The Sales Management. Simplified. Podcast with Mike Weinberg

Latest Episodes:

What Mike's Mentor Told Salespeople Who Worry about Outselling Capacity and Who Play "Good Corporate Citizen" Instead of Selling May 16, 2024

Show notes

This thesis of Episode 73 is that the world works much better (particularly in sales) when everyone focuses on, and worries about, their primary job! This episode was prompted by stimulating conversations in two recent sales leadership sessions.

First, at the VIP Q&A during Day 2 of the recent Supercharge Your Sales Leadership event, an operation-minded CEO asked Mike to elaborate on a bold (and controversial?) statement made in response to a manager asking how to keep salespeople selling when they're worried about outselling capacity and overloading the operations/production/delivery people.

The second conversation (while kicking off a six-month manager cohort) revolved around what Mike refers to as "Smart Sales Talent Management," and the importance of getting the right people in the right roles. The managers were describing the differences between sellers with hunter DNA compared to those wired more like zookeepers who love to nurture relationships, put out customer service fires, and jump in to help out with delivery and operations.

In both cases, Mike quoted the strong, direct words that his sales management mentor regularly used to remind salespeople to focus on Job #1 – driving revenue!

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:

Episode 72 – Who's on Your Team?

Episode 57 – The #1 Reason Your Sales Team Is Not Bringing in More New Business

Sales Management Foundations Virtual Workshop Series –

Download the PDF info document
Read more or register HERE

Supercharge Your Sales Leadership October Session at The Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta. More info at mikeweinberg.com/events. Join Mike on October 8 for the full-day intensive or October 8 & 9 for the VIP experience!

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This episode is sponsored by Pursuit Sales Solutions. If you are looking for help adding A-player talent to your team, contact Mike's friends at pursuitsalessolutions.com/weinberg

WHO'S ON YOUR TEAM? [your "personal" team, not your sales team] Apr 30, 2024

Show notes

Episode 72 is different. Instead of talking about leading your sales team, Mike challenges listeners with this important personal question:

Who is on YOUR team?

This episode was inspired by several factors, including a personal breakthrough Mike is experiencing in his own life, combined with a well-timed Netflix docuseries episode that perfectly depicts the transformative change you can experience from making the right additions to your personal team.

Who is rooting for you? Who is challenging you? Who are you going to for outside perspective or expert advice? Who is helping ensure that you win…at work, at home, at health, at life? Who is cheering you on? Or confronting you when you play the victim? Who is whispering encouragement in your ear? Or speaking hard, constructive truth (hopefully in love), when you need to hear it?

Take a listen and be challenged to consider who might add to your personal team to help you experience a breakthrough.

Resources Mentioned:

Podcast Episode: Practical Wisdom from a Highly Rated Financial Advisor, Golf Instructor, and Sales Coach to Help You Win Big in 2024!

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This episode is sponsored by Pursuit Sales Solutions. If you looking for help adding A-player talent to your team, contact Mike's friends at pursuitsalessolutions.com/weinberg

A Prospecting Post-Mortem – Why You/Your Team Are Not Securing Enough Meetings Apr 16, 2024

Show notes

Episode 71 was inspired by a message Mike received from an executive whose sales team was not securing enough meetings with prospective customers. The executive shared two specific frustrations:

The sales team's lack of effectiveness at getting prospects to agree to an initial meeting
The number of prospects cancelling at the last minute or "no-showing" for a meeting they had previously agreed to attend

In this episode, Mike shares his initial response to this request for help and offers up a list of potential causes for ineffective prospecting – ranging from impersonal, automated approaches, to the model being deployed, the focus of the messaging, the DNA of the salespeople, sellers not properly pushing past resistance or overcoming objections, the weightiness/reality of virtual vs. in-person meetings, and more.

