In the Arena

You have both the voice of an Inner Critic and an Inner Coach inside you. Which one you listen to will determine the quality of your results--and your life. 

You are pure potential. What you are now is a mere fraction of what you might become--and what you are becoming. You were not born to be ordinary.

As a professional salesperson, did you even realize that there is a social environment in business in sales? If you did, you were probably one of the more successful salespeople in your organization. If you didn't, you probably aren't. That is one of the takeaways from this conversation with Christian Madsbjerg, author of the new book, “Sensemaking.” Anthony believes his book is the must-read book of 2018 for every business person. It's a treatise on the intersection of AI and culture and makes a case for how AI must be made to enhance and serve human culture in the end. This is a fascinating conversation for salespeople who want to understand how to maximize the human side of sales. Christian Madsbjerg on The Social Environment of Business and #Sales - Episode 111 of #InTheArena with @IannarinoClick To Tweet Is a good sale the optimized one or the convincing one? AI is being introduced into the sales profession at an unprecedented pace. The optimization of sales cycles and sequences through AI is at the forefront the minds of many who are charged with increasing the bottom line through product and service sales. In this conversation, Christian asks if the best sale is the convincing one or the one that is best optimized? In his thinking, our infatuation with refining processes and building out great systems has us thinking a bit askew. Find out why a good sale is the convincing one and why only human beings can do the kind of convincing needed to put the right product in the hands of the person who truly needs it. Computers don’t care - humans do Anthony has long believed and said that caring is the currency of success in business and in sales. In the end, the person who cares more is the one who will be most trusted and therefore most successful. Christian Madsbjerg makes an intriguing case for a stronger understanding of and reliance on human intuition, cultural understanding, and social appropriateness as tools that can fuel long-term success in sales relationships. It's too much to contain in a short paragraph like this so you need to make sure that you listen to this conversation to hear Christian’s masterful way of describing it. Computers don’t care - #humans do. It’s vital to maintain that objective understanding in business - especially in #sales. Hear Christian Madsbjerg explain on this episode of #InTheArena with @IannarinoClick To Tweet There is a third kind of knowledge that all sales professionals need The first type of knowledge we all possess is subjective or preferential. Some examples are that you may feel that one type of sound is too loud or a certain type of food is too spicy. Then there’s the kind of knowledge that we can measure. But Christian points out that there’s a third kind of knowledge - one he calls an “intersubjective” kind. It’s social or cultural in nature. Examples: We know how far to stand from each other at a party. We know how loudly we should speak. This is another type of knowledge that can’t be measured, but it’s a kind that is critical in the business world. If you only rely on data sets to tell you about your customers, you make big mistakes because you’re not relying enough on your innate human ability to understand others and what that understanding tells you about their needs. Sound helpful for a sales professional? You bet it is. Listen to hear more, on this episode. What is the appropriate use of personal information in the digital age? With the recent outrage over data breaches and inappropriate use of personal data, as well as the advent of the GDPR in the European Union, many questions are being asked about not only the security and privacy of personal data but also its proper use. Christian believes that those who lead companies today need to look beyond the practical leverage they can gain through data sets and begin to ask what benefit their use of data will have to real people.

Closing doesn't require that you be smarmy, manipulative, self-oriented, or pushy. Now it means that you ask for the commitments your dream client needs to make to create change and produce a better result.

On August 12, 2017, I published a post on LinkedIn called Why Your Linear Sales Process is Broken. I wrote it a few days after I published my second book, The Lost Art of Closing. Success in large, complex, strategic sales now requires that you adapt your approach to the non-linear nature of the process of change by working to gain the commitments necessary to move your client from their current state to the better future state they need.

I am good friends with Jeb Blount, Mark Hunter, and Mike Weinberg. We do a little show you might have heard about called OutBound. Here we are talking about Jeb's new book, Objections, on launch day.

There is a difference between busy and being productive. There are only two things that make you productive in sales, one is opportunity creation, and the other is opportunity capture. This episode of In the Arena is sponsored by www.b2bsalestoolkit.com.

The way to get off of your back foot is to change your posture. It’s to take the role of White in the game of chess. It’s to move first and cause your competition to respond to you, instead of the other way around. This decision is about with your mindset and the actions you take—but it begins with your mindset, your attitude, your beliefs.

What it is that you look for will determine the quality of your life and your experience, making it dangerous to look for only the negative in the world.

