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    Conversational Selling

    In today’s world of business, when it comes to picking up the phone, most people hate it and won’t do it. There’s a belief that cold calling doesn’t work. It won’t work if it’s not done consistently. Today’s audience tends to hide behind social media and uses excuses like “there’s no point, customers will be annoyed. They don’t like receiving cold calls”. That is completely false. The truth is emotions are difficult to convey through words in a written email or in digital marketing. Bottom line? Robots will NEVER replace human conversation and emotion. We imagine a time when more sales professionals feel empowered to connect with their clients through personable strategies like picking up the phone, chatting on a video call, or having meaningful in-person meetings. Which will create long-term relationships and stronger customer lifetime value- even if we must persevere through the “no’s” to find the “yes’s”. The Conversational Selling Audience loves learning about the art of communication between human beings which leads to more meaningful connections. These connections drive new business at the right time and keep you top of mind when the prospect is ready to buy. Selling is not just a business skill, it's a life skill. At the end of the day, sales is just about the human connection.
    enNancy Calabrese165 Episodes

    Episodes (165)

    Beate Chelette: The Power of Authority: Strategies and Mistakes

    Beate Chelette: The Power of Authority: Strategies and Mistakes

    About Beate Chelette: Beate Chelette is the Growth Architect and Founder of The Women's Code and provides visionaries and leaders with proven strategies, blueprints, and growth maps that provide clear steps to improve business systems, strengthen leadership skills and teams so that our clients and audiences can maximize profits and scale their impact. Beate is known as a straight shooter, and she can inspire, empower, and overcome adversity. Her super skill is working with unique personalities and big thinkers and building executable systems. A first-generation immigrant with $135,000 in debt as a single parent, Beate bootstrapped her passion for photography into a global business that licensed content in 79 countries. She exited in a multimillion-dollar deal when she sold the company to Bill Gates. She is listed among the "Top 100 Global Thought Leaders" by PeopleHum and "One of 50 Must Follow Women Entrepreneurs" by HuffPost. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Beate.

    In this episode, Nancy and Beate discuss the following:

    • Meaning of "Happy Woman, Happy World"
    • Three essential elements for becoming an authority in one's field
    • Beate's insights on strategically growing authority as an expert, seeking recommendations
    • Common mistakes hindering leaders from expedited authority growth and how to avoid them
    • The role of mindset in achieving success
    • Experience selling a business to Bill Gates

    Key Takeaways:

    • Your strategy must align with your market and your unique expertise.
    • Failure isn't personal; it's an opportunity to reassess and pivot.
    • Your understanding of the problem isn't always the actual problem.
    • Mindset isn't about wishful thinking; it's about decisive action.

    "When we take care of our women who are the mothers to our children, who are the responsible gender for the preservation of the human race, the nurturers, the first thing a child sees when it's born, if we take care of women, the world is probably in a much better place." – BEATE

    "A lot of times when people talk about: "I want to be successful. I want to be an authority". They're unclear about what authority means or have a strategy to become an authority. Let's investigate that an authority is not a celebrity or an influencer. An authority is a subject matter expert. Most of us are not celebrities. Most of us are not influencers we might want to be, but most of us are experts in what we do. Authority building is specific to your expertise. People often get wrong about this because they look at what other people are doing and promising, especially in the internet marketing world. Then, they are not sure why their TikTok videos are not going viral because TikTok is often used for a particular audience. So, if you are an authority with a particular audience that might not be on TikTok, then you can do whatever you want on TikTok, but it'll never take hold as an authority. So, you have to have a strategy in place that is very specific to who you are, what you want to achieve." – BEATE

    "In the actual studies of mindset, the objective is it's not wishing, and it's not dreaming. It's deciding this is what I'm going to do. Then, take action and allow God's birth, the universe, whatever you want to call it, to put the right things in front of you because the path is never what you think it is. A higher power always determines the path. Otherwise, we all be successful, but most people think they know best. We don't. We can decide, but we need to let energy spirit guide us in the direction because we have control over our vibration, not how we get there. We keep making the decisions that we believe get us there. And then, as things happen and unfold, my path has never been exactly as I thought it would be. My path has been completely different. And yet I have gotten to places that I never thought I could get." – BEATE

    Connect with Beate Chelette:

    Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/   

    Connect with Nancy Calabrese:

    April Adams Pertuis: Journey to Storytelling Excellence

    April Adams Pertuis: Journey to Storytelling Excellence

    About April Adams Pertuis: April Adams Pertuis is the visionary Founder and CEO of LIGHTbeamers, helping mission-driven leaders and entrepreneurs discover their inherent ability to reach people by teaching them how to share their stories so they can create deeper connections and build strategic relationships. When April speaks, audiences discover the power of their own story to create more cohesive communities, build stronger relationships, and attract ideal outcomes. The key message is always "everybody has a story," which is a powerful beacon used to shine a light on others. April is also a #1 Bestselling Author of 3 compilation books: Elevate Your Voice, Step Into Your Brave, and Shine Your Light, and a host of the top-rated (top 2 %) Podcast, The Inside Story with April Adams Pertuis in 4th year of weekly production. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about April.

    In this episode, Nancy and April discuss the following:

    • April's expertise in storytelling across various platforms
    • LightBeamers: the origin of her company name
    • Methodology behind crafting a compelling story
    • Significance of storytelling in business and its impact on audience engagement
    • Challenges people face in sharing their stories
    • "Little" stories vs. "Big" traumatic stories

    Key Takeaways:

    • We learn by listening to other people's stories and how they navigated their choppy waters.
    • There is a natural, magical way to share that story in a way that will be light. There are light beamers.
    • You're human, and nobody wants to do business with robots.
    • In the digital age of AI, we will do a lot of business with robots in the future.

    "It's innate in who we are and how we're designed as human beings that storytelling resonates. We tend to learn through storytelling. This is why storytelling has been around since the beginning of time. We can date it back to the caveman days, and that's how they communicated. They documented their existence by painting in the caves and telling a story. And so, stories do just that, right? They help document our existence. We've come a long way since the caveman days, and storytelling is very sophisticated. There are many ways we can utilize storytelling in our communication. We have unlimited ways to do that now in the digital age that we live in. But at the end of the day, it's still just about connecting with another human being and using storytelling to show that we are all kind of alike." – APRIL

    "The number one soft skill that most business owners overlook or disregard altogether. And it's what it is really like. I call it a secret weapon in business. This relates to sales, building an audience, and connecting with future and potential clients and existing clients storytelling; we can go so much further with our businesses if we incorporate more storytelling. What performs well on social media is when people, businesses, and the humans behind the business show up and tell real stories. It's not the marketing, it's not the sales pages, it's not even the beautifully crafted testimonials, although testimonials are a form of storytelling. It's just the human being a human. And so, I always say storytelling is going to be the thing that humanizes your business and will allow you to be seen differently than all the other fish in the water because it will make you unique. This is especially important right now in the world that we're entering with AI because AI cannot reproduce your story. So we're going to be bombarded, we are already being bombarded, and I think there's a place for AI; I'm not poo-pooing it, but we need to be careful not just to use AI, we need to use AI and use storytelling, and when you use storytelling, you're going to be able to infuse your personality, your own set of values kind of what you stand for, your flavor, you know, your personality. And that will help create conversions in your sales and your conversations; it's going to bring more people to you and into your audience. It's going to increase your engagement. All those things that we're all looking for as business owners." – APRIL

    "I'm a big fan of video because you're hearing my voice right now on the podcast. You don't broadcast anywhere on video. So you won't find me on video listening to this episode. But even just the voice, you can hear my voice and the intonation and the way I have inflection. But if you were to see me on video right now, number one, you would see my face. You will see what I look like. You would see my hand gestures because I'm quite animated when I talk, and I use my hands a lot. And I smile, right? I smile, or if I'm feeling something emotional, I might show a little more emotion in my face. And that allows, as human beings, it allows a visual clue as to who we are as people." – APRIL

    Connect with April Adams Pertuis:

    Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/   

    Connect with Nancy Calabrese:

    Craig Lowder: The Role of Technology in Modern Sales Prospecting

    Craig Lowder: The Role of Technology in Modern Sales Prospecting

    About Craig Lowder: Craig Lowder is a Founder and President of the Main Spring Sales Group, a specialized client acquisition consultancy focused on creating significant, predictable, and sustainable sales growth for successful Financial Advisors, Consultants, and Business Leaders, making a 6-7 Figure Income seeking a strategic senior-level sales executive on a part-time, contract basis to develop and execute sales strategy, including sales process development, performance management systems, and ensure sales execution. With a unique blend of foundational sales science & real-world experience, Craig partners with businesses and advisors to transform their sales trajectory, ensuring consistent, measurable growth in every endeavor. Craig has worked with over 50 companies in various industries, from retail to manufacturing, financial services to business services. He has increased first-year annual sales by 22 to 142 percent for every client. Craig is the author of two highly-rated books, Smooth Selling Forever and Trusted Advisor Confidential℠. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Craig.

