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Sales Integrity

If you are in B2B complex technical sales, or you manage a team of B2B complex technical sellers, then the Sales Integrity Podcast is for you. This podcast is all about helping sales professionals, leaders and organizations who sell complex technical products, services and solutions to increase sales and earn more money. This is a weekly podcast that airs 3 days per week - Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This podcast is dedicated to helping you become better prepared, more organized and highly productive to establish credibility, generate more leads and win more business. In summary, this is the no-nonsense sales podcast that will help you translate the ideas you discover on this show into actionable insights you execute upon in the real world of selling immediately.
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Nov 15, 2017

Scott Ingram's passion lives at the intersection of marketing, sales and technology. As a sales practitioner, Scott is a Strategic Account Manager at Relationship One, a company that empowers organizations to modernize their marketing through strategy, technology and data. In addition to Scott's role at Relationship One, he is the host of two popular podcasts - "Sales Success Stories", where he deconstructs world class sales performers (individual contributors) to understand the habits, mindsets, routines, tools and techniques that get and keep them at the top; and "Inspired Marketing", where he focuses exclusively on inspiring stories of success, triumph and transformation among modern marketers. During this interview Scott shares his top 3 lessons learned from his interviews of world-class sales performers on his Sales Success Stories podcast. Scott also discusses the power of mentorship for top sales professionals and offers some input on the popular topics of Social Selling, Cold Calling and much more. If you are the type of sales professional who wants to learn from the best so you can accelerate your growth into a Top 1% sales professional, then you will definitely want to listen to this interview!

Nov 8, 2017

On this episode of the Sales Integrity Podcast we discuss the difference between your Social Profile and your Social Presence. These are two distinctly different, yet related, very important topics. One of these topics has to do with your mere existence as a sales professional in the digital world. The other has to do with your experience, and more importantly how you convey that experience to the world so you are seen as a go-to specialist in your field. Together these two topics, if mastered, can provide you a distinct competitive advantage to help you stand out in a sea of competition. If you want to elevate your sales game to the next level by optimizing both your Social Profile AND your Social Presence to position yourself as THE go-to specialist in your industry niche, then you will definitely want to listen to this podcast episode!

Oct 4, 2017

Phill Keene is the Director of Sales at Costello Inc, provider of a Deal Management software platform, and Co-host of the very popular Real Sales Talk Podcast. As an everyday sales practitioner, both from a selling perspective and sales leadership perspective, Phill has recently earned the distinction of "2017 Top 25 Most Influential Inside Sales Professionals" by AA-ISP and "Top 50 Sales Development Leaders You Should Know" by Engagio. Being from Indianapolis, we discuss how Phill incorporated the Indy 500 into the sales culture at Costello to encourage higher activity levels of prospecting and lead generation. Phill shares his philosophy on cold calling, social selling, and how to improve deal management sales processes to increase closing ratios. Phill also shared two quick sales hacks, including one he labels as "The Crazy Ex Cadence" that you won't want to miss! As a matter of fact, when you listen to the podcast and hear Phill explain "The Crazy Ex Cadence" approach he provides his email address for you to request him to send you the details for how to implement this unique approach yourself. If you want to learn unique advice you can immediately apply in the real world of selling to help you increase sales and earn more money, then you will want to listen to the real sales talk that occurs within this exciting interview!

Sep 27, 2017

Mike Shelah is the Founder of Mike Shelah Consulting where he works with individuals and companies to help them combine LinkedIn, Emotional Intelligence, Networking, Public Speaking, Leadership and Business Development for the purpose of generating more leads and increasing sales. During this interview Mike and I discuss how emotional intelligence affects your selling success, the difference between a "sales funnel" and "sales pipeline", Mike's definition of what "LinkedIn Gold" is and how you can leverage it to "connect and cultivate" the right relationships to open up more doors of opportunity, and much more. If you want to learn creative new ideas for generating more leads to help you achieve your sales and income goals then you will want to listen to this interview!

Sep 13, 2017

On this episode of the Sales Integrity Podcast we discuss 5 tips for improving your LinkedIn profile. There are some basic mistakes sales professionals make when it comes to how they handle their LinkedIn profile and during this episode we will review not only what those mistakes are but more importantly how to avoid those mistakes by making some subtle edits to various sections of your LinkedIn profile. They key is you want to make it easy for the right target audience to find you, connect with you and contact you after they connect with you. You want to make it easy for people to help you and avoid frustrating those who choose to help you. We discuss all of this and more on this podcast episode. If you want to elevate your sales game to the next level by optimizing your LinkedIn profile to attract the right target audience then you will definitely want to listen to this podcast episode!

