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Top 10 Sales and Marketing Tips for 2023 with Neil Kristianson In this episode returning guest Neil Kristianson joins for our 8th or 9th (we're not sure)  babbling conversation on the top 10 sales and marketing tips for the upcoming new year. Pat Talked About These Sales and Marketing Tips - branding IS differentiation - the most persuasive sellers are the buyers - AI is a car wreck, I can't look away   EXAMPLES: https://beta.character.ai/ https://chat.openai.com/ https://studio.momento.fm/ - Leadership demands followership - the secret sauce is community Neil Talked About These Sales and Marketing Tips The mountains of information that assault us everyday - fractionalization of attention The power of a killer offer - simple, save time The death of Digital marketing - everything old is new again The power of a goal Most small biz don’t value their worth How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales Babble Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understand

Why Value is Key for All Decisions #456 The market doesn’t take sides It prefers neither you nor your competition. The buyer doesn’t takes sides They regard all vendors as a commodities The space between the market and sellers Is an open doorway Empty, yet Sellers can enter Opening and closing it produces opportunities. Assuming hastens failure Check your ego Awake to the value you provide   Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help,  showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com I’ve interviewed 100s of sales experts and discuss all things sales: prospecting, qualifying, value propositions, presentations, demos, closing, generating referrals, earning references, upselling, marketing, lead generation, copywriting, and most important the right selling mindset. Stop fearing sales and embrace it. This is a production of Habanero Media https

How to Overcome The Gatekeeper #455 When B2B selling you’re often calling on large organizations that, make it hard to connect with an executive, or figure out who’s the right person to talk to. Sometimes these companies have administrative assistants tasked as gatekeepers who do everything in their power to stop sales people from talking to their boss. What’s a seller to do? Taoism teaches that the harder one tries, the more resistance one creates for oneself, and the harder things become. This is quite a conundrum so what can we do to soften the hardest of gatekeepers? That’s the topic for today. How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales Babble Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help,  showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com I’ve interviewed 100s of sales experts and discuss all things sales: prospecting, qualifying, value propo

How a Great Presentation is Like a Fine Meal #454 The Tao Te Ching says that in order to be light on your feet you need a steady mind. That’s what it takes to entertain guests during this holiday season. Right? A lot can go wrong, but it can be dealt with when you expect problems.  The same is true during a sales call.  Adept sellers are proficient at  juggling a number of balls at once. Each presentation is a full course meal. You don’t want to serve up too much of any one dish during the meal. It takes balance and patience. That’s the topic for today, how a great presentation is like a fine meal. How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales Babble Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help,  showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com I’ve interviewed 100s of sales experts and discuss all things sales: prospecting, qualifying, value propo

Lessons To Be Learned From Lost Deals #453 Every conversation, every relationship, every prospect, client and customer is your tutor. Everyone has something to teach you: how to be a better sales professional or at the very least what not to do. In chapter 48 the Tao Te Ching it says "In pursuit of knowledge, every day something is added. In the practice of the Tao, every day something is dropped.” This applies to selling too. Life and selling is in continual change. Be awake to it.    How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales Babble Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help,  showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com I’ve interviewed 100s of sales experts and discuss all things sales: prospecting, qualifying, value propositions, presentations, demos, closing, generating referrals, earning references, upselling, marketing, lead gene

Why No Two Buyers Are Alike #452 Ever get in a situation where you think you have a handle on selling and then you meet a prospect who’s 180 degrees out of sync with that strategy? Confusing right?  In today’s episode we delve into the reality that no two  buyers are alike. Lao Tze wrote often about actionless-action of wu wei or what we commonly call being in the zone. In this state, there is no past and no future, there is only the present. In the present we accept buyers for who they are, making no assumptions and allowing them to buy, the way they want to buy. That’s the topic for today. How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales Babble Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help,  showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com You can be yourself when selling. It’s all about helping others with their challenges and aspirations. I’ve inte

