Purpose-Driven Sales - A Sales Leadership Podcast
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Josh Sweeney and Taylor Barnes discuss the challenges of sales leadership while sharing ideas, solutions, and experiences.
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6 days ago
Episode 37: Sales Emails, Proposals & Generational Challenges
Choosing words that express the right tone and emotion with clarity and brevity is an important part of communicating with clients. In this episode we discuss important need to knows for your sales teams emails, sales proposals, and even touch on some of the generational changes that we've seen recently.
"Creat[e] mutual accountability for your customer. Your customer wants something from you. Well, that's a give. And you should create some sort of get [in return]." - Taylor Barnes
Jan 7, 2021
Episode 36: Carving Out Sales Territories and Niching Down
Organic growth can develop a need to revisit your organization's written territory plan. In this episode, we talk about tips to improve territory performance, discuss the methodologies used by different business types and sizes, and the importance of community effectiveness and niching down.
"Any time that marketing content is too broad, it speaks to nobody." - Josh Sweeney
Dec 31, 2020
Episode 35: Leading Through Uncertainty
This year has presented many challenges, both on an individual and professional level. For the sales leader, one of those challenges is leading through uncertainty, but the path isn't always clear. In this episode, we talk about the difficulties leaders face during disruptive times and discuss what you can do to inspire your sales reps to forge ahead despite the uncertainty, building a stronger, more reslient team in the process.
"If we focus on what's in our control, we can keep forging ahead." - Josh Sweeney
Dec 24, 2020
Episode 34: Maximizing Revenue per Sales Rep
Increasing the revenue your sales team generates is not about increasing the number of sales reps, but more about optimizing their effectiveness so that you can maximize the revenue per sales rep. In this episode, we challenge some of the entrenched methods of increasing revenue from your sales team and discuss ways you, the sales leader, can more effectively use the resources you have.
“People tend to equivocate working hard and working smart as the same thing.” - Taylor Barnes
Dec 17, 2020
Episode 33: Your Sales Pipeline: A Realistic View
Knowing where your prospects are in your sales pipeline gives you valuable insight as a sales leader, but that perspective is only as reliable as the data that goes into it. How do you ensure your sales reps are uniformly qualifying each stage of a prospect’s journey? In this episode, we dive into some of the reasons the view you have of your sales pipeline may not be as accurate as it should be, and talk about how to bring that view closer to reality so that you can make better decisions that set your team up for success.
“Unless we have the foresight to see things coming, we’re not going to be set up for success.” - Taylor Barnes
Dec 10, 2020
Episode 32: Understanding the Buyer’s Journey
Understanding the wants and needs of your prospects is a critical part of successful sales. If your sales reps don’t connect with a prospect’s pain points, and why your product or service addresses those issues, the likelihood of closing the deal drops significantly. In this episode, we discuss why ensuring that your sales reps understand the buyer’s journey is so important and share ways you can help your sales team have more effective conversations with your prospects that ultimately lead to more sales and happier customers.
“The salesperson is the guide. The buyer is the hero.” - Taylor Barnes
Dec 3, 2020
Episode 31: Meeting Discipline
Meetings are a necessary part of a smoothly functioning team, but they often fall short of being as effective as they could be. As a leader, the responsibility of ensuring your team’s meetings contribute to more than detract from productivity is on you. In this episode, we share some of the common reasons team meetings seem to fall by the wayside as well as provide ways to ensure your meetings remain an efficient part of your organization’s sales efforts.
“Discipline is about accountability.” - Taylor Barnes
Nov 19, 2020
Episode 30: Helicopter Parent Sales Manager
You want your clients and prospects to have the best experience possible, but requiring your sales reps to clear everything through you before delivering creates a bottleneck that stunts growth, both for your organization and for your sales reps. While sales leaders need to serve as a guide for their sales teams and use their experience and knowledge to direct the team’s efforts effectively, the question is, how much involvement is too much? In this episode, we discuss some of the common micromanagement pitfalls that many leaders encounter and share a few remedies that will help you, the sales leader, strike a balance between ensuring the quality of your clients’ experience with your company and giving your team the experience they need to become independent and successful.
