RainToday's Sales Tips & Techniques Podcast

How to Craft Stories that Trigger Emotion and Lead to Sales

August 06, 2013 11:00 - 12 minutes - 11 MB

Everyone loves a good story, and that includes your buyers. A good story triggers an emotion, and if the situation is similar to your buyer's, it makes them feel the problem could also happen to them. If you can show how you or your service helped the subject overcome the conflict, then you're one step closer to winning the sale.

Having a Noble Sales Purpose Puts You on the Fast Track to More Revenue

July 30, 2013 11:00 - 21 minutes - 19.8 MB

Certain behaviors determine a person's sales effectiveness—such as asking the right questions, uncovering the buyer's true need, and developing rapport with the buyer. What you might not know is selling with purpose, truly wanting to make a difference in clients' lives, can also lead to more sales. In fact, organizations that have a higher sales purpose outperform organizations that are focused on just producing revenue, says Lisa McLeod, author of Selling with Noble Purpose.

Specialists, Not Generalists, Are More Profitable

July 23, 2013 11:00 - 15 minutes - 14.4 MB

The natural tendency is to appeal to all buyers, providing everything and anything people might need. If you do that, however, you will have less business. When you specialize and differentiate, you will be much more successful, says Lee Frederiksen, co-author of Professional Services Marketing, Second Edition.

Use Content Marketing to Regain Some Control of the Buying Process

July 16, 2013 11:00 - 12 minutes - 11.9 MB

Buyers are in control of the buying process. In fact, most of the process is complete before they even contact you. They've already done the research: searched the web, read reviews and reports, and talked with their friends. That's why content marketing is so important, says content marketing evangelist Joe Pulizzi. To succeed at content marketing, however, you must have a content marketing strategy.

Networking: The Fortune Is In the Follow-Up

July 09, 2013 11:00 - 29 minutes - 26.6 MB

Ideally when you meet someone at a networking event, you end the conversation by scheduling a time to meet later and continue the conversation. A lot of the time, however, all you leave with is a business card that gets put into the top drawer of your desk with all the other cards you've collected over the years, never to be touched again. To prevent those opportunities from being wasted, Nancy Fox suggest following her 30-minute follow-up process.

How to Ask for—and Receive—Referrals without Sounding Pushy—An Interview with Bill Cates

July 02, 2013 11:00 - 26 minutes - 23.9 MB

A lot of people are afraid to ask for referrals because they think they will appear pushy, needy, or unsuccessful. And some people don’t ask because they’re afraid of rejection. The truth is asking for referrals doesn’t make you look like any of those things. Further, not getting a referral is not a failure, says Bill Cates author of Beyond Referrals. How you ask for a referral does affect your chances of receiving one, however. Listen as Cates explains how you should ask for one.

How to Create Useful Content that Buyers Love

June 25, 2013 11:00 - 14 minutes - 13.3 MB

There's a mania around content marketing like there was around social media marketing a few years ago. Everyone knows they need to do it, but they don't know why and they don't know how to do it well. As a result, there's a lot of junk out there and intense competition for buyer attention. For content marketing to work, the content you produce must be useful and helpful, says Jay Baer, author of Youtility. More than that, you have to produce content that your buyers love.

How to Make Price a Non-issue with Buyers

June 18, 2013 11:00 - 18 minutes - 17.3 MB

When someone says your price is too high, you haven't done your job. You didn't build value. You didn't show the person the value you provide is worth more than the price. To help you do that—and make price a non-issue—Kurt Mortensen, author of Maximum Influence, explains three pricing strategies.

The Biggest Barrier to Implementing a Marketing Planning System—and How to Eliminate It—An Interview with Mike Meldrum

June 11, 2013 11:00 - 22 minutes - 20.2 MB

Companies know they need a marketing planning system. However, 80% of organizations don't have an integrated and coordinated plan. Many barriers prevent them from implementing one, but the biggest is the lack of line management support, says Mike Meldrum, co-author of The Complete Marketer. Listen as he explains why this is a problem, how to eliminate it, as well as other challenges marketers face in organizations.

The Best Way to Reach and Sell to C-level Executives

June 04, 2013 11:00 - 17 minutes - 15.8 MB

Selling to C-level executives is more about making a single sale. It's about building long-term, lifetime relationships. That means you must approach high-level executives differently than other decision makers. Listen as Ago Cluytens, Practice Director EMEA at RAIN Group, discusses the best strategy for selling to C-level executives.