Take a listen to see if any of these obstacles are preventing you or your sales team from securing meetings with targeted prospective customers.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

YOUR SALES STORY online course

Supercharge Your Sales Leadership full-day intensive

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This episode is sponsored by Pursuit Sales Solutions. If you are looking for help adding A-player talent to your team, contact Mike's friends at pursuitsalessolutions.com/weinberg

What's Your Primary Purpose on Sales Calls: Proactively Developing Your Salespeople or Advancing and Closing the Sale? Mar 26, 2024

Show notes

Mike recently led a workshop for a group of talented, hungry, driven, young sales managers who were falling into an all-too-common trap – "doing" instead of coaching, developing, and holding sales reps accountable. During the session Mike challenged this group of managers with a question he had never thought to ask before:

When making joint sales calls with your people, is your primary purpose to…

A) Proactively develop your salesperson, or

B) Advance and close the sale

The healthy discussion that ensued inspired this episode. Listen in as Mike shares more of the story, promotes the importance of proactive, developmental, nonurgent coaching, and offers thoughts on best practices when managers ride shotgun with reps on sales calls.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

The First-Time Manager: Sales book

Supercharge Your Sales Leadership event, October 8-9, The Porsche Experience Center, Atlanta

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This episode is sponsored by Pursuit Sales Solutions. If you looking for help adding A-player talent to your team, contact Mike's friends at pursuitsalessolutions.com/weinberg

Instead of Committing Sales Management Malpractice by Ignoring Underperformance, This Is How to Quickly Address It! Feb 27, 2024

Show notes

In this episode Mike tackles a critical sales management topic that does not receive enough attention.

Too many sales managers allow underperformance to go unaddressed for way too long!

Episode 69 is granular and prescriptive as Mike shares exactly how to start the conversation with a struggling salesperson and begin the all-important process of coaching that seller up, or if necessary, out.

RESOURCES MIKE REFERENCED IN EPISODE 69:

The First-Time Manager: Sales book (Chapter 8)

The free guide on increasing accountability and creating a high-performance sales culture: Mikeweinberg.com at the top of the page.

Supercharge Your Sales Leadership October Event: The April event sold out very quickly so we just secured The Porsche Experience Center for our next sales leadership event on October 8th (& 9th for the VIP option). Check out all the details, the packed agenda, and the powerful outcomes here: www.mikeweinberg.com/atlanta2024

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This episode is sponsored by Pursuit Sales Solutions. If you looking for help adding A-player talent to your team, contact Mike's friends at pursuitsalessolutions.com/weinberg

Mike Tackles 8 Tough Questions from a Sales Team Jan 30, 2024

Show notes

During Week 1 of the 2024 Sales Kickoff Meeting Season, one of Mike's clients included a live Q&A to conclude a virtual session. The questions from the salespeople and sales leaders were so good, and so different from what Mike is typically asked, he decided to share them (along with his answers) in this episode.

You'll want to share this episode with your sales team!

Take a listen for Mike's answers to these eight great questions:

At what point do you move on to the next opportunity? How many NO's do you need to get before giving up, or how long do you continue to pursue a prospect who has stopped responding?
How do we get your training to stick? What would you tell salespeople and managers to ensure that what you're teaching gets implemented…and makes an impact?
How does using the business plan help the salesperson and manager set short-term and long-term goals, and also help to achieve those goals?
How can your training (and approach) help our ecosystem develop both a better sales culture and also help us deliver a better customer experience?
What is necessary for us to be successful going "upmarket" (selling solutions instead of hardware) and getting into higher-level customer contacts?
After winning a deal and handing it off cleanly, how can we get salespeople back to selling instead of having them continuing to come back to make sure the project is moving and/or installed?
What do you think is the number one sales sin of the Ugly 8 Reasons Sellers Get Viewed as Amateurs, Relegated to "Vendor" Status and Commoditized?
Can you speak about the most resistant sales organization you have dealt with? Were you able to get them to change, and through that change, what was the outcome?

Resources Referenced by Mike in Episode 68:

The New Sales. Simplified. Video Coaching Series

Ugly 8 Reasons Sellers Get Viewed as Amateurs, Relegated to "Vendor" Status and Commoditized (PDF)

Mike's wife's irrational, but wonderful, response to her gorgeous new putter (blog post)

A Foolproof Framework to Guarantee Consistent Deal Flow and a Full, Healthy Pipeline (podcast episode)

9 Powerful Reasons to Have Salespeople Write Individual Business Plans (podcast episode)

5 Fundamental Focus Areas for a Successful Sales Attack (podcast episode)

This episode is sponsored by Pursuit Sales Solutions. If you looking for help adding A-player talent to your team, contact Mike's friends at pursuitsalessolutions.com/weinberg

