Randy Cantrell

Randy Cantrell is the founder of Bula Network, LLC - an executive leadership advisory company helping leaders leverage the power of others through peer advantage, online peer advisory groups. Interested in joining us? Visit ThePeerAdvantage.com

Episode 118 – Common Mistakes Of Virtual Selling

Podcast: Download The Audio | Non-Flash Playback

Skype, GoToMeeting, Apple FaceTime…there are so many ways for us to virtually connect with prospects!

Face-to-face selling for many organizations has given way to these methods. It’s convenient. It’s inexpensive. Prospects and salespeople both are actively gravitating to these methods to connect.

GoToMeeting is a terrific resource.

Some challenges confront us when we connect virtually. Facial expressions and body language give us cues in face-to-face meetings. In virtual meetings we have to listen for verbal cues. Misunderstanding and miscommunication are quite common even when the technology works as it should.

Recently I’ve encountered sales presentations that broke rules necessary to complete a sale. Our objective should always be to create a happy customer! How can we accomplish that if we can’t provide a degree of happiness during that crucial prospecting phase?

The cell phone - more often than not our weapon of choice.

A few days ago I read this article online at Inc. Author Geoffrey James writes about 10 common mistakes he thinks salespeople commit in face-to-face selling. It’s helpful to use his article as a template for discussing the common mistakes made during virtual selling, too.

Some salespeople lack proper communication training. If we’re going to become masterful at selling, we first need to be superior students of selling. The primary component of masterful selling is masterful communication.

Go back and check out these recent video shows on selling:

Build Rapport Before You Start Selling

Talk Less, Sell More

Salesmanship Starts With Finding Out How To Best Serve

Should You Use Humor In Selling?

Spread the word about the podcast if you know somebody who’d find it helpful.

And lastly, would you take a few minutes to leave me a review over at iTunes. That’ll help others find the podcast.

Thank you for listening,

 

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A Curable Blemish: Fix Those Small Problems Before They Fester

Warren Hellman, a San Franciso-based investment banker, passed away on December 18th, 2011. While reading about him recently I saw a quote published in the San Francisco Chronicle in 2005: “The companies we buy, for the most part, are large, profitable enterprises, though they may have a curable blemish.”

Does your enterprise – large or small – have a curable blemish? Maybe even more than one?

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I Don’t Mind The Bait, But I Hate The Switch (Sometimes)

I began selling hi-fi gear when I was a teenager in high school. The world was very different in the early 70’s. The Viet Nam war was winding down. Watergate was just around the corner. President Nixon wasn’t the only guy telling lies. Unethical marketers were spectacularly skilled at it.

I chuckle when I hear people talk about “way back in 2004.” 2004 seems like yesterday to an old dog like me.

Bait and switch was a big legal deal in the days of my youth. Maybe it still is, but I just sort of expect it anymore. I could be jaded after all these years. Ya think? 😀

Some retailers regularly practiced unethical marketing. Bait and switch. Fictional “regular” pricing. Fictional “sale” pricing. Advertising low end products they didn’t have in stock. But we’re way past all that now, right? Not on your life. Deception is alive and well – a craft destined to never die!

The Internet is a breeding ground bigger than any before for it. Daily we’re baited with headlines, sales copy, video titles, podcast titles, Tweets and so much more.

Today’s currency practically demands it because every content producer needs attention in order to continue creating content. What’s the point in blogging if nobody reads your blog? Ditto for videos or podcasts. People claim content is King, but it’s a lie. Attention is the King. Content might be the Queen. But sometimes the content is the Jester. And the joke is on us!

Watch today’s show and listen for the number one fear consumers have. As a blog reader, YouTube watcher, podcast listener or general Internet user – I guarantee you’ll be able to relate!

 

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Episode 117 – How Do You Want To Spend Your Days?

Download The Audio Or Non-Flash Playback

Her day wasn’t going so well. She was dangling her toes over the ledge, fully prepared to implode – or quit. Frustration boiled over from too many days of chaos. Constant interruptions. Distracted at every turn from doing the work that needed to be done. She’d had enough.

And I asked the question…stopping her dead in her tracks.

He sat across from me lamenting ongoing employee problems. They simply don’t do what he needs. They’re busy solving problems that don’t exist while real problems crop up constantly…without being properly tended to.

And I asked the question…once again, the crickets started chirping.

“How do you want to spend your days?”

We often aim at the outcome we think we’d like, but we don’t often enough consider the daily actions required to achieve that outcome. Thoughtful consideration about how we’d like to spend our time – with an emphasis on our professional/business life – is in order. As with most of life’s important questions, asking is easier than answering.

I want to encourage us to spend time answering the questions. It can help us move forward, even if only by inches. Some days we need to be thankful for inches of progress. But some days, we’ll be able to advance miles. We want opportunities. We want progress. We want improvement. Advancement.

We’re going to fail. Maybe often. So what? Keep swimming. Seth Godin calls it “the dip.”

Everybody experiences a dip. Many of us experience quite a few of them. Keep swimming. Figure out how you want to spend your days.

It only happens when we’re intentional, strategic and methodical. Well, at least part of our time needs to be characterized by those things.

Mentioned in today’s show:

Jeff Dunham: The Birth of a Dummy (a Biography channel show)

• Jeff Dunham finally got on Comedy Central, but only after he went out on a big limb.

Net News Wire (a terrific RSS reader that integrates with Google Reader)

Leave me a comment. I’d love to hear what you think.

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How Do You Know When To Quit?

Ah, the questions of life. How can I get started? Is now a good time to start? How can I know I’m going in the right direction? What’s my best option? So many questions.

Quitting isn’t among the most popular topics to consider. Nobody likes a quitter, we tell our children. Fact is, people quit all the time. Winners quit regularly. It seems contradictory.

Mentioned in today’s show:

David Siteman Garland runs The Rise To The Top. He interviews people.
Andrew Warner runs Mixergy. He interviews people, too.
Jaime Tardy runs The Eventual Millionaire. And she interviews people.
• Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams (the YouTube video; if you’ve never seen it – do it now)

No, I’m not quitting. At least not today!

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