If You Aren't Getting Clients, this Might Be Why

May 28, 2013 11:00 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MB

As independent professionals try to market their services and get new clients, many are stumbling and seeing little results for their efforts. A key reason for that is they aren't using their marketing time efficiently, says C.J. Hayden, who recently released the third edition of her book Get Clients Now! Listen as Hayden explains the reason for this inefficiency and how to eliminate it.

'Happy Meal Marketing': Make Sure No Prospect Leaves Hungry

May 21, 2013 11:00 - 29 minutes - 27.4 MB

Prospects who buy from you get a seven-course meal. But prospects who don't buy from you should also get something—and something of value. David Newman, author of Do It! Marketing, calls it "Happy Meal Marketing. Nobody leaves your website or blog hungry. Listen as Newman explains how Happy Meal Marketing fits into the new sales paradigm for selling professional services: offer value, invite engagement.

Why Sellers Must Collaborate with Buyers

May 14, 2013 11:00 - 15 minutes - 14.4 MB

Consultative selling on its own has worked for many years for many sellers. But with the incredible amount of information available to buyers before they even talk to a seller, buyers need help sorting it out and making the right decision. They need a collaborator, says Nancy Bleeke, author of the book Conversations that Sell. Through collaboration not only do you uncover needs and demonstrate your expertise, but you work with them to decide on the best possible solution.

Relationship-based Selling: Report of Its Death Is Greatly Exaggerated

May 07, 2013 11:00 - 18 minutes - 17.3 MB

After hearing people say relationship-based sales approaches are dead, RAIN Group decided to find out if that were true. After all, people have been using that for many years, and if it were true, their way of doing business would have to change significantly. To its surprise, RAIN Group did not see evidence of relationship selling's death in the research they conducted. Listen as Mike Schultz, co-president of the firm, explains why relationship-based selling is still important and what sale...

How Techno-speak and Jargon Impede Business Development

April 30, 2013 11:00 - 16 minutes - 14.7 MB

IT professionals, lawyers, accountants, salespeople—they all have their own language and jargon. While it's fine to speak that language among the same types of people, doing so with people outside your group—and even to potential buyers—can impede business development efforts. In this interview, Babette Ten Hanken, author of Do You Mean Business?, explains why techno-speak creates communication barriers and how to tear down those barriers and improve business development.

A Paradigm Shift in Marketing

April 23, 2013 11:00 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MB

Today's marketing efforts are not like past marketing efforts. Indeed marketing is undergoing a paradigm shift as increase importance is placed on quantitative results—chief executives want to know what to expect in return for their marketing spends, says David Scott, author of The New Rules of Lead Generation. Listen as Scott explains the shift, how the shift applies to B2B professional services firms, and his five-step plan for a lead generation campaign.

The New Rule for Length of Prospecting Email Messages

April 16, 2013 11:00 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MB

Not long ago, the rule for the length of prospecting email messages was to limit your text to 165 words. That rule has changed and even become more complicated, says Kendra Lee. Listen as she explains what length is now preferred, how the length varies depending on where your prospects live, how to prevent prospecting email from being marked as spam, and the most common mistake people make when composing prospecting email messages.

How Top Sellers Use LinkedIn to Get Clients

April 09, 2013 11:00 - 19 minutes - 17.9 MB

"Nobody goes onto LinkedIn to find someone to buy from, but that doesn't mean you can't create sales opportunities via LinkedIn," says Jill Konrath co-author of the new ebook Cracking the LinkedIn Sales Code. In fact, Konrath's research found top sellers excel at creating opportunities via the social network. Listen as she discusses what they do, how to research prospects via LinkedIn, and how to connect with prospects via LinkedIn.

3 Ways Marketing Can Improve Relations with Sales and their Executive Board

April 02, 2013 11:00 - 18 minutes - 17 MB

Increasingly marketers are involved in the revenue equation, with many marketing leaders now carrying a sales quota. But because sales departments still hold the greatest influence in organizations, marketing leaders have difficulty being heard. If marketing leaders want salespeople and the executives within their organization to listen to them, they must do three things. Listen as Lisa Nirell explains what those are.