How To Get Lucky in Sales #451 How's your luck been lately? Have the winds of fate been in your favor?  Or is it the case that the only luck you have is bad luck? Well our Western culture poo poohs the notion of luck because luck has an element of randomness to it and Westerners don't like that. They love to be in control. The self-improvement industry beats the drum that hardwork is the sure path to success. If you haven't reached it by doing X amount of work, it advises that you need to 10X it. You need to go all in. In a way the Tao agrees. Lao Tzu speaks of the power of water and although it's soft but over time it can cut through the hardest of rock. That's what happened to the Grand Canyon. But the Tao also speaks of the cyclic nature of life, the ongoing passing of the seasons. You won't find success in the snow shoveling business in July. It's not bad luck, it's just not your time. There is something to this paradox of hard work vs opportunity. Let's examine it. Luck, that's the topic for today.   How

How to Find Success with Deliberate Selling #450   With Deliberate and measured growth  The sapling reaches  great heights.   Knowing it’s not an absence of action, The Master Seller  sees Patience as power, They wait for the right time to act.   With steady follow-up they advance the sale, Guiding the close with a steady hand.   How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales Babble Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help,  showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com I’ve interviewed 100s of sales experts and discuss all things sales: prospecting, qualifying, value propositions, presentations, demos, closing, generating referrals, earning references, upselling, marketing, lead generation, copywriting, and most important the right selling mindset. Stop fearing sales and embrace it. This is a production of Habanero Media https://habaneromedi

How to Keep your Sales Focus #449 Are you distracted, bored and unfocused? Maybe you’re not seeing how your sales job fits in with your greater purpose? Maybe it’s starting to feel like it’s all  a waste of time. This happens and you’re not alone.  We all have these thoughts. So begs the question: how can I set this distraction aside and focus on work? But is that really the question? Maybe we should be focusing on something else? That’s the topic we focus on today, Focus.   How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales Babble Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help,  showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com I’ve interviewed 100s of sales experts and discuss all things sales: prospecting, qualifying, value propositions, presentations, demos, closing, generating referrals, earning references, upselling, marketing, lead generation, copyw

Why Discipline is the Bridge to Sales Success #448   Despite what many think, in discipline there is freedom. Building a structure to your life, and bringing that in the workplace is liberating. It’s a paradox, right? How can that be you might think. But this is a fact, when you put less energy into one place, it leaves more energy for other places. Instead of putting energy into deciding what to do, if you take a disciplined approach of outreach and follow up, tomorrows day will be schedule today as part of you just doing your job. All the pressure or worry evaporates. You’re expending less emotional energy worrying, and the let the discipline to the heavy lifting. Napoleon Hill said “Self-discipline begins with the mastery of your thoughts. If you don’t control what you think, you can’t control what you do. Simply, self-discipline enables you to think first and act afterward.”  Hill is spot on and it will pay off in dividends.   How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales Babble Sales Babble shares selling sec

How To Grow Your Sales Confidence #447 Each time we accept our failures we gain strength, courage, and confidence in the doing.  Lao Tzu wrote “Because one believes in oneself, one doesn't try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn't need others' approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.” Sales is not an easy gig, but with coffee in one hand and confidence in the other, anything is possible.   How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales Babble Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help,  showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com I’ve interviewed 100s of sales experts and discuss all things sales: prospecting, qualifying, value propositions, presentations, demos, closing, generating referrals, earning references, upselling, marketing, lead generation, copywriting, and most impor

Empathy is the Key to Sales #446 Sometimes it’s dangerous to have a hunter mentality where you think of prospects as game and you the hunter. This kind of competitiveness may get in the way of empathy. Once upon a time, a sales guy may have gotten away with bullying a prospect into buying. But those days are gone, the internet destroyed that. Customers have choices. There is more competition  and what buyers truly desire, is to have someone take away their problems. When prospects get a sense that you care, they will trust that you may have the solution. Maybe not all of life's troubles. But maybe a few of them. Empathy is the Key to sales. That’s our topic for today.   How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales Babble Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help,  showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com I’ve interviewed 100s of sales e

How to Use Humor to Win at Sales #445 Yesterday I cut my finger chopping cheese, but I think that I may have greater problems. That's a pun, a play on words.  When it comes to selling, a little bit of humor can go a long way building rapport with your prospects. But humor is touchy. If you say the wrong thing, it’s like stepping on the third rail. It can kill a deal. This is the topic for today. How to use jokes to win a deal. Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help,  showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com You can be yourself when selling. It’s all about helping others with their challenges and aspirations. I’ve interviewed 100s of sales experts and discuss all things sales: prospecting, qualifying, value propositions, presentations, demos, closing, generating referrals, earning references, upselling, marketing, lead generation,

