Welcome To Theinquisitor Podcast

"I've never listened my way out of a sale. I've talked my way out of plenty", I explained to #IanMarsh. Ian teaches people how to listen. I mean, really listen. Not wait for gap in the conversation so you can fill it with the sound of your own voice kind of listening (you know, the way you do it now), but the kind of listening that allows you to make others feel felt, feel heard, feel understood. Personally, I believe listening should be part of every school's core curriculum. Listening is a whole body experience. You listen with your ears, your eyes, your heart and your gut. Listening is about picking up as much on what is not being said, as what is - non-verbals, silences, pauses, emphasis, hesitation, language structures, pace, volume, and what is missing. Listening requires patience, compassion, care. Listening requires self-awareness, stillness and curiosity. It's not a race to be heard. it's a journey to understand, another person, fully - their fears and hopes, desires and ambitions, limitations and fl

Keenan, author of #Gapselling and CEO of #ASalesGuy discuss what is Gap Selling, why salespeople fall short and disappoint themselves, their companies and their prospects by being too transactional, talking too much and not listening enough. Weak questions, poorly planned, poorly executed leave buyers cold. Keenan describes how to find the gap between a prospect’s pain and their desired outcome. We explore whether story telling has a part to play in the sale or if it is the seller’s job to coax the buyers’s story from them.   In a robust, no punches pulled interview we explore what managers and leaders are doing to perpetuate the worst behaviours in salespeople and why it is essential for salespeople to up their own game.   Keenan is A Sales Guy Inc’s CEO/President and Chief Antagonist. He’s been selling something to someone for his entire life. He’s been teaching and coaching almost as long. With over 20 years of sales experience, which he’ll tell you he doesn’t give a shit about, Keenan has been influencing

A roundtable conversation with Paul Alexandrou, Martin Lucas and Alex Moscow about how you earn the right and win permission to engage with your customers to land and expand your relationship.  Challenging the myths and misconceptions of human engagement that are losing you sales and wasting your time, money and resources in ineffective marketing   Contact Alex, Paul and Martin via LinkedIn: Alex Moscow, 9mm PR: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexmoscow/ Paul Alexandrou, Modern Equivalent: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulalexandrou/ Martin Lucas, Gap In The Matrix: https://www.linkedin.com/in/behavioral-sciences/   -- Book a 1 to 1 call with me on Zoom at https://calendly.com/marcuscauchi/linkedin-discovery-call   Subscribe to my newsletter, #TheGrumbler here: http://eepurl.com/gu2Yd1   #TheInquisitorPodcast Podbean: marcuscauchi.podbean.com Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/show/7C3pmVfHbwu84oZCqUQq81 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/welcome-to-theinquisitor-podcast/id1341867086   The #ScaleupsAndH

#JaneGunn is a corporate mediator who has been helping people resolve their differences for the past 37 years. As a lawyer she saw the damage of adopting an adversarial approach and has spent the past 20 years helping find common ground between parties in dispute In this conversation we explore how conflict can be a powerful catalyst and how the skills of mediation can be applied in your business Jane is currently the Chair of the Board of Management of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a past President of the Professional Speaking Association Contact Jane linkedin.com/in/collaborativeculturespeaker Website: janegunn.co.uk  (Personal Website)Twitter: JaneGunn   -- If you want to get a bit of an arse kicking and jump on a 1 to 1 with me you can do that via https://calendly.com/marcuscauchi/linkedin-discovery-call Subscribe to my newsletter, #TheGrumbler here: http://eepurl.com/gu2Yd1 #TheInquisitorPodcast Podbean: marcuscauchi.podbean.com Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/show/7C3pmVfHbwu84oZCqUQq81 Appl

"Carl von Clauswicz used to hire Prussian officers for intelligence and laziness. You should hire salespeople for the same reasons. Minimum effort and minimum loss of life" - Marcus Cauchi #MikeSimmons believes sales is a thinking process. You need to apply your mind if you are to compete in today's fast moving marketplace, where your buyers have the sum total of all human knowledge available to them at the click of a mouse and a few keystrokes. We discuss what top sales producers do that average and weak performers fail to do. We explore what management needs to do to help get the best out of their salespeople and why you need to stop thinking of sales as a dark art and treat it more like the science it is. Consider these questions: When was the last time you hear a genuinely original objection? When was the last time a prospect came you with a truly unique problem? When was the last time you had to face a greater competitor than the status quo? Odds are, your answers were either never or a very long time ag