The Business Benefits of Having a Strong Personal Brand

March 26, 2013 11:00 - 15 minutes - 14.4 MB

Whether you work for a firm or run your own business, a strong personal brand will help you attract clients and grow your business. That's because when people decide to do business with you, it's based on what you are like as an individual. Listen as Dorie Clark, author of Reinventing You, discusses how to develop a strong personal brand and how to use your brand to attract clients.

What Kanye West Can Teach You about Sales and Marketing

March 19, 2013 11:00 - 25 minutes - 22.9 MB

It might be hard to believe, but musician Kanye West is correct when he tweeted, "Don't ever try to sell me on anything. Give me ALL the information and I'll make my own decision," says Sonja Jefferson, co-author of the book Valuable Content Marketing. People don't want to be sold to; they want help. Listen as Jefferson explains why content must help customers, as well as the other principles for creating valuable content.

The Number 1 Thing Top Sellers Do Differently

March 12, 2013 11:00 - 14 minutes - 13.1 MB

When it comes to selling professional services, top sellers do two things that set them apart from the competition. One of those is educating their buyers with new ideas and perspectives. Listen as John Doerr, Co-President of RAIN Group explains why that is so important to buyers, the second most important factor when selecting a provider, and what to do if you're struggling to win sales.

How to Succeed in the New Relationship Era of Marketing

March 05, 2013 12:00 - 18 minutes - 17.2 MB

It used to be businesses could rely on advertising and traditional marketing methods, but things have shifted and those strategies no longer work. Increasingly buyers have lost trust with companies, and only those embrace the new Relationship Era of marketing and care about something bigger than what they sell will succeed, says Doug Levy, co-author of Can't Buy Me Like.

Don't Persuade Clients, Influence Them

February 26, 2013 12:00 - 17 minutes - 15.7 MB

You don't like to be pushed, persuaded, or maneuvered, and neither do your clients. Instead you need to work on being a strong influence—being "influenceable," says John Ullmen, co-author of Real Influence: Persuade without Pushing and Gain without Giving In. Listen as Ullmen discusses the four steps to connecting with and influencing people and how you can apply them to communications with clients.

An Alternative Path to Developing Trust with Buyers

February 19, 2013 12:00 - 16 minutes - 15.3 MB

There are two paths to trust. There's the traditional way where you meet someone in person and get to know them, and there's the online way where buyers learn to trust you based on your online presence. And for many firms, the second path—with the help online marketing—has become extremely effective. Listen as Lee Frederiksen, co-author of Online Marketing for Professional Services, discusses how to use online marketing to develop trust with buyers and grow your business.

How to Turn Unhappy Customers into Raving Fans

February 12, 2013 12:00 - 24 minutes - 22.1 MB

Paul Gillin, co-author of Attack of the Customers, explains how negative online reviews are opportunities to turn unhappy customers into raving fans.

2 Keys for Successful Email Prospecting—An Interview with Kendra Lee

February 05, 2013 12:00 - 23 minutes - 21.2 MB

Kendra Lee, author The Sales Magnet, explains the two keys for successful email prospecting: the glimpse factor and the delete barrier.

The Key to Effectively Using Stories in Sales

January 29, 2013 12:00 - 12 minutes - 11 MB

All of us love stories. That includes your buyers. Stories tap our emotions and compel us to want to do something, and you can use them to motivate your prospects. The key is to tell great stories. To do that you must first understand the buyer's goal. Listen as Adrian Davis discusses why stories are effective in sales, when to use stories, and things to be careful of when telling stories.

Update Your Sales Process to Meet Changing Buyer Needs

January 22, 2013 12:00 - 19 minutes - 17.9 MB

Buyer behavior and needs have changed. That means service firms must update their sales process to accommodate those changes. That means they must genuinely put buyers at the heart of all business development activity, says David Tovey, author of Principled Selling. Listen as Tovey explains how concepts of his Principled Selling Approach enable firms to do that.

How to Turn Customers into Advocates and Marketers for Your Brand

January 15, 2013 12:00 - 10 minutes - 9.89 MB

Thanks to social media, word of mouth has been "massively amplified." Where once talk about favorite restaurants or companies were limited to the few people around the water cooler, now millions of people can hear about an experience you had with a business. That doesn't mean companies have to sit by while this happens. Listen as Rob Fuggetta explains how companies can tap this powerful source and use passionate customer as advocates and "virtual marketers."

