap of ineffective prospect messaging that focuses too much on the seller's perspective rather than solving customer problems; dealing with increased pricing pressure in the current economic climate by keeping conversations focused on results and differentiation rather than price alone; and the consistent practice of an intentional, structured selling methodology that sets apart top sales performers - committing to skills practice for an hour each week is key for salespeople to achieve greater success through polished and disciplined selling techniques.

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Looking for more guidance and support on handling all your B2B sales struggles? You can connect with Ian Altman and learn more about the Same Side Selling Academy through the links below: 

• Linkedin
• X/Twitter
• Website
• Email : [email protected]