The phrase “moral management” may not be one you’ve heard much in the context of your business or sales career, but it’s a concept that leadership legend Tom Peters is emphasizing more often these days. He’s come to believe that one of the best opportunities for change in the world rests on the shoulders of middle managers, those who daily influence the effectiveness and development of the common people of our day. In this conversation with Anthony the conversation ranges from rock-n-roll, to a visit from a home service technician, to the boardroom - and in all of it you’ll hear Tom’s passion for encouraging managers and CEOs alike to foster a healthy culture that builds people. Don't miss it. This conversation could be the highlight of your week. On this episode, discover why @Tom_ Peters believes that moral #management can - and should - change The world. #InTheArena with @Iannarino #TheExcellenceDividend #sales #leadershipClick To Tweet Societal and technological changes require that we rethink who we are and what we do with and for each other There is a lot of concern these days that the advent and growth of AI, robots, and machine learning will result in the loss of many jobs in coming years. Tom Peters believes that the concerns are valid, but he doesn’t believe it’s going to be an apocalypse if we can make the adjustments now that will enable us to pivot as a society. In this conversation, you’ll hear what Tom believes needs to happen in our thinking to enable us to not only survive but thrive in the new world that’s coming. You'll also learn why business owners and service providers today need to continue working hard at what they do even though robots may be coming to take their jobs. It’s a fascinating and valuable conversation you won’t want to miss. Every business has a moral responsibility to develop the people who work for them ~ Tom Peters When you consider that the average middle-level manager in any business has at least a handful of people who are direct reports, and you open your eyes to the fact that the manager in question is one of the primary leaders and influencers in the lives of those they lead, you see the foundation for the point Tom Peters makes on this episode: Every business has a moral responsibility to develop the people who work for them. Find out why Tom is so passionate about this point and hear how he’s come to his conclusions. But even more vital for where you are at now, learn how his new book, “The Excellence Dividend” can serve as a checklist for making your company - and your role in it - more and more of a change maker in the lives of your employees. Every #business has a moral responsibility to develop the people who work for them ~ @Tom_Peters. Hear Tom make the case on this episode of #InTheArena with @Iannarino. #sales #leadership #TheExcellenceDividendClick To Tweet There is no excuse for not making any organization of any size, a great place to work ~ Tom Peters It’s easy to think of the Mom and Pop service businesses in small town USA as insignificant or second-rate, but Tom Peters believes that those local, customer-facing businesses that provide opportunity and income for average Americans are some of the best places for the work of excellence to take place in ways that truly impact the lives of those they employ and serve. Tom’s expertise and experience are unquestioned and his ongoing emphasis on the impact excellence makes in the lives of employees and customers is one that needs to be heard over and over. This episode sounds the charge again and is one that will inspire you to evaluate what you’re doing in the role you occupy at your company so that you can up your game and make an even greater impact The pinnacle of achievement has nothing to do with CEOs Tom Peters once read a post on social media that said something to the effect that Elon Musk is the greatest thing that has happen...

Dan Pink is not a guy who normally would come to mind when you begin thinking about a person who can teach you productivity improvement techniques. But given that Dan is committed to a research-based approach to his writing, it shouldn’t surprise you that he's discovered something that can improve your productivity either. His new book, “When” is a masterpiece for those looking to improve their productivity - but you won’t know it when you first pick up the book. This conversation digs into what Dan discovered through his research about how humans work, how our biological cycles and clocks inform the decisions we should make about the work we do and provides practical things you can do to increase your chances of getting more important stuff done. Dan’s discoveries are revolutionary, so don’t miss it. .@DanielPink: #Productivity Improvement Techniques, #Chronotypes, and Napucinnos, on episode 109 of #InTheArena with @Iannarino. #SalesClick To Tweet Are the “morning person” and “night owl” stereotypes based in reality? For a very long time, we’ve heard people referred to as “morning person” or “night owl.” It’s an example of a trite saying that IS a trite saying because there is truth to it. Dan Pink's research has revealed that there really are rhythms to life and patterns to the way individuals operate that make them more prone to be productive at different times of the day. Why does that matter for productivity? It's because knowing which type of person you are will enable you to strategically plan certain types of work for specific times of the day. The result is that you’ll be operating at peak capacity when you are working. These ideas make a lot more sense in the context of the conversation Anthony had with Dan, so set aside time to listen to this intriguing conversation. Peak, trough, and recovery: 3 stages of daily activity you need to understand One of the most important things Dan Pink has discovered while researching for his new book, “When” is that every human being operates in cycles. We all experience the following three periods in every day - peaks, troughs, and recovery periods. When you are able to identify exactly WHEN each of those periods happens in your typical day, you’re able to do the right kind of work during the right time frame and your productivity soars as a result. This is more than a productivity improvement technique, it’s a day planning strategy that can yield results beyond what you might imagine. Listen in to the conversation and you’ll hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. New York Times Best-Selling Author, Dan Pink is Anthony’s guest on this episode of In The Arena. Peak, trough, and recovery: 3 stages of daily #activity you need to understand. @DanielPink explains why on this episode of #InTheArena with @Iannarino. #sales #productivityClick To Tweet Why you should never evaluate your decisions based on the outcome Outcome-based evaluations are never a good idea, even though it’s the kind of reasoning most of us fall into. You can’t tell if an idea was good or bad simply because of the outcome because there are too many variables that could have or didn’t happen to be entirely sure of the result. Dan cites the decision to run every red light on the way to work as an example. Just because you get to work safely and without being pulled over by the police doesn’t mean it was a good idea. Listen to find out how Dan applies this concept to decision making, sales strategy, and day-planning and productivity. Are you limiting your productivity by trying to be too productive? Most of us who are worker-bees or "doers" spend our day in non-stop productivity mode. But research reveals that non-stop production actually becomes counterproductive. In this conversation, Dan Pink highlights how breaks throughout the day, and even what he calls a “Napucinno” (you’ll have to listen to find out what th...

