Master Deal Maker Secrets

Relax…mate ! have a beer ! This week I had a fascinating interview with James Swanwick who is a give up drinking coach. In this fascinating conversation we cover… What alcohol really is Both James’s and my journey to giving up alcohol  How alcohol imbibes (sorry couldn’t help myself) itself into so many different cultures  The million dollar business case for giving up alcohol (this blew my mind) Even if you are not planning on giving up soon, I think you’ll get a lot out of this episode. Tune in here to find out what it is.

There’s no denying… Burnout in business is real  Recent data shows that 60% of people in business experience some sort of burnout at some point in their career. And guess what ?  It’s actually worse for sales people  why?  because we experience more rejection than other people in business. So how do we avoid it? Well I’m glad you asked because that’s what we are talking about in today's podcast - the 5 ways you can avoid burnout in your sales role. Tune in here to find out what it is.

Don’t make this deadly hiring mistake Ok, that sounded a bit dramatic. But I really can’t overstate how damaging hiring a salesperson without this one thing in place can be. I mean, you could get everything else right and have the other 4 hiring pillars I talk about in place (Selection - Induction - Training and Management Systems) but if you’re missing this - you are toast. Tune in here to find out what it is.

This week I outline the top 10 most watched and listened to podcasts for 2024. Of all the podcasts released this year, these were the most listened to. Counting down from 10 to 1. Listen in to get a brief summary of the best episodes. I have also listed the top 10 episode numbers below ranked from most popular down so you can check them out individually as well. Episodes:  202 Increase your sales results in just 2 weeks  197 Interview with master copywriter Scott Bywater  207 Top Mindset shifting books with Lloyd Thompson  211 3 ways to lift yourself out of a sales rut  212 How to get the best out of every sales opportunity  209 The two types of businesses that invest in sales training  199 How to put your sales results on steroids by reviewing sales call recordings  208 5 Top time management tips for maximising productivity  205 Top mistakes businesses make in sales meetings  200 3 big warning signs a new sales team member is not going to make it

I love this time of the year. I love the way it has a natural ebb to it and how each year I am drawn to literally pull my business apart and look at how I can add more value to clients this year. (more on this soon)  One of the things I am super focused on right now is the concept of strategy and strategic planning. In fact, I have 3 brand new clients who I am running strategic planning sessions within the next week to help them make 2025 their biggest year in business ever. That’s what makes this week’s podcast so timely. If you are doing some planning for 2025 you will love what we cover in this week’s episode. If you want some help with your own planning, click here - https://johnblake.wufoo.com/forms/s1e2bc6q1sw4zyn/ I am working on something that will be incredibly helpful if you’re serious about growth for 2025. Listen to this week’s podcast.

If you are like the majority of clients I speak to, you may not be working with a digital agency yet, but it’s probably on your radar to do at some point. If you are paying a digital agency to generate leads for you, then this week's episode will be a super important one for you. This week we are going to talk about what you should expect from a digital agency in terms of performance but just as importantly, how to spot it early if they are not doing the right thing. Paid lead generation is so important and can literally make or break a business. (new enquiries are like oxygen for most businesses) I have seen and had first hand experience with a number of my clients who stayed way too long with digital agencies who were underperforming. Here’s how to spot the warning signs early so you can get out fast and stop the bleeding before the rot sets in.

Are you only getting low-level buying motivators in your client discovery before you make an offer? If you are, you’re probably not converting a lot of sales. Today we spend a whole episode talking about how to uncover the core buying motivators BEFORE you make an offer. Failure to do this will leave you with very low conversion rates. Listening to this episode will give you a number of ways you can go way deeper with clients in terms of uncovering their motivators to buy. Your clients will feel way more “heard” and have so much more trust in you when you get this right.  

How are your sales tracking for the year? More importantly, how is your planning for the last quarter of the year looking? What about the first quarter of next year? In this week's episode, we will cover the 8 keys to planning an insanely successful quarter of sales. What you will learn in this episode will help you get crystal clear at the planning stage on precisely what you want to achieve.  Getting the planning part right will make the deployment of your strategy way more smoother. It will also make hitting your key outcomes way more likely. After all, you can’t hit a target you don’t aim for.  

Are you thinking about investing in paid leads?  Even if you already are, this will be a super important episode. Digital agencies are happy to take your money to generate enquiries for you but in my experience, they will never tell you what you’ll learn in this week’s podcast. After you have listened to today’s podcast, you’ll know… The 1 strategy that separates paid lead gen working and not working The massive difference between referred and repeat business versus paid lead generation A 60-day plan to optimize every cent you spend online The 6 numbers to track to make sure your digital ad spend will give you a great ROI.  

Do you just send them your monthly newsletter or EDM? That’s what most clients say when I ask them how they keep in touch with past clients. This week, I’m not only showing you what the data tells us about precisely why clients leave… I’m also showing you exactly how to stay in touch with clients and what to say when you call so they find value in the contact. After all, if your clients get value each time you contact them they will stay a client longer. This is a much overlooked area in business that can make a massive difference to both the short-term profitability and the long-term value of your business.

