One of the most influential and insightful books Anthony has ready recently is by his guest today, John Jantsch. “Duct Tape Selling” is John’s approach to the newly emerging marketplace where sales calls happen and look different due to changing company structures and new communication and technology tools. He believes that sales teams that keep selling as they have in the past will be left behind, simply because the old approaches and methods don’t work in light of how businesses and individuals are working in the modern era. You’ll get a ton of great insight from this conversation and a helpful preview into John’s book.
Most sales professionals misuse the whitepapers their company creates.
John Jantsch laughs as he talks about the emails and calls he receives where a salesperson mentions their great whitepaper that could address a topic of interest and all they do is provide a link to it. John’s suggestion: Copy and paste a pertinent paragraph or point from the whitepaper to include in the email or memo. It’s much more helpful to make it easy for your prospect to see the value you are offering them than it is to wait on them to take that step (which they probably won’t). There’s a ton of value in John’s approach to the new, digital marketplace so be sure you listen to hear how he guides entrepreneurs and businesses to adapt for continued success.
If you think THIS is prospecting, you’re wrong.
Anthony and John are both flabbergasted by the number of calls and emails they receive that essentially admit that the salesperson on the other end of the communication has not done their homework before reaching out to them. If you’re sending out letters, emails, or calls that say, “I don’t know exactly what you do, but we can offer you…” - then you’re doing one of the most stupid things possible. If you want your potential clients to believe that your product can address the needs they have, you’ve got to demonstrate to them that you’ve taken the time to understand at least some of what their needs may be. John’s got a great approach to this type of interaction and you can get his advice on this episode.
Sales managers need to look for different types of salespeople these days.
In case you haven’t noticed, the marketplace is changing. In fact, it’s already changed in many significant ways. Companies are no longer doing business on a B2B level like they used to. As one example, many don’t even use the telephone anymore. It’s in this changing landscape that sales managers need to begin thinking in new paradigms, new ways of approaching the still-vital role of their sales teams. John Jantsch says that individuals who are outside the box of the traditional “sales personality” may be the answer and he gives some tips about how managers can identify and enlist those people, on this episode of In The Arena.
If you are an entrepreneur, you don’t have time NOT to blog.
John Jantsch understands the tension being communicated by busy entrepreneurs when they say that they don’t have time to blog. Running a business, no matter what size, is a very time intensive thing. But his experience has shown him that the discipline of blogging regularly has opened doors for him that never would have been opened if he hadn’t been blogging. In his thinking, all those months of blogging with seemingly no results was really a long-term effort at positioning himself as a thought leader in the sales and marketing arena who had something valuable to say. His commitment showed potential clients that he was not a fly-by-night guy and actually had expertise that would benefit them. Find out how John suggests you get started blogging for your own benefit, on this episode.
Outline of this great episode
[0:45] How Anthony and John got connected and how John is ramping up things in the sales and marketing world.
[2:00] Why every small biz owner and entrepreneur need to read John’s book,