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"You can make yourself sick with your thoughts, but you can also make yourself well with your thoughts." - Gerhard Gschwandtner I'm so excited to share with you this incredible interview with Gerhard Gschwandtner. Gerhard is Founder and CEO of Selling Power, Inc., a multi-channel media company that produces Selling Power magazine, SellingPower.com and a daily 5-minute video series. He is also host of the Sales 2.0 Conference series. Over the course of three decades, he has interviewed some of the most successful leaders and experts in sales, business, sports, entertainment, and politics, including Mary Kay Ash, Marc Benioff, Michael Dell, George Foreman, Seth Godin, Jay Leno, Bill Marriott, and Colin Powell. He has trained more than 10,000 salespeople around the world and is the author of 17 sales management books. He is a recipient of the Sales & Marketing Executives International, Inc. 2010 Ambassador of Free Enterprise Award. Follow him on Twitter @gerhard20. Gerhard is brilliant and a wonderful man. In this episode we talk about the power of our mindset in life. We share stories of failure and the rise to success with a change of mindset. We also talk about the power of our physiological state to influence our emotional state. You can grab a free infographic on this at www.kicksaassales.com/12download.   If you're interested in participating in a Peak Performance Mindset Course, you can email Gerhard at gg@sellingpower.com, and get more information at www.sellingpower.com.  

“I really think that my mission - my job as a leader - is to help other people grow.” - John Knotwell John Knotwell joined us on the Kick SaaS Sales podcast and delivers incredible insights over and over again. If you are interested in sales, overcoming challenges or personal failure, leading with empathy, civil service, personal improvement, or team building... this is the episode for you! We talk about daily routines that have contributed to his success, including consciously cultivating optimism, and an abundance mindset. We dig into the specific tactical methods John subscribes to in order to keep positive, and he shares a number of fantastic books. John shares a time of failure from his life, and talks through his feelings in that time, and how those things have fueled his growth and ability to engage with others empathetically.  He also shares what he would do if he woke up tomorrow as a new rep - it's fantastic! Many other great insights from John in this podcast - I hope you enjoy it!   John's Recommended Books Start With Why - Simon Sinek Multipliers - Liz Wizemen Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions - Kevin Rosen Straight from the Gut - Jack Welch Winning - Jack Welch Accidental Salesperson - Chris Lytle

I was asked by one of the listeners to put together a list of things that I do (or wish I did) on a daily basis that contribute to success in sales. I put together a list and recorded my take on things.  This episode also includes an invitation to join me in a 30-day Miracle Morning challenge to improve our mornings and, by extension, our lives. I've included a free download of the things I do, accessible at http://www.kicksaassales.com/10download.  Here are some things I mentioned in this episode, or should have mentioned: The Miracle Morning For Salespeople - Hal Elrod Seven Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey The Five Minute Journal - Alex Ikonn

Gabe Larsen, Director of Momentum Strategy at InsideSales.com comes on the Kick SaaS Sales Podcast to share InsideSales's research study: What Data and Science Tell us About Managing Your Pipeline. To grab a copy of the infographic, head to www.kicksaassales.com/9download Here's the gist:  Researchers analyzed sales pipeline data (including data related to sales cycle length, close rate, deal size, opportunity count, and pipeline size) from InsideSales’ HD ForecastTM pipeline and forecast database, including anonymized details from more than 5.4 million sales pipeline transactions. In addition, researchers distributed a quantitative market survey to sales leaders in order to collect personal insight as to the root causes for some of the trends uncovered by analyzing sales pipeline data. The survey analysis includes answers from more than 600 respondents. Overall Findings: 76.6% of sales leaders predict either steady or accelerated growth in 2016. We asked sales reps who is the most difficult executive to deal with when they miss their numbers and almost 60% or 58.8% said the CFO while only 14.8% said the CRO or the CEO Pipeline Findings 2014 to 2015 Companies are going whale hunting (moving up stream) Sales cycle 6.4% longer (75 days to 80 days) Close rate 2.1% lower Deal size 5.5% larger

