In this episode, Tom, Brandon, and Carson engage in a comprehensive discussion to provide insights and strategies aimed at transforming uncertainties into viable opportunities. The conversation delves into interpreting the impacts of global events, the intricacies of technological advancements, and the dynamics of economic shifts. A thorough exploration is conducted to underscore the significance of adopting a customer-centric approach and making informed decisions based on data analysis.
Further, the episode explores the varied effects of uncertainty across different generations and their respective approaches to work. It highlights the significant impact of technology on communication practices and team dynamics, alongside the evolving nature of the buyer journey. The importance of staying informed, adapting rapidly to emerging priorities, and cultivating resilience in the face of change is emphasized. Additionally, innovative concepts such as Social Selling 2.0 are examined, showcasing strategies like live shows and personal branding to enhance customer comfort and knowledge.
The discussion extends to strategies for forging robust relationships, developing effective methodologies, and comprehending the buyer's viewpoint to mitigate risks in their decision-making process. Practical advice is shared on planning a successful sales year, which includes analyzing past performance, focusing on high-value activities, and setting achievable goals. The concept of "intelligent hustling" is introduced, highlighting its critical role in achieving sales success in the contemporary B2B market. Join us for an insightful journey into the dynamic and unpredictable realm of B2B sales.
In this episode, Tom, Brandon, and Carson engage in a comprehensive discussion to provide insights and strategies aimed at transforming uncertainties into viable opportunities. The conversation delves into interpreting the impacts of global events, the intricacies of technological advancements, and the dynamics of economic shifts. A thorough exploration is conducted to underscore the significance of adopting a customer-centric approach and making informed decisions based on data analysis.
Further, the episode explores the varied effects of uncertainty across different generations and their respective approaches to work. It highlights the significant impact of technology on communication practices and team dynamics, alongside the evolving nature of the buyer journey. The importance of staying informed, adapting rapidly to emerging priorities, and cultivating resilience in the face of change is emphasized. Additionally, innovative concepts such as Social Selling 2.0 are examined, showcasing strategies like live shows and personal branding to enhance customer comfort and knowledge.
The discussion extends to strategies for forging robust relationships, developing effective methodologies, and comprehending the buyer's viewpoint to mitigate risks in their decision-making process. Practical advice is shared on planning a successful sales year, which includes analyzing past performance, focusing on high-value activities, and setting achievable goals. The concept of "intelligent hustling" is introduced, highlighting its critical role in achieving sales success in the contemporary B2B market. Join us for an insightful journey into the dynamic and unpredictable realm of B2B sales.
Welcome to Social Selling 2.0 Live Show and Podcast, where each week, we explore the future of B2B sales. Social has changed the B2B and professional services landscape forever. Capturing and keeping buyer attention has never been more challenging. Our mission is to help you discover new strategies, new technologies, new go-to-market systems and stay up-to-date with what is working now in B2B sales. Your hosts are Carson Hedy, the number one social seller at Microsoft, tom Burton, a best-selling author and B2B sales specialist, and Brandon Lee, an entrepreneur with multiple seven and eight figure exits and a leading voice in LinkedIn social selling. Brandon and Tom also leads Social Selling 2.0 Solutions, which offers turnkey consulting, coaching and training to B2B sales leaders. Now let's start the show.
Speaker 2:Gentlemen, welcome to episode number 59, Social Selling 2.0 59. Man, we're going to be the senior citizens next week or next. Yeah, the next week or so.
Speaker 4:I say we're catching up to.
Speaker 2:I won't go there. All right. So hey, given that our show today is the face of uncertainty and how to succeed in the face of uncertainty, we are missing a guest. So, I think we have change and uncertainty. So unfortunately Meredith Paul Baxter was presenting today, got schedule reorganized somehow and we're going to need to reschedule her for next year.
Speaker 4:She's on stage somewhere right now, so can I hope she's not going to go. We wish her luck, that's right.
Speaker 3:This stuff happens. I mean, how many times a day? As sellers, do we have to pivot and adapt to our new surroundings? So that's what we're going to talk about today, so join us in the chat.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're also on a different platform today StreamYard so, if they are, please jump in so we know that this is working and that we're starting to do this. And, carson, we can see you so much better now on StreamYard than we did before.
Speaker 3:StreamYard likes me more, I think.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely so.
Speaker 3:I had to make sure that I looked dreamy for Leah Thompson this week, so that's why I'm trying to look spiffy for StreamYard.
Speaker 4:I know, is it going to be a letdown. We don't have another video for you.
Speaker 3:Oh, you mean Biff isn't on this week. That'll be next week, I'll schedule around so I could be on today.
Speaker 4:So you know Biff isn't on Cameo. I mean, I know we knew I went looking for Biff. Doc's not on there anymore. But, you got your book.
Speaker 3:Doc is hard to get. So I got Doc for my wife for our anniversary, because we got married on October 21st 2015. And I wrote the script for Doc on Cameo. I reposted every year but it was just utterly brilliant. That's awesome.
Speaker 2:All right. Well, thank you, reed, I'm glad you can hear us. Good, it looks like we're going here. Hey, you know, before we jump in speaking of guests, I was just going through our guest line-up. So we have guests, I think now into February of next year, but I mean we have Larry Levine coming back next week, we have Matt Dixon, we have next year the CEO of Seamless AI. I mean the list just keeps going on and on and on.
Speaker 4:And we just booked Samantha McKenna. Sam McKenna today too, but it's going to be in April when she's back from attorney leave. So it's a ways, but she's on the calendar.