    In this episode, Nancy and Craig discuss the following:

    • The secret of growing a company to 142%
    • Shift to virtual Selling and digital self-serve
    • Challenges in virtual Selling: Adapting to new technology, maximizing efficiency, and reducing the cost of sales
    • From cold calls to warm introductions: Increasing touchpoints with prospects
    • Overcoming challenges such as wrong people in wrong seats, lack of clearly defined sales metrics, and absence of sales processes
    • Keys to building an effective sales team
    • Importance of ongoing learning, open communication, mentoring, and recognition and reward systems

    Key Takeaways: 

    • We are in a virtual selling and a digital self-serve world; the old days of in-person meetings have gone.
    • The virtual meetings that are being held are shorter and more on point.
    • The definition of cold calling nowadays is getting a list of names and numbers and just banging the phone and calling people.
    • Too many salespeople give up after two or three times, and studies show it may take six or seven outreaches.
       

    "There are a lot of opportunities for enhancement or growth in the company. A lot of it gets down to having a detailed sales growth plan that everyone is following, making sure that there are defined sales processes that everyone follows, which shorten sales cycles, improve conversion rates, making sure that there are sales success standards present, that are activity as well as results-based, and that there are targets which generally increases the level of activity that's taking place, making sure that organizations have an ideal client profile, understanding the difference between a crow and a pheasant. So, they invest their time in marketing, lead generation, and lead conversion on those opportunities that are the best fit for them. And then finally, and most importantly, ensuring that they have the right people in their sales organization in the right seats." – CRAIG

    "The reality is, and I believe I said it in the article, there is absolutely no justification for a cold call. With all the technology available today, whether it's LinkedIn, the focus of prospecting should be on getting introduced to the individual in the organization we're targeting to warm up the call. So, there's a likelihood that an individual will either return your call or respond to an email. I would say it continues because of the amount of, and I hate to say it, noise that's out there digitally. If you remember back when you and I were doing this several decades ago, the studies were showing it took, you know, six to seven interactions for you to begin to develop a level of trust. Today, because of all that noise out there, it's taking twice that number of touches before somebody's willing to trust you. So, I think that the trend is that we need to be in more frequent touch with our prospects. The conversations, the emails need to be shorter with a very defined agenda and take a waypoint for the listener, the reader." – CRAIG

    "In my book, Smooth Selling Forever, I outline 12 reasons why significant predictable and sustainable sales growth will not happen unless you overcome 12 challenges. The top four include the wrong people in the wrong seats. We know that in a virtual selling environment, the role definitions, the makeup of the sales team's skill sets, and experience have changed. Third was not having clearly defined sales metrics, activities, and results. The focus is typically on the results, but we must understand that results are lagging success indicators. We really need to determine the leading indicators of success, which are activities, their calls, their opportunities discovered, proposals or quotes that go out the door, and how healthy our sales funnel is, just at a very basic level. The second of the top four are no defined sales processes. I'm a firm advocate that you need to have clearly defined sales processes, which are technically the documentation of best practices of those responsible for the Selling. And there are at least three, if not more. One, new customer, new project. Two, existing customers, new project. And it could be upsold, cross-sell. The third is renewals or, re-business or reorder business. And they all have different paths that require different steps and may involve different people. But the bottom line in building sales processes is that the sales process needs to be congruent with your target audience's buying process." – CRAIG

     

    Connect with Craig Lowder:

    Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/
      

    Connect with Nancy Calabrese: 

    Mike Ulmer: A Guide to Storytelling Success

    Mike Ulmer: A Guide to Storytelling Success

    About Mike Ulmer: Mike Ulmer is CEO of Catapult Bookwriting and the author of books about business, hockey, Canada, and leadership. Mike's company, Catapult Bookwriting, has published Unapologetic Leadership by Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng, Drop the Mic Marketing by Jason Hunt, Show and Tell Writing: A Great Short Business Book About How to Write A Great Short Business Book by Mike Ulmer, The Myth-Guided Mind: Unleash Your God-Given Genius At Work And At Home by Michael Hynes, The 50 Year-Old Millenial by Marc Petitpas and The 40 Ways Of The Fox by Ron Foxcroft. He has written for three wire services: the Thomson News Service, Southam News, and The Canadian Press. His work has appeared in Chill: The Beer Magazine, Saturday Night Magazine, and in a compendium of sports Stories called The Way It Looks From Here (2004 Knopf), edited by Steven Brunt. Mike's book M is for Maple is, the bestselling alphabet book in Canadian publishing history. He has appeared in front of 20,000 elementary school students across Ontario and Alberta to talk about writing and everything Canadian. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Mike.

    In this episode, Nancy and Mike discuss the following:

    • Mike's three-step formula for writing a book: Proposition, Backstory, Recommendations
    • Importance of a book for business growth and personal branding
    • The power of a book as a marketing tool and credibility builder
    • Advice on starting the book-writing process with personal storytelling
    • Tips on daily writing goals and word counts
    • Views on deadlines and their effectiveness in book writing

    Key Takeaways: 

    • Podcasting, blogging, and books form the Holy Trinity of communication.
    • A book provides a 24/7 representation of your expertise.
    • The key is honesty and vulnerability.
    • People invest their time when they read your book; honor that.

       

    "Because when you write a book, people are just so impressed. And I've been living off that for about 30 years. So, I'm going to tell you it's true. There's a disproportionate amount of prestige when you write a book. So, it's really a great thing for a business. And if you're the only person telling your story, then you're the only story that counts." – MIKE

    "If you want to write the book, we can coach you and all that stuff. We can help you do that for a very reasonable cost. But if you want to just do it by yourself, that's okay too. We also do that if you want us to write the book for you. But to answer your question, I don't know if everyone can write a book, but everyone can figure out who they are, what they are, and why they do it." – MIKE

    "If you feel that your story is not worth telling, someone has gotten in your ear and lied to you because everyone has a compelling story. I make a living finding them. And that's probably not going to be Jermaine to the hundreds and thousands, not hundreds, but thousands of people listening to your podcast. But here's what is Jermaine. That person who told you haven't got a story worth listening lied to you. Right. And that person should be consigned to the seventh circle of hell because people carry around that lie and build their beliefs on top of that thing. It's like a faulty foundation. All you're trying to do is build a good house, but if someone leaves you with that terrible foundation, you'll never have a great house. Whoever told you you couldn't write a book lied to you. Everyone can do it." – MIKE

     

    Connect with Mike Ulmer:

    Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/
      

    Connect with Nancy Calabrese: 

    John Lester: Psychology, Mindset, and Success in Sales

    John Lester: Psychology, Mindset, and Success in Sales

    About John Lester: John Lester is the Founder of Attitude Selling, helping struggling organizations and salespeople become sustainable revenue creators. Throughout his career, John has been acknowledged as a transformational leader, specializing in revitalizing underperforming organizations. He possesses a deep understanding of opportunity development, excelling in identifying and seizing market opportunities to accelerate expansion and boost revenue through fostering collaborative partnerships, strategic connections, and new market segmentation. Having managed extremely large and complex accounts, John understands the importance of delivering quality, consistent service. He exhibits a unique talent for root-cause analysis, swiftly pinpointing the core issues clients face and articulating them effectively while establishing optimal courses of action. He recognizes that business is ever-evolving. John's observations underscore the critical importance of aligning the organization along the "lead to satisfied customer" continuum for achieving large-scale, repeatable success in sales. John is also the author of "Winning the Inner Game of Sales: The Foundation of Success is Mindset." Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about John.

    In this episode, Nancy and John discuss the following:

    • John Lester's background and expertise in sales
    • Sales as an art and the importance of human connection
    • Challenges in sales and the impact of mental models
    • The importance of understanding buyers and their psychology
    • Difficulties solopreneurs face in sales
    • Explanation of Attitude Selling and its focus on mindset
    • The Sales Mastermind program and its purpose

    Key Takeaways: 

    • Good salespeople help others achieve their dreams, goals, and objectives.
    • All these mental models are in your head, and until you get them out, they won't work.
    • Wait a minute, if the person asks about price, wouldn't it be worth figuring out why they're asking about price right away instead of pushing that conversation away?
    • You're not going to make progress if you don't get pushed.
       