“It doesn’t scale to be involved in every little step.” - Taylor Barnes
Nov 12, 2020
Episode 29: Changing Sales Territories
As your business expands, you will find yourself needing to establish relationships in new areas. As a sales leader, the responsibility of putting your sales team up to the task falls on you. What you decide to do, and how you decide to do it, will determine the degree of success, but what considerations should be taken into account? Do you move successful sales reps from an established region to a new one or hire for the new territory? How do you keep your team motivated through the change? In this episode we highlight the merits of different solutions we’ve implemented ourselves to better inform you, the sales leader, so that you may take the appropriate course of action for your organization and successfully launch your business into a new territory.
“Change is going to be inevitable.” - Taylor Barnes
Nov 5, 2020
Episode 28: Staying Mentally Tough in B2B Sales
A strong sales team stays focused through the highs and lows of sales, taking the lessons from missed opportunities and the energy from closed deals to continually improve. A grounded, resilient mental attitude doesn’t just happen, however. It is a result of guidance from purposeful and attentive leadership. The feedback you give your sales team is an integral part of cultivating a strong mindset, and is just as important during the successes as it is with the shortcomings. In this episode, we share our thoughts on the role of the sales leader in growing a mentally tough sales team and invite our listeners to ask themselves, how do you as a leader ensure that your team is staying mentally tough through the highs and lows of sales?
"We always stay humble, and we always stay hungry!" - Taylor Barnes
Oct 29, 2020
Episode 27: Welcome to Purpose Driven Sales
Throughout our Sales Leadership podcast series, we strived to bring helpful, insightful information to sales leaders in founder-led organizations. In each episode, we addressed a specific topic that can and does cause issues for sales growth and provided solutions to help overcome those challenges. This episode marks our official transition to our Purpose Driven Sales podcast, in which we will shift the structure of these podcasts to a challenge-solution format. In the coming episodes we will be highlighting common challenges sales leaders face, and provide the solutions that have helped us and other sales leaders break through those barriers. Tune in to the new Purpose Driven Sales podcast as we share these crucial lessons that will fast track your sales and grow your business.
“If you’re not pivoting in some form or fashion you’re going to get left in the dust.” – Taylor Barnes
Oct 22, 2020
Episode 26: Make Your Prospects Feel The Group Hug
It’s important that your clients feel the depth of the subject matter expertise that your organization has. In this episode, we discuss the different stages of the sales cycle and best practice on how and when to introduce key players on your team to a prospect.
“As you get further along, the importance of leaving the client with the impression that it’s more than a one-man shop is absolutely huge!” - Taylor Barnes
Oct 15, 2020
Episode 25: A Passion for Selling
The energy you bring to a conversation has a substantial impact on how your message is received. In your relationships with your prospects, the passion you have (or lack thereof) for how your service or product can benefit your customers will come across in your communications, directly affecting how your prospect feels about what you’re selling. In this episode, we share some tips to help you and your sales team bring a consistently high level of energy and enthusiasm to every sales conversation, making you more memorable and increasing the likelihood of closing the deal.
“You’ve gotta have passion when you sell.” - Taylor Barnes
Oct 8, 2020
Episode 24: Prospect Data and Success
Ensuring your sales reps have the best chance of success starts with how you source your prospects. The time you invest in sourcing and preparing a quality prospect list on the front end pays dividends in the time your sales team puts into their communications. This episode focuses on the nuances of how to source a quality list of prospects and the pitfalls you may encounter so that you, as a sales leader, may better prepare your sales team for success.
“When you personalize, your response rates are going to go up.” - Josh Sweeney
Oct 1, 2020
Episode 23: Asking for the Sale
For a sales team, the goal in communicating with a prospect is the sale. Though it sounds trivial, there is an art to closing the deal. When is the appropriate time in the deal lifecycle to ask for the sale? How should you adjust your approach to the decision maker’s personality? In this episode, we discuss the lessons learned in our cumulative experience that you and your sales team can adapt to your communication strategies and close more deals.
“Your job is getting the prospect to put pen to paper.” - Taylor Barnes
Sep 24, 2020
Episode 22: Balancing Lead Volume and Quality
For founders, bringing in leads is paramount. As an organization grows, however, determining whether or not you will continue to drive for high volume or start to focus on higher quality leads is a decision that warrants careful consideration. What route is the best fit for your organization?