Speaker 3:That means we got to keep making shows.
Speaker 4:I know.
Speaker 3:We can't go anywhere.
Speaker 2:And I think Biff's going to join us in January, right?
Speaker 2:That's what I'm talking about. All right, so let's talk about how to succeed in the face of uncertainty and change. And we just decided we're going to cover what we were going to cover with Meredith. I hope the heck that we can somehow provide some good answers along the way. So, hey, carson, let's start with you. It's like you know what I mean. Obviously, in Seamless, we're always dealing with uncertainty, we're dealing with change, but what do you think's going on, or what's going on now, what do you think's going to be going on in 2024? That are going to be the uncertainty hand grenades that we're going to have to navigate.
Speaker 3:This is an important topic and I met him when I said earlier in the comments hey, we're all grappling with constant change. I used to joke I worked for SBC, now AT&T, and we used to joke that it stood for sudden big change. Because the reality of sales is that things are always moving around. I think the first we've got to get grounded in what is uncertainty mean as well, I think, in the context of sales, a lot of times things like technological disruptions, what we're experiencing right now with AI, changes the landscape, changes the game dramatically. How we are engaging with our customers shifts where they are on the buyer journey and when they're engaging sellers. We read the statistics that a lot of our customers are 57% of the way down the buying journey. We're engaged, so that adds some uncertainty to the mix.
Speaker 3:There's also economic changes. There's global events that transpire. I can tell you just even over the last month, two months shifting and even just show how we show up with our customers matters so much when they are going through turbulent or troubled times. So I think getting grounded in what types of uncertainty we are facing and our customers are facing and then figuring out what's the strategy, how do we need to show up different. At the heart of that is the customer.
Speaker 3:We have to make sure that we maintain a customer-centric approach, that we are listening to and paying attention to the data signals. That's another positive of the technological revolution, as we get a lot of data signals that can guide us and help us make choices about the actions that we're making propensity to buy, buying signals, marketing insights that we get but those types of things can really help us. But showing up, seeking to serve, adding value, like we always talk about on this show, that is ultimately how you can still sell and, frankly, thrive amidst uncertainty. Brandon, I'm looking at your thoughts because I know that showing up, seeking to serve and adding value is right along your mantra and talk track. What are your thoughts on thriving in uncertain times?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think what I heard is you talked about technology, you talked about the buyers changing, you talked about just global financial uncertainty with the global markets and then just global events that are taking place. Did I capture the four right?
Speaker 3:Those are the big ones, yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and I would add to that the only one I had was employee pool and how that's changing and maybe it's more of my CEO hat and is that feedback on me? I hear a little feedback here and there, but putting on my CEO hat, I think that from a team standpoint as well, and this affects buyers and everything else. But you got, you know, every generation. You always had that. You have the old people that are fifty plus. You got those that are in mid career and those in their early career. But I think right now more than ever, the difference, what they've learned and how they learned, especially around technology, the difference between, say, like my oldest daughter is you know, she's in her first marketing job, she's twenty four years old the difference of the way she learned and what she has done growing up with a phone in her hand.
Speaker 4:Basically, since you know our kids thirteen, fourteen years old, there's a lot of uncertainty with communicating inside with your teams.
Speaker 4:There's a lot of uncertainty because more people are remote.
Speaker 4:Your building relationships with people that you don't see every day, you don't have water cooler talk, you don't go to lunch With them, you don't learn about their person in their personal life, and so I think all of these factors really are putting us in, I think, more uncertainty than we realize, until something happens and we have that moment.
Speaker 4:But I think these are all the things that are being thrown at us. You know previous generations it wasn't like for my generation, I think you know it wasn't that we ever expected we're gonna start working for a company and get the gold watch in thirty years and retire. But we stayed at companies longer and now it's eighteen months, I think, is the average. So there's just a lot that's happening around individual people, technology, world markets, everything that I try not to look up in pay too much attention to it, because it can really drive you nuts, but yet you gotta pick up and pay somewhat attention to it so you don't feel, you know, like you're totally lost and notice, without mike lineberg here we're not cursing this week, so we're back to a family program.
Speaker 4:I thought we were gonna oh.
Speaker 2:What you know. It's interesting. I was reading a hard part of business review article this week and it was focused on the fact that a lot of companies their board now is getting involved in their hiring strategy so that they're hiring people with the right skills, and what they mean by that is people that can adapt to the world, understand work with technology, be thinking I or technology first and how they do business and they're putting out at the board level right. So the board is actually which is not a typical board function Is the worry about hiring, but it's even at the executive level. They're looking at that. What that tells me is whether that's this coming year, a little bit farther out. But what that's telling me is is there gonna be a whole new, I guess, set of skills that are going to be the we're gonna be dealing with in the in the business world, and those are our prospects, those are our customers and the way that they're gonna go about.
Speaker 2:Things are very different than the people that we've dealt with before. We've talked a lot about the buyer journey changing, but this, to me, takes it to a whole nother level. And even how do you use a I to do your research? I mean even now, with the new chat gbt that just came out, it pretty much, if you're looking, doing research, if it doesn't have it in its Database of facts, it goes out to being and starts doing the research on the web, are you so? You know what does that mean? How does that apply to? I mean, there's just so many things here that I see Are changing that we're going to, and again, you can't try and whack a mole and keep up with all of those, but there's just going to be a lot of change over the next Well, twenty four months anyway, related to all the night.
