Welcome To Theinquisitor Podcast

David Allison and I discuss how values drive purchase behaviour and why understanding your prospects' values is a fast track to dramatically improving the efficacy and results from your marketing and sales activity.   A lively conversation teeming with pragmatic insights, fresh and better ways of understanding your customers, maximising the ROI from your data, your marketing and your sales efforts.    Contact David via linkedin.com/in/valuegraphicsfounder Website: valuegraphics.com  (Company Website) Twitter: valuegraphics_ -- Contact me on marcus@laughs-last.com. Leave an honest review at Apple Podcasts please. And tag your head of marketing so they listen to this episode too.

Arjuna Ishaya is a former extreme sports coach turned Buddhist monk. We discuss balance, mindfulness, breathing, meditation, success and satisfaction. An hour packed with uncommon sense, laughs and ways to clarify your thinking, find your purpose and build the life you want. Contact Arjuna via linkedin.com/in/arjuna-ishaya-a0831056 Websites arjunaishaya.com  (Personal Website) instagram.com/arjunaishaya/  (Instagram) business.facebook.com/MrArjunaIshaya  (Facebook) Twitter: arjunaishaya -- Contact me on marcus@laughs-last.com -- Is there someone you'd like me to interview for #TheInquisitorPodcast? Connect us via LinkedIn or email and I will do my best to get them on the show

"Sales is simple" says Ben Hulme. "I don't know why people are making it so complicated". And I believe he's right. Have a listen to a dozen practical ways you can reduce your workload whilst improving your performance.   Contact Ben via linkedin.com/in/benphulme   Website: hulmeredwood.co.uk  (Company Website) Twitter: hulmeredwood -- Contact me via marcus@laughs-last.com    

Marcus Kirsch has written a hidden gem of a book

Isn't that everyone's job?

"We don't see things as they are; we see them as we are" - Anaïs Nin "On average across your workforce, your average employee spend 2.5 hours a day in drama". Cy Wakeman is a drama researcher. You know, mountains out of molehills, judgement, prejudices, catastrophising; the kind of shit we create for ourselves. It happens in families, organisations and companies. Then we filter the world through that haze of bile, imagined sleights, misinterpretation and of course our old friends judgement and attachment. Cy and I get deep and dirty on the detritus of our minds and explore ways to respond more effectively, cut away the emotional fog and get to the Truth. Buckle up! @Tag a friend Contact Cy via linkedin.com/in/cywakeman Website: realitybasedleadership.com   Phone: +1(402) 763-8960 Twitter: CyWakeman -- Piracy – especially in the 1600s – was an explosive response to conflicts in trade and the greed of behemoth institutions, governments, and nations. Today in sales I see something very similar. The massive o

Calling All Managers! You are crucial to driving recovery when only 9% of UK employees are actively engaged in their role. Only 14% of European employees are actively engaged in their work. 44% of employees in western companies are actively participating in the great resignation, moving to pastures new and leaving behind a loss of knowledge deficit. There are 2.4m accidental managers in the UK. Mostly, you're overstretched, undertrained and often in a precarious position; burnout is common, set up to fail against impossible odds and a culture that undermines your sincere efforts to help other and make progress yourself. Long days, evenings and weekends. Frequently undertrained, under pressure to commit to a number, short of a miracle and burning through all your close personal connections, you have little hope of hitting, let alone repeating. Apparently only 3% of sales teams world wide are tracking to hit quota this year, fewer than 25% of AE are achieving more than 85% of their personal quota. So those team

It was never Diane Halfman’s dad's plan for her to walk the streets and become a prostitute, let alone get involved with violent gangs and narcotics, but her life choices put her in grave circumstances. Danger became a way of life for Diane. As an undercover cop in San Diego PD her job was to infiltrate the gangs and prostitutes, bust the John’s, bring ’em down and clean up the streets. Diane explains the effects of fear, how to develop survival habits to respond intentionally in moments of pressure or stress. We discuss how to improve your decision making under pressure, where you find inner strength and flow states. Lively, engaging and challenging throughout. Contact Diane via linkedin.com/in/dianehalfman   Websites: MyLifestyleOrganizer.com   TheUltimateGameofLife.com   -- Contact me if you want to meet up or be a guest via DM or marcus@laughs-last.com  