Find out in this episode as we talk through the pros and cons of each approach, real world examples of how different organizations have handled their leads, and pose questions for you to help discover which path best suits your team.
“Think about where you want to go based on where you are now, and how you can overcome those challenges.” - Josh Sweeney
Sep 17, 2020
Episode 21: Discovering the Prospect’s Budget
Ultimately, to close a deal, a prospect needs to be able to afford your product or service, but, when is it appropriate to have the budget conversation with your prospect? How do you go about discovering whether a prospect is a good fit for your organization? In this episode we discuss the finer details and considerations of how to handle the budget conversation with prospects that you, as a sales leader, can bring to your team to more effectively qualify leads.
“You have to establish budgets on the front end as soon as possible, without scaring the prospect away.” - Taylor Barnes
Sep 10, 2020
Episode 20: Setting Client Expectations
In communications with clients and prospects, setting appropriate expectations and delivering on your promises are key behaviors that contribute to strong, positive relationships. Join Taylor Barnes and I as we discuss how to handle setting expectations with your clients, reigning in the desire to say yes to everything, and the value implementing these strategies will bring to your organization.
“Channel your internal project manager when you’re setting expectations.” - Taylor Barnes
Sep 3, 2020
Episode 19: How to Niche Down
In the business world, being the jack of all trades but master of none can be detrimental, especially for small businesses. In this episode, Taylor Barnes and I discuss how focusing on the things you’re great at, and having the discipline to say no to the things outside your wheelhouse, can return dividends in your ability to retain and acquire customers.
“You want to be great at a few things, that’s really what’s going to put you on the map.” - Taylor Barnes
Aug 27, 2020
Episode 18: The Lifecycle of a Sale
Closing a deal is the ultimate objective of a sale, but there are many stages that lead up to a successful outcome. How you handle your communication with your prospects is pivotal to converting more leads into satisfied customers. Join Taylor Barnes and I as we share our insight on how to successfully guide a prospect through your sales process and close more deals.
“Human beings have three basic wants: they want security, they want approval, and they want control.” - Taylor Barnes
Aug 20, 2020
Episode 17: Hiring Sales People
Building a high performing sales team starts with the recruitment process. In this episode, Taylor Barnes and I discuss the approaches we’ve developed, from our favorite questions to filtering techniques we’ve found to be most effective, over the course of our years in the industry.
“Too many people hire on skill but fire on culture.” - Josh Sweeney
Aug 13, 2020
Episode 16: Selling to the Ideal Customer
Narrowing the audience for your sales efforts may seem counterproductive, but there are many benefits to honing in on a profile for your ideal customer. Join Taylor Barnes and I as we delve into how to go about developing an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), and the advantages a focused sales effort can bring to your organization.
“If you have an ICP, you are leading the sales process.” - Josh Sweeney
Aug 6, 2020
Episode 15: Sales Outcome Ownership
Oftentimes, in the sales process, multiple people are involved in closing a deal. When things don’t go according to plan, it’s easier to relegate blame than acknowledge that you could have been more involved to ensure a positive outcome. In this episode, Taylor Barnes and I discuss the mindset of outcome ownership and the positive impacts it will have on your relationships with your team and with your customers.
“The more management responsibility you take on, the more ownership you should be taking as it relates to the outcome.” - Taylor Barnes
Jul 30, 2020
Episode 14: Metrics Driven Sales Culture
Measuring the pulse of your sales is key to tracking the health of your sales programs. In this episode, Taylor Barnes and I discuss how to simultaneously use metrics to motivate your sales team and, as a sales manager, make strategic decisions regarding the direction of your sales initiatives.
“A metrics driven sales culture gives you the ability to make much more impactful decisions.” - Taylor Barnes
Jul 24, 2020
Episode 13: Weekly One-on-One's
One-on-one’s have a reputation for being either highly beneficial or a distraction. Join Taylor Barnes and I as we discuss how to implement these crucial meetings so that they bring about the most benefit to your organization and foster a culture of continuous improvement.
“What gets measured gets done.” - Josh Sweeney
Jul 16, 2020
Episode 12: Taking the Friction Out of Sales
In the sales process, there are many potential sources of friction, things that increase the time it takes to close a deal and potentially result in lost opportunities. In this episode, Taylor Barnes and I discuss the friction points and pitfalls we’ve encountered in our careers and share solutions that help streamline the process.