    "Sales is so amazing for a couple of reasons. One is because it is not a science as much as it's an art. It is not practical as much as it's human. And what you're really dealing with in sales is human behaviors and human emotions. You can't predict any of that. And that makes it so much fun. But the other thing that's so amazing about sales is that good salespeople help other people achieve their dreams, their goals, their objectives." – JOHN

    "I would say the biggest misconception about the role of selling is that the seller needs to go, "Excuse me, but beat the living daylights out of the buyer into submission." All right? Don't. Stop. All right? It doesn't work. But there's so many. Sellers are told and taught, and hopefully not that much anymore, but told and taught that the buyer is uninformed, buys on price, and knows what they want. Stop! They were wrong, okay? The buyer buys because they think it's a good deal. No, none of its true. None of its true. They all come into play, but none of its true." – JOHN

    "Great question, but it's natural, and I want all the solopreneurs listening to take a deep breath. The solopreneurs, for the most part, start a business because they have some kind of expertise. Usually, it's technical expertise, some kind of subject matter that they know about, whether it's a physician, a psychologist, or a plumber. They go, "Hey, I want to deliver that expertise." So, they understand their expertise, and again, this goes back to what I said in the very beginning: their expertise is a technical, definable offering. But the decision to buy their expertise is not technical; it's not definable; it's human; it's behavioral. And so, they're operating at this technical level, which is fine. Still, in order to sell, they have to change who they are to a certain extent and operate at the human level, and operate at the—I will say—political, not in the sense that everybody thinks of political, but political from the perspective of interaction. They're not used to doing that. I mean, I don't know how many schools in the country at any level offer such courses on how to come to an agreement, how to read another person. I don't know anybody who does, but you need those things. We have lots of classes on accounting." – JOHN

     

    Connect with John Lester:

    Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/
      

    Connect with Nancy Calabrese: 

    Chet Lovegren: The Prescription for Successful Selling

    Chet Lovegren: The Prescription for Successful Selling

    About Chet Lovegren: Chet Lovegren is the Founder & Head Sales RX'er of The Sales Doctor, a company that helps clients prevent their revenue bleed from archaic training, coaching, and implementation practices. After working for 7+ years as an individual contributor, Chet started The Sales Doctor in 2020 as a way for salespeople and sales leaders to take a 'prescriptive' approach to diagnose and solve problems in their go-to-market strategy. Since then, he's helped companies raise over $100M in VC Funds and seen over 125 professionals perform at their best, get promoted, and achieve their true earning potential. His foundations and teachings are a combination of his 11+ years in the go-to-market space, both as a seller and leader. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Chet.

    In this episode, Nancy and Chet discuss the following:

    • Importance of prescriptive approach in sales
    • Comparison of sales strategies to medical diagnosis
    • Significance of onboarding for new sales reps and managers
    • Use of technology in improving hiring processes
    • Importance of measuring performance and engagement
    • Strategies for identifying and nurturing future leaders
    • Advice on managing and leading sales teams

    Key Takeaways: 

    • 90% of what I do is an aggregate of all the information I've taken in, eaten the fish, and spit out the bones.
    • Try a lot of things and see what works best for you.
    • The forgetting curve: within 30 days, we forget 87% of what we learned.
    • Empathy does not mean a lack of accountability.
       

    "I like to use the idea of prescriptive because if you're a doctor and you are doing it right, it's not a one-size-fits-all all. And the best doctors who have done the most critical work in saving lives have dug deep into the core problems, not solving for symptoms. But why are these symptoms happening? Because you think about if you have a fever, you're gonna have similar symptoms as if you have a cold, their shared symptoms across certain problems or diagnoses, right? And my favorite saying is a doctor who provides a diagnosis without examination is guilty of malpractice. I think many LinkedIn gurus do this, but many sales teams do it for their opportunities and customers. And if we want to be transparent, honest, value-driven salespeople, let's walk the walk and not just talk the talk. And so, you have to dig deep into what's the problem that my customer thinks they have, what's the problem I know they have because I'm the subject matter expert, what's the gap in that way of thinking, and how can I get them to think, not understand my point of view critically? You know, we're in politics season, and I'm sure everybody's watching all these debates going on." – CHET

    "Yeah, I think one of the best ways to do this is with software. I'm not one to typically plug software, but there's a tool called Yardstick. Founder Lucas Price has built this incredible tool that helps increase the collaboration between hiring managers, department heads, and maybe individual contributors who are also interviewing people for the role and helps them collaborate in real time so that they have a foundation once that new hire starts to be able to go back and measure, do we have who we thought we had? This way, you can essentially know who you have faster, know if they're the person you hired, and if they're not, work with your HR team to get them out of the seat and get somebody in who will be. Because that's the unfortunate thing." – CHET

    "I'm okay accepting no when making 50 cold calls a day. You want to make 20 cause that's what's comfortable for you, and you can do that because you're sending more video messages and doing much more personalized email outreach, and it works for you; that's great. Cause I have another rep who can't convert anything via email, but they're fantastic on the phone. And so, I say, if it's working for you, prioritize that. Do we want to try to upscale you on cold email writing? Sure, but if you're booking 20 appointments monthly to make a hundred cold calls a day, I'm not opposed to that. You're hitting your number, which might be what you're good at. And so, I do want to make you better at cold email writing if there are gaps that I recognize, but there's a whole bunch behind that with email deliverability that might've also happened with that gentleman. So, I think it'd be okay with no, but expect why. And remember that empathy does not mean a lack of accountability; you're not a bad person if you want to instill some accountability in your process. Still, you must pull back the books, use a data-driven leadership model, and show people why accountability is in place. And don't manage to the bottom 20% of people who don't want to be at your org anyway. Stop making rules and things that they must follow. Make rules and processes and accountability for the 80% because all you do when you're reactive, and you manage to the bottom 20% is the other 80% of people that want to be there feel like they're getting squeezed out and they quit, and they go take $5,000 a year to work somewhere else." – CHET

     

    Connect with Chet Lovegren:

    Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/
      

    Connect with Nancy Calabrese: 

    Manuj Aggarwal: Embrace AI for the Future

    Manuj Aggarwal: Embrace AI for the Future

    About Manuj Aggarwal: Manuj Aggarwal is the Chief Technology Officer of TetraNoodle Technologies, a company he founded in 2000 that provides startups with technology consulting and ongoing education. Manuj started as a factory worker in India, earning $2/day, and ended up in the boardrooms of Fortune 500 companies in Canada and the USA. Located in Vancouver, Canada, TetraNoodle has served clients ranging from startups to large corporations. They are focused on empowering businesses with Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities. They are an end-to-end service provider for all AI and technology solutions. They do whatever it takes to enable AI capabilities for your organization. Whether building data engineering pipelines, enabling cloud migration, developing data products to validate AI models, or performing QA, they provide the full spectrum of services necessary to succeed in your AI plans. They work with three kinds of customers: Early-Stage Startups that want to embed AI into their products, Small and Medium Businesses that cannot have their own AI teams, and Large Enterprises that need AI expertise to guide their teams. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Manuj.

    In this episode, Nancy and Manuj discuss the following:

    • Manuj's background in technology and AI
    • The concept of data being the new oil and AI being the new engine
    • How AI can be both beneficial and potentially harmful, depending on its use
    • The overlap between technology and human psychology
    • The need for businesses to embrace technology, particularly AI, to stay competitive

    Key Takeaways: 

    • Data can now be converted into dollars.
    • You can create powerful solutions once you understand how to utilize data and use AI to crunch big numbers.
    • AI is a tool to help you be creative faster.
    • We are entering a vast new era of a new way of doing work. Every company is going to be a technology company moving forward.

       

    "The world always values useful resources. So, we consume oil. That's a very valuable resource. We consume food. All kinds of materials that we consume are resources. And people who own that resource can charge money for it. Now, if you look at platforms like Facebook or Twitter, they are, or even Google, giving away everything for free. You can use most of the Google products for free, Facebook for free, and Twitter for free. So, how are these companies making so much money? Yeah, by advertising based on the data that they collect on you." – MANUJ

    "Yeah, every business grows based on a few factors. One is whether they have a great team managing the business. Another one is whether they have good brand credibility in the market. Another one is whether customers are coming in regularly into their storefront or what have you. All of these take a massive amount of skill and energy. You need to find trained people, experienced people. But imagine if you could use AI to supplement their capabilities. So, let's say if you have a team of five people and use AI to double their productivity in the next 30 days, right? That means your business will grow double within the next 30 days." – MANUJ

    "See, the thing is that AI is analyzing data and recognizing patterns in that data. So, our world is complex. So, I'll give you an example. So, let's say a child, a 10-year-old child, touches a hot stove. They will know that they shouldn't touch it next time because it will hurt. So, our mind has learned one data point. And it has become intelligent now that this is the wrong action to take. But let's say that child is in the middle of Antarctica, and they are wearing heat-resistant gloves, and it's really chilly out there. And now they touch the stove, it will feel warm and pleasant, not hot. So now their mind is learning that, OK, even there are variations of this situation. So, if the parameters are correct, it may be OK to touch the hot stove. Right? Yeah, so our mind collects this data and then understands these patterns. But let's say extrapolate that to large problems like climate change or finding a cure for cancer or anything like that. There are millions and millions of parameters involved in that." – MANUJ

     

    Connect with Manuj Aggarwal:

    Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/
      

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    Chris Weiher: Leveraging Video for Business Growth

    Chris Weiher: Leveraging Video for Business Growth

    About Chris Weiher: Chris Weiher owns CLEAVER Creative, which produces high-quality videos to get clients' ideas out into the world. They believe that now there is more need than ever to own and understand the value of effective video marketing, and they seek to not only tell the client's story but make sure your audience hears, sees, and feels it. Chris started his career directing and producing short films before founding CLEAVER Creative in 2013. He grew the company by creating animation videos for companies including Accenture, Salesforce, and SAP. In 2019, before the pandemic struck, Chris discovered significant organic traction by creating videos on LinkedIn. Since then, he's been helping businesses develop their video strategies through B2B videos on LinkedIn to grow their brands authentically. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Chris.

