Episodes

One of the greatest joys I have in what I do is facilitation – working with teams and helping them to think through challenges and problems to arrive at an outcome which will propel them forward. In playing the role of the facilitator, there are a number of skills and attributes to consider, as well as what role that ideally needs to be played. For many, this is not easy, however, if we are able to master these, and become the peaceful warrior, amazing things can happen.

One of the greatest things about sales and sales leadership is that there is no specific required background that guarantees success. I’ve seen very technical people become great sales people. I’ve seen very non technical people become great sales people. Extroverted, introverted, young, old, male, female. It doesn’t matter – I’ve seen people from all walks of life, with all kinds of different backgrounds, become successful in sales, and many have gone on to be successful sales leaders. Howe...

I love sales and I often say it is the ultimate form of service. Being able to identify a problem that someone has, or an organisation has, and then provide a solution to that problem, is extremely rewarding. I also believe that every single person on the planet is in sales, irrespective of whether you are selling a product, a service, a concept or an idea. The challenge though for the vast majority of people, is dealing with the inevitable rejection that comes as part of the ‘sales’ game. As su...

I had no intention of continuing a football theme today, however, events of the last 24 hours have changed that. On the back of Geelong winning the 2022 AFL Premiership, their longest serving Captain, Joel Selwood, announced his retirement. What a phenomenal leader & what a phenomenal career. And what an incredible example of a servant leader. I chat about what made Joel such an exceptional servant leader and how we can learn from it.

It has been a few days since the 2022 AFL Grand Final and I have been reflecting on the game and some of the lessons to come out of it. What promised to be an epic Grand Final turned out to be a fizzer, unless of course, you are a Geelong supporter. They were ruthless and uncompromising and their victory was emphatic. As comprehensive as the victory was, what impressed me even more was the humility shown by the players and coaches, as well as the humility and class shown by the Sydney Swans in d...

If you asked most people what their greatest fear is, odds on many of them would select presenting or public speaking – in fact, there are people out there who say they would rather die than speak in front of a group. This is sad, because presenting, pitching and public speaking can be so rewarding and exhilarating. Yesterday I had the privilege of working with a group of people on their presentation skills and through the process, each of them discovered that confidence can be found in unexpect...

When it comes to the sales profession, it is quite unusual for someone to utilise the word sales and ethics in the same sentence. Despite sales being one of the oldest & most lucrative professions on the planet, if we conducted a straw poll on how people thought of sales and salespeople, it would not be uncommon for the majority of people to have a negative connotation towards sales, which sometimes is based on personal experience, but more often, based on heresy and opinion. We need to change t...

On September 24, the 2022 AFL Grand Final is being played between Geelong and Sydney, 2 teams which are primed at the right end of the season. It promises to be a cracking game, and it is no accident that the 2 best teams of 2022 have made it through to the final game of the year. Huge credit must go to the respective coaches for preparing their players and for implementing a game plan that works. There is much that we as Sales Leaders can learn, and that is what I cover in today’s episode.

Human beings are very complex creatures and can also be quite unpredictable. Some humans even seek to be even more complex and attempt to use big words and complex sentences to ‘impress others’. One of the great habits of highly effective communicators is their ability to turn the complex into simple to understand language and concepts. As a leader, are you aware of your language? The language to self, and the language to others?

Today marks a very proud milestone – the 500th episode of The Exceptional Sales Leader Podcast. It seems a long way from episode #1 in April 2020, and if I was brutally honest, I had no ambitions of getting much further than 100 episodes. In fact, I thought that if I could convert around 85 articles I had written into podcasts I would be doing extremely well. And yet, here we are at episode 500. This is a story of belief, patience and persistence, and today, I am feeling overwhelmingly grateful ...

If there is one thing that has come out of the last 24 months, it is that the world feels a lot smaller. The sheer volume of news and information being front of mind globally has been almost unlike any other time in history. And with this has come a much sharper focus on leadership. To say that there is a huge void in quality leadership around the world right now would be a massive understatement. For young people with ambitions of leading others in the future, unfortunately they do not have gr...

In sales, as in life, a part of being successful is learning to deal with tough situations and difficult customers – it is unavoidable. There are numerous reasons as to why customers may be difficult and if we can understand what they are actually looking for, and what may drive them to be difficult, it can make it a little easier to manage. In today’s episode, I cover 2 key strategies to better manage tough customers, so that we can deliver win-win outcomes.