20 Timeless Tips to Help You & Your Sales Team Tackle 2024 Jan 10, 2024

Show notes

Mike kicks off the year with 20 powerful sales tips to help you (and your salespeople) absolutely crush 2024! He initially shared this list with his email subscribers and the feedback was so positive that he felt obligated to turn these tips into Episode 67. Take a listen, share this episode with your sales team, and make sure to grab the free PDF with Mike's 20 tips from HERE. This episode is brought to you by Mike's friends at Pursuit Sales Solutions. If you're looking to acquire A-player sales talent for your team, Pursuit can help! RESOURCE MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: The Supercharge Your Sales Leadership elite one-day intensive (8 spots remain for February 21 and there are 24 spots open for the May 1 session in Atlanta) Mike's book Sales Truth Mike's book New Sales. Simplified. Article: Lessons for Managers and Salespeople from Jordan Spieth's Caddie

Practical Wisdom from a Highly Rated Financial Advisor, Golf Instructor, and Sales Coach to Help You Win Big in 2024! [Fundamentals Outperform Gimmicks] Dec 27, 2023

Show notes

In this powerful episode, Mike puts the wrap on an amazing year. Episode 66 combines straight talk from two of Mike's highly-rated, trusted advisors – his golf coach, Brian Fogt, and his financial advisor, Jacob Turner – along with his own Year-End/New Year's Sales and Sales Management "Fundamentals Checklists."

Enjoy listening to Mike interact with two true professionals – people he turns to (and pays) for advice! Be amused at the similarities between investors, golfers, salespeople, and sales leaders – most of whom suffer from FOMO, tend to bore easily, and are quick to chase sexy quick fixes and shiny new objects instead of doing the mundane work to shore-up the fundamentals.

And don't miss Mike sharing exactly what he'd be focusing on right now if he was a sales leader looking to maximize results in 2024.

Thank you for your incredible support of the Sales Management. Simplified. Podcast in 2023.

As Mike concludes every episode, wishing you great sales leadership, and to your team, tons of NEW SALES in the year ahead!

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

The February 2024 Supercharge Your Sales Leadership event in Atlanta.

The Fastest Way to Increase Accountability, Reduce Complacency, and Create a High-performance Sales Culture guide (near the top on the right at mikeweinberg.com)

Chapter 20 in Sales Management. Simplified.

Chapters 3 and 8 in The First-Time Manager: Sales

Taylor Swift is Right: Trash Takes Itself Out Every. Single. Time. Dec 14, 2023

Show notes

After a few week break, Mike is back with Episode 65 inspired by this pithy and powerful line from Taylor Swift's interview after being named Time Magazine Person of the Year:

"Trash itself out every single time."

While not a "Swiftie" and admitting he can't name three of her songs, Mike shares his high respect for Taylor and applies her wisdom to what he has seen time and time again over the past decade in world of sales.

He also mentions that, simply by coincidence, four different people released their interviews of Mike in the past week, and he encourages you to check out these interesting and valuable conversations about sales and sales management effectiveness:

Mike with Jason Bay – Outbound Squad Podcast

Mike with Jeb Blount – Sales Gravy Podcast (Part One Audio) and Part Two Video

Mike with John Barrows – Make It Happen Podcast, Video here or listen on Apple Podcasts

Mike with Fred Diamond – Sales Game Changers Podcast (accompanied by Mike's friend, sales leader extraordinaire, Joe Tarulli)

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

The next Supercharge Your Sales Leadership elite one-day intensive is February 21 at The Porsche Experience Center right next to the Atlanta Airport. Info and registration HERE.

How to Lead Sales Team Meetings That Energize and Equip Your Salespeople (previous episode) or see Chapter 21 in Sales Management. Simplified.

How to Give Your Buyers a Dopamine Hit with Buyer First Collaborative Selling Nov 21, 2023

Show notes

Episode 64 is not just for sales leaders! This is one you will want to share with your sales teams as Mike hosts a special guest, the brilliant Carole Mahoney.

Mike declares that Buyer First: Grow Your Business with Collaborative Selling is the best-written book he's read this year and is convinced that you and your sellers will enjoy and greatly benefit from this enlightening conversation as Carole shares the science behind the success experienced by those who sell collaboratively. Along with nodding, smiling, and shouting "Amen!" as Carole and Mike exchange #notaboutme sales philosophies, you will also learn…

Why buyers experience a dopamine hit when you make them part of the process
How managers often reinforce anti-collaborative sales approaches and behaviors
From Carole's experience as a sales coach for the Harvard Entrepreneurial MBA Program

Links in this Episode:

The Fast Foundations Virtual Workshop Series for sales managers

Buyer First on Amazon

Carole Mahoney's site

Carole's LinkedIn profile