    In this episode, Nancy and Chris discuss the following:

    • The importance of video in the modern sales world
    • Starting your way in video marketing
    • First video creation suggestions 
    • The most beneficial places to post videos
    • Chris'es recommendations of mixing personal and professional topics to engage viewers
    • Why should your dress code match the style of ideal clients

       

    Key Takeaways: 

    • The hardest part for most people is to try and get started.
    • LinkedIn is still the best place to post business-related content and videos.
    • I think where people go wrong with video is they want it to be perfect because we want to be seen as perfect.
    • You must continue to be creative and think of other things, but that can be as easy as just going into your living room and filming a video there: it's not rocket science.

     

    "So, a really easy way to get started is to write out 10 FAQs, frequently asked questions, that you receive from your prospective clients. And then 10 questions you don't get asked, but you wish somebody would, you wish someone would say. Well: "Why do I need to be using your service?" That's often a question that people don't come to me with because, by the time we're talking, they know they want to use video, but they don't ask why. And those frequently unasked questions are a good place to start because it gives you a chance to speak your mind about things that people aren't asking you but are very important, and you want to tell them." – CHRIS

     

    "I recommend one video a week. There's a lot of folks out there that are in the social media game that are saying you need to have something out every single day. I totally disagree with that. For most people, it will burn out your audience, and they will ignore you. If you are a real B2B company, one video a week is plenty for people to see your face, see you. It's just like going to a networking event. You don't go every day; you go once a month or weekly. And then you want to have some other supplemental material you're also putting out. That could be an article, that could be newsletters, or it could be other kinds of posts to supplement that video. But for some of my clients, they really were doing one, one of my newest clients, he's doing a video a week, and he's already getting referrals from that." – CHRIS

    "Technology is moving very quickly. That said, the human component will be the hardest thing to replace. And if you can leverage video as a part of your communication strategy, I think that element is never really going to be fully replaced, but it will be supplemented, I think, by AI." – CHRIS

     

    Connect with Chris Weiher:

    Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/
      

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    Tim Fitzpatrick: Accelerating Business Growth with Marketing Tips

    Tim Fitzpatrick: Accelerating Business Growth with Marketing Tips

    About Tim Fitzpatrick: Tim Fitzpatrick founded Rialto Marketing, which provides marketing consulting, advisory, and outsourced or part-time marketing executive services. They help B2B professional service firms grow faster without the commitment or cost of a full-time executive. Tim achieves this by identifying and removing revenue roadblocks in three key marketing areas: Strategy, which serves as your fuel; Planning, your marketing vehicles; and Leadership, the driver behind it all. Aligning these three elements is crucial for accelerating your revenue growth. Tim tends to work with growth-focused B2B professional service firms like MSPs, IT consultants, cybersecurity firms, business consultants, accountants/tax advisors, attorneys, insurance brokers, etc. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Tim.

    In this episode, Nancy and Tim discuss the following:

    • Tim's journey from a mathematics major to entrepreneurship in marketing
    • The common pitfalls businesses face in wasting time and money on marketing due to information overload
    • Why having a narrow target market is crucial for effective marketing
    • Insights on the frequency and value of marketing messages
    • The benefits of 90-day planning cycles over year-long plans.

       

    Key Takeaways: 

    • I will be the first person to tell you from a marketing standpoint that it is about testing: there is a lot of marketing you will do that will not work.
    • I am a huge proponent of narrowing your market.
    • The Revenant Roadblock Scorecard is a self-assessment and takes less than five minutes.
    • How can you expect to consistently convert leads if you don't have a sales process?

    "There are several reasons why people are wasting time and money on marketing. In my opinion, what happens with marketing most of the time is that people battle information overload. There are so many different marketing channels and tactics within those marketing channels today. We're just like, where do we even start? And what most people do is jump right to tactics. I need to have a website. I need to have a YouTube channel or a podcast, or I need to be on Facebook. We just immediately jumped to acting. But when we do that, we're skipping strategy. And the way I think about strategy is strategy is like fuel. The marketing tactics, the channels, those are vehicles. And when we jump right into the vehicle with no fuel, we all know how well that's going to work, right? " – TIM

    "Too many businesses do not have a firm handle on their ideal clients. And because they don't have a firm handle on who their ideal clients are, their message to the market sucks. You can't create a message that will attract and engage people until you know who the heck you're trying to attract and engage. Without those two elements in place, it is very difficult for your marketing to work consistently and, frankly, for you to know why it's working. Because most people are just throwing the spaghetti up against a wall, hoping it sticks. So, if we can take a step back and invest the time in strategy and then go back to the marketing vehicles, it's going to work much better, it's going to be more effective, and you're going to experience much more consistent, repeatable results with it." – TIM

    "the pandemic is a perfect example of this. If you had a year-long marketing plan that you had put in place at the beginning of 2020, come March, that plan either went into a drawer or you lit it on fire. Because here's why I don't like yearlong plans. One, there is no year-long plan. And this goes with marketing. It goes with any other planning you're doing for your business. In my opinion, year-long plans are the same at the end as they were at the beginning. They change, and they change quickly. And what tends to happen with year-long plans is they become very complex. There are too many moving pieces, and complexity is the enemy of results. We need to keep things simple. And when we can keep them simple, we have a much higher likelihood of effectively implementing and executing them. And if it's going to change quickly anyways, why take the time?" – TIM

    Connect with Tim Fitzpatrick:

    Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/
      

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    Mike Bosworth: The Power of Story in Sales

    Mike Bosworth: The Power of Story in Sales

    About Mike Bosworth: Mike Bosworth is the author of three books on selling, a keynote speaker on sales, marketing, and leadership, and in his later years, enjoys being known as a 'sales philosopher.' Mike's passion is helping people land the job of their dreams, assisting salespeople in exceeding their goals, and supporting their families. He enjoys leading experiential workshops on sales and leadership. Mike began his career in the information technology industry in 1972 on the Help Desk for Xerox Computer Services. He was their top new business salesperson in 1975, managed the "Branch of the Year" in 1979, and was promoted to Manager of Field Sales in 1980. Mike founded his Solution Selling business in 1983. Mike has a B.S. in Business Management and Marketing from California State Polytechnic University. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Mike.

    In this episode, Nancy and Mike discuss the following:

    • The science of selling through emotional connection
    • Why most people do not like salespeople
    • The importance of asking for permission to tell the story
    • The science behind storytelling for sales success 
    • Leveraging the psychology of storytelling in sales conversations 

    Key Takeaways: 

    • The authentic secret sauce of connecting with strangers is a 60-second customer hero story.
    • When you're in sales, that's like original sin.
    • No matter how good your story is, you can't go up to a stranger and start telling even a 60-second story: you must get permission.

    "The biggest problem large organizations with lots of salespeople have been trying to solve for the past 40 years that I've been a sales trainer is that 20% of the people sell 80% of the business. And that top 20%, the real difference—and it took me years to figure this out—is that they have an intuitive ability to connect and build trust quickly with strangers emotionally. So, my mission as a sales trainer for all these years has been to help the bottom 80%, the people who are not natural intuitive trust-building connectors, help them feed their families, buy a house, and send their kids to college. And when you go into the enterprise sales range, for instance, in the mid-90s, in my Solution Selling organization, we trained 15,000 IBM salespeople. " – MIKE

    "So, if you think about it, most people will not admit a problem to someone they don't trust, so the story creates an emotional connection and enough trust that they could risk sharing their problem. And once they share a problem, they go from suspect to prospect." – MIKE

    "The best salespeople I've known over the last 40 years rarely have to close because their EQ, their emotional intelligence, is so high, and they're willing to help the buyer buy rather than try and "sell" them something, and people love to buy. Human beings hate to feel sold to, but they love to buy. So, the very best salespeople rarely must close because they're so good at facilitating the buying. So smart companies, when they hire new salespeople, they don't teach them about the product; they teach them how their customers use the product." – MIKE

     

    Connect with Mike Bosworth:

    Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/
      

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    Nate Morse: LinkedIn Strategies for Business Growth

    Nate Morse: LinkedIn Strategies for Business Growth

    About Nate Morse: Nate Morse founded the APEX Conversion System, a company dedicated to helping industry leaders generate high-quality leads on LinkedIn. Apex's mission is to assist those with valuable offerings who struggle to find and attract the right clients. They have a three-phase approach that begins with a discovery phase, where they identify the client's values and target audience. Nate's experience in the online world has taught him that understanding the buyer's journey can significantly impact lead generation. Apex Conversion System works with coaches, consultants, agencies, nonprofits, and financial advisors who offer high-ticket products or services. Nate has also authored a book, "The LinkedIn High Ticket Handbook," which guides optimizing LinkedIn profiles and building an audience for conversion. This book is a valuable resource for individuals who know they should be on LinkedIn but need help getting started and making their profiles stand out. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Nate.

