How To Stop Selling And Start Leading, with Deb Calvert, Episode #64

Subscribe to Selling With Social

Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Play

Deb Calvert is the co-author of the brand new book, “Stop Selling and Start Leading” – a seminal work that outlines the actual responses of thousands of buyers to discover what they really want and need form the sellers they work alongside. This episode features a handful of the insights Deb and her co-authors gleaned in their research and is a great taste of how her book will help you make more sales through leading instead of selling. Deb is the president of People First Productivity Solutions, author of one of HubSpot’s “Top 20 Most Highly-Rated Sales Books of All Time”, and a certified sales and executive coach. Join me on this episode of #SellingWithSocial as Deb reveals the powerful truth of how you can actually increase sales when you stop selling and start leading.

This podcast is being brought to you by The 10th Annual AA-ISP Leadership Summittaking place this April 3rd – 5th, 2018 in Chicago, IL. Register Now by using the Vengreso only discount code “Leadership1095” for your deeply discounted rate.

These Sales Tips Come From Asking Buyers What They Need From Sellers

One of the most relevant parts of Deb Calvert’s new book, “Stop Selling and Start Leading” is that the insight it contains comes directly from responses buyers gave to this question, “What do you really need from the sellers you work with?” From those responses, 20 leadership behaviors were discovered that buyers want to experience more consistently from sellers. The good news is that each of them is easy to understand and simple to apply. The better we know our buyers’ needs, the better we’ll be able to serve them and provide the right solutions – and the research explained in Deb’s new book makes the learning curve short and sweet. In this conversation, Deb and I talk about three of those 20 leadership behaviors, outline what they mean, and flesh them out with real-life examples. Don’t miss it!

Stop Selling By Creating A Real Two-Way Dialogue With Buyers

Most sales professionals believe they engage their buyers in dialogue to discover needs and offer appropriate solutions. Yet, the buyers who responded to Deb’s survey questions stressed that a two-way dialogue is something they want to experience more with buyers. That means we’re not being as effective as we think. Deb says dialogue is more than questions and answers. It’s more than asking qualifying questions (which is really nothing more than diagnostic analysis). Two-way dialogue requires that we pay close attention to what our buyers are saying and that we are present in every moment of the conversation rather than thinking of our next question or next step in the sales cycle. That kind of presence dignifies the buyer and enables us to understand why the solution the buyer needs matters to them and how it’s going to fit with everything else they are doing. That kind of understanding is what builds trust and long-term relationships. Learn the difference between asking questions and leading your buyers into a two-way dialogue, on this episode.

This podcast is being brought to you by The 10th Annual AA-ISP Leadership Summittaking place this April 3rd – 5th, 2018 in Chicago, IL. Register Now by using the Vengreso only discount code “Leadership1095” for your deeply discounted rate.

How You Can Encourage Your Sellers In Ways That Translate To More Sales

Deb says that one of the leadership behaviors buyers want to see more from sellers is encouragement. When Deb speaks of encouraging buyers, she means a lot more than asking for the sale or prompting them to make a decision. She means sellers need to celebrate the shared values and shared victories they experience with the buyer as well as every struggle in the sales process. Think it through: we are asking buyers to champion our solution to the rest of their team. That’s often a very difficult step for them which may mean saying “no” to other things, fighting internally for budget resources, or working to change existing structures to accommodate our solution. They need encouragement to keep going, to stay engaged, and to keep believing in the results our solutions will provide for their team. Find out how you can better encourage your buyers and get more sales as a result, on this episode of Selling With Social.

It’s Easy To Stop Selling And Start Leading. Find Out How

When Deb Calvert initially said that her research discovered 20 leadership behaviors that buyers want sellers to demonstrate on a consistent basis, I have to admit it was a bit intimidating. So I asked her how easy it is to learn these behaviors and add them to my sales approach. She said it’s very easy and that the first thing we need to do is to think less of ourselves as a salesperson and more as a leader. Deb pointed out that every one of us already has others looking to us for guidance – and being a leader in sales is all about guidance. Buyers are looking for someone to guide them to understand the solutions available to them and the benefits they will provide. As a sales leader, you’re perfectly positioned to become that guide. Learn how to stop selling and start leading from Deb Calvert, on this episode – and find out how you can get a free download of the first chapter of her new book.

Outline of This Episode

• [1:43] The launch of Deb’s new book: Stop Selling and Start Leading
• [6:18] Why Deb’s book is so unique and how the book came about
• [9:07] The top 5 leadership practices needed consistently in sales
• [17:15] Buyers want sellers to encourage their heart
• [21:56] An extraordinary story of selling through leading
• [30:25] How easy is it to implement these leadership behaviors?
• [33:14] How you can get Deb’s sneak peak of the book
• [34:01] A surprise Deb discovered: ALL buyers want these qualities in sellers

Resources Mentioned

• www.StopSellingStartLeading.com – Deb’s website
• BOOK: Stop Selling, Start Leading on Amazon
• Deb on LinkedIn
• Deb on Twitter: @PeopleFirstPS
• BOOK: Discover Questions Get You Coinnected
• Deb’s all-time favorite movie: Up
• Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner (Deb’s co-authors)
• The Leadership Challenge
• Kyle Hullmann of All Search Professional Staffing
• Social Business Engine Podcast – Bernie Borges

The 10th Annual AA-ISP Leadership Summit – April 3-5, 2018 – use the code “Leadership 1095”

Connect with Mario!

• www.vengreso.com
• On Facebook
• On Twitter
• On YouTube
• On LinkedIn

Subscribe to Selling With Social

Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Play

Join Mario at The 10th Annual AA-ISP Leadership Summit – April 3-5, 2018 – and use the code “Leadership 1095” to get a Vengreso-only discount

Click to Tweets: