Welcome To Theinquisitor Podcast

"In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of." Confucius If the short, medium and long term economic trends are to be believed, the USA's empire and economic hegemony are on the decline, whilst simultaneously China's stars are on the rise. That terrifies many in the West. But China needs strong global markets to continue its remarkable economic achievement. 60 years ago 96% of China was below the poverty line; today, fewer than 2% are below the poverty line. Whatever your views on their human rights and politics, there is no denying that is a breathtaking accomplishment. My feeling is we can fight the trend and lose a costly uphill battle. or we can accept the change and embrace the possibilities.  I'd love to hear what you think and how you see ways we can take advantage of this change rather than fearing it and letting it consume our time and energy in a lost cause. Contact Kathryn if you are planning to export to Easte

Red Stafstrom teaches introverts how to sell without compromising their core values or who they are. Introverts aren't naturally hardwired as transactional hunter types, but they can be massive billers and keep profitable customers for life.  We dig into how introverts and extroverts differs and what they have in common. Red compares how introverts feel when extroverts use leading questions with #kettling, the police tactic used to contain crowds. Often it is the introverts in those crowds who crack under the pressure and lose control. Under those conditions their lower brain function triggers freeze fright or flight, which explains why hard sell tactics so often shut buyers down. An intelligent and very instructive episode. Contact Red if you are an introvert and struggling to thrive in a world dominated by extroverts. LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/red-stafstrom-

"Before you consider using an outsourced agency like ours, have you exhausted all the free avenues available to reach your customers. If you haven't go away and try them first. We're expensive and you may not need us", says Zac Thompson, CEO of We Have A Meeting. Zac Thompson and Jack Frimston are cofounders of #WeHaveAMeeting. They are an old fashioned lead generation outsourcing agency on the surface, but dig a little deeper and they bring something fresh and dynamic to the party. "Simplicity is the key to brilliance", Zac continues, "And the fight is outside". He and Jack are building a supportive, highly competitive culture focused on creating an environment where their people want to come to work, give their best effort, and they can grow into their full potential. Contact Zac Thomson linkedin.com/in/zac-thompson-33a9a39b Twitter: ZacThompson12 Contact Jack Frimston: linkedin.com/in/jack-frimston-5010177b Website: https://www.wehaveameeting.com/ -- Contact me on marcus@laughs-last.com if you want to scal

Sunil Kumar is CEO of TrainYo. TrainYo takes non-SaaS salespeople from disadvantaged backgrounds or who people would probably never have the opportunity to break into tech sales (46 year old operations manager), they train them at TrainYo's expense. They charge a flat rate for placing these outliers SDRs. The business grew out of purpose, because Sunil and his partner were frustrated at talented people not being given a chance because they lacked experience. You can't easily train improved attitude, motivation and self concept. These people have it by the truckload. Their motivation is high, their drive unparalleled in the companies they find themselves. 7 months trading and 57 placements made with ... just 1 candidate who has not worked out. Their candidates often outperform seasoned, veteran SDRs. Why? Listen and find out. 1 clue - the C-word. Sunil can be contacted on linkedin.com/in/sunil-kumar-

"Are you considering the natural consequences for every responsibility on a job description?", asks Aaron Schmookler, #CultureEngineer and co-founder of #TheYesWorks. We dig into what it happen when you take your business to the point where your people are working together towards the shared outcomes. Aaron helps founders and CEOs turn dysfunctional companies into high functioning, intimate, high trust/low self-orientation teams committed to clear collective outcomes whilst getting their individual needs met. Contact Aaron on linkedin.com/in/schmookler Website: TheYesWorks.com  (Company Website)Phone: +1 253-301-8004 (Mobile) Email: aaron@theyesworks.com Twitter: TheYesWorks--Contact me on marcus@laughs-last.com and if you want to discuss your own or your team's development grab some time in my calendar for a call - https://calendly.com/marcuscauchi/let-s-explore-training-or-coaching 

Chris Prangley has risen through the ranks from a territory development rep (TDR/BDR/SDR) to Regional VP for Sales. His journey has exposed him to every stage of a fast growth business achieving pace and results, not without their challenges. Author of #TechSalesWarrior, he shares his experience rising through the ranks. We have a very candid conversation about the highs and lows of a modern sales career, the path into management and leadership, how you need to prepare your people for what is coming so they can thrive in a VUCA world. If his face is familiar, you may well wonder why? Go find out, making his story all the more remarkable. Contact Chris via linkedin.com/in/chrisprangley Website: https://www.varonis.com/ (Company) Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Chris-Prangley/e/B09S5K373D%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share -- To get me marcus@laughs-last.com. I'm hiring. 2 Enterprise sales execs. UK, hybrid working, reporting to me, poor people. Or DM me on LinkedIn

Amelia Taylor is one of the new generation of fast, paced, bright, ambitious sales leaders of the future. By day she sells RevOps-as-a-Service, and by night she helps other salespeople who are struggling to find their rhythm in sales. We discuss why cooperation is an undervalued and mostly untapped resource that salespeople fail to tap into at their personal cost. Humanity's superpower as a species is cooperating to solve problems by putting lots of our big brains together to understand the problem deeply, work out an elegant, sustainable solution and communicate what we learned to others so they can build on what we have already created whilst continuously working towards a better future. We also discuss what happens when management and sales take the opposite approach. Contact Amelia via linkedin.com/in/amelia-taylor1 Website: https://carabinergroup.com/services -- Book time to talk about training or coaching you and your teams - https://calendly.com/marcuscauchi/let-s-explore-training-or-coaching  

Alex McNaughten and his partner Scott Freeman founded #Apprento.io to help salespeople enter the #SalesProfession, get trained well, and placed in good companies with good bosses. Alex and I explore a range of topics from good and bad management, technology, culture, better questioning to developing your people. Alex's approach is refreshing, inclusive and highly effective because people get to think, grow, be highly engaged. Make sure you follow Alex on LinkedIn. His content is great. Contact Alex via linkedin.com/in/alexmcnaughten Websites: salesleaders.tech  (Company Website) apprento.io  (Company Website) Phone: +6421955570 (Mobile) -- Contact me on marcus@laughs-last.com

"Maybe 3% of your market is in the market to buy what you have to offer today. There's 40% that have problems you can fix that have no idea you exist or that they have the problems you fix. Your job is to get to speak to them" Pat Joyce is back. We unpick how he penetrates accounts and builds big pipeline, fast. It's messy and requires you to put in a LOT of HARD WORK. And it pays massive dividends. And it's predictable and reliable. Pat has repeated his success multiple times applying what we discuss in this episode. Oh, and what he does is ugly too. If you like pretty, formal, perfect, this is scrappy, short, has typos, and more importantly, it works. If you are OK with response rates below 12% off your marketing campaigns, carry on doing what you are doing. If you want to deliver results, listen with a notepad and pen. After all, the outcomes we're after are additional sales revenue growth and a fat, overstocked pipeline brimming with prospects in our ideal persona who are receptive to a conversation with

Simon Severino talks to me about building velocity and resilience  to thrive in times of high inflation and high uncertainty. Simon says "Never correlate goals with metrics and incentives". He is a design thinker applying the scientific method to his business, his systems and sprints. Simon shares how he's mitigating his exposure and maximising his potential upside in his personal investment portfolio. We dig into how he's refocusing his costs in preparation for what's to come. We are in for a tough ride. We are also being presented with a number of rare or unique opportunities as we come out of Covid and head into what looks like a very deep recession. Digitisation has been advanced 10 years in the first year of lockdown.  Simon is a master of cooperation and collaboration through strategic alliances allowing him immense reach and revenues for a tiny core operational team. Contact Simon on linkedin.com/in/simonseverino Website: strategysprints.com  (Company Website) Twitter: simonseverino -- Contact me on ma