    In this episode, Nancy and Nate discuss the following:

    • APEX's approach to helping industry leaders generate high-quality leads
    • Identifying ideal clients and standing out on LinkedIn
    • Why is it that some businesses thrive on LinkedIn and others are lost
    • The importance of relevancy and personalization in messaging
    • Rating clients based on various criteria to identify the best fit
    • Optimizing profiles and avoiding brochure-like content
       

    Key Takeaways: 

    • The Better Client Blueprint is a process we go through, and we have clients rate their current clients based on different criteria.
    • On LinkedIn, we're not playing the quantity game.
    • The number one reason businesses fail statistically is the lack of market research.
    • When trying to build genuine, lasting relationships on LinkedIn, most people underestimate the initial reason they're reaching out.
       

    " So when we talk about industry leaders, I want to ensure that that's defined because we want to look more at the revolutionary aspects. So, they're leading an impact inside the market. And those are the people that their clients, the clients they get, essentially decide what the business creates and turns into—figuring out who is the best client we should be going for. And then what we help them do, once we've helped them figure that out, is find those that are in the market right now and how to stand out versus all the other competition that's trying to go after those ideal clients. So, we do that through LinkedIn. " – NATE

    "When I was younger, I did door knocking. I knocked on a lot of doors for door-to-door sales and cold calling. In both of those, I noticed that if I knew something about the person I was talking to, there was a way higher chance that they would listen to me because of a genuine relationship. But if I was just approaching them and trying to give them, you know: "Hey, here's the offer," then no matter how good the offer was, it never really hit because it was like approaching someone in a dating scenario and being like, the first thing you say is like: "Hey, here's all the reasons that we should get married." It doesn't matter if you're a good fit or not; that initial building of it must happen. Then we went, okay, how do we help people do this at scale without having to door knock or cold call? That's where we ended up on LinkedIn because we can add a connection note, and we can reach out directly to their ideal clients and make sure their profile is optimized, make sure their messaging converts highTop of FormBottom of Form." – NATE

    "I think that you're doing, everybody's doing acquisition. They're trying to get new clients, but they need to take a step back and look at and evaluate their current clients and the clients that are getting to see like: "What's the actual impact that you can act strategically versus reactively?". Whether you're on LinkedIn or doing, you know, Facebook or whatever clients you get are, are super important. So before going out there and wanting to be like, Hey, I just need to get clients focused on getting like, okay, who's the right client? What's the impact they're going to have on my culture? All of this, and then when you have that down, everything that you do from there is going to be much more relevant to them, and most likely, even your energy about who you're going after is going to change in other areas of your business." – NATE

    Connect with Nate Morse:

    Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/
      

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    Malina Poshtova Delamere: Sailing to Success in the Sales World

    Malina Poshtova Delamere: Sailing to Success in the Sales World

    About Malina Poshtova Delamere: Malina Poshtova Delamere is the Founder and President of Vida Rose Coaching Solutions, a leading executive coaching practice for women whose business, career, and life are in growth mode. Trained and certified by the Center for Executive Coaching and the Fowler International Academy of Professional Coaching, Malina is a Certified Executive Coach, Certified Professional Coach, and Certified Disaster Recovery Coach. She is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School and a member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF). A former Fulbright Scholar, Malina holds Master of Arts degrees from New York University (Journalism) and St. Kliment Ohridsky University of Sofia, Bulgaria (English Philology). Malina's coaching practice helps people - leaders, entrepreneurs, team builders - to achieve goals, accelerate growth, solve problems, move forward, and drive change.Malina is a lifelong learner. She is fluent in English, Bulgarian, and Russian and nearly fluent in French. In 2019, Malina learned to sail; Vida Rose is the name of her yacht. Sailing has taught Malina much about leadership, teamwork, trust, resilience, and creative problem-solving. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Malina.

    In this episode, Nancy and Malina discuss the following:

    • Malina's position in coaching primarily women
    • The difference in coaching a woman versus a man
    • Why Adventure Makes People Better Leaders
    • Malina's belief that opportunities often come in disguise
    • Success is an attitude
    • How sailing and the sales world are connected

    Key Takeaways: 

    • Women tend to be more creative but slightly hindered by limiting beliefs.
    • You're not just a woman leader; you're a leader! Period!
    • You never know where your next opportunity is going to come from.
    • You can overcome your biggest fears with the right team in the right circumstances.
    • When you meet someone, listening to their story and looking for connecting points is important.

     

    " My dream job is to coach women. And here's why. Obviously, as a woman myself, I have been there. I have experienced the challenges of professional women, be they business owners, be they on the corporate career track, or entrepreneurs; I've been there, I've done it, I've felt it, I've learned a lot of lessons that I love to share with my clients to help them succeed. As a woman, I am deeply invested in women's success. And I've also had a lot of practice in my 20 years of corporate experience and corporate leadership experience. I coached a lot of men. So I also have the other side's view, if you will. And that is a very helpful perspective." – MALINA

     

    "Growth mode is my way of saying you are ambitious, you have goals, and perhaps you need a little bit of help to get you there, or you need an accountability partner or a sounding board to check your decisions. But you are a woman on a mission who wants to succeed, whether in private practice, a corporate career, or as a business owner, and you have very specific goals. At least I can help you clarify and get those goals. So it's not just I want to start a business and grow it; it's more you know I want to start it within the next three, six, 12, 18 months. My goal is to achieve X in my first year and Y in the second year. X and Y could be monetary targets, revenue targets, the size of your team, and how many employees you want to have. I wanna grow my business to where I get to sell it to a larger corporation Top of FormBottom of Form." – MALINA

    "My unique idea is that adventure makes people better leaders. When you put someone very comfortably and safely out of their comfort zone. For example, I own a small yacht and take my clients sailing. It's not about the sailing. It's about being out on the water, making fast decisions, being aware of the situation, being in a small space with other people, and learning how to communicate with them clearly and impactfully set a strategy, for example, going back to the sailing. Depending on which way the wind blows, it may take you a longer time to get to your destination or a longer time to get back. And it would help if you kept that in mind when planning. Where are you going? Do you have enough time to get there? Do you have enough time to get back? What if changes or the current? What if there's other shipping traffic all around you? On my boat, which is fantastic, I have two helms and two wheels to drive the boat side by side. So, I like to put clients on one side. It's perfectly safe because a qualified captain is holding the other wheel or is standing by at the other wheel. But you put someone who wants to be a leader on a boat with six other people and tell them, hey, you've never driven a boat before; six other people's lives depend on you, drive. Yes, exactly. It's a very safe and controlled environment. But on the other hand, it puts you out of your comfort zone, and it challenges you to make fast decisions, to look all around, to be aware of what's going on." – MALINA

    Connect with Malina Poshtova Delamere:

    Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/
      

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    Nicolas Toper: From Spam to Glam: Mastering Email Deliverability

    Nicolas Toper: From Spam to Glam: Mastering Email Deliverability

    About Nicolas Toper: Nicolas Toper is the Co-founder at Inboxbooster. His mission is to help email senders achieve better deliverability and avoid spam filters. With over 15 years of experience in web development, email technology, and cloud computing, he is passionate about creating innovative and scalable solutions for online communication. Before launching Inboxbooster, Nicolas founded and led CritSend, the first SMTP relay service that guaranteed email success. He also invented Pilo, a renewable energy battery that recharges when shaken. Nicolas holds multiple patents and certifications in computer science, and he graduated from Y Combinator and the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers. Fluent in French, German, and English, he enjoys sharing his insights and learnings in his newsletter. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Nicolas.

    In this episode, Nancy and Nicolas discuss the following:

    • Nicolas' story of getting into this business
    • Practical tips for email senders to achieve better deliverability and avoid spam filters
    • How to avoid getting important emails to spam
    • Gmail and Outlook practical insights
    • How long does it take to correct spam issues?
    • Why do emails from the same sender intermittently shift between my inbox and spam folder?

