It takes about 10,000 hours of dedicated practice to master a skill.

How often do you actually practice your sales craft?

No, really… I don’t mean the hours you spend at work, and it’s a stretch to even count webinars and podcasts. I mean dedicated practice. Making sales calls, writing email copy, talking shop… That’s the normal stuff that you end up getting credit for.

One of my favorite aspects of having a podcast is getting to talk to really smart people about a specific area of their genius.

Luigi Prestinenzi is one of those people, and this is one of those conversations.

To top performers, selling is not just a job to help pay the bills, or a side hustle to make a quick buck. It’s who they are and how they identify.

At any given moment, can you affirmatively state that what you’re currently doing is helping you achieve your larger goals?

The great Jim Collins said that if you have more than three priorities, you have no priorities.

Quite frankly, living it out is the easy part. The real work happens when you sit down and think about what you believe and why.

In the last episode of the Rethink The Way You Sell Podcast, I talked about how the very best salespeople are purpose-driven. In today’s episode, Larry Levine is challenging you to think about what your purpose is.

Top performers are aligned between who they are, what they do, and why they do it. You'll never meet a very high performer who isn't driven by something purposeful.

Andy Paul is one of the world’s foremost experts on sales and sales enablement. His new book, Sell Without Selling Out, is an instant best seller.

On today’s episode, Andy joins me to tap about the different between persuasion and influence.

What is the first trait that I can identify about top performers that separates them from everybody else?

They're proud to call themselves salespeople.

I’ve long said that there’s only about a 5% difference between mediocrity and superstardom. In Season 2 of the Rethink The Way You Sell Podcast, we’re going to dig into that 5% and identify what separates top-performing sales pros from the rest.

Bonus episode!

The early feedback I’ve been getting about the new show is humbling and I wanted to take the opportunity to respond.

I’ve also recently appreciated some things that were holding me back, and given that this is a season about belief, I thought it was more than appropriate to cap it off with a personal story.

Thanks for being here with me. Season two is coming very soon!

95% of salespeople can’t answer this question correctly.

Today I’m going to ask you why your best customers buy from you, and you’re going to think about some answers. They’ll be pretty good answers, but here’s the trick…

If you haven’t asked, you don’t really know.

For years, I’ve been saying that if you lined up 100 salespeople and asked them why their best customers buy from them,

If the last question I asked you was the toughest in the series to answer, today’s question might just be the most important.

Why are your customers better off for working with you?

This question makes you to consider the outcomes that you can provide, and it forces you to differentiate them from your competitors.

Today’s episode poses a tough question…

Why do you believe in yourself?

Now, I’m not asking you if you believe in yourself. I’m asking you specifically why… (And why is this so hard for so many people to answer?)

A good 30% of people I ask respond to this question with, “because other people believe in me.”

That’s just not good enough.

Why do you believe in your products/services/solutions?

In the last episode I asked you to think about your company, now you’re going to start thinking about the things your company offers.

What problems or issues do they solve?

What kinds of results do they create?

How are they different from your competition?

Why do you believe in your company?

It’s a simple question not asked often enough.

Is this just a job working for a company willing to pay you, or do their mission, vision, and values align with yours?

That alignment is going to be crucial for you to lean in when things inevitably get difficult.

I missed podcasting. I missed the feeling of getting behind this microphone knowing I've got to do something, knowing I've got to think about something out loud for you to hear. I do most of my very best work, when I'm on the spot, thinking out loud, and behind this microphone.

Here’s a simple way to tackle this exercise because it’s critical to your sales process.

Is the cost objection to make you go away… or is there something else?

There are some real lessons salespeople can learn from this blend of chops, finesse, and attack.