Speaker 3:I think the key element and it touches on a lot of the themes from the show because what I would like to say, you know it's important from a leadership and from a selling perspective to keep a steady hand on the wheel. You know, don't make major reactions when there are changes. Really spend the time studying and understand the new parameters, the new playing field, the new players. My goodness, there's so many different things that change in periods of uncertainty customer Board level involvement. You know who are the movers and shakers, who are the decision makers, what are the key priorities?
Speaker 3:Over the last couple years, we've seen so many of our Customer executives, you know, focused on cutting or optimizing their spend and their costs, and so you know how we show up with value and seeking to serve looks different. It's still the same motion and it's still the same initiative. It's just what they want to talk about. Shifts dramatically and that's why it's so important to have that year in the field and really understand you stay at the pulse of what matters to our customers. You know, and from a leadership perspective, I encourage you know, executives, sales leaders, right now, really listen to the voice of the field and the customer, because that is what's going to ultimately guide your ship.
Speaker 3:That is where you need to be. You know moving and you know going to where the puck is going to be. Really being able to anticipate, just like you were saying, I think the better we can do to really research the landscape, go to where the puck is going to be, that's what's going to put us in a pole position as a, as a seller and, frankly, as organizations.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think, carcin, that the challenge for most companies especially, I think the larger the company, the bigger the challenge is going to be speed of change. You know, most people are not early adopters and most companies we fight to get into our systems right, let our fly will run and keep the systems moving and stay the course. And you know it's it's gonna be really really difficult of walking that line and I think the need of spinning off some teams they can go into some sandboxes and play around and learn and pretend like it's real world and go at it I think is really really important and necessary right now. But that's, that's a motion that's not comfortable For boards, it's not comfortable for c level leadership, and yet I think it's something that is really important to take a look at right now.
Speaker 4:I don't have a perfect answer by any means. I've been, you know, fortunate, I guess you from that perspective that you know the companies I built have always been pretty small in the big picture. Yeah, but I just I is going to fundamentally change how efficient individuals can be, how teams can be, companies can be, and if you're not looking at it and your competitors do, or some you know, innovative, cool startup, it can change the industry really, really quickly, and that's what I think, more than anything, is what people need to be looking at.
Speaker 3:Seventy one percent of organizations are using a I and the remainder will be forced to over the next year. In adapt or die situation always likes to quote, but you know, I think the other element that I really want to point out and I'd be remiss not to is succeeding in the face of uncertainty also applies to us Because, to your point, brandon, the longevity of somebody's tenure at an organization is not what it once was. I set out in my career years ago, thinking I would stay at one company my entire life has very much not been the case, and it's not been for lack of effort right, it's. You know, there were a few times where I've been forced to bounce around, and so all the more important to Build personal brand, like we talk about, and making sure that you're focused on yourself from a connections perspective, because one thing that definitely happens In uncertain in situations and times is the.
Speaker 3:It ups the ante on the need for continuous learning and bettering yourself and it entertaining those skills that organizations are looking for, but also creating the relationships and building the reputation that it's going to take you wherever you're going to need to be in three to five years. I think it's it's. It's exhilarating, but also terrifying to know that my next job may not even exist today, and so you know there's. It's kind of freeing to think that way, that you're going to be able to gravitate toward doing something you're passionate about, that you're uniquely qualified for, that fits into the lane of your superpowers, but at the same time, knowing that your next job may not even exist, it's like, my goodness, what do I need to be building or who do I need to be meeting now? But constant learning, constant relationship building those things are key.
Speaker 2:I was gonna do that. We are going again.
Speaker 4:Will be.
Speaker 2:Will get this new platform figured out.
Speaker 3:I think it's like the missing guest is like yeah I know it's like it's really confused, confused.
Speaker 4:I think I think I was going out and pulling Meredith's voice from the stage she's speaking on and trying to bring it in. Can I? Can I interrupt real quick? You know, carcel, when the things you said about seventy one percent Of companies are already using a. I and I don't know that, I don't have data or fax to say it, but my my instinct would be in from conversations that seventy one percent is a huge gamut of how and what people are actually doing. And I think even within that seventy one percent from ago, seventy one percent are using it.
Speaker 4:What are we doing? It's, you know, even with, with everything that was released this week, with chat, gpt, it's already change, it's already moving. And not just are you using it, but how are you using it? Who in your company is becoming the master of it? What are they learning? How are they teaching everybody? How are they able to quickly implement or not quickly implement across the entire organization? I think those are. Those are big, big challenges and just checking a boxing and we're using it isn't anywhere near being enough.
Speaker 2:Well, and a lot of you know I'll get brandon, we both get this question a lot right. What do you think is going to be different? Or how is a I going to be used In business? And my answer is the best way I know to answer that question look at what you're doing in your personal life Of how you're using these technologies. Right, whether it's mobile, whether it's a I, whatever.
Speaker 2:Because if you look at what's happened with business over the last Period of ten years, we've just taken our habits as consumers and brought them into business. The buyer journey change because our buyer journey change as a consumer, we said we want to say buyer journey in Business are by. We want to be more in control. We bought off of amazon is personal. We want to buy off of e-commerce and business. Right, all of our self serve type of buying processes.
Speaker 2:So if you just look at what we're doing as consumers, how are using Chat, gbt, maybe to get a recipe or build a trip or whatever the case may be, or write a paper, whatever that is, but you start to look at how we use it as consumers, can you start to think about how that will adapt into business? And to me, that's the best foreshadowing I believe you can have as you start to look at what's coming in the future and how it's going to be, is a new. I agree with you, brandon, that blanket seventy one percent boy, that's a pretty Hello broettsticle. So let's go into. You know, one of the things that I know Meredith was going to talk a lot about or wanted to talk about was mindset, like, what mindset do you need to have as a seller going into this? If you, again, if you agree that we're going into a, into maybe more uncertainty and more change than maybe we've ever experienced in our career, what mindset do we need to bring into that, carson, what's your take on that?