“Make sure you know what you are great at and vet your opportunities and vet your customers accordingly.” - Taylor Barnes
Check out the sales comedy skit mentioned in the video here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg).
Check out Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You ! (https://www.amazon.com/Built-Sell-Creating-Business-Without/dp/1591845823)
Jul 9, 2020
Episode 11: The 5 Types of Sales Managers
Different teams benefit from different management styles. A key contributor to your sales performance is the interplay between your sales team and you or your sales manager. Learn about the strengths and weaknesses of the 5 types of sales managers to better understand yourself and how to maximize the performance of your team.
“Create a culture of continuous improvement.” - Taylor Barnes
Check out the resources mentioned in this episode here (https://founderscale.com/podcast/ep-11-the-5-types-of-sales-managers/).
Jul 2, 2020
Episode 10: Technology - What It Will and Won't Do for Your Organization
With a multitude of technology options out there, it can be a daunting task to decide on which platform is right for your business. In this episode Josh Sweeney and Taylor Barnes explore various types of technology platforms and how they can augment your business processes. Learn how to use technology to solve the right problems and where to start when deciding on which software to use.
"It's critical for organizations to nail down their processes prior to a technology going into place" - Taylor Barnes
Jun 25, 2020
Episode 9: Sales Enablement Documents that Streamline Your Sales Process
Join Taylor Barnes and I as we discuss the importance of developing your core sales enablement documents. We also share our Top 5 and the competitive advantage we’ve experienced by utilizing them that distinctly sets us apart from competitors.
"Take the friction out of sales." - Josh Sweeney
Jun 18, 2020
Episode 8: KPIs That Drive Results
Deciding on KPIs to track your company’s sales performance can be a daunting task. What are the right metrics to track? When and where is it appropriate to implement KPIs? Join Taylor and I as we discuss how to properly use KPIs to keep a finger on the pulse of your business’s sales activities.
Achieve KPI Mastery with this free Sales Machine plan downloadable here (http://founderscale.com/podcast/ep-8-kpis-that-drive-results/).
Jun 11, 2020
Episode 7: When Becoming a Sales Manager Is NOT the Goal
Join Taylor Barnes and I as we dive into game-changing strategies and people investments that have a huge morale impact. We discuss the benefits of a people-focused management approach and the substantial returns that are realized when connecting with your people on a personal level.
Josh Sweeney
Josh Sweeney is a seasoned entrepreneur, who’s relentless drive has given him the platform to build big ideas, and even bigger companies. One of his successes, Atcore Systems, was acquired in 2016 by a leading partner in the CRM industry. Experiencing the impact of various sales challenges over the years, Josh founded FounderScale. He has made it his mission to help founder-led organizations increase sales. Because of his passion for growth and forward-thinking, he donates his time to the Entrepreneur Organization of Atlanta, guiding and promoting other entrepreneurs through experience sharing and camaraderie. When he’s not driving his business or mingling with business leaders, you can f…
Jun 4, 2020
Episode 6: Are People Really Your Most Important Asset?
Join Taylor Barnes and I as we dive into game-changing strategies and people investments that have a huge morale impact. We discuss the benefits of a people-focused management approach and the substantial returns that are realized when connecting with your people on a personal level.
Josh Sweeney
Josh Sweeney is a seasoned entrepreneur, who’s relentless drive has given him the platform to build big ideas, and even bigger companies. One of his successes, Atcore Systems, was acquired in 2016 by a leading partner in the CRM industry. Experiencing the impact of various sales challenges over the years, Josh founded FounderScale. He has made it his mission to help founder-led organizations increase sales. Because of his passion for growth and forward-thinking, he donates his time to the Entrepreneur Organization of Atlanta, guiding and promoting other entrepreneurs through experience sharing and camaraderie. When he’s not driving his business or mingling with business leaders, you can f…
May 28, 2020
Episode 5: The Evolution of the Sales Role - Do You Have the Right Mix?