Want to know if you’re maximizing every potential sale? Today I am going to ask you 11 questions about your sales process. I have noticed recently talking to clients there’s been a bit of a dip in the economy so the timing on this should be spot on right now. As you listen and answer each question, giving yourself a mark out of 10,  you’ll be able to pinpoint exactly where your sales opportunity system needs work. These 11 questions form part of a 21-point checklist I have been working through with clients to know what they need to fix next. Addressing any one of them can easily add another 5 - 30% to your conversion rate from lead to sale. Which could easily add hundreds of thousands of dollars to your monthly, quarterly or yearly sales figures. If you’d like me to send you the whole checklist, simply reply and I will email it to you (no opt-in).  

Are you taking responsibility for your sales results? It’s going to happen… At some point, you will find yourself blaming your lack of results on things you have no control over. And you’ll be right. And you’ll know you’re right… And your righteousness won’t change one…single…thing It’s only when you deliberately shift your focus onto what you CAN control that your situation will change. I know about this because I have been the complainer I have also been the complainee (the one people complain to) This is a powerful episode on how to fix this in your business…for good.  

Are you trying to convert every prospect you talk to into a client? There are some clients you shouldn’t deal with. Today we talk about why and the three filters you should be applying to every client call you have. I know most of my content is about converting as many leads as possible into paying clients so this week I thought I would briefly break away from that. In this episode, you’ll learn… The three reasons you should not accept a new client and why. Why a large percentage of clients might think they need your help but they actually need something totally different. Why saying no can benefit you in the medium to long term. How to say no in a way that still serves your potential client. Plus I share a few of my own examples where I have had clients who really wanted to work with me and why (and how) I politely said no. This will be a very actionable episode for anyone who is speaking to potential clients.  

Are you investing in sales training? Want to know how to get 400% better results as a result of doing it? In this week’s podcast, we talk about some little known strategies to get way more out of training your team… The two schools of thought when investing in sales training How one approach to sales training will give you a 400% better result  How to guarantee your training investment continues to pay dividends for years to come How implementing 2 other simple strategies after training will ensure you get the single best results possible Companies spend billions on sales training every year - very few of them implement and benefit from what you will learn in this week's podcast.  

Are you as productive with your time as you’d like? This week we are talking about a super simple method for getting the most out of your time. After listening to this week's episode you’ll learn a simple and fast 5 step approach to getting the most out of your work hours. I have read dozens of books and taken a bunch of courses on time management and this is the summary of the single most practical ideas I have learned. Listen to this episode, put those 5 principles into play and let me know how you go.

In this week’s episode, I invited Lloyd Thompson back to nerd out again on books. But this time we talked about the top 3 books that changed each of our lives. Having both literally read hundreds of books, I know you will get a stack out of this week’s episode. Regardless of what your main focus in your life is right now, be it work or personal, one of these books is bound to be of massive value. I have constantly found specific books at specific times to be life changing and that’s what this week’s episode is all about, to get you to the next level, or to the other side of whatever you are dealing with right now. I’m sure you’ll get a heap of value from listening to our chat.  

Did you think I’d keep my promise? In this week's episode, we go through an example of a template you can use to run a sales meeting. This template has built-in accountability, structure and that moves opportunities through your sales process once clients are in contact with you. This is a template I have perfected with multiple companies I have worked with. It will be easy to adapt to your business so I encourage you to take notes as you go, I also offered to send you a sales meeting template, so if you’d like me to, email me at john@john-blake.com.au and I will get back to you. PS This is the LAST week you can get access to the Sales Mastery Certification at the special initial price. Learn more and get the training here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zg1O76xIwDz43nrobR8rhKo1APDd0DoXGa-JahzZzCo/edit?usp=sharing Then simply email and tell me at john@john-blake.com.au if you are in, out or have any questions.

Do you run or sit in on sales opportunity meetings with your sales team? Do they run on time? Do they get off track? Do you think they are actually productive? Chances are you are making at least 1 or more of the top 10 mistakes I see when business owners or sales managers run sales opportunity meetings. In this episode we go over all 10 and most importantly how you can fix them…forever. You’ll not only identify where you are going wrong but precisely what you need to do to keep your sales meetings efficient, effective and productive.

In this week’s episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lloyd Thompson from VirtualDOO. Given we are both business growth book geeks, we decided to talk about each of our top 3 books for growing your business. Lloyd’s business VirtualDOO specializes in putting in a “Director of Operations” service on a fractional basis to smaller non-corporate businesses. Because of Lloyd’s core area of focus, he had a different take on his top 3 books than what I did, which was all about revenue growth. The result?  I’ll let you judge for yourself, but I think it provided a great balance of 6 battle-tested resources for growing a small to medium non-corporate style business. You’ll hear why we picked each book and what our top takeout of each book was. I’m sure you'll get a heap of value from this episode.  

Today I am going to share a real-life case study about a client I worked with a few years ago in the online advertising space. They came to me desperately needing to increase their sales and nothing was working. I remember walking into their office and the tension in there was palatable - you could literally feel the pressure and stress everyone was under. Fast forward 4 weeks and they had increased their sales by 500% all by making one simple change in their approach. You can apply this approach to almost any business so I’m sure you’ll get a stack out of listening to this week’s episode.