    Key Takeaways: 

    • Ten years ago, sending emails was straightforward with clear rules, but today, it's a complex and unclear landscape, creating a significant challenge for email senders.
    • Outlook wants your domain to have a good history, whereas Gmail doesn't care about the IP and the domain, but they care about your users' behavior.
    • If you're doing cold emailing, you need to test your email on InboxBooster or another way once a week to ensure you don't have any problems.

    " So, you have a free tool on our system, the InboxBooster, that tells you how to, analyzes your little list, and tells you where you're emailing. Because if you're emailing just on Gmail, it's not the same thing as if you're emailing on the form of two Fortune 500 companies, which is not the same thing if you're emailing, so there is kind of because usually a lot of SMBs are using Outlook. Some other kinds of startups, lots of startups, are using Google Workspace. So, you really, the first step is really to investigate that. And until you know that it's kind of, you will not be able to sound efficiently. " – NICOLAS

    "Email has become a bit of a puzzle lately, and let me break it down for you. A decade ago, sending emails was a breeze—clear rules, automated stuff, and personal messages. Fast forward to today, and the line between human and machine-generated emails is blurred, thanks to outreach tools like AdRage and Apollo. Cold emails, though less annoying than cold calls, face skepticism, especially from Google, which prefers ads. Now, onto a fixer-upper story about Y Combinator: despite its strong brand, it battled spam on Gmail. Why? They imported a MailChimp template, and some pruning oversight led them back to the promotion tab. We sorted it out, and they saw a 35% click boost. The lesson? Fixing email glitches is like solving a puzzle, sometimes iterative but worthwhile." – NICOLAS

    "Sometimes we have customers sending probably more than a couple of thousands of emails per day on cold average, and it's working very well. So, it depends on what you're selling. The key elements are as follows: First, you need to know who you sell to if you do cold average. You need to know: "OK, So this is my ICP," and know those people will sell. And then what I'm saying usually is if you don't know who your ICP is, you need to experiment until you figure it out, but you shouldn't sell a lot of emails to be very careful. In deliverability, once you know who you're selling to, you can sell a lot. And the second thing is sometimes because you care about who you're selling to, so basically, what's your revenue? There is another side to it, and I mentioned it: engagement. So, you want one unsubscription link. One clicks the unsubscription link, now it will be a requirement for Google. And the second thing you want is to be between 0.5 and 1.5 of the unsubscription rate. If you do that, you're fine. This means that you have found a Via Negativa if that makes sense, your ICP. If you want people to unsubscribe a little bit because it's a little bit trying to sell them some stuff and some are not going to be interested, then that's fine, but you don't want too many of them not to be interested because if you're there, this means they don't care, and you're not emailing the right people." – NICOLAS

    Connect with Nicolas Toper:

    Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/
      

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    Joe Pallo: The Art of Selling Nothing

    Joe Pallo: The Art of Selling Nothing

    About Joe Pallo: Joe Pallo is the Founder of Sell Nothing, a consulting company where he works with C.E.O.s, E.V.P. s, top salespeople, and sales leaders who want to grow their business by establishing emotional relationships with their clients and team members. Drawing from 35+ years of commission sales and 30,000+ sales calls, Joe Pallo is a top sales producer who first earned his hard knocks and big rewards with door-to-door selling. He's developed proven systems and processes through which hundreds of top producers double or triple their business without investing additional time. Clients include non-profit organizations, defense contractors, financial advisors, the top mortgage broker in the United States, and an Olympic champion and flag bearer. As a coach, he focuses on understanding and implementing basic sales principles. He adds a layer of accountability while training and modeling relationship-building skills. Joe is also a creator of the E.A.R.N.I.N.G™ Sales System and a bestselling author of How To Sell Nothing. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Joe.

    In this episode, Nancy and Joe discuss the following:

    • Why the word "selling" is such a scary word for so many people
    • Sell Nothing: The story under the company name
    • Peculiarities of the E.A.R.N.I.N.G Sales System™
    • Four uncommon ways to ask for quality referrals without being a jerk
    • The importance of script in sales

    Key Takeaways: 

    • We've all been on the receiving end of being part of a bad sales presentation or a bad sales call.
    • Referrals are given to confident people.
    • Get a silver bullet on your existing referrals, freshen them up, and then leave a message in a voicemail.
    • E.A.R.N.I.N.G Sales System™ is the essence of selling Nothing.
    • Listening and then repeating back what they said - that's the talking you should do: ask questions and repeat back.

    " It seems like we all know there are two sales that need to happen to get to the next step, or two buckets that need to be filled: the logical sale or the logical bucket, and the emotional sale or the emotional bucket. Both are important, but we all know the emotional bucket needs to happen first; that makes people decide. The logical bucket confirms the sale, and the emotional bucket makes it happen. "Sell Nothing," the book, was written with the concept that we want our clients, my clients, to tell me what they want and why they want it. That's the emotional sale. My role as the salesperson is to fill that logical bucket with words because I know all the logic and numbers, and I have a marketing department behind me. I'm good at making that logical sale. The emotional bucket is filled up with their words. Emotions are weird things—they're fickle and change. They don't make sense. We have to get them talking about what they want and why they want it. The art of selling Nothing is selling what people want and why they want it" – J.O.E.

    "But that's the value of the silver bullet. Yeah, it gets them calling back in, and it will work. It's incredibly effective, but you must take your time and get them immediately. Right? I'll also say something else that may help your listeners. This works well when you get a referral, but it also works well with all the referrals you've gotten for the past three or six months. What's to stop you from returning to the referral and saying, "Hey, a while back, you referred me to so and so. I tried catching them, but what type of decision-maker is he? A numbers guy, is he a talker, a driver?" Right? Get a silver bullet on your existing referrals, freshen them up, yeah, and then you leave it on a message on a voicemail." – J.O.E.

    "Um, I would say it's using scripts when you're selling, having a talk, having scripts. Yeah, if I'm speaking in a group and I'm going to talk about scripts, I'll always say, "Hey, just curious if there are any idiots. Can you raise your hand?" And a couple of people do because they're idiots. But I kind of joke that the reason I ask is that I'm going to talk about using scripts, and many times, I hear people saying, "I can't use a script because I'll sound robotic." And here's my thinking on that, which people may disagree with. But we work hard to get the name; they get the phone number. Then, if we get the phone number, we must get through to the secretary. That's a lot of work. Or we try to get the cell number; we don't have to get him on the phone. That's a lot of work to talk to a prospect. Right? Well, let themselves be passive and sound robotic on a live call. Right? And if that's the case, that person may be in the wrong job. Now, if you think about it, and here's the thing, you didn't sound robotic when I was doing my role-play and calling Aaron. You heard me insert a chuckle. That's intentional because that makes me focused and present on the call. You cannot be passive and insert a chuckle, you know? I'll repeat, it says when I talk to him, I said, "Aaron, it's Joe Pallo. I don't want you racking your brain trying to figure out who I am. We haven't met yet, right?" I'm chuckling right there; he hears it. Yeah, because if you say the same thing consistently, you'll get consistent results." – J.O.E.

    Connect with Joe Pallo:

    Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/
      

    Connect with Nancy Calabrese: 

    Ben Albert: The Art of Genuine Business Connections

    Ben Albert: The Art of Genuine Business Connections

    About Ben Albert: Ben Albert is the owner of Balbert Marketing LLC. He found in marketing that he has a unique opportunity to empower business people to reach the RIGHT community, the RIGHT clients, and the RIGHT partners, who share the same beliefs and values as the clients. He is also the curator of The "Real Business Connections Network," where he hosts five podcasts: "Rochester Business Connections," "Learn Speak Teach," "Ben's Bites," "Five Minute Fridays," and "Real Hits." Ben chats with everyone from executives, entrepreneurs, convicts, behavior scientists, sales trainers, wellness experts, and more. It's his role to extract the best nibbles of wisdom from these experts so we can compress decades of wisdom into minutes for the listener. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Ben.

    In this episode, Nancy and Ben discuss the following:

    • The Real Business Connections Network podcasting umbrella
    • Benefits of Podcasting: Building genuine connections and Reputation gain
    • Importance of human-to-human connections
    • Authenticity as a core value of LinkedIn's algorithm
    • Crucial importance of sharing successes, asking for testimonials, and leaving feedback in the business world
    • Video Marketing as the fastest trust builder
    • Importance of mindset and inner work in sales

    Key Takeaways: 

    • We want to reach the audience where they are rather than where we are.
    • It's better to be different than just a little bit better.
    • If someone helps you, leave them an endorsement, a testimonial, and a review.
    • The inner work makes you a way better sales representative than any specific tactic ever could.