Speaker 3:Well, I think you know where I like to start. You know you kind of want to have the mindset of the character Chris Gardner that Will Smith played in the pursuit of happiness. Right, we had a struggling salesman who faced extreme uncertainty in these situations and a lot of adversity, but through it all, his determination, his adaptability and his unwavering commitment to succeed led to his triumph, and I think that's where it all begins and ends for me. In all seriousness, I had to get back to the movie references. I know that's been sadly missing.
Speaker 4:I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you. Yeah, I had to bring it back.
Speaker 3:But I think the key element is this you know, it really comes down to the ability to look at every scenario as an opportunity, even when a customer wants to talk to me about something that they're upset about or they want to. You know, and rightfully so, right, I mean, there's a lot of, you know, merit to the beefs that sometimes our customers have with us, right? These are opportunities for us to sit in the uncertainty with them, sit in the pain with them as we are seeking to earn that right to be their trusted advisors. So you have to have that mindset of every time that I get the opportunity to talk to a customer there's opportunity because I can stay at the pulse of what matters to them, I can hear them, I can gain, I'm gaining value that I can share with my team, with my leadership. So there's a lot of benefit that comes from having that, that opportunistic mindset.
Speaker 3:A lot of people call me I'm an opt, say that I'm an optimist. I would say that I'm a perpetual optimist because I try to look for that, that opportunity, in every situation and scenario. I think the other thing is just the resilience factor. You may hear more notes than uncertain times, but the no, and you know we're going to talk to Matt Dixon about this when he's on the show, because this is in jolt effect. The no is not because a customer doesn't want to do business with you.
Speaker 3:Yes, I'm not on my audible, but the beauty and Matt reads it, by the way, the beauty is that customers are not making these decisions because we haven't de-risked that decision enough. They're not married to status quo, so it's understanding that the no is actually the portal to. I need to find out more, and so that's the kind of mindset and mentality that we've got to have. To survive and, frankly, thrive and succeed in the face of uncertainty is find out more, do your homework, research, study, understand the risk that exists for your customer and do everything you can to de-risk that and sit in that risk and be there as a trusted partner throughout that process.
Speaker 4:Yeah, two things. One is and I don't know if that feedback might be on me, I don't know why, but one is I've noticed there's some comments that I'm seeing directly on LinkedIn on my other screen over here that we're not seeing on StreamYard. So if you're commenting and we're not addressing it, we may not see it. James, I'm seeing your comments here, but I saw a couple others on the other one. So just for you guys, sorry, we're going to get this StreamYard restream thing, whatever, figured out Now. I lost track when I was saying sorry.
Speaker 2:It was going to be brilliant. I was waiting. I know I lost it.
Speaker 3:Mine said, yeah, what's the money?
Speaker 4:Well, I got it, I got it, I got it. I think what you were saying is, when customers are saying no, a lot of times it is from Jolt Effect. We're scared to make a decision. I think it speaks to bringing it back to. We are a social selling 2.0 show.
Speaker 4:One of the things that we've seen in the data is there as well is things like a live show, things like personal brands, where people are consistently sharing and educating and adding value. All of these dark social mediums, if you will, are these channels all contribute to helping customers get more comfortable sooner. It's not just the conversations that are taking place on the teams and the presentations and the demos and whatnot, but it's all this other content that's happening around them so they're able to consume it in smaller bite size chunks. I think the repetition of seeing people and things like a show or on a podcast helps them get more comfortable because they're hearing it over and over again Even before they're in market. They're starting to go through that education process. I think that's another thing that's really important for companies that a lot of companies have been scared of social, and some of them for valid reasons. This is another change that I believe companies have got to start looking at from a much more strategic. Then go share some stuff out there and see if it helps.
Speaker 3:This kind of spurned an idea for me as well, because I think the other big thing that stands out in uncertain times is that need, or that real driver behind innovation and creativity. Seller, and, frankly, as a sales organization, what I mean by that is look, the playing field has changed right. I take a go down swinging approach. I'm not afraid to make big, bold asks, whether that's of customers or when we're doing internal selling. If I know that an important customer of mine is betting the farm on one of my competitors but I've got something very valuable or that could be very valuable to them or I can help them. Maybe I'm reading their earnings report and I see that they need to cut costs, or they've got a big merger or something like that, some kind of compelling event that I can reach out and offer to maximize or optimize their investment with us or the investment that we're making in them, and even just buying their business.
Speaker 3:We want to partner with you in a way that we were willing to buy the business that you're doing with XYZ company. What would it take being able and willing to make these big, bold asks? I was told last year on a big deal to pound sand by a couple of the people internally that said you're not going to get this level of funding dollars and you don't even bother trying. I went up to our COO, got the money, got the net new deal. I think it lends the opportunity to make big, bold asks of your customers and of your internal stakeholders, because the ante is raised and we've got to get stuff done in uncertain times. The people that are creative, they get the deal done. You can be a hero those emerge in uncertain times.
Speaker 4:Yeah, right there, wow, but no let's go get them.
