Episodes

I have observed a number of teams in recent weeks in relation to their performance and their culture, and irrespective of the industry they are in, there is a common theme that is weaved amongst the teams which are not performing to their ultimate potential. This theme is the team & its members are more focused on what is in it for themselves, rather than focusing on what contribution they can make to the team. As a result, culture begin to fracture, engagement begins to wane and performance ult...

In many organisations, high performing sales people are often gifted with sales leadership responsibility based on their level of performance and level of potential – they sit in the ‘top right’ quadrant. It is often the next logical step in their sales journey. The challenge though is many high performing sales people are not prepared for the opportunity when it presents itself, and as such, feel thrusted into a leadership role without the transition blueprint or game plan. Many of them had no...

One of the key responsibilities of a sales leader is to encourage their team to get back on track when performance starts to dip. Unfortunately many sales leaders simply look to the surface level fixes such as making more calls, attending more meetings or growing the opportunity pipeline even further. This rarely works. There can be a whole host of reasons as to why a sales person’s performance wanes, and it is the responsibility of the sales leader to identify the core reasons, and seek to assi...

One of the key differentiators in modern day selling is authenticity. We know that people buy from people they know, they like and they trust. We also know that the product or service is not what the customer is looking for – they are looking for a solution to a problem. Whether you are in enterprise sales, SME sales or in fact in the start up phase of a business, authenticity is a critical key to your selling success. And in today’s episode, I enjoyed a fabulous conversation with Brendan McAdam...

I absolutely love the leadership philosophies of John Wooden – the most successful college basketball coach in history. Not only did he create and maintain a super successful and engaged team culture, he also became a mentor and coach to many highly successful sporting coaches and business people over his lifetime. In today’s episode, I reflect on John’s 5 keys to exceptional team performance. So simple when you see it on paper, and yet so powerful when it is implemented.

Despite sales people possessing incredible talent and reporting to a Sales Leader who believes in them, it is staggering to observe the number of sales people who lack confidence. A lack of confidence – To identify tangible opportunities. To reach out to Senior Executives within their portfolio. To make new connections in a target Account. To challenge the status quo and think outside the square. To take action outside of their comfort zone. To ask the difficult questions of their customer...

It is fascinating the number of sales leaders who find it very difficult to delegate. Many of them feel they can get things done quicker if they do it themselves, or it will be done more effectively, and in many cases they do not have a high level of trust and confidence in their team to get things done to the level of satisfaction required. Great sales leaders understand that a key to becoming exceptional is to develop independence in the team, and one of the best ways to do that is through del...

Sales is a fascinating study in human behaviour and psychology and can often be 100% predictable. So many sales leaders and their teams get caught up in how good they think their products and services are, that they literally get drunk on their company Kool Aid, and yet wonder why their sales results are not where they could be or should be. Exceptional Sales Leaders do not – they understand that it is not about the products and services, it is about the problems that need to be solved. They als...

When it comes to negotiating, many sales teams and their leaders are hell bent on jumping into the detail up front, often based on either inferred pressure or direct pressure to get the deal done. When this happens, often the deal that gets done is not as good as it could have been, and sometimes the result is no deal at all. Having worked with sales teams for many years, negotiations need not be onerous. There is a simple process to follow and some key principles to be aware of. That’s what I e...

If you have been in sales for any length of time, you would have come across the slick sales person and sales leader – constantly operating with a sense of urgency and focusing on closing, closing, closing. Whilst they are hungry to get the deals done, they also have more of a short term focus, almost instant gratification. If the deal can’t be closed today, it won’t be closed at all – move onto the next deal. And how does this make the potential customer feel? Potentially like a pawn in the sal...

When it comes to leadership there are many theories and many perspectives. A lot of people like focusing their attention on leadership strategies, emotional intelligence, building trust, coaching and mentoring, to name a few. Unfortunately not enough leaders focus their attention on identifying and then demonstrating core characteristics of leadership, and yet wonder why they are not achieving the desired results. When we are crystal clear on the characteristics of a leader, it becomes a filter ...

Many sales leaders, when they transition from individual contributor to sales leader, continue the same behaviours they demonstrated as a sales person. They love the hunt and get excited by the prospect of winning the deal. Very often this can lead to disengagement & de-positioning of the sales team. When it comes to leading your team, do you find yourself solving the team’s problems, believing that through solving the problem, you are serving them? I certainly believed that, until I discover...

One of the biggest principles of leadership is trust – without it, it is impossible to lead and achieve exceptional results. In today’s episode I delve into an element of trust, reliability, and share some insights on personal branding and trust when reliability is not up to the mark. It is from personal experience, and goes along way to answering the question in the title of the episode!

Over the last week, we have seen a number of high profile sportspeople getting themselves into the spotlight, many of them for the wrong reasons. With a high profile comes big responsibility and unfortunately a few of them will look back on the last week with a level of regret. Many people look to these sportspeople to role model great behaviours all the time and when they don’t, the ‘knives’ come out as does the criticism. Despite their young age, the expectations are huge, and through their a...

A key question that sales leaders and their teams often overlook to ask is ‘What makes their customers attractive?’. On the surface this may sound like an obvious question & I often hear sales leaders saying things like ‘we have a great relationship’ or ‘this customer is always happy to attend events’. We need to go deeper. We need to plan upfront and really consider what characteristics of a customer would we consider to be attractive and then measure them. That’s what I cover in today’s episod...

Last week I spoke about the importance of understanding key stakeholders within your customer’s organisation, as part of your Account Plan, so that we can identify the formal hierarchy, as well as the informal decision & influencing hierarchy. Today, I cover the importance of gaining a deeper understanding of your customer’s business by looking at your customer through 4 different lenses. If you would like a copy of the template I refer to in the episode, please send me an email at darren@darren...

Coaching for many sales leaders is a real challenge – predominantly because either they do not know how to effectively coach, or do not have access to a simple structure to follow. For sales leaders who are dedicated to driving exceptional performance with their team, coaching is non-negotiable and a priority. And utilising a simple yet powerful coaching model only enhances their ability to unleash the potential of their sales team.

In looking at what drives outstanding sales performance, irrespective of industry, it is very easy to look at the surface level metrics, such as conversion rates, sales numbers, even the quality and experience of the sales executives. Whilst these metrics may be legitimate indicators of performance, we can often ignore key triggers that enable sales leaders to unleash the potential of their sales teams. In looking at the exceptional sales leaders, who oversee teams that drive outstanding and su...

In working with sales leaders and their teams, I’m amazed at how many leave their sales success to chance. Whilst some find themselves catching lightning in a bottle, where they come across a customer just at the right moment, and in the right step in the buying process, the vast majority do not. In selling, especially strategic selling, it is crucial that we plan, and not just a selling strategy, but develop an Account Plan. This is macro planning, and an investment of time and effort up front,...

If there is one certainty in leadership it is that change is inevitable and will only continue to accelerate, and as leaders, it’s critical that we understand change and continue to adapt to it. A key element of this is understanding and becoming intentional around our leadership shadow, essentially the impressions we are creating every single day. Is our shadow a shallow one, or are we casting a long shadow based on our actions, our role modelling and our consistency. That is the topic for toda...