#SteveHall helps salespeople perform at their peak when selling to the C-suite. We both started selling when Moses was in short trousers and have been involved in helping our clients sell $billions of new and expansion business. We vent our spleens as we lament the lack of preparedness so many salespeople think is acceptable. We bemoan that half arsed or non-existent research, piss poor planning and failure to rehearse that seems all to common in many sales organsations today. There is no excuse for behaving in such a slapdash manner, so many managers tolerate or enable such behaviour by focusing on stuff that really doesn't matter. Consider for a moment how much a CEO or CFOs time is worth. They are responsible for $hundreds or $billions each year. That means their time is worth between $50,000-$500,000 PER HOUR. How dare you allow your salespeople to turn up ill equipped and half cooked? Steve can be contacted on linkedin.com/in/stevehallsydney Website: executivesalescoaching.com.au  (Company Website)Twitte

#MartinStevens, founder of the #PipelineDoctors, is a grizzled old veteran salesman with nearly 3 decades of telephone prospecting experience under his ample belt. We explore why the phone is still relevant, and often the fastest way into the hearts and minds of your prospect. We discuss mindset, skillset, intent, tactics and techniques that work in the current environment. Martin makes his living prospecting by phone for himself and his clients, securing meetings with executives, founders, owners and CEOs. He builds sales pipeline in recession, despite all the hype you hear that the phone is no longer relevant. We explore how you can optimise your telephone effectiveness and deliver value on your cold calls. Funny, uncompromising and forthright, Martin, a whingeing Pom based in Oz, lifts the lid on the myths and best practices to be an effective telephone warrior. You can contact Martin via LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/martin-stevens Website: pipelinedoctors.com  (Company Website) Twitter: martinedward1  Book

"Imagine 3 impossible things before breakfast", says #RobTurley, cofounder of #WhiteRabbitIntel. His mission is to democratise Ai and put the technology in the hands of salespeople even in SMEs.  We discuss what is and what isn't Ai and why most of the stuff on the market is not Ai. He explains how marketing departments can stop blanket broadcasting with irrelevant, contextually inappropriate, interruptive marketing and replace that with marketing that offers pinpoint accuracy. We discuss how salespeople can save time and wasted effort by using Ai to pull together razor sharp prospect lists comprised of only suitable people for you to sell to, based on your psychographics, behavioural analytics and fit within your ideal customer profile. We explore the future of Ai, it's application in hiring, team building, team selling and channel development. You can contact Rob via LinkedIn on linkedin.com/in/robert-turley Website: whiterabbitintel.com  (Company Website)Twitter: WhiteRabbitIntl   -- If you are growing you

#AmyBrown, founder and CEO of #AuthentiCx is a pioneer in the field of bidirectional conversational AI to improve: #CustomerExperience #CX #Sales #Marketing #MarketingStrategy She help US Healthcare companies to understand what their customers truly want and need. She explains why #customersalisfactionsurveys and #netpromoterscores #NPS are fundamentally flawed and inaccurate. She identifies where to look for clues as to why otherwise loyal customers are prevented from buying from their providers, how call centres contain a rich, mostly untapped diamond mine of information and why executives are volitionally deaf if they aren't utilising this unfiltered, unbiased resource of rich customer insights. A fascinating exploration into the power of AI if used well and the value of all the #smalldata that you already own Amy can be contacted on linkedin.com/in/amy-brown-84821210 Website: https://beauthenticx.com/   -- Book a 1 to 1 call with me on Zoom at https://calendly.com/marcuscauchi/linkedin-discovery-call  

"A map tells you where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’re going — in a sense it’s three tenses in one.” - Peter Greenaway #AnthonyWilloughby is an adventurer. For the past 40 years he has been learning from indigenous people in Kenya, Mongolia and Papua New Guinea and applying those lessons in some of the world's most successful companies to build powerful teams, increase the success of sales and marketing operations and improve the clarity of senior executives to deliver a cohesive, unifying vision across their entire company. Reluctantly educated at Harrow, Anthony scraped through until eventually escaping his self confessed "massive arrogance, minimum substance & effortless insincerity" instilled by privilege and entitlement of his education, being humbled and schooled by people with a rich tradition stretching back thousands of years. Funny, poignant and eye opening, this interview is a must listen. Contact Anthony via LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/anthony-willoughby-a2757511 Email: anthony@noma