Speaker 2:So I want to touch on a couple of those things. First of all, I want to highlight James comment here because I think it fits very nicely, brandon, what you were just talking about depth of relationships Now relate helps teams and organizations, whether they're difficult and inevitable and inevitable challenges. Building depth and relationships always takes time. I think he's talking about within an organization. But even going back to your point, brandon, about podcast, live shows, episodic content, what are you doing? You're building relationships, right. You're building relationships with your prospects, with your customers, with potential employees and colleagues.
Speaker 2:Second thing I wanted to point out, going back to Anthony Anarino, remember we was talking about when he does a discovery meeting, an initial discovery meeting, he doesn't start asking a bunch of questions, he briefs the prospect on what's going on in the industry.
Speaker 2:What a great way to help reduce that risk that we were just talking about and again, changing the playing field about how we're navigating. We're becoming now the trusted guide in this area of uncertainty by providing some insights, which can also happen, of course, on the episodic content, but if we just keep doing that as we go forward. But the biggest one, carson, that really hit me is your mic drop point there about think big and go big. Right, basically, which is what you're saying think bigger, maybe, and go bigger. And I actually think that in uncertainty we tend to get conservative, we pull back, we more cautious, we navigate, and I think doing something in a bigger way and a bolder way helps you elevate, as long as you're doing it with credibility. I think it's a really interesting strategy that I don't think a lot of people would think with. In fact, a lot of times will think the opposite. I'm going to go play defense rather than play offense, so that's huge.
Speaker 3:It's powerful when you can show your team or you understand as a seller or as an organization what's the total addressable market and then actually creating a strategy that gets you there. Like a lot of our sales strategies, I mean, we might hit the clouds right, but we're not just exceeding through the stratosphere. And the way that you're going to do that is by going out and making big swings, big asks, old, and I think that's the other element. You know. It reminds me a couple of years ago I had a seller on my team and you know he got what everybody agreed at the beginning of the year was an impossible quote. Impossible, I mean we mathematically figured it out and it was not possible based on if he sold literally everything to everyone. But see, he was, he kind of checked out. He checked out a little bit. He started canceling our meetings and I'll be honest with you, one of my favorite most you know things that I'm most proud of in my career is earning this guy's trust Because he kept canceling our meetings.
Speaker 3:And I said I've been known, said look, man, I know where your head is. You need to find a time for us to chat. I'll leave it on you, but you need to find the time for us to chat when you're ready. And I said look, man, we're going to go down swinging, we're going to go out there. Here's the total addressable market. And here's the thing If you do everything that you can possibly do and we have that as the story I'll get your paid like a champ.
Speaker 3:Well, they made a change mid year on the how the goals were, kind of, you know, determined and there was a multiplier and a couple of the products and he had the pitting, that impossible goal. And so I think the point is don't ever think about the results or the metric. Think about the process that gets you there. And in certain times, okay, we might be shooting in the dark and a couple of these things but that ability and that willingness to go out and deliver game changing messages and solutions to your customers, to your organization, that's the stuff that takes you to the level.
Speaker 4:Now I remind you, I've been reading this book. Anyone see, the obstacle is the way, and a couple of couple of things that you were saying stood out. Number one is it goes through in the beginning. It talks about all the companies that launched in down markets. You know, small companies like FedEx and things like that. Right, microsoft was on that list too. That started in a down market and the point of that entire chapter was basically look the there's the object, there's there's the objective view of what's going on, there's a subjective view, and we've got to pull that subjective, emotional view out as often as we can and look at it, at the base value of what's going on, and get our shit done. I did that for Mike. Right, we can only do what we can do. We can't control outside circumstances, but if you just keep doing what you can do, it's amazing how things happen, even in impossible situations.
Speaker 3:That's it Control the controllables, understand what those variables are, control them and I love that. You mentioned obstacle is the way. I recommend everybody read that. But also go out and you can subscribe to the Daily Stoic and when you're talking about, like mindset and mentality, having that ability to take things in stride, understand what I can and cannot control. If you can't control something, then you got to let it go and you've got to focus on hedging your bets with everything you can. Yeah.
Speaker 4:I know butch is out there. I saw him comment over there, but butch is the one that gave me the book and butch is one that introduced me to the Daily Stoic.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and he also said you win the dad joke challenge today.
Speaker 4:You know I did, I mean I thought I crushed it. Today you did Out of the park man Big flings.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I just forgot it. It was so good, it just went. You know, it was that amazing. Hey, let's use what we're talking about here to kind of transition Again, this was going to be another topic we were going to get into with Meredith, but I think we've set the stage really well. So, if you're building a 2024 plan right for sales or your sales organization or just your revenue, let's just not let's get revenue sales marketing organization. What are kind of the key, I guess, pillars that we should be thinking about when we put together a 2020, 2024 plan, knowing that a year from now, when we're sitting here, the world will likely be very different than what it is today. That's an easy question. No, no, no.
Speaker 4:You notice, carson and I are both running to be the first one to respond.
Speaker 3:I don't care, I'll dive in. I'm not a bread. Look, I think first off and I've talked about this on this show before the first thing I always do is study. I look at the prior year. You know where we performed well, where we did some of the high you know high propensity activities that were taken. You know what worked really well from a marketing perspective, from an outreach standpoint. You know what worked well that I need to capitalize on and double down on. I'll give you an example.
Speaker 3:You know in my business there are built-in compelling events. You know there's renewal in annuity business, right. So I need to make sure that if I don't capitalize on those events, you know when customers are budgeting to spend money with us, I don't capitalize on those events and align other potential pieces of our portfolio. You know, running a diversified business to reduce my risk as a seller, then shame on me, that's going to torpedo my year because we have those built-in events. So, thinking about it and kind of, you know how can I maximize that side of things?