    "Great minds think alike. You understand that in sales, in general, the best way to get a sale is from a referral. Like that's kind of simple, common sense. And I don't even like to call them referrals. I like nominations or recommendations. And at the end of the day, when you're, um, creating content and sharing influence with brilliant people, it leads to reputation gain. It leads to thought leadership, which leads to people talking about you and being impressed with you because you're adding value to their lives. What do you think that leads to? That leads to recommendations, nominations, and referrals. It's simple." – BEN.

    "AI and tech are taking over the world in one way. But at the core, humans purchase solutions from other humans. We're fulfilling products and services for humans, by humans, to help humans. All the tech is just facilitating that process. Really, marketing, adding value, and then making the sales process so simple for you or your team will never go away. The better you are at building those human-to-human connections, and that can be in person, but it can be through social selling. It can be through content marketing or podcasting. The better you are at building those human-to-human connections, the better art you are going to be in business. And the AI can't replace you because there's only one you." – BEN.

    "There's so much going on in video at the core. People say, "I don't have all the lights and the setup." But if you have a phone that can take videos, you can share them. And I think the biggest reason it's hot is that it's such a trust builder. It shows your face, expressions, style, and personality. So, when someone gets on a call with you when someone does meet you, there's already a rapport built because they've watched you, know you, and listened to you. So I think the reason video is so popular is one, it's entertaining, but two, in a sales and marketing context, it's the best way to build easy trust because you're unveiling the person behind the profile, behind the phone. You're showing an extra part of yourself." – BEN.
     

    Connect with Ben Albert:

    Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/
      

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    Brian Ahearn: Unlock the Secrets of Influence

    Brian Ahearn: Unlock the Secrets of Influence

    About Brian Ahearn: Brian Ahearn, CPCU, CTM, CPT, CMCT, is a founder of Influence People, a company where they believe that Ethical Influence is the Secret to Your Professional Success and Personal Happiness. Brian is one of only a dozen individuals in the world who currently holds the Cialdini Method Certified Trainer® (CMCT) designation and one of just a handful to have earned the Cialdini Pre-suasion Trainer® (CPT) designation. He is also a faculty member of the prestigious Cialdini Institute. Brian's passion is to help you achieve greater professional success and enjoy more personal happiness. He teaches you how to ethically move others to action using the science of influence. A cum laude graduate of Miami University, Brian has been in the business arena for more than 35 years and training people for over two decades. In addition to his influence, sales, and leadership work, Brian has been a business coach to regional vice presidents, sales managers, field sales reps, and wealth advisors. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Brian.

    In this episode, Nancy and Brian discuss the following:

    • The concept of ethical influence
    • Why ethical influence is critical for success and happiness
    • Revealing the secret of ethical influence
    • The uniqueness of Cialdini certification
    • What differs Cialdini Training from other training organizations
    • The principle of liking as a foundation of success 

    Key Takeaways: 

    • Leaders aren't going to have success if their followers don't say Yes to the initiative.
    • Scarcity is one of the things that draws people to want to engage or make decisions.
    • Persuasion is about setting up the moment so that it's easier when you attempt to persuade somebody.
    • We're learning machines, and we can be proactive about it or reactive to it, but our brains are always pulling in information and assimilating it, so we're learning.

    " People can get influence and manipulation mixed up. And it happens quite often where somebody, you'll talk about influence, and they'll say, oh, it's just manipulation. And I think there's a big difference between ethically influencing people into decisions that are good for them. And it may also be good for you versus just getting somebody to do something because it benefits you. So, I love it when people throw up the objection that it's manipulation because it's so easy to answer that and educate people at the same time." – BRIAN.

    "Well, one of the things that we talk about is that everything we do is based on research. This isn't "Hey, Nancy, this worked for me; maybe it'll work for you." If it worked for me, I will tell you psychologically why and support it with the principles of persuasion. So, everything that we do is based on research. The heavy emphasis is on the ethical part. And then the third thing that we try to bring forth is practical application. When talking to an audience, I always share a little bit of research to get people excited about how this could be powerful. Okay, here's a practical way to apply it. And I want people to leave, for example, if I do a keynote, to have at least half a dozen ideas they can start doing today to become more influential." – BRIAN.

    "I would encourage everybody to start with that principle of liking because in addition to being more successful at work, think about how much better society would be, Nancy. Everybody had this mindset: I want to get to know and like you. I will look for the things we have in common: positive qualities; I will compliment you when I see the positive; I will temper myself if I see something negative and have a constructive conversation. But the world would be such a better place if people had that mindset. So that's what I would encourage your listeners to do today. After you hear this, the next person you look at, ask yourself, what can I do to come to know and like them more?" – BRIAN.

    Connect with Brian Ahearn:

    Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/

    Connect with Nancy Calabrese: 

    David D. Doerrier: Present Your Way To Success!

    David D. Doerrier: Present Your Way To Success!

    About David D. Doerrier:  David D. Doerrier founded Present Your Way To Success, specializing in transforming intelligent individuals into extraordinary speakers and facilitators. David, a premier presenter in the business world, is dedicated to helping industry leaders and trainers create captivating presentations that deeply resonate with their audiences. Drawing on his experience as a radio broadcaster, stage actor, voiceover artist, and even a professional Santa Claus, David brings a one-of-a-kind approach that combines his unique style with best practices. Having spent 28 years as an air transportation specialist and kick-starting his training career in the USAF, David has worked with numerous Fortune 15 companies. Today, he empowers speakers, trainers, and leaders to significantly elevate their presentations and achieve outstanding results. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about David.

    In this episode, Nancy and David discuss the following:

    • The concept of the adult learning theory
    • Why should presenters be familiar with this theory
    • Techniques to keep different learning types of audiences engaged 
    • Virtual and In-Person engagements: differences and similarities 
    • The tips with the camera to look more professional at the virtual presentation
    • What do many presenters struggle with the most
    • The definition of audience engagement

    Key Takeaways: 

    • Presenters should be familiar with it because, going back to my tagline, talking and telling ain't training or selling.
    • Training is like running a marathon.
    • One of the easiest ways of creating a connection or engagement with your virtual audience is to look into the camera.
    • What you're hoping for is for your audience to ask questions, look at you, write things down, and look like they are engaged, but the way you get them to that point is by using these adult learning theories.

    "The adult learning theory, at its core, is all about creating engagement with your audience. And I believe that the more engagement you have with your audience, the more your message will resonate and stick and be memorable with your audience." – DAVID.

    "Well, there are many things, but I put three things at the top of the list that all presenters should keep in mind when presenting. The first step is to know your audience. I have seen it many times where a presenter at a networking event, for example, is talking to us in the audience as if we are experts in whatever field they are in. So, number one is to know your audience. Number two is to incorporate stories into your presentation. There is a right way and a wrong way of incorporating stories. You want to keep them short enough that you're able to provide enough color and enough information in the story. You don't want them to; you don't want to ramble on about the story. So, the story should incorporate three things. What was the problem? What solution did you provide? And third, what was the outcome after your client's solution? Now, there are many different types of stories. Now, what I described would be a business situation based on the problem, solution, and outcome. So, two of the three, number one is to know your audience, number two is to incorporate stories, and number three is to have a compelling conclusion. I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone give a presentation, they get to the end, and it's just "Okay, I'm outta here, bye-bye," some sort of conclusion, maybe a review or a call to action or a deal of some sort. So there needs to be a compelling conclusion." – DAVID.

    "If it's a smaller audience, that gives me the luxury of maybe asking questions that can be answered, where I could ask actual questions to the audience, get them to participate through questions. I can still do that with a larger audience, but it depends on my time. This is also where the facilitator needs to be experienced enough to manage time. Asking questions of your audience and expecting feedback can set the whole presentation off the rails because now your audience could easily take over. So here, the facilitator needs to be experienced enough to keep control. So, I would say there are many more similarities than differences, where if you're not asking actual questions of your audience, you could ask rhetorical questions. Certainly, the way you present to a larger audience must be bigger and more robust, I guess, to be able to speak to and for everyone to hear you in that entire room. And just like acting, if you're going to be an actor on a stage, your mannerisms need to be bigger, your voice needs to be bigger, you need to project so your entire audience can hear you." – DAVID.
     

    Connect with David D. Doerrier:


    Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/
      

    Connect with Nancy Calabrese: 

    Clare Price: Effective Sales and Marketing Collaboration

    Clare Price: Effective Sales and Marketing Collaboration

    About Clare Price: Clare Price is CEO of Octain, a marketing consultancy that is transforming the way companies do marketing. She started working remotely in the 1980s as a tech reporter for InformationWeek magazine, and later as a research director for Gartner. Before launching CFP MediaGroup (now Octain), she was Vice President of Research for Demand Metric, a strategic marketing advisory service where she led the research analysis into cloud computing applications for marketing automation, social platforms, and several other products. Clare is the author of two books and an experienced speaker with clients like the American Marketing Association, Vistage, and many others. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Clare.