Sales Assumptions That are Just Plain Wrong #444 I’m assuming you’ve decided to listen to this episode to grow your sales skills. I’m also assuming it’s  based on my babbling and some musings I have on an ancient Chinese philosopher. But I shouldn’t make that assumption. We should  never over assume because we’re often wrong! Let’s explore this idea today on the folly of making sales assumptions.    How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales Babble Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help,  showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com You can be yourself when selling. It’s all about helping others with their challenges and aspirations. I’ve interviewed 100s of sales experts and discuss all things sales: prospecting, qualifying, value propositions, presentations, demos, closing, generating referrals, earning references, upselling, marketi

How To Learn the Buyers Secret Language #443 Each industry has a secret language. There is a vernacular, nomenclature and acronyms everyone in the industry uses. To be a successful seller, you need to know that language too. How to learn the language of the buyer, that’s the topic for today.     

Where to Look for Leads #442 Great Source of all Leads Stay awake to the news Keep up on social Seek referrals from clients Attend networks coffee and tea   At the conference greet old friends At the social, introductions Referrals from client Resource library and network events Leads are to be found all around   Knowing there are no prospects without leads Listen  Look All is a well that never goes dry Infinite the opportunity They are there for the seeking.   How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales Babble Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help,  showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com You can be yourself when selling. It’s all about helping others with their challenges and aspirations. I’ve interviewed 100s of sales experts and discuss all things sales: prospecting, qualifying, value propositions, presentations, demos, closin

How To Overcome the Fear of Cold Calling #441 Do you experience call reluctance? That’s the phenomena where you avoid picking up the phone and cold calling a prospect? Many people too. But this is the thing.  Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. In this episode we take a moment to understand the root of our fears and embrace a wu-wei approach of allowing the calling to be what it is. Rather than avoid the pain, let’s accept it and discover it’s not what it appears to be.   Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help,  showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com You can be yourself when selling. It’s all about helping others with their challenges and aspirations. I’ve interviewed 100s of sales experts and discuss all things sales: prospecting, qualifying, value propositions, presentations, demos, closing,

The Not So Obvious Sales Mistake You Should Avoid Seeing Beyond The Obvious To understand We label buyers by what we see  But the labels have limits Only describing the obvious Ignoring the subtle.   When you see beyond the label You can sense  the true nature of the buyer, And better share the benefits of your solution.   Look beyond the obvious  Wake up to the true nature of the buyer Speak to it.   Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help,  showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com You can be yourself when selling. It’s all about helping others with their challenges and aspirations. I’ve interviewed 100s of sales experts and discuss all things sales: prospecting, qualifying, value propositions, presentations, demos, closing, generating referrals, earning references, upselling, marketing, lead generation, copywriting, and most imp

How To Close a Deal #439 What's the most difficult part of a sale?  Through the years I've had numerous listeners tell me it's “Closing.” People think that closing is hard and getting a prospect to put their name on a signed contract is a monumental task. Plus, people say it takes an assertive winner takes all attitude.  That's not how it works with a Taoist perspective. I must confess, there is a certain truth to the idea of ABC Always Be Closing. If you start the selling process out right with the intention of helping your prospects, and you advance the sale by patiently answering every question the buyer asks, customers will close themselves. This is wu-wei in action. That's the topic for today.   Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help,  showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com You can be yourself when selling. It’s all about

Origin of the Tao of Sales Babble #438 If you're new to this podcast, each week we take a concept in selling and look at it from a Taoist point of view with a poem, a vignette, and then a quote with advice on how you can apply this wisdom to your business. Sounds like crazy talk, right? Today I’d like to take a time out and  to share the origins of Sales Babble, the Tao Te Ching of sales and what I’m trying to do here on the podcast and why I’m solely focused a Taoist approach to selling and how the heck we all ended up in the place!    How to Connect with Pat Helmers at Sales Babble Sales Babble shares selling secrets for non-sellers.  Masterful selling is understanding what buyers want, discerning if you can help,  showing what you have and helping them to make a decision that is good for their business and yours. See https://salesbabble.com You can be yourself when selling. It’s all about helping others with their challenges and aspirations. I’ve interviewed 100s of sales experts and discuss all things sal