The Sales Management. Simplified. Podcast with Mike Weinberg – Details, episodes & analysis

Episode 79 was unplanned but Mike felt compelled to describe his recent encounter with a bold, hungry 19-year-old. 

Stuart was so impressive that Mike took a few minutes to record his impromptu reaction and also deliver a rant to salespeople who still (falsely) believe/proclaim that the telephone isn’t an effective way to secure a conversation with strategic target prospects.

Not only will you be blown away by what this young man Stuart accomplished with a few dials of the phone and high EQ, you’ll likely want to share this story with members of your sales team – particularly the ones sitting around waiting for leads or who continue their futile and pathetic efforts “bumping” their lame, spammy emails to the top of prospects’ inboxes – hoping beyond hope that someone will respond!

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Episode 26:  Why the Phone Is Sexier than Ever and Puts a Person Behind the Prospecting

The Next Supercharge Your Sales Leadership Event (with available seats)

New Sales. Simplified. (the book)

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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

Episode 78 features Kristie Jones, author the fabulous new book, Selling Your Way In, which Mike describes in the foreword as one of the most unique and powerful resources he has consumed in his 34-year career.

Mike met Kristie years ago at a client they were both helping, and he’s had the privilege of watching Kristie’s business and influence in the sales community rapidly expand over the past decade. When asked why Kristie has been so successful Mike's answer is simple and direct: She is a master at making others successful!  And that was her motivation for writing Selling Your Way In – the desire to provide readers/listeners with a behind-the-scenes peek at the makeup, mindset, disciplines, approaches, and actions of the top-ten percent of sales pros, the real sales rockstars who absolutely crush it, year after year – so they can become sales rockstars too!   

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JUST ANNOUNCED:

The October Supercharge Your Sales Leadership event at the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta filled so quickly that Mike and team just added a new date in November.

If you’d benefit from a full-day intensive with 50 sales leaders and Mike focused on radically ramping-up sales management effectiveness, check out the packed agenda, premium venue and powerful outcomes you can expect from attending: mikeweinberg.com/atlanta2024

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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

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

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:

1. 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?
2. 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?
3. 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?
4. How can your training (and approach) help our ecosystem develop both a better sales culture and also help us deliver a better customer experience?
5. What is necessary for us to be successful going “upmarket” (selling solutions instead of hardware) and getting into higher-level customer contacts?
6. 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?
7. 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?
8. 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

 

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    

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 

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.

 

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

Episode 63 was inspired by Mike’s guest appearance on the Social Selling 2.0 Podcast and a 40-minute session he held with executive MBA students just before recoding this podcast.

Carson Heady (featured in Episode 52) requested Mike’s take on the current state of “Social Selling” and how it has evolved since its inception. A fascinating dialogue ensued including Mike’s rant about the “founders” of the movement — none of which are still teaching/promoting social selling — and their absolutely false proclamation that “EVERYTHING in sales has changed!” 

In the second half of the episode Mike recaps the sales management horror story faced by a group of executive MBA students who sought out his input on the situation at the real-life client they have been charged with helping. Enjoy hearing this classic case of senior leadership dysfunction and the effect on the sales team and results.

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

The once-per-year special offer on the New Sales. Simplified. Video Coaching Series (mikeweinberg.com/morenewsales)

The FAST FOUNDATIONS live virtual workshop series which kicks off December 18th  (mikeweinberg.com/fastfoundations)

The next Supercharge Your Sales Leadership elite event sessions in February and April (mikeweinberg.com/atlanta2024)

Social Selling Simplified Episode on the Social Selling 2.0 Podcast featuring Mike Weinberg

Episode 52 of this podcast featuring Carson Heady

It’s that time of year, and in Episode 62 Mike makes a strong case for having each of our salespeople draft an individual business plan for the coming year. Referring to the most popular article he’s ever published, Mike offers nine compelling benefits (for both the salesperson and the manager) resulting from having sellers write and present their plans, and he also outlines a simple template you can adapt and use.

RESOURCES TO HELP WITH BUSINESS PLANS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Blog Article - Why Salespeople Should Write and Present Individual Business Plans

Chapter 26 in Sales Management. Simplified.

Chapter 14 in New Sales. Simplified.

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JUST ANNOUNCED – NEW DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY FOR SALES MANAGERS

A series of virtual workshops and office hours sessions led by Mike for managers looking to master the best practices and key takeaways from his sales management books. Over three months, benefit from four workshops and three office hours sessions covering critical topics from increasing accountability, maximizing the impact from developmental coaching, becoming smart talent managers who drive more results from their best sellers while quickly addressing underperformance and artfully coaching-up (or coaching-out) struggling sellers.

Limited to 25 participants per group to maximize interaction and ensure everyone gets their challenges and questions addressed! The first virtual workshop is December 18th.

More info and register at mikeweinberg.com/fastfoundations