What sales professional in their right mind would NOT like to have greater influence over buyers during the sales process? It’s an ability we all need to have. But greater influence comes at a cost, and it’s a cost that’s not typically about sales techniques or approaches. It's one you pay by doing the hard work to become a better person yourself. In this conversation, Anthony and his good friend, Bob Burg chat about why the characteristics Bob outlines in his book, “The Go-Giver Influencer” are really character traits and have to be genuinely birthed in the heart of a person before they can be capable of having greater influence in any area of life. It’s a great conversation between two sales professionals who are great friends. Be sure to listen to this episode of In The Arena. How to develop greater #influence in the #sales process by being a go-giver #influencer, with @BobBurg, on Episode 108 of #InTheArena with @iannarinoClick To Tweet Great influencers attract people, to themselves first and their ideas second Greater influence comes from becoming a better version of yourself. Bob Burg explains that people are first attracted to you, the person they are involved with before they ever become interested in your ideas or solutions. The real power of influence comes when you are thinking about how you can benefit the other person, and that’s a mindset we have to develop as part of our character. You have to care about their needs and be genuinely focused on building everyone who is involved in the process, not just your sales accounts. Bob’s insights into these kinds of things are one of the reasons he’s made 4 appearances on this podcast, so take the time to find out why he’s considered to be a leader in the industry. Great negotiation requires collaboration that brings about better options for everyone When you think about a sales negotiation you likely think of the need to come to a place of compromise that everyone involved can live with. But Bob Burg says that compromise means everyone gives up something and nobody winds up happy. Instead, he believes the salesperson needs to become a master at collaboration, coming into the situation with a view toward everyone receiving something even greater than they have in mind. When you can approach a sales negotiation with that kind of optimism and a commitment to making it a win for everyone, you’ll be the one everyone involved remembers when it comes time for another deal. Great #sales #negotiation requires #collaboration that brings about better options for everyone. Don’t resign yourself to the losing scenario of compromise. @BobBurg explains how to win at sales on this episode of #InTheArena with @IannarinoClick To Tweet Greater influence comes from stepping into the other person’s shoes It’s a tired old phrase but nevertheless true, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” When you as a salesperson are able to step into another person’s shoes in a way that enables you to understand their true needs, you have the opportunity to influence them in a way nobody else can. Compassion goes a long way in establishing the trust necessary to consummate a sales relationship. In this episode, Bob Burg explains what it means to have compassion as a sales professional and how learning to listen “with the back of your neck” enables you to truly care for your buyers and close more deals. Your expectations about an interaction change you and influence the interaction as a result If you walk into a meeting expecting others to be disagreeable, contentious, or rude you will have set your own attitude in a negative direction and will influence the meeting negatively as a result, without ever meaning to do it. But if you set your expectations differently, on purpose, and go into the room with a broad smile and a belief that the people on the other side of the conversation rea...