Aug 30, 2017

On this episode of the Sales Integrity Podcast we discuss the 3 Key aspects of a successful sales game plan and more importantly address how you can apply them to improve your overall sales game. We all lose at some point. Sometimes we lose to competition. Many times we lose to the status quo, meaning your prospects and clients choose to do nothing after evaluating your solution. It is your duty and obligation to yourself to put yourself in the best position to win at all times. At the end of the day, he or she who masters these 3 key aspects of a successful sales game plan will win more than their competition and win more than they lose to the status quo. If you want to elevate your sales game to the next level then you will definitely want to listen to this podcast episode!

Aug 16, 2017

On this episode of the Sales Integrity Podcast we examine the seemingly subtle difference between "Use Cases" and "Case Studies" and how both tactics can be used within your prospecting and selling efforts. Many sales professionals would like to leverage Case Studies within their selling efforts because helps demonstrate credibility within the selling process. Case Studies make it easier to convince prospects and customers you have "been there; done that" as it relates to the solution you are selling. However, many companies lock down the process of creating formal Case Studies and only allow for the use of formally approved Case Studies created by the Marketing Department. This is where "Use Cases" come in and can help sales professionals quickly create the messaging they need to positively influence, persuade and convince their prospects and customers by leveraging the concepts of "Social Proof" and "Competitive Intelligence". If you want to elevate your sales prospecting game to establish credibility, generate more leads and close more business so you can earn more money then you will definitely want to listen to this podcast episode!

Aug 2, 2017

On this episode of the Sales Integrity Podcast we examine the seemingly subtle difference between using Canned Messages versus using Message Templates while prospecting and selling. The differences may seem subtle at first. However, as you will find by listening to this episode the differences are quite vast. Think eating soup out of a can versus ordering steak off of a menu at a nice restaurant. We discuss the differences especially as it relates to using canned messages on LinkedIn. We also walk through other possible uses of Message Templates while leveraging the "4 Cornerstones of Lead Generation Success" - Cold Calling, Social Selling, Strategic Networking and Referral Selling. You will learn some practical use cases for improving your sales prospecting efforts that you can apply immediately in the real world of selling. If you want to elevate your sales prospecting game to establish credibility, generate more leads and earn more money then you will definitely want to listen to this podcast episode!

Jul 26, 2017

On today's Sales Integrity Podcast episode we feature our newer "Ask-the-Coach" Q&A format. I have received quite a few questions since unveiling this new format so I will answer another question today. Today's question comes from Dave Casey, CEO of Calvus Cloud (www.calvuscloud.com). Dave asks: "What is the single most important qualifying (not closing) question you can ask a prospective client?" Dave goes on to say "Expected answers are: "Do you have a budget for this?", "Do you feel our solution solves your business problem?", and the real $64,000 question; "Can we win this business?" If you are wondering the single greatest qualifying question you can ask prospects then you will want to listen to this episode to find out my answer!

Jul 12, 2017

Fred Diamond is the Co-founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Excellence in Sales (IES). Fred created the IES to recognize corporate and organizational sales and business development operational excellence, and promote best practices and thought leadership. With the growth of the IES, Fred has also been causing waves in the sales world as well. Well-known as a marketing consultant to companies such as Microsoft, Oracle and others, Fred has led the IES to become a leading source of sales excellence, content development, and premiere sales training solutions. Through the IES Fred works with such well-known sales thought leaders as Neil Rackham, Jill Konrath, Jeb Blount, Kendra Lee, Mark Hunter, Colleen Stanley and many others. During this interview Fred shares the "elusive critical factor for sales success", discusses "cold calling vs. social selling", and addresses many other hot topics in the world of sales. If you want to learn from one of the world's leading sales influencers spearheading the movement of sales excellence then you will want to listen to this interview!

Jul 5, 2017

On today's Sales Integrity Podcast episode we continue with our new "Ask-the-Coach" Q&A format. I have received quite a few questions since unveiling this new format so I will answer another question today. Today's question comes from Les Ehrsam of www.lesehrsam.com and the North Texas Crime Commission. Les aks: "I have received a request from long time contacts in my network to join 'Alignable: The Small Business Network', which seems to be an alternative to LinkedIn. The site description seems to be very similar to LinkedIn. Do we really need another Social Selling network since there already seems to be some overlap between Facebook and LinkedIn?If you are wondering the same thing then you will want to listen to this episode to find out my answer!

Jun 21, 2017

On today's Sales Integrity Podcast episode we continue with our new "Ask-the-Coach" Q&A format. I have received quite a few questions since unveiling this new format last episode so I will answer another question today. Today's question comes from Jimmy Curtin, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at CK Telephone and Data Services. Jimmy asks: "Sean, do you believe that the use of an engagement plan at the beginning of the sales process improves your closing percentage?" If you are wondering the same thing then you will want to listen to this episode to find out my answer!

