Podcast | True Confessions of a Sales Leader

Podcast: True Confessions of a Sales Leader

Grab a cup of coffee and dive into the premiere episode of “True Confessions of a Sales Leader,” the Olsen Group’s new podcast where sales leaders share their secrets of success (and failures) while offering guidance along the way.

Our new podcast helps sales leaders like you and your sales teams develop the skills, systems and culture that leads to sustained and significant results.

Each episode provides listeners with transformational guidance that can be used immediately in your sales organizations.

In our first episode we start with a crucial topic: How to coach an inexperienced sales manager.

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Episode 4:
Transforming an Inside Sales Team

Picture this: You’re new to a sales organization and have been hired to transform it. The reasons for this needed transformation can be many, one of the most common being that the market has changed, forcing the business strategy to also change.

How do you start organizing your new team to meet this transformation?

In this episode of “True Confessions of a Sales Leader” we discuss ways sales leaders can transform their inside sales organizations.

John Belle, global head of inside sales at PayPal joins Scott Olsen, founder of the Olsen Group and Gary Brashear, managing partner of the Olsen Group, as they discuss the path to take.

Here are three key takeaways if you prefer reading:

Get aligned early
A successful leader should always know what they’re walking into. Remember: There’s a reason you’ve been hired. However, before this can occur, you need to be aligned with the team or stakeholders, whether that’s marketing, finance, and certainly HR. Getting alignment at the executive level is crucial—long before you share your vision or transformation with your new team.

Be empathetic but also prepared
How do you prepare for team members worried about inevitable change? If you've aligned with the leadership team, and you have a clear definition of success, articulate it to your team in a simple but organized way by breaking your mission down in the first moments with them. Help them get their head around your vision and set the stage where key initiatives need to be taken. There are four focal areas to help explain your point of view and define what “good” looks like:

Business results. This is a given and will drive your team.
Operational excellence. Create results in a thoughtful way.
Employee engagement. Everyone needs to contribute and provide full engagement.
Customer and partner loyalty. All of this is moot if you don't build the systematic practices to ensure our partners and customers stay with you!

Transforming at scale
Once your mission and vision have been determined, how do you execute and support? Work with your front line sales team to build a coaching culture. Help them understand how to do that effectively. Assess the sales team, benchmark, then build on what’s working and work on areas where there can be improvement. Remember: It’s just not working on making a salesperson better, it's how you are affecting the quality and productivity of conversations with your customers.

Does your sales team need a deep transformation? The Olsen Group can help. Get in touch with us via email scott@olsengroup.net or phone 503-525-8866. Thanks for listening.

Episode 3:
The Power of Sales Mentorship

Have you ever had a sales mentor? Have you ever been a sales mentor? Looking for ways to integrate a mentorship program into your own sales organization but don't know how to start?

In this episode of “True Confessions of a Sales Leader” we discuss the power of mentorship in sales orgs and teams and how successful companies can use mentorship to ramp up sales, build confidence, and create success.

Scott Olsen, founder of the Olsen Group, Gary Brashear of the Olsen Group, and Konnor Martin, VP of Sales, rfpio, discuss the importance of mentorship but also share their own personal stories on how it has affected their careers.

Here are four key takeaways if you prefer reading:

Mentorship, defined
Mentorship is about imparting wisdom that comes with experience. It helps keep things running and fulfills a leadership and coaching capacity that one individual can’t do on their own. It’s also about sharing knowledge, wisdom and advice—a relationship that benefits both the mentor and mentee.

Get introspective
Ask yourself how mentors have helped you to get you to where you are. This can add clarity to the why and purpose of a program, based on its impact on you. Use that experience.

Exercise humility
Being a mentor is more than what you know and telling your mentee how to do it. Ask questions. Prod and probe. Try to understand where your mentee is at in their career. Mentorship involves heart, your mentee’s best interests, and encouragement from you. Put your ego aside.

Integrating a mentorship program into your organization
If you want to start integrating a mentorship program, establish clear expectations on what the boundaries and parameters are for mentors and mentees before getting team members involved. Start with coaching—it’s short term and simpler and may evolve into mentorship.

Need sales coaching or sales leadership consulting to get your organization on the path to a mentorship program? The Olsen Group can help. Get in touch with us via email scott@olsengroup.net or phone 503-525-8866. Thanks for listening.

Episode 2:
Navigating While Managing a Sale Team During COVID-19?

Navigating while managing a sales team during COVID-19?

You’ll want to listen to our new episode of “True Confessions of a Sales Leader,” The Olsen Group’s podcast where sales leaders share their secrets of success, insight, and guidance.

For this crucial episode, we interviewed our own Gary Brashear, Managing Partner, The Olsen Group, and Matt Greene, head of sales for Fetch (https://www.fetchpackage.com/), a company that offers direct-to-door package delivery for apartment and multi-family buildings. Gary and Matt share how they are coping with the disruption, how they are motivating their sales team, and what they see on the horizon.

Here are three key takeaways if you prefer reading:

Empathy is imperative
Practice empathy with your sales staff and share your concerns and your own fears with staff. Salespeople tend to be extroverted. They’re stuck at home, they’re not face-to-face with clients, sales are down. A status check can reveal who’s having a rough time or needs more guidance. It’s about more than the numbers right now.

Use past experiences
Is there a past experience that emulates what we’re going through now? It’s like a combination of 9/11, the 2008 recession, and the dot-com boom and bust all wrapped together. Take things day to day, try to navigate through information (or misinformation), and as a leader show up, represent, and listen to your team. If we learned anything from past experiences it’s that being transparent is key.

To pivot or not to pivot
“Pivot” is the word du jour for our current crisis. So do you stay the course or pivot? Ask questions of your team that may lead them to look at a challenge a different way. Talk to your customers and find out what has changed with them. As a sales leader it’s your job to serve customers, help them achieve their goals and if those goals have changed, (and they indeed have) you have to realign your strategy and goals for you—and for them.

Need sales coaching or sales leadership consulting during these uncertain times? The Olsen Group can help. Get in touch with us via email info@olsengroup.net or phone 503-525-8866. Thanks for listening.

Episode 1:
How to Coach Inexperienced Sales Managers

Let’s say you’ve hired a new sales team leader. They bring the chops, the energy, and the enthusiasm. But, what if they don’t have the experience your organization needs? They might be new to your organization, maybe they’ve recently been promoted or have moved over into that role from another one.

Our three experts— Scott Olsen, founder of the Olsen Group, Gary Brashear of the Olsen Group, and Tony Esposito, a chief revenue officer and VP of sales—offer crucial advice on how to coach, make the right decisions, and ensure your new sales manager is embedded into your organizations’ DNA.

Here are three key takeaways:

Your new front line leader needs to be more than a manager. They need to be a colleague to the sales team and understand the strengths and weaknesses of their team.
You need to develop a unique coaching plan for your new hire. Training is an investment in both time and money and you need to ensure they know how to perform without being micromanaged. You truly want them to be successful, not just force something on them.
Interviews are still important. They allow you to uncover what their prime motivation is of getting into sales management. (Hint: If it's not based on truly wanting to help others succeed it’s the wrong role for them.)

Need help developing a new sales leader? The Olsen Group can help. Get in touch with us via email info@olsengroup.net or phone 503-525-8866. Thanks for listening.