The data we refer to as “sales intelligence” is one of the most frustrating necessities for sales teams. It’s information you have to have in order to do your job effectively, but it can be a Catch 22. You can only be as effective as the data you have, and the data is changing all the time and often difficult to find. Steve Bryerton and the team at DiscoverOrg are changing the way that sales data and intelligence is gathered, and have a team of 300 people who are curating data for salespeople by hand, every day. You’ve got to hear what has motivated this unprecedented step and how the DiscoverOrg team is able to offer a 95% accuracy guarantee. It’s on this episode of In The Arena. @SteveBryerton: How To Get 95% Accurate #Sales Intelligence, Every Time - Episode #107 OF #InTheArena @DiscoverOrgClick To Tweet What’s the most important piece of sales intelligence that sales reps are in need of? Believe it or not, it’s an accurate phone number. It’s amazing how many incredible startups or progressive companies that are poised to change the world, force interested customers, clients, and partners to connect with them through a web form. Period. No phone number is even available on their website. Both Anthony and his guest, Steve Bryerton believe the day will come when these world-changing companies will rethink that decision and begin to provide a phone number to make a connection with their company more easily accessible. But until then, what do sales reps do? There are only two choices… you do the legwork of finding the contact data yourself, or you make use of those who make the task their business, literally. Listen to find out how you can make use of a professional team of sales intelligence detectives. Sales Intelligence is a moving target. But you’ve still got to hit it Every salesperson has experienced the scenario: You spend time on social media, scouring the internet, and researching company websites to find the exact right email or phone number for the person you want to speak to. But you can’t find it. Why? People move from one position to another within companies, they are hired away by competitors, their IT department changes the format of email addresses but hasn’t had time to update the website to reflect the changes. Lots of reasons. Spending time trying to find contact info is not the best use of your time, but what else can you do? Steve Bryerton and the DiscoverOrg team have an option for you… let their team do that legwork for you. On this episode, you’ll hear how you can get a free trial of their service and experience the relief and power of instant, accurate sales intelligence, every time. #Sales Intelligence is a moving target. But you’ve still got to hit it @SteveBryerton @DiscoverOrgClick To Tweet What kind of accuracy does your sales intelligence contain? Suppose you’ve spent hours gathering data to contact the right person within the company you’re about to pitch. You make the call. You send the email. And it’s the wrong number or extension. The email is returned as inaccurate. Going back to square one has never been so painful. Is there a better way? Steve Bryerton says there is. In fact, the team at DiscoverOrg are focused on finding solutions that problem every day. In this conversation, you can hear how Steve and his team are providing 95% accurate data to sales leaders all around the world. Accurate, actionable, comprehensive data on your target buyers is available Anthony’s guest on this episode of In The Arena, Steve Bryerton is a Sales Leader at DiscoverOrg, a company that provides datasets that contain the most accurate and robust sales and marketing intelligence available in the market. The company uses a proprietary combination of technology, tools, and integrations and then human-verifies the data at least every 60 days. That enables them to guarantee a level of accuracy no other data provider can delive...

Every seller wants to have meaningful sales connections with their buyers, but it's clear from the way sales is traditionally done that very few sellers really know how to pull it off. Deb Calvert has written a new book, “Stop Selling and Start Leading” that reveals many points of powerfully insightful data, taken from a study focused on the 30 primary characteristics of leadership. Her application of those characteristics to the sales process is not only ingenious, it also reveals what sellers are doing wrong, what buyers really want from those who are on the other side of the sales relationship, and how powerful selling can happen once sellers stop selling in begin leading. You don't want to miss this conversation. Deb Calvert on How Truly Meaningful #Sales Connections Happen Through #Leadership - Episode 106 of #InTheArena @PeopleFirstPSClick To Tweet Buyers don’t believe the message until they first believe the messenger Sales connections are about more than simply setting appointments and running through a sales presentation. It's about building trust, a phrase we are hearing more and more these days. But do you really know what it means to build trust? More importantly, do you know how to build it? Deb Calvert says that buyers don't believe anything you have to say to them about your product or service until they first believe in you. They have to see, demonstrated in your behavior, that you are person who can be trusted. What kinds of behavior is Deb talking about? Listen to this episode of In The Arena to find out - and learn how to change the way you sell in order to build greater trust with your buyers. 33% of buyers say the salespeople they deal with don’t come across as credible Much of the research that Deb and her team did in preparation for her book focused on the experiences buyers had with those who sold to them. In many cases, these were relationships that were already established between buyer and seller - yet 33% of buyers said that the sales people they deal with regularly don't come across as credible or trustworthy. What does that say about the way sales professionals are going about their work? More importantly, what does it say about the ways we can improve what we do to cause trust to be built from the outset? Deb's insights into this issue of credibility and trust are incredibly helpful for salespeople who are willing to do the work it takes to apply what she has learned. The good news is this, none of it is hard. It just has to be done. 33% of #buyers say the #salespeople they deal with don’t come across as credible. Learn how to reverse this trend in your #sales career on #InTheArena @PeopleFirstPSClick To Tweet Sales connections happen through two-way dialogue, not an old-fashioned sales presentation One of the things that buyers dread the most is the sales presentation. That's because it often goes into data points and information that isn't relevant to their situation. It's kind of like sitting through a timeshare presentation in order to get the free gift, only the buyer doesn't always walk away with the free gift. Deb's research revealed that sales connections that matter happen through two-way dialogue, not a sales presentation. Buyers want to know that they are understood and that those selling to them truly have their best interests in mind. If you will apply the simple things Deb shares in her book, “Stop Selling and Start Leading,” your sales will dramatically improve. Meaningful connections between buyers and sellers still matter With all the advancements in A.I. and machine learning, there is a lot of hype about whether or not salespeople will really be needed in the future. Both Deb and Anthony believe that the human component of sales will always be in high demand because meaningful sales connections are what build the kind of trust that buyers need to feel.