Jun 14, 2017

"A referred customer spends 13.2% more than a non-referred customer." [Source: Journal of Marketing] On today's Sales Integrity Podcast episode we try out a new format - "Ask-the-Coach" Q&A. I receive questions from time-to-time from my listeners and will start answering them on the podcast so all listeners can benefit from the coaching advice. Today's question comes from Brian Childers, President of Comport Consulting Group. Brian asks: "Sean, can you discuss the changing landscape of leveraging social media selling as it relates to referral selling?  Specifically, it has been proven that more people will buy from a personal referral, either direct or indirect via a trusted resource/friend, versus cold-calling, mass marketing, etc.  As a professional sales coach and industry expert, how do you see these either competing against or complementing each other?" If you are wondering the same thing then you will want to listen to this episode to find out my answer!

Jun 7, 2017

"Only 25% of leads are legitimate and should advance to sales." [Source: Gleanster Research] We have reached a milestone - this is our 50th episode of the Sales Integrity Podcast! On this episode we focus on The 4 Cornerstones of Lead Generation Success and more importantly, how you can apply each one. During this episode we pull together the previous lessons learned throughout our Prospecting On Purpose podcast series into one comprehensive approach to generating more leads. If you want to create and execute a well-balanced consistent weekly lead generation strategy to help you achieve your sales and income goals then you will want to listen to this episode.

May 24, 2017

From playing on the same college basketball team at LSU as "Pistol" Pete Marovich, to a successful 14-year sales career at IBM, to working alongside Zig Ziglar for 32 years, Bryan Flanagan has some great stories to share. This is definitely one of the more entertaining interviews conducted on the Sales Integrity Podcast. After 3,628,807 miles, 4,670 engagements, and training over 745,144 professionals, Bryan still believes that, armed with the right skills and attitude, anyone can learn to sell. And he imparts such wisdom during this interview as "Comfort kills careers" and "Think in silence, talk in complete sentences" as well as "The intention behind your technique determines your integrity" and much more. If you are the type of sales leader or sales professional who seeks to learn creative new ideas in a fun way to take your sales career to the next level then you will want to "grow get em" by listening to this interview of the great Bryan Flanagan.

May 17, 2017

What is Social Selling? According to LinkedIn, Social Selling is about leveraging your social network to find the right prospects, build trusted relationships, and ultimately, achieve your sales goals. In terms of measuring Social Selling success LinkedIn conducted some research and found that sales reps with the highest Social Selling Index (SSI) scores create 45% more sales opportunities, are 51% more likely to hit quota, are 3X more likely to go to club, and 78% of social sellers outsell their peers who don't use social media. On today's episode we focus on where it all begins as it relates to social selling - the connection. We provide a systematic approach for connecting with over 25% of your target audience of senior executives on LinkedIn. If you want to learn a proven step-by-step approach for reaching out to senior executives who will gladly accept your LinkedIn connection requests then you will want to listen to this episode.

May 10, 2017

“Nurtured leads produce, on average, a 20% increase in sales opportunities versus non-nurtured leads." [Source: DemandGen Report] Today we start a new podcast theme - Sales & Marketing Integration. Moving forward we will look at the ins and outs, as well as benefits associated to the sales department and marketing department working together as it relates to Lead Generation. Today’s niche focus will be: Social Selling vs. Lead Nurturing. If Social Selling is really just the sales professional's way of getting attention and then nurturing leads how does that affect the Marketing department’s formal Lead Nurturing campaigns? What are the pitfalls associated to these two departments not communicating as it relates to this topic? We address this in detail during this podcast episode. We even provide 3 tips on how Sales and Marketing can work hand-in-hand to make the Lead Nurturing process a great success without stepping on one another. If you want to learn how the Sales and Marketing departments can leverage Social Selling and Lead Nurturing campaigns in conjunction with one another to generate more qualified opportunities, then you will want to listen to this episode.

May 3, 2017

“Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text." [Source: Insivia Reports] We continue with our theme of “Creating Content” as a sales professional. Today we focus on sending videos within LinkedIn InMails to New Prospects. It’s not as easy as it may sound. People who don’t know you typically won’t click a link for fear it could be a virus or something less desirable. Within InMails LinkedIn doesn’t convert a link to a preview of the video like it does on its activity feed wall when you post a link in an Update. During this episode we provide you with a “sales hack” on how to get around this challenge within LinkedIn. We also provide you a quick blueprint and outline for how to structure your message within the 300 character limit LinkedIn imposes on you when sending messages to 2nd degree contacts or beyond using InMails. If you want to learn a creative way to send videos to target market prospects within LinkedIn that simply yields results, then you will want to listen to this episode.

