"91% of customers say they’d give referrals. Only 11% of salespeople ask for referrals.” [Source: Dale Carnegie] On today’s “Sales Prospecting by the Numbers” discussion we focus on referral selling as our primary topic. We unpack this statistic a bit and provide 3 specific tips on how to ask for and consistently generate a steady flow of customer referrals. Additionally, we walk through a process to make it easy for your customers to give you referrals. If you are part of the 89% of salespeople who don’t ask for referrals then you will definitely want to listen to today’s episode to take advantage of a tried and true approach for referral-based selling to consistently generate more leads faster.

Josh Silverstone is the CEO & Pokerpreneur® at Aces Raise, where he trains businesses and salespeople on Poker game theory to help them understand the commonalities between Poker strategy and Sales strategy. As Josh states "“Pokerpreneurship is a way of thinking to evaluate opportunities, assess risks, and make calculated decisions. Sometimes we make the right choice and lose; stay focused on the process, continue to play your A-game, and you’ll be a winner.” Josh joins the show to talk about how the process of mirroring and looking for “tells” maps directly to building relationships and understanding your audience in sales, how your sales strategy should factor in “adaptability” along the way, and how knowing your expected value and probabilities in poker correlates with knowing your numbers and forecasting in sales. If you want to learn a new creative way to look at your sales game to improve your strategy and win more business then you will want to listen to this interview.

78% of decision makers polled have taken an appointment or attended an event that came from an email or cold call [Source: DiscoverOrg]. If that is the case then why is there all of this chatter about "Is Cold Calling Dead?" or "Cold Calling vs. Social Selling". Based on this statistic, it should be "Cold Calling AND Social Selling", along with a few other strategies to incorporate a well-balanced approach with a mix of prospecting strategies that all work together in unison to generate more leads. Today we focus on a proactive approach for outbound calling. We will share some best practices on getting properly prepared to execute an outbound calling strategy that works. If you are the type of sales professional that would like to improve your use of the phone to generate more leads then you will want to listen to today's episode. 

As we continue to focus on our Prospecting On Purpose podcast series topic, today we introduce the "Credibility Ladder". We discuss how you can leverage it as a sales professional to ultimately generate more leads. We will discuss the four steps on the Credibility Ladder in detail to help you begin thinking about where you are currently positioned on that ladder. This episode will help kickstart your process to putting together a plan to ascend up the Credibility Ladder. If you are serious about Prospecting On Purpose to help you ultimately master the game of complex technical selling then you will want to listen to this episode.

Prospecting on Purpose includes three parts - 1) Establishing Credibility; 2) Systemizing Sales Campaigns; and 3) Generating More Leads. Today we discuss what it means to Establish Credibility specifically as it relates to conducting research as part of the prospecting process. We discuss the concept of CIGs to put you in a position to understand your target audience's unique Challenges, Issues and Goals. We discuss how you can map your products, services and solutions to your prospective customer's unique CIGs. Finally, we illustrate all of this by listening in on a short clip of one of Sean's coaching sessions with one of his clients.

Stu Schlackman is a relationship selling expert, a popular speaker, President of the Dallas Chapter of the National Speakers Association (NSA), and author of the book “Four People You Should Know: How to Connect for Exceptional Sales, Customer Service and Unified Teams”. Stu joined the show to discuss the ins and outs of the four people you should know, which are really four personality types of your buyers. Stu dissects how each of the personality types make decisions and commit, which is very helpful for sales professionals trying to navigate the political waters when dealing with teams of buyers made up of multiple personalities from multiple departments. Stu reminds everyone that “people still buy from people” and provides real insights and strategies into how to effectively communicate leveraging the power of influence, persuasion and convincing. If you want to improve the way you manage complex technical sales cycles within complicated multiple buyer team environments, then you will definitely want to listen to this episode.

50% of sales time is wasted on unproductive prospecting according to The B2B Lead. Recently, Hubspot conducted research into sales prospecting and discovered these two shocking facts: 1) 44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up; and 2) 80% of sales require five follow-ups. This means that 44% of salespeople have an 80% probability they won't close the sale. It's quite obvious that sales prospecting is the #1 challenge for B2B tech sales professionals and organizations. Given that, we will focus on the concept of "Prospecting on Purpose" as a new podcast series topic moving forward on the Sales Integrity Podcast. This episode will introduce the concept of "Prospecting on Purpose".

Previously we discussed why you want to establish a powerful morning routine (episode #21) and why you always want to make it a great day (episode #24). In continuing with the “positive mental attitude” theme on today’s episode we will discuss the power of positive affirmations and how the concept of “mindfulness” can help position you for sales success on a daily basis. We will hone in on the concepts of “focus”, “desire” and “intentions” and specifically walk through some sample positive affirmations using Deepak Chopra’s “Success Cards” as the example. If you are feeling overwhelmed and would like to become more mindful and focused to help you achieve your sales and income goals then you will want to listen to this episode. 

Occasionally I get some who stops me and asks why I always say "Make it a Great Day" instead of "Have a Nice Day" or "Have a Good Day". I even had a client end a call with me yesterday by saying "Make it a Great Day" and then he proceeded to ask me if he owed me a royalty for using that phrase. That is EXACTLY what I like to hear. Not that I am owed a royalty. Rather, that my personal brand exudes optimism and having fun. That is the way it should be, both in your professional life and in your personal life. After all, if you can’t have fun then what can you have? What exactly are we doing here? Right? So what does your personal brand and attitude say about you to your prospects and customers? If you want to learn why you should choose optimism over pessimism every time and why your words, your choices and your personal brand all matter to you as a sales professional (and more importantly learn how they affect your sales success), then you will want to listen to today’s podcast episode.

If you are selling your products, services and solutions without mapping them to the 3 primary business outcomes your customers are really seeking through them then you are doing both yourself and your customers a big disservice. Listen to today’s episode of the Sales Integrity Podcast to learn about these 3 primary business outcomes and how you can improve your prospecting conversations by weaving them into your discussions. We will discuss various tech industry niches and take a closer look at the Big Data niche of the tech industry to illustrate one example of how you can put this concept to work for you in practicality.

Debbie Mrazek stops by the show to share some sales wisdom with our audience. Debbie is the author of the book "The Field Guide to Sales" and President of The Sales Company, a firm that is helping hundreds of entrepreneurs, individuals and large corporations better assess, understand and engage in practical, purposeful selling. Debbie shares why “time is lost in minutes, not in hours” as it relates to improving productivity. She also talks about what it takes to be successful with Social Selling and why you should pump the breaks a bit on the “Cold Calling is Dead!” mantra as she highlights a way that cold calling and social selling can play nice together. Finally, Debbie also reminds us that “asking for what you want, every time” and leveraging your network using “The Rule of 250” are still the bedrocks of selling success. Listen to this episode to grab some of Debbie’s enthusiastic “Mrazek Energy” and to apply some of her actionable insights to your sales game!