Episodes

One of the most important skills any salesperson and sales leader must learn is the ability to effectively negotiate. Often when sales people are under pressure to hit a number and to close a deal, the balance of power can sit with the buyer, especially when the person in the buying organisation is an experienced negotiator. This can result in the sales person giving too much away in order to close the deal, thereby diluting margin and quite often, credibility in the eyes of the customer. In tod...

Sales leaders and their teams are constantly searching for strategies and tactics to get in front of their ideal customer, and remain front of mind. Whether it be marketing campaigns through Facebook, LinkedIn, industry forums, or even through specific outreach via the phone, many organisations don’t play the long game and hence miss out on the harvest. Interestingly, for many organisations, cold email outreach does not appear to be at the top of their strategy list. That is where Namit Jindal c...

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is continuing to creep into every area of society at a rapid rate, and with this growth comes opportunities as well as challenges. For sales leaders and their teams, AI can be an enabler to fast track opportunity and pipeline development, and as long as they can maintain the human connection with clients, there is the opportunity to leverage AI to create exceptional results. In this episode, I have the privilege of speaking with Amarpreet Kalkat, Founder & CEO of Hum...

The great thing about being successful in sales is that there is no prerequisite in terms of qualification or background. Sales is such a level playing field that it creates the opportunity for anyone who wants to work hard, stay the course, learn and develop, to become successful. William Gilchrist is the perfect example. Growing up in Chicago and then moving to South East Asia, William has forged a very successful career, starting out in business development, working in senior roles for a numb...

In working with Sales Leaders and their teams over many years, I am still staggered at the number of sales professionals who ‘wing it’ when it comes to engaging with their customers and prospective customers. They rely on having a ‘strong relationship’ believing that this will get them through the sales call, and close the deal. In today’s episode, I have the privilege of speaking with Nathan Jamail, an author, speaker and coach, with over 30 years of sales and sales leadership experience. Natha...

In this insightful episode of the Exceptional Sales Letter podcast, host Darren Mitchell engages in a deep and motivational conversation with Casey Stubbs, a veteran entrepreneur and investment educator with extensive experience in sales, marketing, and value creation. The podcast delves into Casey’s multifaceted career journey, starting from his initial investments in the stock market at a young age to his venture into entrepreneurship through a carpet cleaning business and his eventual pivot b...

It was the movie, Terminator, that brought the concept of artificial intelligence (ai) to people’s awareness, albeit in quite a scary way. The reality is that artificial intelligence in some form has been with us for over 30 years, and is only now starting to exponentially accelerate in relation to the value it can add to businesses and organisations. The organisations that are able to leverage it effectively are the ones which will enjoy incredible success over the next few years. Whilst there ...

In many business organisations, there is almost an unwritten ‘ground rule’ that sales & marketing are internal competitors of each other. When sales are not converting prospects into customers, it is often marketing’s fault, and when marketing provide what they consider to be great leads to sales that do not get converted, it is sales’ fault. To be sustainably successful, organisations need to take a more strategically aligned approach and that is where Sam Shaper comes in. Sam is a Fractional R...

A key element of being in business is to grow, be profitable, and to add significant value to the marketplace. This is a key focus of almost every business on the planet. The fact that not every business achieves this is very often down to the leaders running the business as well as their ability to create and maintain a high performing environment. Too many CEO’s and leaders unfortunately are the reason why their business is not growing at the rate they expected and not achieving the outcomes t...

Even though sales is one of, if not, the oldest professions on the planet, it continues to evolve. Customers today are more savvy and educated than ever before, which means organisations and sales people need to evolve and adapt as well. Research suggests that 53% of organisations have made a buying decision before they even decide to engage with a service provider. This means that as sales people we can no longer lead with our product or our service, as sales is being redefined. In today’s epis...

For many sales leaders, the path to the position of leadership often comes through being an exceptional sales individual contributor. This is almost the first pre-requisite. Some then consciously choose to take on a leadership role, yet for many, it is a responsibility that is bestowed upon them, or dare I say, forced upon them, based on their levels of performance. For many, it is an opportunity that is very difficult to say no to. Unfortunately not many people are then provided with the bluepr...

When working with sales leaders and their teams, I often share with them the important message around creating and maintaining a terrific reputation, both from a company perspective, and especially from a personal perspective. People want to do business with people who they know, they like and they trust, and as sales people, as business people, we cannot ever take that for granted. Reputation is everything. In this episode, I had a tremendous conversation with Luis Garotti, the Founder of 292 C...