Speaker 3:The next subset is going to be around. Who are the people? Who are the relationships? What are the relationships that I'm going to need this year in order to do the things that I want to do. Do we have new offerings as an organization? Are there relationships that maybe, in looking back, ended up being critical? You know, did we have the board relationship that we needed? Did we have the CFO relationship that we needed? What can I learn from that past and that past year that I can really apply when I'm thinking about prospecting and going out and having some of those key relationships? What are some of the high-value activities that I could and should be running? You know we get a lot of benefit out of in-person, you know event types of engagements. So what do I need to do in order to map that out, to fund that, to have the budget for that, to make the asks that I need in order to do those types of pillar events that ultimately will unlock deeper relationships?
Speaker 3:And then also, who are the other players? What are the resources at my disposal? What's changed? What looks different? Who's my sales army that's going to be out there and for me? You know I have extensions of my organization, right, I have teams that don't report to me but that ultimately, it's my job to kind of orchestrate all these internal resources. We have a partner ecosystem that we work with very closely and then we ultimately execute sales plays for lack of a better words, just because we are trying to circulate conversations, tell stories, what are the stories that we're able to tell about how we're working transformatively with different organizations?
Speaker 3:So, thinking very, you know, very broadly, I would say you focus on the relationships and the resources and the activities that are going to be the highest value for the upcoming year, based on what you've learned, and you set those milestones up as well to also pivot where you need to. I found a lot of value in having regular cadences around some of these activities with the right teams and right groups of people to make sure that we've got checks and balances. Did we do what we set out to do? Does the process need to be tweaked? Do we have a new initiative? Is there a new you know opportunity or a threat, or more uncertainty? You know elements of uncertainty. How do we need to pivot to keep that steady hand on the wheel? So I think those are some of the things that I think about when I'm mapping out a year.
Speaker 2:I think those are great and I wanted to add one more to that, which I think is going to be really critical. You know, you always hear the term know your numbers. I think, more than ever, it's going to be very important to know our numbers, and what I mean by that is not just my quota, but what is the sales process? What does it mean to have an opportunity? What is the velocity of how things are moving? I think that that's one way to cut through.
Speaker 2:A lot of the uncertainty is to stay focused on your numbers and your statistics and your analytics on things. And I think that I don't know about what you've seen Carson and obviously being in Microsoft, but from working with a lot of smaller or midsize businesses, I've seen a lot of the know your numbers thing kind of get thrown away. And hey, I'm going on instinct here and I'm going to just try and do things instinctively or maybe just be a hero, and I think that more and more, that's going to become less and less of a good strategy and everything needs to be by the numbers.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, I couldn't agree more. In fact, every great sales leader needs to really demystify that pay structure and that you know how does my team get paid for their teams and spend time getting grounded in that. That was a mistake I made when I started out as a seller. I was trying to literally gravitate toward everything. I chased everything, every dollar. But I would chase that $5,000 opportunity. The same way I chased that $100,000 or multi-million dollar opportunity.
Speaker 3:And shame on me Really being able to map out. You know what are the critical, you know mission critical deals that I'm going to need to get done this year in order to be successful. And then where's the gravy deals. You know you need a path to your number. Sure, there's going to be bluebirds and there's going to be other things that come out, but you've got to be feeding that pipeline engine as fervently as humanly possible. And I think the other element to that you know knowing your number, you know every year now I create a program with my team called plays that get you paid. And in essence, what it is is we sit down and we understand in each of these solution areas because my team has a scorecard and, in essence, a weighted attainment based on different pillars, parts of the platform. Some are lower hanging fruit and where one may be lower weighted than others, it may have a very, very small quota relative to the others. And if I blow out that bucket, then my team is going to get paid. So, really understanding that, helping people wrap their head around and demystify how everybody gets paid.
Speaker 3:But what I do as a leader is everybody that touches my business. I sure I had 80 people that touched my territory, my market, my book of business. I went out and I understood how every one of them got paid, because a lot of times we're also vying for resources. You know, we want our specialists to focus on us and not that guy or that girl. Right, we need them to focus on us. And guess what, if I'm focused on getting that specialist paid and everything I do is geared toward getting that specialist paid, who do you think they're going to spend time with? They're going to spend time in my market because I am actively putting them in positions to win, I am empowering and enabling them to win, and so I think it's really important not just knowing your number, but knowing the number of everybody else that cares about your number.
Speaker 2:And how you're going to achieve it.
Speaker 3:Amen.
Speaker 2:Brandon, I know you have a take on that.
Speaker 4:Yeah, you know, I think so. It's always a. It's always a challenge to speak this way, but I think there's a, there's a fusion going on right now that we have to take a look at Know your numbers Absolutely, Be willing and, carson, you said it be willing to pivot. I think there's a lot more pivoting that needs to take place. Don't be scared to pivot.
Speaker 4:And and I think is, you know, we've built out the revenue operating system, and one of the things that's been interesting as we've been building this out and talking with people, is some of the comments that we get of saying, oh, this feels a little passive. Right, with some of these sales motions, and I had I mean, I had to take a step back and go. You know, gosh, I'm not a passive sales guy, but is this passive? And I think we there's some motions that may feel a little passive that they're also the right motions because the way buyers have changed. So there's a place where we're not passive with when do we do them, how do we do them? Are we consistent with doing them? Do we know the numbers that we're doing?