    In this episode, Nancy and Clare discuss the following:

    • Octaine Growth Systems - the new force in modern marketing
    • Ways to determine the best strategy for each company
    • Transitions from trial and error to predictable revenue growth
    • Encouraging sales and marketing teams to work together 
    • Main facts from Clare’s book “Smart Marketing Execution”
    • Customer Targeting and Profiling
    • AI revolution and why should we be cautious about it 


    Key Takeaways: 

    • For most small business owners and fractional consultants, the brand is your reputation.
    • We recommend understanding the customer's Why, not Who the customer is.
    • You need to change the way marketing needs to redefine marketing.
    • But I do think that the caution is to let AI do the work for you but don't let it think for you.
    • Challenge your assumptions.

    "We start with the structure that we've developed is what we call a canvas model, and we start with discovery. It is understanding where that company is in terms of what we call the six areas of market acceleration, which are brand development, customer acquisition, message clarity, market expansion, sales enablement, and product innovation. So, we will do a discovery assessment of that company in those six areas to see where they are today, where are their gaps, where are their opportunities, and from that standpoint, then we do an evaluation and recommendations." – CLARE.

    "And what our sales enablement module does is bring the marketing and sales team together to create a unified team. We have a lot of tools that we use to help the team understand each other because you're more on the sales side, and I'm more on the marketing side. We have different ways of looking at the world, right? So, the marketing person is looking at the forest, and the salesperson is looking at that one tree that is going to give them the clothes they need for that month, right? And so, we have different ways of looking at the world, and we must understand and share each other's perspectives. So, one of the things that we recommend in the book with our sales enablement module is what we call ride-along: where the marketing person will get in the car. You want to do the physical live ride-along and drive up to the business owner's door or the virtual ride-along where they are in the Zoom call, and they can see how the salesperson navigates through the sales call. And we feel that that's a really good way to learn how to walk in each other's shoes. By contrast, the sales team could also get involved with our sales enablement approach in doing some planning for a marketing event like a conference or putting together a specific piece of collateral or material so that they kind of see, well, how does that marketing person put their magic together?” – CLARE.

    "I think there have been a lot of changes, but I think the biggest change is from broadcasting your offer to personalizing, individualizing, and presenting deep individual value to your target. The idea of broadcasting out, we've got, you know “Hey, 25% off. Will you get it now?” is not something that a lot of savvy consumers want. And particularly the younger generation, millennials and younger, don't want to just buy a product or buy a professional service because it's going to solve a problem. They want to be part of something that's going to make their life, their community, and the world better. And that's a big shift." – CLARE.
     

    Connect with Clare Price:

    Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/
      

    Connect with Nancy Calabrese: 

    Barbara Spector: The Science of Sales Training and Coaching

    Barbara Spector: The Science of Sales Training and Coaching

    About Barbara Spector: Barbara Spector is the Founder of Smart Moves where she is an expert in sales force retention and development. She has a degree from Boston University, has been a guest lecturer at Syracuse University and is certified in over a dozen assessment methodologies.  She specializes in and speaks on helping the C-Suite make effective hiring decisions to accelerate their revenue. As a member of SHRM, ATD, AA-ISP, NAED, NAPW and the National Speakers Association, she has worked with companies such as Corning,  Merrill Lynch, US Bank, Citizens Bank, Woodruff Sawyer Insurance, Samsung, NEC, Raytheon, HCA & Sun Microsystems.  With over 20 years of sales success, she has been a multi-million-dollar producer in her own right and recently named the Woman of the Year by the National Association of Professional Women. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Barbara.

    In this episode, Nancy and Barbara discuss the following:

    • Challenges faced by sales leaders today.
    • The impact of mindset on sales team performance.
    • How to instill a growth mindset in sales leaders.
    • Metrics used to measure the success of transformation initiatives.
    • Barbara's approach to sales training and coaching.
    • Traits defining high-performing sales teams.
    • Barbara's perspective on the effectiveness of cold calling.


    Key Takeaways: 

    • Rome was not built in the day, and people don't change behavior quickly.
    • It starts with the level of commitment that this is going to be something that everyone must get involved in.
    • The reason that people say cold calling doesn't work, is because they haven't fixed what's going on between their ears.
    • Many individuals have a need to be liked and loved.

    "You know that expression, there's sort of an expression, the longer things go, the more things don't change. So what I mean by not changing is that the majority of sales forces that are out there are really very mediocre and a large reason why they're mediocre is because a lot of the sales managers and sales leaders were put in those roles out of being salespeople and they never quite made the psychological jump from being an individual contributor to being a somebody who has to produce results through people. So, they're so they are still functioning with it with their own sales mindset and then expecting their salespeople to do something differently. So, one of the biggest issues that I see is if we're going to help salespeople, we've got to first work with sales leaders and sales managers to kind of get their heads screwed on right in the first place." – BARBARA.

    "So, if the person at the top accepts the excuses of the next person down on the run, that gives permission, so to speak, of that individual to accept the excuses of the people below him or her. So, we're seeing that a lot gets lost that could be taken care of because when we make excuses, we're losing control because we're pointing the finger sort of out there like they, it wasn't for the competition, if it wasn't for the economy, if it wasn't for the fact that, you know, that they were comparison shopping, whatever it might be. We need to be able to point our thumb at ourselves and say “I forgot to do something. I didn't, I wasn't as effective as I could have been”. And for managers, they need to be able to hear that and then respectfully confront the salespeople that they're managing so that the excuse making stops.” – BARBARA.

    "Because we all know people buy, everything we do in sales has an emotional content to it. Whether we're selling or buying, it's all emotional, but we rationalize logically. So, if we can get people in sales to emotionally be connected to the amount of money that they're asked to make or that they want to make, makes a huge difference." – BARBARA.

     

    Connect with Barbara Spector:

    Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/
      

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    Nico Verresen: Become Friends with Stress and It Will Help You Win

    Nico Verresen: Become Friends with Stress and It Will Help You Win

    About Nico Verresen: Nico Verresen is a former elite-level athlete who has undergone world-class training. He is working with world-champion athletes, MDs, DEFI traders, CEOs, senior executives & top-level entrepreneurs. His top-level sporting career combined with extensive educational studies of the mind makes his approach highly effective and unique. Using the hypnosis practices and mindset strategies of world-class athletes, Nico trains high performers like you to turn your stress into a competitive advantage. With a career of over 12 years in professional fighting, Nico is a 5x Belgian, Benelux, European, and vice-world champion in Muay Thai. 4 world champions have prepared for their titles with Nico's coaching and mentorship. Nico is an MA, former university scholar, and published researcher at The Free University Of Brussels, Belgium. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Nico.

    In this episode, Nancy and Nico discuss the following:

    • The truth is you don't need less stress to achieve the life you desire.
    • Ways to embrace stress to elevate your performance, health, and relationships.
    • Nico’s explanation on why stress is a friend rather than an enemy. 
    • The impact of hypnosis on the mindset strategies of all these world-class athletes.
    • Hypnotic techniques in sales.


    Key Takeaways: 

    • Stress is there not to hurt you but to help you.
    • Those people who believe that stress is good and helps them, and those who have the highest stress levels live the longest, healthiest, and most productive lives.
    • The biggest challenge is not to start stressing about stress.
    • if you just keep grinding forward as hard and fast as possible, you will not have space to get to effectiveness.

    "So, if you do not stress about anything, the chance is very high that you have a bit of a lifeless life. What I've seen in research is that, well, and in my own life, the moments that I outperform myself were always the moments with the highest stress." – NICO.

    "The reason that fighting was so addictive to me and so wonderful, and I miss it still every day, is that it is make or break. You know each other right now. It's a bit unhealthy for my body, and I learned through that process the second thing that puts the absolute top from the sub-top. You know, I was subbed up, and I had everything in me to get to the absolute top, but I forced it too much. I kept on grinding, I kept on going forward, and I lost a little bit of pleasure. That's why my company is called Perform with Pleasure." – NICO.

    “Well, the people in sales, very often they're a specific type of people. They love the push, they love the grind, they go hard, they need their deadlines, they need fast movements, you know. So, very often this is like a temperament that very often is much more hypnotizable. Now in sales, a lot of people use it also, hypnotic techniques to sell. The problem that I've often found is that in the current market, people are much more suspicious, and then when you go with traditional hypnotic language patterns, they often don't work because it will sound weird, and people will feel something is off." – NICO.

     

    Connect with Nico Verresen:

    Try Our Proven, 3-Step System, Guaranteeing Accountability and Transparency that Drives RESULTS by clicking on this link: https://oneofakindsales.com/call-center-in-a-box/
      

    Connect with Nancy Calabrese: