You might be looking for a yes every time you have a new prospect, but what if that’s the exact wrong approach? Instead of seeking out a yes, go for no. That’s the advice from Andrea Waltz, author of the book Go For No, and she’ll tell you how to fail your way to success.

You have to be more empathetic and have more emotional intelligence to do well in sales. But what does that mean, and what specifically should you do to increase your empathy? David Priemer, author of Sell the Way You Buy and owner of Cerebral Selling, knows a thing or two about emotional intelligence and empathy. In this episode, we’ll discuss why empathy is so important during the sale, and what you can do to increase yours.

Sales presentations are the culmination of weeks, months, or even years of work. Getting them right is critical. Brian Burkhart, CEO of Square Planet, has a method of sales presentations that’s a little unusual but uber effective. In this episode, you’ll learn his 8-step process to winning sales presentations.

How much marketing do you need to do in your outbound selling? The answer is more than none, but less than Coca-Cola. What’s in between? Learn the right balance between sales and marketing from Tony Lenhart, Sales Drummer at Sales Empowerment Group.

Would you show your cards to the dealer during a game of blackjack? That’s what Todd Caponi thinks you should do in your next sale, including your negotiation process. In this episode, you’ll learn why it’s best to expose your flaws openly, how it’ll help you build trust, and how to use radical transparency throughout the sale.

Value planning should be done every time you interact with your prospects. It’s the answer to the question: “what’s in it for my prospects to talk to me?” And Andy Paul, of the Sales Enablement podcast and RingDNA, knows a thing or two about value planning for better sales calls. In this episode, he talks about how to improve your value planning during the discovery process and beyond.

Should you be selling during the crisis? If so, how? The answer to the first question is yes, and the answer to the second question is more complicated. The simple version starts with one word: segmentation. In this episode, Jake Dunlap talks about his approach to segmentation, the pieces you need in place to make it work, and areas where he’s seeing the most success with his own business and his clients’ businesses.

Hiring the right people is mission-critical for all companies, of all sizes, and in every stage. Get hiring right and you’ll people on board who can help you build something great, while the wrong people can sink the whole ship. Amy Volas has a lot to say about sales recruiting and sales hiring, and we talk about her approach to finding great salespeople and sales leaders. 

Being seen as an authority in your market can reverse the tables. Instead of you interrupting people with prospecting messages, they may actually start coming to you. Building authority is a long process, and one that’s definitely worth it. In this episode, you’ll learn the basics of building authority in your market.

Setting next steps is really the 80/20 of selling. To keep momentum in your deals, set next steps at the end of every meeting, every call, or any other interaction you have with prospects. In this episode, Mark Fershteyn, CEO of Recapped.io, talks about the process he uses to set next steps, and how you can start today.