Josh Sweeney
Josh Sweeney is a seasoned entrepreneur, who’s relentless drive has given him the platform to build big ideas, and even bigger companies. One of his successes, Atcore Systems, was acquired in 2016 by a leading partner in the CRM industry. Experiencing the impact of various sales challenges over the years, Josh founded FounderScale. He has made it his mission to help founder-led organizations increase sales. Because of his passion for growth and forward-thinking, he donates his time to the Entrepreneur Organization of Atlanta, guiding and promoting other entrepreneurs through experience sharing and camaraderie. When he’s not driving his business or mingling with business leaders, you can find him spending time coaching youth sports and leading Scout trips with his two boys and spouse Crystal.
Taylor Barnes
Taylor Barnes is the Vice President of Global Business Development and a founding partner at CentricsIT. Barnes co-founded CentricsIT in 2007 and has since helped th…
May 21, 2020
Episode 4: Getting in the Trenches Makes the Difference
Join Taylor Barnes and I as we discuss the effect that upper management can have on sales culture and the importance of upper management being transparent and displaying a genuine interest in their team.
Josh Sweeney
Josh Sweeney is a seasoned entrepreneur, who’s relentless drive has given him the platform to build big ideas, and even bigger companies. One of his successes, Atcore Systems, was acquired in 2016 by a leading partner in the CRM industry. Experiencing the impact of various sales challenges over the years, Josh founded FounderScale. He has made it his mission to help founder-led organizations increase sales. Because of his passion for growth and forward-thinking, he donates his time to the Entrepreneur Organization of Atlanta, guiding and promoting other entrepreneurs through experience sharing and camaraderie. When he’s not driving his business or mingling with business leaders, you can find him spending time coaching youth sports and leading Scout trips with his two…
May 14, 2020
Episode 3: Motivating your Sales People
Join Taylor Barnes and I as we discuss the importance of knowing how to motivate salespeople and the benefits of leaning into the individual motivators of your salespeople from a personal and professional point of view. It's not always about the money!
By motivating your salespeople, beyond the day-to-day, beyond the nine to five, that's the way that you're going to move the needle. That's the way that you're going to get those big growth goals and that ROI that the shareholders are looking for. - Taylor Barnes
Josh Sweeney
Josh Sweeney is a seasoned entrepreneur, who’s relentless drive has given him the platform to build big ideas, and even bigger companies. One of his successes, Atcore Systems, was acquired in 2016 by a leading partner in the CRM industry. Experiencing the impact of various sales challenges over the years, Josh founded FounderScale. He has made it his mission to help founder-led organizations increase sales. Because of his passion for growth and forward-thinking…
May 7, 2020
Episode 2: Quota Carrying Sales Manager
Join Taylor Barnes and I as we discuss the issues that a business deals with by having a quota-carrying sales manager from both a financial and operational viewpoint. We understand these challenges and in this episode, we share with you the red flags to look out for and also provide some options that you can use.
Josh Sweeney
Josh Sweeney is a seasoned entrepreneur, who’s relentless drive has given him the platform to build big ideas, and even bigger companies. One of his successes, Atcore Systems, was acquired in 2016 by a leading partner in the CRM industry. Experiencing the impact of various sales challenges over the years, Josh founded FounderScale. He has made it his mission to help founder-led organizations increase sales. Because of his passion for growth and forward-thinking, he donates his time to the Entrepreneur Organization of Atlanta, guiding and promoting other entrepreneurs through experience sharing and camaraderie. When he’s not driving his business or mingling wi…
Apr 30, 2020
Episode 1: Mentally Debilitating Your Sales People
Taylor Barnes joins us for an in-depth look at what we can do as organizations to prevent demotivating our salespeople, creating structure while building our organizations and the importance of having the right people in the right positions.
“As leaders, we have the opportunity to get in front of these issues if we communicate the risks ahead of time.” -Taylor Barnes
Josh Sweeney
Josh Sweeney is a seasoned entrepreneur, who’s relentless drive has given him the platform to build big ideas, and even bigger companies. One of his successes, Atcore Systems, was acquired in 2016 by a leading partner in the CRM industry. Experiencing the impact of various sales challenges over the years, Josh founded FounderScale. He has made it his mission to help founder-led organizations increase sales. Because of his passion for growth and forward-thinking, he donates his time to the Entrepreneur Organization of Atlanta, guiding and promoting other entrepreneurs through experience sharing and camar…