Speaker 4:But then there's this adapting that has to take place and it's hard, and I'm even having a hard time explaining it, because buyers have changed so much, because the channels of communication have changed so much, the way that we capture interest, the way that we create demand. You know it's no longer the one cold call and somebody says, yeah, tell me what you got. You know there's some shifting that takes place and that's where we've seen, in the data that we've developed, that we've discovered, through these systems of using channels a little differently than they've been used before, the messaging changes. And if we're so focused on the same numbers, the same numbers, the same numbers, we don't allow ourselves to see those opportunities because we're hyper focused on the things that we still believe we should be doing because they worked five years ago or two years ago or a year ago. Did that make sense? I am kind of struggling with that. It made sense.
Speaker 2:It made sense. But to me it goes back to right the passive. Yes, there may be some sales motions that may be perceived as more passive than others. Right To say, okay, I'm gonna do a weekly show and, as a result of that, I'm gonna wait and hope that somebody reaches out because they got value on that show.
Speaker 2:We have no idea how many people are listening here. We don't know who's listening. Every week we learn about more people that we had no idea about. But what we can be aggressive on going back to the numbers right is knowing our process and our numbers and what we're measuring against. And if we're aggressive on that, then it can at least make us feel like, hey, we're. Because I think if people feel like if they're not super aggressive, then they're not working hard enough, and maybe that was the case in the past. I think right now, if you're not being intelligent in what you're doing, you're not working well enough, and I think that's the thing is stop worrying about my peddling faster, but am I working the right way and efficient to actually get the numbers? Hence the reason for what I was saying knowing the numbers.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we just have to work super smart, right? I mean the ability now to go out and have so much data at your fingertips. Right, I mean I can go out and I can find the IT budget for my customer and then I know how much my company is getting of that. And if there's a huge disparity, then I've got to have the audacity to go out and make a big, bold ask that I want more of the pie. But here's what I'm willing to bring in the way of value or expertise or guidance as a part of their journey.
Speaker 3:Here are the things that they're going to get value out of. Here are the case studies that I can bring to bear, the stories that I can tell of others and they're similar both that are doing things like that. Here are the customers that I can introduce them to that are going to help de-risk those decisions. It's all about working smart, and I hate the whole work smart, not hard. You got to do both. But the thing is is right now we can't afford not to work smart because the data and the Intel is out there and you better believe somebody's going to be doing it. So if you're not out there intelligently hustling, you won't survive.
Speaker 2:I like that. Intelligently hustling. I think that's a new. I like that.
Speaker 4:So here's what I thought of.
Speaker 3:Intelligent helpers.
Speaker 4:You know we talked about Anthony and Irino and him being on the show and talking about when he goes in to do his presentations, that he's not asking them questions, he's going in and he's educating them on where it's going. Educating your buyers in a presentation might feel a little passive because in years past you got in there and you said, hey, let me tell you the history of our company and how awesome we are, let me show you the most impressive logos that we served, and it was all pounding our chest because that was part of the process of winning deals. That shifted Now. It doesn't mean you don't get the presentation. It just means we've got to finesse a little bit more on what we do once we're in there and then have a strategy and system for follow-up afterwards and make sure you're hitting those.
Speaker 4:Tommy, you talked about the show and we talked with company. You know potential customers and customers about this all the time because when we say man, the episodic content, a show has been a total game changer for us and we didn't start the show thinking we were going to, you know, generate a lot of revenue from it. It was more of like, hey, we want to educate, we want to be part, but once we started to find the value of our shorts, using our shorts as part of our outreach motions. So, instead of saying, hey, do you want to talk it's more of? Here's a clip from a show with Anthony or whoever, talking about XYZ as a CEO of your company.
Speaker 4:I thought you'd find value in it, because the trend in the industry, these are the things that are happening. We're using it to educate, but we're using it in small, short clips and then we're being very focused on the numbers. How many of those are we sending out? Are we sending them to the right people in the right cycle? That's what I mean with that fusion. It just took me a while to get there, guys. You know that sometimes I got to run around the block a few times before I figure out where my home is Well with Carson's intelligent hustling right.
Speaker 2:I thought intelligent I mean hustling in the past has met. How many phone calls have I made? How many emails am I sending? All these sort of pardon. Yeah, you just thought on. Okay, no, sorry, I didn't know if I was echoing her.
Speaker 3:So I love that you're going there, because I used to work in a boiler room call center. I ran the place and everybody was like, oh, I made 100, 200, 400 dials. Today, who cares?
Speaker 1:My best rep made 10 dials today.
Speaker 3:They were amazing conversations.
Speaker 2:They were. He was an intelligent hustler. Basically, he was an intelligent hustler yeah, so it was a she, it was a she, it was a she. Okay, so hey, as we wrap up here, let's just each of us maybe come. If we were to give one primary tip or suggestion going into this next year, what would be the one thing that you would recommend to somebody to best handle the era, or this era of uncertainty and potential change?
Speaker 3:Yeah, look, I always like to go to this. I like to say and we're gonna try to get Paul Riley on the show, he's got this phrase that he talks about because he wrote a book on uncertainty and it's, you know, being a merchant of hope. So I wanted to throw that out there because that's very true and that's ultimately what you want to be for your customer. So I want to give a shout out to Paul there. But I always like to say you've got to set the table before you can feast. Take the time to understand the playing field and build the foundation for success.
Speaker 3:At the beginning of every year for me, I always spend the time really studying the past year. Be a student, understand the playing field, the parameters, what works, what doesn't. And just because it doesn't work doesn't mean you get rid of it. It means you might tweak it, you might change things around. You look at where you fell down this past year and then you course correct. You know, last year I realized that my plays to get your pay didn't work as well as I wanted to. So what I realized it was missing was a bi-weekly sync where we could actually look at okay, what worked, what didn't, what do we need to do as a result of this action? What's upcoming? How do we want to change things and pivot because of changing parameters? So, be a student, understand everything that you can control, the controllables, and do everything you can to just keep a steady hand on the wheel.