7 Steps to Align Sales and Marketing

January 08, 2013 12:00 - 16 minutes - 14.9 MB

When sales and marketing are aligned, you have faster revenue cycles, happier customers, and higher employee morale. Many times, however, that alignment is not there. To get the two groups aligned, Christine Crandell, President of New Business Strategies, suggests following these seven steps.

Following the Yellow Brick Road to Referrals and New Clients

December 11, 2012 12:00 - 16 minutes - 15.2 MB

Getting referrals is all about whom you know, building relationships with those people, and leveraging that to get to the people you really want to talk to—potential clients. As Jeremy Bromberg says, it means following the yellow brick road. Listen as Bromberg talks about how he develops partnerships with other service professionals and how he grows those relationships to generate new business.

3 Steps to Attract Your Ideal Client Using Character Codes

December 04, 2012 12:00 - 18 minutes - 16.6 MB

Everyone, including your buyers, has their own persona or character code. When you can identify their preferences, you can better interact with them and improve the likelihood of their working with you. Listen as Brandy Mychals, author of How to Read a Client from Across the Room, explains her Character Code System and how to use her system to attract your ideal client.

How You Know When a Prospect Is Ready to Buy

November 27, 2012 12:00 - 14 minutes - 13.2 MB

Your prospect has been in your lead nurturing process for weeks. You think by now they're ready to buy. But are you sure? In this podcast interview, Jeff Ogden discusses how to determine when your prospect is ready to buy, critical factors to consider when launching a lead-nurturing campaign, and the best content to use in a lead-nurturing campaign.

Cross-Selling: One of the Greatest Areas of Untapped Potential Revenue

November 13, 2012 12:00 - 13 minutes - 12.7 MB

The benefits of cross-selling within client firms seem obvious: it takes less time, money, and effort to sell within client organizations than to new clients. But still many organizations resist doing it. In this podcast RAIN Group Co-President Mike Schultz explains why organizations are reluctant, what it takes to implement a strong cross-selling process, and the financial benefits of having cross-selling process.

4 Characteristics Consultants Must Have to Get Hired

November 06, 2012 12:00 - 23 minutes - 21.2 MB

The single overwhelming driver when executives select a consultant, not surprisingly, is trust. Can they trust you? To gain that trust, executives look for consultants to have four particular characteristics. Listen as David Fields, author of The Executive's Guide to Consultants, explains what those characteristics are, the right way to approach a project, what you need to do after meeting with an executive, and how to get the fees you deserve.

What Decision Makers Really Want to Know

October 30, 2012 11:00 - 29 minutes - 27.2 MB

What do decision makers really want to know from you as a service provider? The question is simple. The answer is also simple, but carrying out the request can be more complicated. According to Darlene Price, author of Well Said! Presentations and Conversations that Get Results, decision makers want to know how you can help them. Listen as she explains the three things they're specifically looking for, as well as how to persuade decision makers and how to conduct "powerful conversations."

The Best Way to Close More Deals

October 23, 2012 11:00 - 12 minutes - 11.5 MB

The best way to close more deals and develop close relationships with clients might not match what you think it is. The fact is suggesting a competitor, as contradictory as that might seem, is the best way to build loyalty and win that buyer's business. Listen as Andrea Howe explains why that works, as well as barriers that prevent service professionals from succeeding with sale

4 Characteristics of Successful CEOs

October 16, 2012 11:00 - 9 minutes - 8.84 MB

When looking at the characteristics and actions of various CEOs, it's clear that the most successful executives do things differently than their counterparts. Listen as William N. Thorndike, author of The Outsiders, explains the characteristics of the eight CEOs he profiled in his book and how their actions helped their companies achieve huge success.

How to Control Your Fight or Flight Response when Dealing with Challenging Buyers

October 09, 2012 11:00 - 14 minutes - 13.2 MB

Just like buyers have a fight or flight response when confronted with an aggressive sales approach, salespeople also have that response when dealing with challenging buyers. And that often causes them to say or do the wrong things during a sales call. In this interview, Colleen Stanley, author of Emotional Intelligence for Sales Success, discusses how to control that response and the importance of emotional intelligence in the sales process.