Matthew Pohl explains what ReWilding is in business. His clients get extraordinary results. Learn why you're inadvertently letting entropy and inertia become dominant forces in your business. Contact Matthew via linkedin.com/in/matthewepohl Website: rewildgroup.com   -- Contact marcus@laughs-last.com to explore the power of #ManagementEnablement, #SellingHot and The #BlackPearl #StrategicAlliancesMastermind 

Another vanity experiment? Regular listener and commentator on #TheInquisitorPodcast John Robinson turns the tables on me and asks the burning questions that have been keeping him up at night. It was fun having the tables turned and John made me think. We cover a range of practical topics around sales, management, leadership and funding. I bring a locked and loaded shotgun and a very sturdy soap box to stand on. As I hope you'd expect, I do pull the trigger on both barrels. If you'd like to interview me on anything to do with the wicked problems in sales, selling, sales management, sales leadership, sales recruitment, the future of sales, collaboration, channel sales, pre-competitive alliances, channel partnerships and strategic alliances drop me an email on marcus@laughs-last.com Thanks John. Great job

Matt Neal and his team deliver better ways of doing business to their clients. Being at the forefront of change, innovation and disruption gives him a coalface perspective on why change and transformation succeed or fail. He shares practical tips and real world observations on what works in the real world, and what doesn't. Contact Matt via linkedin.com/in/mattneal10 Website: https://www.ciklum.com -- Contact me on marcus@laughs-last.com   

Imagine your organisation was committed to the success of employees, customers, community and owners. How good could that get? Kelly Stewart helps companies design and execute better strategy. She puts much of the cause behind 70% failure to execute down to lack of input from those who have to implement, and live with the consequences. Eye-opening, challenging, pragmatic, Kelly Stewart pokes and prods at our pink underbellies, our deep rooted fears with a featherlight touch and masterful questions. Grab a warm, comforting drink, a note pad and pen and explore the art of finding what other people really want so you can find the best path to what you share in common. Kelly's approach beautifully illustrates the power of #AppreciativeInquiry and #GenerativeQuestions. We dig into a diverse range of interdependent topics around creating collaborative work environments, built upon finding what we all have in common. It's more likely to deliver an outcome all can be happy with, with the minimum of compromise needed

Peter Simoons guides vendor organisations into partnerships, alliances and profitable collaborative engagements. We explore why you can get so much more accomplished through collaboration. Peter explains the importance of having an effective operating rhythm and regular cadence of communication when developing #ResellerChannels and #StrategicAlliances. We discuss the cadences that #ChannelManagers and #AllianceManagers need with the customer's decision making units and their executive sponsors. We explore why it's imperative to develop sales capabilities across both vendor and partner, and the vital importance of planning and strategising and adaptability. And we dig into elements of the #PartnerSafety model that lead to loyalty and trust Contact Peter via linkedin.com/in/petersimoons Websites petersimoons.com  (Company Website) petersimoons.com/virtual-coffee/  (Schedule an introduction call) alliancemasterclass.com  (Alliance Masterclass) Twitter: PeterSimoons Alliances Online Masterclass: https://ww

Matt McDarby's new book The Divine Comedy of Sales is his latest book for sales managers, building on the brilliant insights in The Cadence of Excellence and The Ultimate Differentiator. We explore the 7 deadly sins of sales management and establish the 7 divine virtues great sales managers and leaders bring to deliver their A-game. Pragmatic, built in the crucible of real world sales environments, Matt shares his observations, and hard won lessons based on serving hundreds of companies and thousands of managers responsible for $billions in annual revenues. Worth a couple of listens with a notepad. Contact Matt on linkedin.com/in/mattmcdarby Websites amazon.com/-/e/B08JKY3RF4  (Portfolio) mcdarby.net  (Personal Website)   Twitter: mmcdarby -- Contact me on marcus@laughs-last.com or DM on LinkedIn via https://www.linkedin.com/in/fractionalcrotechscaleups/  

Lee Nightingale has range. He's worked at the top of the funnel, direct sales, channel, management and leadership. Today he helps businesses implement CRM systems that deliver value to the entire business, and especially to help salespeople to help them sell more, more predictably.  CRM is more than merely about manging the relationship with the customer and it is not a tool for the audit or finance function. CRM is a central intelligence system for the entire business.  We explore several acts of management idiocy that sabotage salespeople, tying them up in destructive distractions that prevent them from being able to do their job excellently. If you are considering a CRM implementation listen to this episode. If you have a CRM system that is full of the usual shit (80%+ of data in most CRMs is wrong, worthless or incomplete), listen to this episode.  We shine a harsh and unforgiving spotlight on why as many as 88% of CRM implementations fail to deliver the intended outcomes and a failure to create alignment