We've all done discovery calls that suck. There's no energy, we're ill-prepared, and the customer feels like a number. In this episode I give you the steps I go through before, during, and after discovery calls to ensure that I am Perceived as different from anything else the customer is looking at Moving into the trusted advisor role Positioned as a premium brand Gathering all the info I need to tailor each conversation to this prospect's specific needs Inviting the prospect into the pipeline and down the path to the sale I also run down the pros and cons of several sales discovery call methodologies that are widely used today, including BANT, PAT, and Hubspot's proprietary methodology.  As a bonus, I've included a free download of the notes I used in preparing for this episode - if you're looking for in-depth detail on the sales methodologies and a list of the specific steps I recommend that you take at this part of the sales process, this download is a must have. You can get your own copy by going to http://www.kicksaassales.com/8download.

I'm so excited to have Frank Maylett join me on the Kick SaaS Sales Podcast today. Frank has been my mentor and good friend for the last 4 years, and I always learn so much from him.  On this episode we talk about Frank's background and career path. He shares why he decided not to be a Doctor, and what pushed him into sales. Frank shares about his first mentor, Michael Maulick, and his start in Sales Leadership. Frank answers questions from the Kick SaaS Sales listeners, including how to deal with failure, his own method of measuring success, and his "Intensity, Intelligence, Integrity motto". Some great quotes from this interview: “You have to believe before you can do” “It’s dangerous to win alone, it’s fatal to lose alone” If you're interested in: Growing your skillset Being mentored Motivation Success Self Improvement Leadership Then this episode is for you.

For busy lead gen reps, it feels like just scheduling the appointment should be enough. You gather as much information as the person is willing to give you, and then maybe include some buzzwords that most other folks normally share with you, before pitching it over to the Account Executive for the handoff/deep-dive discovery call. And most times, that works! The AE is (or should be) happy that he has an appointment with someone that is at least somewhat interested in the solution you're pitching. He will most of the time ask more in-depth questions, and get more answers because that's just how the game is played. Day in and day out, we go through the same old dance. Some guys get promoted and move on into sales. Other guys leave the company for a similar role somewhere else. But is that really all there is to it?  NO! I am so happy to share with you some steps to absolutely knocking your discovery calls out of the park. I guarantee you that if you make these four steps a part of your routine for each and every lead, you will have so much more success. I've mentored and coached many people from lead gen to sales. Without exception, those that have taken these steps to heart and applied them have made more money, gained more respect and trust, and moved on to bigger and better roles.  But I'm not just sharing with you a few steps - I'm going to share a great, free tool that I use to get tons of data from 100's of different sources on each lead, and get to know what they're doing on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other social sites. It also shows news about them and about their company, their competitors, and industry.  If this episode gives you value, please take a moment to go out to iTunes to rate and review this podcast. I'd really appreciate it!

If you're wondering how to build your personal brandto help you sell, when you should consider moving to anothercompany, or how to retain, grow, and foster loyalty in yourcustomers, this episode is for you.Alice Heiman joins us on the Kick SaaS Sales podcastand talks about building your own brand as a seller, what it waslike growing up in and around Miller Heiman (her dad is StephenHeiman), and founding her own company. We reference CEB’s research on inbound leads - 57% ofbuying decision has already been made. How to retain, grow, and foster loyalty in customers.The new sales is customer service. Selling continues long after thesale.Along the way we answer listener questions. For allthe great links and resources we discussed in this episode, pleasehead to www.kicksaassales.com.Resources discussed in thisepisode:www.Rehearsal.com - Rehearsalis a video-based practice platform. It gives your team a safe placeto develop their communication skills so they can perform when itmatters.Strategic Selling - Robert BMiller and Stephen Heiman's classic work on sales. If you're in acomplex selling environment, this book is definitely worth pickingup.Consensus(formerly demo chimp) to help your prospects sell foryou. Drive agreement across B2B buying groups withpersonalized video demos. Discover, engage, and track everystakeholder... automatically.Engagio.com helps companies withcomplex sales to engage target accounts, expand customerrelationships, and deepen sales-and-marketing alignment.To sell is human- Daniel PinkAgile Selling -Jill KonrathWomensalespros.com - TheVision of WOMEN Sales Pros – to see more great women in B2Bsales.KathleenAudet - helps women and men feel confident, powerful andamazing.______ClickHere t