May 3, 2017

The Sales Integrity Podcast just completed it’s 3rd month in existence and has received some excellent feedback from our audience of loyal listeners. This quick episode will provide a special announcement for some changes we are making to the podcast moving forward effective May 2017 based on audience suggestions.

Apr 26, 2017

“59% of senior executives prefer video over text." [Source: Brainshark] We continue with our theme of “Creating Content” as a sales professional. Today we focus on how to create videos to send to senior executives within the sales process. Video equals higher viewer attention. We all know senior executives don’t like longwinded emails or conversations. They tend to be brief in their communications because of how much demand is on them and their daily schedule. Given that, Brainshark also found that the information contained in one minute of online video is equal to about 1.8 million written words. You can take advantage of this research as a sales professional by creating compelling videos that make you more memorable and drive home points your made during your meetings with senior executives. We provide three tips on how to create and share videos with senior executives, both in follow up emails as well as to summarize longer presentations you made during previous meetings. If you want to set yourself apart from the competition and become more memorable with senior executives during the sales cycle to win more business, then you will want to listen to this episode.

Apr 24, 2017

"90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 60,000X faster in the brain than text." [Sources: 3M Corporation and Zabisco] We continue with our theme of “Creating Content” as a sales professional. Today we focus on how to create an InfoGraphic. Visual content drives engagement. In fact, according to research conducted by Simply Measured, just one month after the introduction of Facebook timeline for brands, visual content — photos and videos — saw a 65% increase in engagement. You can take advantage of this same approach as a sales professional by creating your very own InfoGraphic to illustrate your knowledge and expertise while helping simplify complex topics for your target audience. We provide three tips on how to create and share an InfoGraphic to elevate your status as a thought leader and go-to-specialist in your field. If you want to take advantage of the power of visual content to improve your sales prospecting game, then you will want to listen to this episode.

Apr 21, 2017

"The top salespeople use LinkedIn at least 6 hours per week." [Source: The Sales Management Association] We continue with our new theme of “Creating Content” as a sales professional. Today we focus on how to create and share content on LinkedIn. We have discussed previously how buyers feel more positive about a brand after consuming content from it. Well the same thing is true for sales professionals - the more timely, relevant content you share that adds value to the buyer’s evaluation journey then the more likely they will reach out to you at the right time in the buying cycle to engage with you. We provide three tips on how to share and create content on LinkedIn that will help you build a steady following of target market prospects with consistent action on your part. If you want to leverage LinkedIn as a social selling tool that helps you steadily build a sales pipeline of qualified opportunities, then you will want to listen to this episode.

Apr 19, 2017

“70% of people make purchasing decisions to solve problems. 30% make decisions to gain something.” [Source: Impact Communications]  We continue with our new theme of “Creating Content” as a sales professional. Today we focus on the Pain & Pleasure Principle and how you can put it to work for you to improve the way you influence and persuade. We discuss how to leverage the Pain & Pleasure Principle as you create content knowing you will want to map that content directly to the more pressing concept of the two (pain and pleasure). We provide three steps and tips on how to create compelling content that makes use of this principle. If you want to improve the effectiveness of your sales messaging and create more impactful content, then you will want to listen to this episode.

Apr 17, 2017

“95% of buyers chose a solution provider that provided them with ample content to help navigate through each stage of the buying process.” [Source: DemandGen Report]  We shift our attention to a new theme we will focus on moving forward on the Sales Integrity Podcast, which is “Creating Content”. Given that all of the research points to buyers needing to consume multiple pieces of content from a vendor before buying from them, we will focus on creating one piece per episode moving forward. This renewed focus will build upon our previous “Prospecting by the Numbers” discussion and provide our listeners with plenty of ideas on how to create valuable content they can use within their prospecting and selling efforts. Today we focus on the process associated towards creating a Case Study. We provide three steps and tips on how to quickly create a simple one-page Case Study that will be compelling to your target audience. If you have always known you should be telling success stories and sharing case studies with your prospects at the right time in their buying journey, then you will want to listen to this episode.

Apr 14, 2017

“73% of executives prefer to work with sales professionals referred by someone they know.” [Source: Sales Benchmark Index] On today’s “Sales Prospecting by the Numbers” discussion we focus on “Referral Selling Uncovered” as our primary topic. We unpack this statistic a bit and provide 3 specific tips on how to improve your overall approach as it relates to success with referral selling. In a previous episode we discussed how only 11% of salespeople are actually asking for referrals. Today we focus on some positive statistics that highlight the benefits of using referral selling as a primary prospecting strategy. We also provide specific tactics to help you elevate your referral selling game. If you are struggling with how to generate more referral-based leads, then you will want to listen to this episode.

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