Sales Integrity

Steve Benson is the Founder & CEO of Badger Maps, the #1 app for route planning and scheduling to help outside sales reps save up to 10 hours every week in busy work - so that they can focus on selling more. Prior to launching Badger Maps Steve thrived in outside sales roles for IBM, Autonomy and Google, where he was recognized as Google Enterprise's Top Performing Sales Rep in the World for 2009 (227% of quota for the year). So Steve knows a thing or two about selling like a badger in an outside sales role. Throughout this interview Steve shares valuable insights for not only outside sales professionals to increase sales and earn more money, but also tech company leaders seeking to improve the way they build, develop and lead their sales organization.

JV Crum III is the host of the very popular podcast, Conscious Millionaire, which has 12 million listeners in over 190 countries with over 1000 episodes broadcasted. INC Magazine named Conscious Millionaire one of the Top 13 Business Podcasts for 2017. JV is also author of the best-selling book by the same name - Conscious Millionaire. JV is a High Performance coach and has come on the Sales Integrity Podcast to discuss the power of Mindset and Prosperity Thinking to help our audience achieve High Performance. On this episode you will find out why setting goals doesn't work and what you should do instead. This episode is jam-packed with Mindset improvement tips and techniques. If you want to take your sales performance to the next level, then you will definitely want to listen to this interview with JV Crum III. 

On this episode of the Sales Integrity Podcast we discuss whether or not you are already behind your numbers just midway through the 1st Quarter of 2018 and clarify the cause for why you might struggle to achieve your goals. Furthermore, we discuss how to create a Quarterly Sales Plan (i.e. your Sales Business Plan). More specifically, we walk through a high level overview of The 3 Pillars of Prospecting On Purpose and how you can leverage these pillars for creating your customized sales plan. Most importantly, we discuss executing your plan on a consistent weekly basis through the lens of The 3 Pillars. If you are the type of sales professional who wants to build upon your current momentum, or if you are in the position where you need to turn around your ineffective sales performance, then you will definitely want to listen to this podcast episode to get out ahead of your numbers in 2018!

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

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!

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

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!

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!

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!

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, gene

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!

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!

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 m

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!

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!

"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!

"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.

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.

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.

“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