Speaker 2:Well, stated Brandon yeah we're good.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I would say create systems for innovation within your company, and what I mean by that is you can't just throw everything up against the wall and be innovative. One of the things that I did in my old company and I really liked it, especially because it fit my personality, but we had a small team within the overall organization of about it you know, 120 employees, team members. I had a team of four, me included, that we were constantly innovating right, because we wanted to stay ahead of our competition. We wanted to. You know, we took a look at everything from a market share do we go? Okay, where are ways that we can go wider and where are opportunities to go deeper? So we were always looking new products or new markets and all that.
Speaker 4:But it was a small team that was continually looking at innovation and creation and new, and we stayed away from the rest of the team that was in maintenance mode run the system, run the system, run the playbook, keep everything going. And I've been having more conversations lately with Darryl Amy, who's one of Larry Levine's partners, and Darryl's doing some really cool stuff with this with any organizations that are running EOS and creating these micro innovation teams so that they don't get left behind. So I think that's what I would say is you know, change sucks. I get it and we don't wanna do it, but we don't have an option. So figure out that system that can create a comfortable way of addressing innovation, testing innovation and implementing it when it works well.
Speaker 3:I love that and I want to springboard. You talked about the innovation piece. One final thought Just listen, listen very closely to what your customers are saying Carson man, you stole my tip, you just stole it. You must have read your mind.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was really scary, actually Time traveled.
Speaker 3:But listen to what your leaders shouldn't be saying. Listen to what your customers are saying, you know. Okay, so the 1989 James Bond film Licensed to Kill Bond goes into this island and he's trying to penetrate and he's ultimately trying to get revenge against a drug lord and an assassin that hurt his friend right and that killed his friend's wife. And so he stands there and he's beating this gentleman and he says oh, so you're a problem solver? And he says, no, I'm a problem eliminator. And so I always try to pride myself in being the problem eliminator. Eliminate my customers' problems, eliminate my leadership's problems, because again, during uncertain times, heroes emerge. Be your customers' hero, be your leadership's hero, and you will survive and thrive in uncertain times. In fact, those are the types of things that are gonna get your ticket to big paychecks and promotions.
Speaker 2:Well, and when you listen right, when you really listen, you remove the uncertainty. That's the thing, right? A lot of the uncertainty comes from the fact that we don't listen. But since Carson, you stole my tip I'm just thinking the next strategy is just more pitch slaps. I think that's really the way to go over the next period of time. And I don't know about you, I'm getting more and more innovative pitch slaps every day. So there we go. It's innovative pitch slapping.
Speaker 3:That's my I mean, I got to do a show on that People could share their favorite or wildest pitch slaps.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I got a pitch slap today telling me I'd like to share with you the value of having your own podcast and show and what it could do for your revenue. Wow, oh shit, that's brilliant.
Speaker 2:Why did we?
Speaker 4:You could have thought of that two years ago.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know, my LinkedIn is starting to turn into like a dating app or something all of a sudden.
Speaker 4:I've been getting a lot of those too.
Speaker 3:I don't get any of that.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's the model picture. They have like seven followers or connections and they tell me how intriguing my profile looks and can I share my WhatsApp number with them so we can talk. Oh, okay, they get right on that.
Speaker 2:All right. Well, now that we have, More innovative hustling. That's right. That's right, all right. Well, I think we did okay without Meredith. I apologize that we didn't. All of our sort of connections here got a little messed up. I know we haven't been able to quite hit as many of the comments as we would have liked today, but we'll get that uncertainty sorted out for next week. Larry Levine is back with us next week. I think that was one of our most popular guests, so excited about that.
Speaker 4:And can we throw out there too, for especially people that are on the podcast. You're listening to it? Hey, we'd really appreciate it. If you like it, be sure to subscribe, and if you really like it, you might share it with people. Snap a picture on your phone, share it with people, send them a link, click the button and share episode. We keep moving up, but we're not where we wanna be and we're having a lot of fun. We love offering all this information and value and believe that we're doing a pretty good job and the feedback that we get. So, yeah, if you're willing, we'd really appreciate you to subscribe and share it with other people.
Speaker 3:And if you've got guest suggestions, people that you wanna see, tag them in the comments. Happy to reach out. We're bringing some heavy hitters, obviously, so let us know who you wanna see.
Speaker 2:Yeah the sky's the limit. We're thinking big, so all right, well, thanks everybody. Was fun, Carson, wrap us up, Bring it home.
Speaker 3:Thank you. I'm a little uncertain as to what I'm supposed to say.
Speaker 2:Oh no wait.
Speaker 3:Thank you all for being here today and until next time, happy social selling.
Speaker 2:Have a good week.
Speaker 4:Bye everybody.
Speaker 2:Hey, tom Burton here and I wanted to personally thank you for listening or watching today's episode of Social Selling 2.0. If you enjoyed or found value in today's show, please share with your friends and colleagues. Also, we'd really appreciate it if you could leave a review on iTunes or your favorite podcast outlet. And please also subscribe to our YouTube channel and join our free online community at socialselling20.com. There you'll get free access to the latest social selling resources, training sessions, webinars and can collaborate with other social selling professionals. Thank you again for listening and I look forward to seeing you in our next episode.