Social Media Is Not a Strategy; It's a Channel—An Interview with Michelle Golden

October 02, 2012 11:00 - 19 minutes - 17.8 MB

Many people get excited about the latest and greatest social media platforms, thinking they have to use whatever new pops up. The truth is you must assess each one to determine if it's right for you. And you have to do it regularly, as the networks are continually changing as are buyer preferences. Listen as Michelle Golden, author of Social Media Strategies for Professionals and their Firms, discusses strategy for deciding which social networks to use and how firms use them to nurture clien...

A Simple Sales Framework to Acquire and Retain New Clients

September 21, 2012 11:00 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MB

The key to maintaining a continual flow of clients is focus, says Mike Weinberg, author of New Sales. Simplified. Focus on new business development. More than that, however, you need a strategy to make it happen. That's where Weinberg's simple sales framework comes in. Listen as he explains the three steps to drive new sales, as well as your most effective sales weapon.

Why Should Clients Work with You?

September 14, 2012 15:00 - 14 minutes - 13.7 MB

A value proposition is crucial to conveying to potential clients what you do and why they should do business with you. Yet many people have problems communicating that value. Their statements don’t resonate with buyers, and they don’t differentiate them from competitors. Listen as RAIN Group Co-President discusses how to best explain the value you offer so that people want to work with you.

How to Get More—and Higher-Paying—Clients

September 11, 2012 11:00 - 23 minutes - 21.2 MB

Everyone wants more clients, and higher-paying clients. But only those who claim a niche and know how to tell their story will succeed. That's because people want specialists to help them, not generalists. Listen as Nancy Juetten, contributor to the recently release book Speak More: Marketing Strategies to Get More Speaking Business, discusses the importance of specializing in an area and how to craft messages, including your profile, that attract your ideal client.

How to Use Your LinkedIn Profile to Generate New Business

September 04, 2012 11:00 - 11 minutes - 10.6 MB

If you have a B2B service firm or are a service professional, LinkedIn is the place to be. It allows you tremendous opportunities to connect with prospective clients and generate new business. But you have to have to have a strategy for using it, says social media strategist Neal Schaffer, and it all starts with your LinkedIn profile. Listen as Schaffer discusses how to use your profile as a sales and marketing tool, as well as how to use groups to develop new business.

3 Components of a Powerful Elevator Speech

August 28, 2012 11:00 - 15 minutes - 14.5 MB

If you're at a networking event and you see the perfect prospect across the room, do you know what you would say? You need to be prepared to not just introduce yourself but get the person interested in a meeting with you. Listen as Terri Sjodin, author of Small Message, Big Impact, explains how to craft a powerful elevator speech, the three components of an effective elevator speech, and The Elevator Speech Effect.

How to Get Referrals without Asking for Them

August 21, 2012 11:00 - 16 minutes - 14.7 MB

If you're like most service professionals, you have a hard time asking for referrals. There are ways, however, to get referrals without asking for them outright, says Emile Paradis, a franchise owner of The Referral Institute. Listen as he discusses how to prepare clients so that they naturally refer you to your ideal prospects.

The Art of Asking Prospects Questions

August 14, 2012 11:00 - 15 minutes - 13.9 MB

It's a given that you have to ask prospects questions so you can uncover their needs and develop a solution to help them. How you ask those questions, however, determines if they open up to you or if they shut down and dismiss everything you say. Listen as RAIN Group President John Doerr discusses when to ask questions, questions that build trust, and how to develop rapport with a prospect over the phone.

You Might Need to Rebrand Your Firm If ...

August 07, 2012 11:00 - 15 minutes - 14.2 MB

When done right, branding helps get everybody in your firm—from receptionist to the business development team to technical staff—on the same page and everybody speaking the same language. If that isn't the case in your firm, if people have differing views about what your firm does, then you need to consider rebranding. Listen as Josh Miles, author of Bold Brand, discusses clues that rebranding is needed, misperceptions of branding, and how to get started rebranding your firm.

Why You Should Take Your Competitors to Lunch

July 31, 2012 11:00 - 17 minutes - 15.7 MB

Want to advance your business? Take your competitors to lunch. That right, take them to lunch, says Michael Dalton Johnson, author Rules of the Hunt. If you do, you will view each other as human beings and disarm the situation. And that can lead to collegial relationships where you help each other.

RainToday's Sales Tips & Techniques Podcast

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