Shop Talk Podcast #16 - Robert Wiesheu on Selling in Different Cultures

For this edition of the podcast, I'm delighted to spend some time with my friend Robert Wiesheu, one of the most interesting guys I know and someone who's spent more than a decade selling to customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. As such, he has a great perspective on what it takes to successfully sell even if you don't look or sound like the people you're selling to.

Podcast file (18.2 MB, 15min51sec)

Highlights:

1'25" Challenges in selling into different regions
5'00" Preparing to sell in a country for the first time
6'10" Is there bias against a foreign salesperson?
7'25" What to think about when preparing a product for worldwide sales
9'10" Working with in-country agents


Theme music: "Up the Coast" from West Indian Girl's album 4th and Wall.

Tags:
podcast, sales, culture

Shop Talk Podcast #14 - Jill Konrath on selling to big companies

I had a great time talking recently with Jill Konrath, author of "Selling to Big Companies." She had a lot to say about, among other things, how some tried and true sales techniques are outmoded. Jill's website is sellingtobigcompanies.com.

Download the podcast here (20 minutes, 27 seconds).

Segments:
0:00 Introduction
0:30 The difference between selling to big companies and to small ones
1:50 What's changed in selling in the past decade?
7:30 On follow-up
9:10 On "always be closing"
11:25 Using web2.0 technology to help make sales
15:20 Learning from mistakes

(Theme music: "Nova" by NOMO, from their album "Ghost Rock")
Tags:
sales, sales improvement, podcast, lead generation, web2.0

Minipodcast with Jill Konrath: "Mr. Prospect"

From The Mistake Bank:

As a young Xerox sales trainee, Jill Konrath learned her sales demonstration script perfectly... perhaps too perfectly.

"Mr. Prospect" - 2:56


You can learn more about Jill and her work at SellingToBigCompanies.com.

Related Post:
Jill Konrath Mistake Stories

Tags:
sales, narrative, presentation, Mistake Bank

Mini-podcast: Listrak's Ross Kramer on not investing in sales and marketing

An audio story from The Mistake Bank.

When Ross Kramer started his first technology business, he focused on the technical side to the exclusion of sales and marketing. In retrospect, that was a mistake.

You can download the story here.

Biography:
Ross Kramer started his first company, a web hosting firm named Vertex Internet, in his Penn State dorm room in 1997. He quickly noticed the struggles his customers were having in communicating with their customers efficiently and effectively, so he started Listrak to help with their email marketing needs. Under Ross’ direction, both companies have grown into technologically-advanced companies that are leaders in their industries.

Listrak services clients such as Daimler Chrysler, Motorola, L’Oreal and the Islands of the Bahamas from its Lititz, PA headquarters. Listrak is a two-time winner of the Central Penn Business Journal’s Top Fifty Fastest Growing Companies and the 2005 Growth Company of the Year by the Technology Council of Central PA.

Tags:
learning, Mistake Bank, sales, marketing, technology, podcast, investment

Shop Talk Podcast #11 - (Not) Raising Prices - a mistake

From The Mistake Bank:

The following story discusses how something as well-meaning as holding off on price increases until there's no other option often backfires.

Click here to access the podcast.

Shop Talk Podcast #8a - A mistake story from Ford Harding

Ford Harding, author of "Rain Making," who was interviewed in Shop Talk Podcast #7, was kind enough to share a mistake story for inclusion in The Mistake Bank.

Actually, he shared two. In the first, he relates a story that taught him there can be pitfalls in sharing the good side and bad side of things with a reporter (right-click to download).

Tags:
sales, public relations, press relations, business development, narrative, storytelling

Shop Talk Podcast #7 - Ford Harding on Rain-making

rain-mak-er n. a person (as a partner in a law firm) who brings in new business.

On this edition, we talk to Ford Harding, author of "Rain Making: Attract New Clients No Matter What Your Field." Ford's book presents very practical and complete advice on selling professional services. He is president of Harding & Co., a consulting firm that helps companies improve their selling performance.

Among Ford's observations in the podcast is that most professional services people are hired for their native intellgence, critical thinking skills, etc., and not for their sales competence. Which results in an often painful transition when these folks are asked to start selling.

It was a fun chat. I hope you enjoy it. Click here to download.

Tags:
sales, business development, professional services, rainmaking