Great interview with Chad Burmeister! Chad is world class in inside sales effectiveness. He's the Chapter President for AA-ISP Colorado, has been voted Top 25 Most Influential Inside Sales Professionals by AA-ISP for 7 years in a row, curates saleshack.com and is the author of Sales Hack.  We discuss role specialization among lead gen reps, sales hacks to generate referrals, maintaining a positive attitude while cold calling, personality types that excel in sales vs lead gen. We answer questions that come from Kick SaaS Sales listeners, talk indicators for sales success, discuss the correlation between how you buy items and your ability to be successful in sales. Books and resources discussed in this episode: Sales Hack: The Original 25 Sales Hacks - Chad Burmeister Sales Hack: With contributions from over 25 of the world's greatest sales professionals of our time - Chad Burmeister The Sales Development Playbook - Trish Bertuzzi The Bridge Group - Inside Sales Consulting RingCentral www.saleshack.com Connect and Sell Charlie App

8 Tips to Maintaining the Think Big, Dream Big Mindset     “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”  - Napoleon Hill This podcast comes to you based on a request from a colleague. Among other things, he asked, "How can I maintain a think big/dream big mindset?" I've talked with him before about my own philosophies, so putting this episode together was a fun exercise in self expression.  The 8 tips outlined herein are great foundational pieces for anyone to use in going after whatever their goals are. I encourage you to dive in and take notes throughout as you think of things that you can apply.  Books referenced in the podcast: Man's Search For Meaning - Viktor Frankl (Audible) Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill (Audible) How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie (Audible)    

This is a very brief episode wherein I tell a little more about myself and the Kick SaaS Sales Podcast. I'll be back with more great content next week, when I return from President's Club! For those who would like to see a little more about me, you can visit me at my LinkedIn profile here. As always, if you have questions, comments, or suggested topics - please head over to kicksaassales.com and hit the email link in the top right-hand corner of the page.  

Kayla Lamoreaux joins us on the Kick SaaS Sales Podcast. Kayla is a Solution Architect with Workfront, Inc. She's also worked with great companies like inContact and FamilySearch. She's a great partner for all of Workfront's sales reps, and delivers key value to clients by scoping new implementation consulting engagements. Through her efforts, clients get huge return on investment and grow their license footprints in a big way.  SaaS Sales is all about delivering value to customers and earning their business year after year. Listen to this podcast to get key value gems like: Overcoming fear to win big Kayla's personal experience with failing forward Value of partnering closely with internal resources Dangers of discounting The power of starting from "WHY" in your daily tasks Resources mentioned in this episode Pitch Anything - Oren Klaff Start With Why - Simon Sinek Anatomy of Peace - The Arbinger Institute Linchpin - Seth Godin Finding Flow - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi    

Steve Underwood here, the founder & host of Kick SaaS Sales, a Podcast where I break down the tools and strategies you need to explode your quota and blast your W2 into the stratosphere!  Kick SaaS Sales is committed to helping guide you on your SaaS Sales journey by sharing insights from today’s most successful reps and sales leaders. All in all, Kick SaaS Sales is about inspiring YOU to take YOUR SaaS Sales career to the next level and Kick SaaS! We know that by learning from the failures, the AH-HA moments, and the successes of others, you can begin to build your dream and take inspired ACTION! Kick SaaS Sales features incredible strategies, tools, and experiences from Steve Underwood and inspiring SaaS Sales Leaders around the world. If you're ready to Kick your career up to the next level, this is the podcast for you!