Being a student of human behaviour, I’m continually fascinated in how people respond and behave in various situations and where they focus their attention. Many people, including leaders, almost go through the day (and life!) in a state of unconsciousness, doing the same thing over and over again, and never questioning what they are doing. It is conditioning. As a leader, we must be more conscious of what we are focused on, because it will determine what our team is focused on.

In 2022, more than ever, there is a relentless focus from business leaders on delivering exceptional results, and as a consequence, many sales leaders and their teams can become quite overwhelmed with all of the expectations, the kpi’s, the priorities, the pressure. Having to effectively deal with multiple stakeholders with multiple agendas can be very challenging, and without a specific approach to this, things can very quickly spiral out of control. In today’s episode, I cover 5 tips that can ...

Leaders the world over continue to search for the difference that can make all the difference to their team’s performance. Developing a new strategy, implementing innovative tactics, driving disruption. Anything that they believe will move the dial and drive results. Their teams certainly possess talent, and they definitely develop strategies to unleash that talent. However, when analysing these high performing teams and high performing individuals across any industry, and whether in sport or bu...

In this episode, just wanted to share some thoughts on perspective – I, like many, woke up to the news that Queen Elizabeth II passed away at the age of 96. As leaders, and as humans, we can often get caught up in the drama and issues of day to day business, and unfortunately lose some perspective. The challenge from today’s episode is to reflect on the week, what has worked well and not so well, consider the obstacles and the problems, and put them into perspective, because often when we do thi...

It may sound like a cliché, but culture will eat strategy for breakfast every single day. There is no magic strategy which on its own will deliver exceptional results, despite where many leaders focus their time. These leaders become obsessed with sales strategy, company strategy, and invest the majority of their attention on driving the numbers and the metrics, without becoming equally obsessed with the culture of the team and of the organisation. They may well have the best strategy ever inven...

Mindset is incredibly important in sales and especially as a sales leader. We know that challenges are inevitable, and we will have to deal with rejection, objections and sometimes failure. When this happens, our mindset can be the difference between being able to effectively handle the situation and use it as a platform to get better, or be an anchor that holds us back. In today’s episode, I talk about this in detail as well as share a little formula that will help us be more proactive and have...

Even though sales is a numbers game, many senior leaders within organisations will heap the pressure onto the sales leaders and their teams to perform extraordinary deeds to drive results. These leaders are often also the ones who cannot accept failure and constantly look for someone to blame when deals go sour. ‘Failure’ is inevitable in sales and is actually an essential ingredient to being successful. As a sales leader, it is therefore critically important as to how we approach failure. That’...

As a sales leader, are you satisfied with the level of effort and output from your team? Are they making every post a winner, or are there some areas for improvement?vAre they committed to making progress & delivering tangible value to their customers? One thing that many sales leaders either don’t understand or don’t accept, is that the sales team is a direct reflection of them. And this applies to every aspect – whether it be planning, tactics, strategy, behaviour or attitude. So as sales le...

I often share with leaders that leadership is not easy and it is not for everyone. And it is certainly not a popularity contest, and yet many leaders attempt to be popular with their team. We all have an innate need to be liked and to belong to something and this can sometimes hamper our ability to effectively lead, because the pull of the tribe can be overwhelming. With leadership comes great responsibility and when I’m working with leaders 1:1, I make sure we hone in on a number of key areas t...

When it comes to hiring sales people, many organisations take a very logical and measured approach to identifying ideal candidates – does the sales person have a track record of high performance, have they constantly met or exceeded targets, have they remained with previous organisations for a consistent period of time, or have they swapped roles on a regular basis? Do they possess a demonstrated level of technical knowledge & expertise that will allow them to integrate quickly into the organisa...

In sales, as in every walk of life, success leaves clues, as does failure! Many sales leaders are often looking for the secret sauce to propel them to super success, thinking it is some sort of special potion – it very rarely is. Sustainable success is built off strong fundamentals and whilst these fundamentals are not rocket science, if consistency is built around the habits, amazing things can happen. In today’s episode, I suggest 10 habits that can help sales leaders become exceptional.

How connected are you? An interesting question to ask as a sales leader, especially in terms of the connection you have with your sales team as well as key customers and partners. Unfortunately many sales leaders begin to lose connection when they are promoted to the role, as their focus is often on the internal mechanisms of the business, and the expectations placed upon them by senior executives. In this episode I discuss the importance of being connected, especially as it will help create an ...