Tibor Shanto discusses the importance of measuring what really matters and understanding the metrics that drive your personal and team's success. Ever the pragmatist, he differentiates clearly between leading and lagging indicators and sheds light on how you can deliver consistent, predictable outcomes by adopting a more scientific approach to the top of your pipeline. We explore why sales cycles drag on or fail to close, how management can contribute or hinder sales performance. Contact Tibor via linkedin.com/in/tibor-shanto-b2b-prospecting-specialist Websites tiborshanto.com  (Company Website) tibortshanto.com/blog  (Blog) youtube.com/sellbetter  (http://youtube.com/sellbetter) Twitter: TiborShanto Podcast: The Breakfast Podcast - TiborShanto.com https://www.tiborshanto.com › the-breakfast-podcast   -- Contact marcus@laughs-last.com  

"I don't teach my salespeople how to sell. I teach my salespeople how customers buy. If they're smart enough, they'll figure out the how to sell part for themselves" Jason Jordan is best known for writing CrackIng The Sales Management Code, but my favourite book of his is #SalesInsanity. We explore a range of sales and sales management insanities. We challenge the received wisdom that sellers exist to serve shareholder value. THAT IS A MASSIVE LIE. It poisons the sales culture and breaks the bond of trust necessary between seller and buyer. When does the hunter-farmer model work? What is the true purpose of sales management?  What are the metrics managers SHOULD be measuring? What's the difference between trying to manage the #pipeline vs the #forecast? What are the milestones that matter? Packed with practical, instantly applicable insights, this conversation is oozing with value. Take notes. Put the lessons into action immediately. Question everything you are doing as a manager. Contact Jason via linkedin.

#TheSalesHunter, Mark Hunter discusses the future of sales and selling with me. We explore prospecting mindset and behaviours, why management is pivotal and how it affects team and individual performance. “If I know I can help you, I have an obligation to reach out to you” Mark says, "When prospecting focus on outcomes not product or service." Otherwise you are just an unwelcome interruption and deliver no value. "Downloading a white paper is just activity, they aren’t customers or prospects." He explains why the disconnect between marketing and sales is a trap. And he urges management not to become a hostage to their tech stack. "Your brain is your greatest app. Stop being controlled by your tech. Have your tech work for you." A lively, practical conversation with one of the most respected action leaders in the sales world, Mark delivers great ROI for the time you invest listening (and making notes) to action immediately. WARNING: If you are listening to this episode with any sense of entitlement as a seller

I was blissfully unprepared for this conversation with author of #RadicalVale, Mark Boundy. You are in for a real treat Grab your pen and paper. You're going to want to make notes. If you're a regular listener (thank you so much BTW), you know cores theme are #customercentricity and #buyersafety.  No lip service in this episode. This is up to your neck in radical self-reflection and radical authenticity. 5-star episode Contact Mark via linkedin.com/in/markboundy Websites boundyconsulting.com/blog/  (My Blog) boundyconsulting.com  (boundyconsulting.com)   Twitter BoundyMark -- Drop me a line on Marcus@laughs-last.com -- And if you believe (as I do) that success in the future will be determined by your ability to collaborate, consider joining the #BlackPearl #StrategicAlliances #Mastermind group. Only 12 people per group. We go live 9th November 2021

There's no fluff with Belal Batrawy. Belal helps attract, build and grow highly effective SDR teams. We explore marketing, lead generation, sales, recruitment and hiring, management and leadership. We explore what works and what doesn't, and the attraction to the status quo. Belal is widely recognised as an #ActionLeader: - Top1 FM LinkedIn Sales Star - TAG Sales Leadership Honoree - Salesforce Top Sales Influencer - Slintel Top 15 Leaders to Follow - Salesloft REVstar Award Winner - Crunchbase 25 Leaders to Follow - Sweet Fish Media Top B2B Influencer - AngelList A-lister (Top 1% of Startup Talent) Contact Belal on https://www.linkedin.com/in/belbatrawy/ Website: https://deathtofluff.substack.com/p/coming-soon?showWelcome=true Definitely register for Belal's mailing list for tips & tools -- Contact me vi LI DM or email marcus@laughs-last.com