"Most salespeople aren't willing to make any changes at all because they are entirely self-serving", says #ChrisOrtolano, and I agree. Service is understanding both sides of an opinion to be able to reconcile both sides of an issue. You must be able to have a productive disagreement. Sadly, too many salespeople see the customer as their adversary and when things go wrong, they blame the customer. Understanding who you are talking to creates an opening for them to want to understand you. A powerful opener for understanding is telling 2-way stories which inspire the other person to tell their story too. Setting the stage and understanding the back story is critical. 3 critical skills you have to develop to be effective in sales are: Learn to Facilitate Learn to Collaborate Learn how to Disagree Abdicating the solving of our problems to technology has amplified our problems by masking them and letting them persist. So often, such decisions are made because no one unmasks the real problem at its cause. In this l

#RinkuBanger is a new business founder. We discuss the journey from his early years, how he was forged into a top sales perfomer, the ups and downs, the good and the bad, and the hard lessons he's having to learn as he establishes his new business as the owner. In a frank and vulnerable conversation we explore his early days in boiler room sales, what he\'s stopped doing, how he's recruiting and developing his team and the challenges he's still facing. When you get to my age it's easy yo forget just how tough it is for new salespeople to get started and make it. It's tempting to blame them for their behaviour and results but it is on us as experienced sales leaders to take responsibility for hiring well, understanding personal motivations of our people,  onboarding effectively, developing and growing talent to help them make progress and achieve their goals and ambitions. Far from creating a holiday camp, this is the hardest job of manager, hiring the best and getting the best out of them. There is nothing so

5 years ago Thycotic was an unknown start up. Today they are on the lips of virtually every Fortune 500 Boardroom conversation. #SilkeAhrens is their international #ChannelChief. She explains how they have built their international presence through a special forces unit of partners, not by being distracted into recruiting a land army of conscripts. Achieving an average of 60-70% quarter on quarter growth internationally takes meticulous planning coupled with a high degree of adaptability and flexibility, a huge tolerance for change and a genuine understanding of what partners really want. Silke Ahrens is the embodiment of the modern #channelsales leader who is committed to only authentic partnerships with the channel and their customers. Learn how she does it and the mistakes she's made along the way. Silke can be contacted on LinkedIn via linkedin.com/in/silke-ahrens-5845a58 -- Contact me for a confidential 1 to 1 over Zoom at https://calendly.com/marcuscauchi/discovery-call-15-mins?month=2020-08&back=1

"To be vulnerable is the be the most courageous", says #VictoriaBoxallHunt, Group Operations Director at the Private Equity group, MARCOL. We discuss work-life balance under lockdown and in the (post)Covid era. We explore why you must show up as the best version of yourself by having a healthy balance between work and home life, health, sleep, diet and family. We argue over when to raise price in the sale, we agree vehemently that there is a need to raise the game when it comes to investing in women and non-white run businesses. We explore how the best managers are finding ways to ensure individuals feel part of their company culture and have a voice under these new working conditions we are having to which we are having to adapt. A genuinely fascinating conversation with a powerful female leader who has risen to the top through merit and authenticity. You can contact Victoria via LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/victoria-boxall-hunt-897669120 - - Contact me for a confidential 1 to 1 over Zoom at https://calendly.com

"Direct sales leaders are passing on the same bad genes to the kids. Learn this one thing. The channel can open doors that you don't even have the keys to the house", says #RodJefferson. What most vendors do to decrease time to revenue, increase seller productivity, remove selling obstacles, and create customers for life is the antithesis of what is needed to achieve these goals. We explore the significant differences between enabling a direct sales force and enabling a #SalesChannel. It is not a matter of putting "Channel" in front of your sales training programme. Listening is the most important part of conversation and selling. When you're selling through and selling with partners, you must slow down, stop trying to be the smartest person in the room, demonstrate humility and recognise, as the vendor, youa re probably a bit player in the grand scheme of things that the partner and the customer are working towards. By bringing in the right partners, you will accelerate achievement of all your fundamental go