There’s only one difference between the hustlers in prisons across the world and you and me… they got caught breaking the law. That probably sounds like an overly dramatic statement to most readers of this blog, but the truth is that it’s the truth. Anthony’s guest on this episode is Cat Hoke, an amazing woman who’s working to see that the hustlers in prison who really want a second chance at life actually get their first chance ever, by rehabilitating and training them to use their natural propensity to hustle in legal ways - like entrepreneurship and business. This is an amazing conversation you’ll be glad you listened to, so be sure you do listen. .@catherine_hoke: Transforming #Hustlers Into #Entrepreneurs - Episode #105 @DefyVenturesClick To Tweet Cat Hoke works with EITs, Entrepreneurs in Training who are coming out of incarceration Most of the people in prisons don’t live with any real sense of hope. When you are serving a life sentence, what is there to hope for? That mindset becomes a chain of defeat that hangs over them and the environment in which they live reminds them how hopeless their situation is every day of their lives. So when Cat Hoke and her team walk into a prison and begin spouting off things about hope and change, it’s a hard sell. But she’s one of the most convincing salespeople you’ll ever meet. Currently, her program, Defy Ventures is serving over 5000 EITs - entrepreneurs in training - and is teaching them not only what it means to hope, but what it means to be free from the chains of prison and emotional bondage. You’ve got to hear Cat’s story, on this episode of In The Arena. Turning hustlers into Entrepreneurs with only a 3.2% recidivism rate One of the main problems with the penal system in most countries is that they are not really about rehabilitation, they are only about punishment. The people inside know that and the culture and environment within the walls of the prison show it to be true. But the Defy Ventures team has made a significant difference in many prisons in the United States already. With only a 3.2% recidivism rate (release offenders going back to prison) they are undoubtedly having an impact. You can hear how the Defy team makes such a difference in the lives of people most of society considers beyond redemption, on this episode. Turning #hustlers into #entrepreneurs with only a 3.2% #recidivism rate @DefyVentures @catherine_hokeClick To Tweet Cat’s father taught what not to be and empowered her in the process Part of what Cat has come to realize is that the circumstances of her birth are really the only things that kept her off a path that leads to prison. As she’s met more and more of the people who are incarcerated she’s realized that many of them were born into circumstances where it was next to impossible to avoid eventual incarceration. Her father, for example, set her up for success through the things he taught and the intentional care he showed. He wouldn’t allow her to whine or complain and he challenged her with a form of “shark tank” around the dinner table, giving her entrepreneurial or business challenges to figure out. The realization of how much advantage she had compared to many others is what has driven her to a place of compassion rather than criticism. Learn what Cat is doing to help inmates break free of the chains that bind them, on this episode. Cat helps hustlers face the pain so the past doesn’t repeat itself Even when many hustlers who wind up in prison get out, they are still in chains. The things that drove them into prison in the first place - hurt, anger, neglect, abandonment - are still with them. The Defy Ventures program is not only about teaching job skills and business savvy, it’s about taking those individuals who have been incarcerated to a place where healing can begin. It’s a tough road that even the toughest people don’t easily walk,