"You must go looking for bad news. That's how you eliminate surprises." Steve Barnhurst is Enterprise Sales Director at Ebsta. "My job has always been to create the conditions where other people can be successful." Steve brings his wide range of experience as a sales leader through start ups to major PE backed corporates to bear as we explore why tracking engagement is such a critical indicator or deal and pipeline health. "More time, more fun, enjoy work more, get more done, do better work. We're trying to maximise collaboration. We must get rid of the Lone Wolf syndrome in sales. Enterprise sales are won by teams not individuals. Lack of predictability and consistency leads to a loss of trust. You know something is awry when your salespeople are having to sell their deals as hard internally as they are to their prospects." How many management blindspots come from salespeople seeing through rose tinted spectacles? (or plain lying to cover their backs - my words ) Uncertainty in the pipeline leads to an erosi

Eric Steeves is someone who has really impressed me. In the past 2 weeks he has opened my eyes to the future of #SalesManagement and #RevenueOperations. His approach is one I find deeply refreshing. Listen and you'll understand why. He is measured, humble and committed to helping others succeed. Hear how differently he approaches sales, how he involves others, his diagnosis of the true problems his customers need to addess. Listen to his approach towards competition, cooperation and partnering. Eric is a deep thinker who spends time patiently understanding the problem and the intended outcome to create elegant solutions that deliver the intended result, are widely adopted with minimal friction, and sustain the ravages of time and use. And if you ever wondered how to create a fair compensation plan that rewards all those who contributed to the successful execution of the sale all the way through to the customer reporting they have accomplished their intended outcome, bring a pen and notepad. We may just have c

Johan Taft is half Swedish-English-Belgian. He left school at 16, and after a couple of years in the navy, he left and worked his way up the fast food industry. At the age of 19 was managing the world's busiest restaurant. In this high pressure, fast, paced environment he developed his management approach. Deeply spiritual and a martial artist, Johan's thinking is disciplined, humane and is focused on building people up, helping them meet their true potential. Contact Johan linkedin.com/in/magnifyyourgreatness Websites magnifyyourgreatness.com  (Company Website) sportingmindmastery.com/  (Company Website) -- Contact me on marcus@laughs-last.com -- Get in touch if you are looking want to talk about how sales is going to evolve in the future, you think you'd be a good guest or you've read a really good book you think our audience would like to learn about

Patrick Boucousis is a veteran salesman, sales manager and sales leader. He's been in the trenches and managed from the front. And he has led from behind creating the conditions for many moving parts to work in unison, and many people to thrive, grow and do their best work towards common purpose. We explore his mistakes and lessons learned selling locally, nationally and internationally from selling farm equipment to farmers through to complex strategic investments by global multinationals. And we dig into the importance of building a well developed, emotionally evolved management layer operating an inquiry led management style. This is a robust and frank discussion that points to so many of the most common blindspots and frequently unasked questions that are holding back the vast majority of salespeople from meeting their full potential. Contact Pat via linkedin.com/in/value-selling-coach Websites salesroad.com  (SalesRoad B2B CRM) thesalesnatural.com  (Sales Training) -- Contact me on marcus@laughs-las

Rahul Chauhan says you have to, "Only 1 in 200 start ups become scale up. Start by defining your market fit. Who is the customer you are intending to serve? How do you know whether you have uncovered your true market fit? Do what you do better. Innovate with purpose" Rahul is Group MD at Foresight Digital, a digital consultancy for scale ups and challenger brands. He explains why you need to be thinking Now - New - Next Is your product fit for now? (70%) Is your product able to innovate with purpose? (20) Are you testing entirely new products? (10) Rahul warns, if you don't keep one eye on the horizon you quickly become irrelevant. He reminds founders on the need to keep their feet on the ground and remember the price of vanity and ego. Knowing what you shouldn't do is more than half the battle. What is your value exchange with your customer - 1. price, 2. social currency, education (smarter), 3. speed (core problem relates to lack of time), 4. Do you fit within an ecosystem or package (sticky, easy to conne

