In Season 3 of the Rethink The Way You Sell Podcast, I’m going to help you rethink your prospecting.

I’m going to simplify the concept for you so that it’s less intimidating, and give you some specific strategies and tactics that you can put into play immediately.

I’m going to start by identifying the 8 most common reasons that trained and motivated teams aren’t creating more opportunities, and I’m going to tell you how you can fix them.

“Jeff, I love how passionate you are about this!”

It took far more restraint than I’m comfortable admitting not to punch that product manager in the neck.

My annual summer golf trip is this weekend. Right now, I’m in paradise, getting ready to tee off for the weekend's final round. As I’ve been thinking of the message I want to deliver today, I’m returning to a story from this trip in 2010.

Who doesn’t love a good inbound lead? They’re a sign that you’re doing something right. Your SEO is on point, there’s some thought leadership that sent people your way, or someone specifically passed you a referral. Hey, maybe it’s pure dumb luck! One way or another, people are coming to you. 

You’re in sales. You’re proud to represent the company you work for and the solution you sell. That’s a great place to start. 

The problem is that many sellers are so proud of what they sell, it’s all they talk about. They run around from prospect to prospect offering their solution and hoping that they called on someone with the right problem. 

This is totally backward. 

Earlier this week, I was advising a colleague to take a direct approach to his LinkedIn connections- a tactic I’m starting to use myself.

“When they accept your request, send a message back or even a video message that says, ‘I connected with you because I help companies like yours with these types of issues. I'm a good follow on this platform, I provide a lot of value for free, and I’m happy to connect in real-time to discuss your specific situation if you ever feel like that would be helpful.’”

“Wow, that seems really direct, and a bit salesy,” he said.

This is where the conversation got interesting. I said, “Compared to what?”

Well, we’re here at the end of Season 2. What have you learned, and what’s next?

Were there things you expected to hear on this season that you didn’t?

Are you surprised that there wasn’t more talk about particular selling skills?

Let me be clear, selling skills make an impact. You definitely need to know what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and how often it needs to be done if you want to be a top performer. The goal of this entire season was to point out that there’s a lot more that goes into next-level sales performance than knowing how to sell.

One of my favorite places in the world is a clearing in the woods at a golf resort. There’s a labyrinth laid out there intended for walking meditations and mindfulness. It’s beautiful, peaceful, and the subject of today’s episode of the Rethink The Way You Sell Podcast.

Can you ever be good enough?

It seems like every time you succeed, the counter resets to zero, and your company just asks for more.

How do you keep your swagger, or more importantly your composure, when it feels like there’ always more to do. It’s frustrating.

That’s what I’m talking about today on the Rethink The Way You Sell Podcast.

A winning mindset is about more than just staying positive. It’s about more than hope, confidence, or even determination. It’s about belief; belief you can make the sale; belief that you can make the sale again; belief that if you stumble, you’ll get back up and be even better for the next call.

On todays episode of the Rethink The Way You Sell Podcast, I’m going to talk about how top salespeople craft their mindset such that they can perform as well as possible, as often as possible.

Think about what it really means when you try to convince someone, and then tell me why we should even be using that word as professional salespeople at all anymore.

That’s what I’m talking about today on the Rethink The Way You Sell Podcast.

Do you realize that you’re training your customers how to do business with you? Are you thinking about the path your relationship is started on?

How likely are they to refer their friends if the buying process is so difficult, even if the solution overdelivers on your promises?

This is what I am discussing today on the podcast with Larry and Liz.

Consultative selling is about an exchange of ideas, not the reciting of a few well crafted lines.

On today’s podcast episode, I talk about how top performers don’t just sell, they create the environment to buy.

For years, we’ve been lied to.

We’ve been told “leaders are readers.”

That’s only a partial truth.

There’s a difference between knowing what to do and actually executing, and that’s where real leadership lives.

“How you do anything is how you do everything.”

Have you ever thought about it this way? Would your results change if you did? This is what we are talking about today on the Rethink The Way You Sell Podcast.

Top salespeople start by thinking about what needs to happen. Most other sellers just start asking for directions.

This is an important umbrella concept to recognize, and that’s what today’s episode of the Rethink The Way You Sell podcast is all about.

Everybody who performs at a high level has some means of evaluating their current performance.

It’s important to know what’s actually going on in real time so you can identify where you’re strong and where you have some room to improve, and that’s what I’m talking about on today’s episode of the podcast.

If we go back to Covey, and Habit #1, being proactive means taking responsibility for your outcomes. You’re the captain of your ship.

But you can only control what you can control.

You need to recognize when things are outside of your control, and adjust your mindset accordingly. Trying to overreach that sphere of influence won’t do you any favors.

The very best salespeople know that the buck stops with them when it comes to revenue results. Sure, there are other important aspects of the revenue cycle, but ultimately the seller is judged on a revenue number, and it’s a binary outcome.

Season 2 of the Rethink The Way You Sell Podcast is all about intangibles, and Mike Hook wrote a killer LinkedIn post about intangibles that I just needed to speak with him about.

In the post, Mike shared the dirty little secret for how high performers get things done (it’s actually seven little secrets).