Business owners, organisations, sales leaders, and sales people all share one common challenge – finding effective ways to gain access to their ideal future customer and then determining how to provide tangible value, so that the customer raises their hand and a business relationship can be formed. Many organisations adopt the hope and pray strategy, where they use multiple marketing channels to spread the word, hoping that some of the ‘mud’ sticks. One of the most effective channels to leverage...

In B2B sales, many sales people love to be part of the big complex deals, the ones that often have a great deal of prestige and status attached to them, because, more often than not, they include iconic brands or industry leaders. The challenge though is that many sales teams and organisations are not set up well enough in order to build a compelling proposition to attract the big sale. They lack planning, they lack strategy, and they lack effective execution. In today’s episode, I have the priv...

I firmly believe that sales is one of the most fulfilling and satisfying careers available, and yet, when speaking with sales people, I often hear them describe their role as Customer Success Manager, Account Director, Customer Experience Manager, amongst other ‘titles’. Why don’t people simply say “I’m in Sales”? Whether we like it or not, sales is central to every business and every organisation, and whether you carry a sales target or not, everyone is in sales. In today’s episode, I enjoy a t...

When it comes to marketing, many organisations adopt the ‘hope and pray’ strategy, where they throw a heap of information into the marketplace hoping some of it will stick. And when the sales team is unable to convert the leads that come from this strategy, often they blame marketing for providing poor leads, and marketing blame sales for their inability to convert. Organisations that are able to build a more tangible and intentional marketing strategy, and ensure that both sales and marketing a...

Just about every sales person on the planet is looking for a way to differentiate themselves from their competition, and for the most part, they look for product or service differentiation. Not nearly enough salespeople look inwardly and consider what it is about themselves that can become the catalyst for differentiation and hence miss out on the opportunity to become exceptional. Gail Kasper is on a mission to change that and in today’s episode, Gail shares what it means to sell like a cockato...

When it comes to selling in the B2B marketplace, not only can selling become quite complex, it also requires involvement and buy-in from multiple stakeholders in the selling organisation. Whilst the sales team may take the lead on strategy development and sales execution, there is a role to play for multiple people within the organisation, so that the organisation can create a profitable revenue engine, that is also sustainable. In today’s episode, I enjoyed a terrific conversation with Tom Kais...

I love asking teams, especially sales teams about their perceptions of sales. Many of them, especially those not directly involved in a sales role, often have less than savoury things to say about sales – perceptions such as pushy, sleazy, untrustworthy, inauthentic. Very rarely do I hear positive perceptions, which is disappointing. I often share with teams that I truly believe that sales is the ultimate form of service, and can be not only very lucrative, it can also be a profession of high i...

It’s amazing when talking with sales people, the number who share with me that they are so conditioned by their Sales Manager &/or business to not make mistakes, they rarely take a chance. Often the feedback when they get something wrong is so negative and discriminatory, it discourages them from even trying. Not a great environment to operate in, wouldn’t you agree? And unfortunately a byproduct of this environment is lack of progress, and lack of results. Which in many people’s eyes is ‘failu...

If you have been in sales for any length of time, you would appreciate that whilst it can be a very fulfilling and lucrative career, it is not easy, and it can present numerous challenges. It is therefore so critical to have a great Sales Manager or mentor in your corner to help guide you, assist you and also challenge you, as well as developing competency and confidence in a number of key areas. In this episode, I have a fascinating conversation with Jon Alwinson, Senior Regional Sales Manager ...

Every organisation relies on sales for its success, however, many organisations utilise the ‘hope & pray’ strategy, where they implement a marketing or sales campaign, throw as much ‘mud at the wall’ as possible, and hope that some of it will stick. And many organisations have no clear mechanism from which to measure the effectiveness of their strategies, hence they keep throwing mud. Whilst sales can be a game of numbers, there is a better way – a way to target the ideal future customer and to ...

What is the key to success? Many people ask that question, and there are a multitude of different answers. From being in the right place at the right time, to having a ‘killer’ product or service, or having the financial backing of a large company. There are many perspectives on what it takes to be successful, and yet, often people look for the easy road, or the quick road. The reality is there is no such thing – becoming successful takes work, it takes persistence, a strong self belief and it t...

I am a big fan of the Hero’s Journey, and have come to understand that every single one of us are on our own Hero’s Journey and will be at different stages. In today’s episode, I have the absolute pleasure of speaking with Akeem Shannon, the Founder & CEO of Flipstik, and a man who has been on an incredible journey. From being bullied at 15 for being different, to flunking out of college at 19, being admitted to a mental hospital at 23 and appearing on Shark Tank at 28, Akeem’s journey has been ...