"Prospecting is an opportunity to have a profound engagement on both sides", says Denis Champagne, former multidisciplinary international sportsman, practicing Buddhist and founder of #LotusCommunications. Having made hundreds of thousands of #coldcalls, Denis is more qualified than most to talk on the subject. Prospecting by phone is alive and well. Companies buy sales training to improve results. Mostly, they're disappointed. The needle might jump for a couple of weeks and then almost everything reverts back to how it was before, almost as if the training never happened. Denis discusses his TEAMMS sales framework and the critical importance of #reinforcement, #PRACTICE and #COACHING. Kindred spirit, Denis is frustrated with the training industry for considering such an outcome as acceptable. He's been prospecting on behalf of clients on the phones since 2006. He works with individuals and teams in Spanish, French and English to help them become competent and consistent prospectors.  We dig into the psycholo

You are in for a treat. My guest is Majid Zafer. He's one of the next generation of business leaders that is ambitious, competitive and love to win but without the sting in the tail. Listen to how he has created an ecosystem of trusted partners which produces a steady flow of hot, inbound customers for his business and his partners' businesses. There is a healthy volume of reciprocation which means that a good proportion of everyone's business comes from within the ecosystem. This creates intimacy and high performance standards between partner; clients value the relationship for the steady stream of disruptive thinking, innovative ideas and insightful discussion. They feel safer having Majid on their buying journey than they do without him. And he is OK whether they buy from him or not. His philosophy is that his role is to help the customer reach the best decision for themselves, for now and the future, whether they buy from him or not. When you learn about the volume of sales generated you might start quest

Ian Meharg delivers impact by focusing on what is real and controllable. He challenges you to focus on the how you get things done. We dig into how buyers really buy, why buyers really buy, and why you're missing more than hitting your prospective customers' buying triggers. Are you exploring what happens if … It does/doesn’t go ahead? Who…? Can trip you up? Has another agenda? What kind of drama can you expect? How do you prevent it? Who can help you? Who will fan the flames? Who cares enough to put name to it and will make it happen? Where can you uncover untapped potential for your customers? So many excellent questions, make sure you bring a notepad and a pen. Listen more than once. A class act. Contact Ian via LinkedIn on linkedin.com/in/ian-meharg-5574631 -- Drop me a note. Say hi. If you want to improve your sales results predictably and with certainty, email marcus@laughs-last.com  

John Smibert, co-author of bestselling #TheWentworthProspect, silver medal winner at the #TopSalesAwards 2021, #TSA21, and more than 30 year veteran selling complex, high value, multi-decision maker, strategically important technology enterprise sales. He's seen and perpetrated the good, the bad and the ugly. We chart his journey, the impact having a coach and mentor early in his career has had on his personal performance and his approach to management. We offer insights into the causes of failure in enterprise selling and how to prevent them, work around them and eventually turn them into strengths. A frank, pragmatic approach to leading and building competent, reliable, consistent high performance enterprise sales teams. If you want a synopsis of The Wentworth Prospect by John Smibert, Wayne Moloney and Jeff Clulow, type "Synopsis" in the comments Contact John via linkedin.com/in/smibert Websites: salesleaderforums.com  (Company Website) edvance.com/the-book  (B2B Sales Novel) salesleaderforums.com/res

Nadja Komnenic head up sales for bootstrapped scale up, LEMlist. She is an elite sales leader who has helped LEMlist grow from $0 to $10m in ARR in 4 years. We discuss her approach to hiring, developing and listening to her people. She is competitive, driven, ambitious and truly collaborative. She discusses the importance of demonstrating vulnerability as a manager to encourage individuals in her team to have a voice, and reach their full potential. In a time when 15% of salespeople are reported to be hitting quota, Nadja's team are ALL achieving or exceeding quota consistently. Her people innovate once they have some basic skills. Her onboarding and training is practical, their process is developed through guided questioning, experimentation, intentionally allowing people to fail and learn. She ensures they have permission to speak freely, innovate, experiment because she recognises failure as her best teacher. She lets them fail in role in the moment, and is there to support them if they ask for help. She's