#SuhailKhan says that where marketing is asking for budget, they should also agree what they are going to deliver to the functions they support and then be held accountable every quarter or half year for their contribution to the results of sales, account management, customer success and renewals. What you measure happens, What you don't, doesn't. Measuring marketing on the number of leads with no measure of quality means marketing will deliver "X" number of leads but if they're crap, they are worse than worthless. Bad marketing sucks the profits of your business dry and is symptomatic of the disconnect between marketing and the rest of the sales organisation. Not only that, the lack of alignment means sales resources are distracted by pursuing non-opportunities, speaking to the wrong people, and leads to internal conflict and a blame culture. Without shared KPIs and common purpose sales and marketing will be at odds. Compensation that drives the wrong behaviours must be scrapped in favour of reward mechanis

How Do You Earn The Faith of Loyal Customers For Life? "In the absence of value we will discuss price ... discuss the value of the experience of working with us that you cannot get anywhere else ... stop giving discounts right away ... discounting is for you and your company it's not for the customer ... once it's out there, you can't take it back"says #RoderickJefferson. Scared money doesn't sell. Rod has run sales enablement at @Siebel, @NetworkAppliance, @BusinessObjects, @eBay, @HP, @PayPal, @Salesforce and @Marketo.  Sales Enablement 2.0 is about designing, building and deploying sales enablement differently to shift to how can we help our clients hold on to their clients, how do help increase profit, reduce cost, mitigate risk Sales enablement should be true partners who align, connect and collaborate across all the lines of business. Stop trying to shoehorn prospects into your sales process. Sales enablement's job is to make sure the right salespeople are having the right conversations with the right p

"If you live your life in balance sheet you are back to an account telling an entrepreneur telling them how to run their company". #CallumLaing lifts the lid on the broken and corrupt world of #venturecapital and #privateequity. PE/VC had their heyday 20 years ago when they were able to pay much less to buy companies, but their success back then has led to massive inflation. In order to make money today, they have to force their investments to strip out costs, go into massive debt and pursue insatiable growth and the expense of longevity. In this very frank interview we discuss toxic impact of the Silicon Valley boys club. We explore the damaging illusion that VC/PE are the smartest people in the room, the cartel like behaviour PE firms operate to give the illusion of success - in 2019 over 30% of PE sales were to other PE companies.  "I need to give my investors their money back with a return so I sell you my company on the promise I will buy 2 of yours next year. That way I can show how clever I am when I p

"Engagement cannot be fixed; engagement is a symptom not a cause" says #MichaelPuck, Senior Partner HCM Advisory Group at #Kronos Companies that deliver exceptional employee experience have shown annual ROI on their share price of 42.33% per annum compared with the S&P 500 annualised ROI of 14.46% during the same period of 56 months over 2010-2016 2/3rds of the working population is disengaged or actively disengaged. The knock on effects of disengagement are poor customer service, low productivity, poor profitability but attempting to fix these problems or fix engagement inevitably fails to deliver the result. Michael has uncovered 30 factors that help you pinpoint the causes of disengagement. We discuss them in this episode. If you want to drive up profitability, efficiency, productivity and stop wasting time on change programmes that fail to deliver the intended results, stop the wrong type of talent turnover, listen and apply what you learn in this interview. If you question why this is important, the

#ScottLeese is a 6x Startup Sales Leader, 3x Top 25 AA-ISP Inside Sales Leader, 2x Founder, 1x Author and strategic advisor to many scale up business founders. Serious illness took away Scott's future, he became an opiate addict and when he recovered he was unqualified for anything but sales. It was tough, but he'd beaten death, so he wasn't going to let something trifling like the hardest, simple job in the world beat him. He had an epiphany by reflecting on his addiction which resulted in his philosophy and approach to selling. Scott has built 6 x $200,000,000 companies. SIX! From scratch. Listen to his approach to hiring and recruitment, management and training. It will blow your mind. Yes, it's a lot of work up front, but it SAVES time, builds individuals' to meet their potential, earns loyalty and delivers extreme results. Pay attention to what he measures. This interview is such a breath of fresh air. Scott hosts Thursday Night Sales to help ambitious salespeople develop themselves. https://thursdaynigh