The podcast is based on the book ‘Selling Through Partnering Skills’. The interview format explores how guests use the concept of partnering intelligence (PQ) in their role related to the world of professional selling with the intention of providing listeners with valuable advice on how to adapt a more modern approach to selling.
Along with the guest’s background, each of the elements of PQ is briefly discussed to uncover real life application and best practice. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t come across the partnering intelligence/PQ as a concept before, if you are successful in sales you will certainly know and use the elements.
And that is the purpose of the interview to find out how others use partnering skills to strengthen their sales approach so that you can add to your own skillset.
The elements of PQ are
- Trust
- Win-win orientation
- Interdependence
- Self-disclosure and feedback
- Comfort with change
- Future orientation
In this episode, Fred talks through the challenges faced by salespeople today. From being busy and ineffective, through to an old fashioned self-centred approach, Fred discusses how you can overcome these challenges through great preparation, clear focus, and more, to have a positive impact on your sales results.
Moeed Amin and Fred Copestake discuss the importance of personal branding in professional sales.
The Sales Dojo pays a visit! Chris and Leon care about sales and salespeople and put great effort into helping them get better. Forthright in their views and practical in their advice, they share their thoughts on how to make the most of a tough job.
WARNING – Do not listen if you are a ‘rubbish manager working for a rubbish company’.
Key insights include:
Stop trying to build trust and rapport quickly
Focus on decisons not deals
You are equal in status to customers, not subserviant
In this episode, Chris talks about the impact of different forms of pressure and why it is important to have a mechanism to cope.
He explains the relationship of being able to manage mindset with improved performance, and why we need to pay attention to emotional signals and triggers. With the signs of both stress and burnout sometimes being difficult to recognise it is important to take responsibilty to increase awareness of these.
Key insights include:
– Developing a mindset to serve not sabotage
– Managing self talk
– Recognising types of imposter syndrome
In ‘Trust or Bust: Non-Verbal Communication’, Moeed Amin and Fred Copestake discuss the importance of non-verbal communication and body language in professional sales. They talk about common mistakes, and what salespeople should really be doing.
In ‘Trust or Bust: Verbal Communication’, Moeed Amin and Fred Copestake discuss the importance of this type of communication in professional sales. They talk about common mistakes, and what salespeople should really be doing.
Mark Boundy talks about ‘pseudo-optimisation’ and how making silos increasingly smaller does not really help anybody. There is an opportunity for those that really take ownership and are able to walk the customer through their own complicated process. He argues that when salespeople ‘go native’ it is not always a bad thing, and responsiveness is an opportunity to differentiate and build value.
Key insights include: Salespeople are pretty unimpressive, Social risk of being an advocate, and Perfect understanding of an imperfect vision.
Kevin Dixon is a massive advocate for MAPs, and in this episodes he shares how and why they work. He describes the importance and characterisitics of a true ‘Champion’ and why we need to use a tool to help customers buy.
Key insights include: buying is more difficult than selling, salesepeople sell change (but are also often resistant to it), and improving deal velocity and win rates.
In ‘Trust or Bust: Presenting’, Moeed Amin and Fred Copestake discuss trust and its importance in professional sales. They talk about common mistakes, and what salespeople should really be doing. In this episode, they focus specifically on the role of presentation within sales.
Tobi, a graduate of Loughborough University in Economics and founder of Diverse., talks with the Student Sales Academy.
Tom Williams is a man on a mission – to help salespeople do things differently to make a difference.
In this episode breaks down a tool that will WOW customers. He explains how ‘Outcome Enablement Plans’ bring massive benefit to all parties, and shares how to construct and use one.
Key insights include: The 7 component parts, Positioning and using MAP/OEPs with new and experienced buyers, and Factors to improve success in use.
Martin Moore talks about being human in our interfaces with customers and discusses the importance of delivering the right message to all stakeholders. He shares how understanding value at all levels allows for premium pricing, and how change can lead to opportunity through correct communication.
Key insights include: build customer personas, romance the change, and drive activity through inner purpose.
Moeed Amin and Fred Copestake discuss trust and its importance in professional sales. They talk about common mistakes, and what salespeople should really be doing. In this episode, they focus specifically on the questioning phase of sales.
Phil shares some secrets from a career spent in procurement. He talks about what is actually happening and why. Systems are in place for a reason and cannot be ignored. Salespeople can recognise these and indeed use that understanding to make progress and add value.
Key insights include: passing ships in the night, balancing risk and value, and ask about the process.
Moeed Amin and Fred Copestake discuss trust and its importance in professional sales. They talk about common mistakes, and what salespeople should really be doing. In this episode, they focus specifically on the opening of a sale.
Turn fans into customers and customers into fans. David Meerman Scott is the author of 12 books much loved by marketeers from which salespeople can also take a huge amount from. David and Fred talk neuroscience, communication, and narrative medicine.
Key insights include:
Show you are passionate… about something!
Show you are in the same tribe
Understand the customer’s full story
STUDENT SALES ACADEMY TAKEOVER: Tania is an advanced nurse practitioner in aesethetic medicine, and a graduate of the University of Pretoria and Buckinghamshire University.
She talks about the mindset of an eternal student, and how sales skills transpire through everyday life.
Paul Bleck talks about how a partnership approach is key when working with his clients. Servicing big engines is a big deal, but by having the right mindset positive outcomes can be generated for all parties.
Key insights include:
Look at the bigger picture
Make life easy for people
Pre-empt key consideration
Connect with Paul on LinkedIn, and with your host Fred Copestake at https://linktr.ee/fredcopestake
Zach Selch has worked all over the world and brings his philosophy of helping people be the best they can to the podcast, where he shares ideas for winning mindshare and becoming stickier with customers. Has his approach been brutal in the past? You decide.
Key insights include:
- Don’t screw people
- Rent trust
- It’s ok to manipulate
Connect with Zach on Linkedin, and with your host Fred Copestake at https://linktr.ee/fredcopestake.
The inaugural ‘Takeover’ episode of the Selling Through Partnering Skills podcast is part of a series to help promote the Student Sales Academy supported by host Fred Copestake. The interviews by current students explore how ‘sales skills are life skills’ and what advice guests would give themselves.
www.studentsalesacademy.com
Marcus Cauchi is passionate about sales being done right, and gets annoyed when it is not taken seriously. Listen to his list of requirements for a professional salesperson and decide if you fit the bill. Expect no fluff at any stage in this interview!
Key insights include: No-one is born naturally able to sell; Coaching should not be an instituitonalised punishment; Daily reflection is THE best way to develop as a salesperson (and individual).
Connect with Marcus on LinkedIn, and find your host Fred Copestake at linktr.ee/fredcopestake.
Fred, a graduate of Birmingham Univerisity in Commerce and Spanish, talks in the second part of the Takeover pilot about why sales skills are life skills and why he wants to help students prepare for work with the Student Sales Academy.
This ‘Takeover’ episode of the Selling Through Partnering Skills podcast is part of a series to help promote the Student Sales Academy supported by host Fred Copestake. The interviews by current students explore how ‘sales skills are life skills’ and what advice guests would give themselves.
www.studentsalesacademy.com
Fred is a Commerce and Spanish graduate of Birmingham University, and shares with us in this pilot podcast his take on sales skills as life skills and why he supports the Student Sales Academy.
This ‘Takeover’ episode of the Selling Through Partnering Skills podcast is part of a series to help promote the Student Sales Academy supported by host Fred Copestake. The interviews by current students explore how ‘sales skills are life skills’ and what advice guests would give themselves.
www.studentsalesacademy.com
Jason Graystone, professional investor and founder of Graystone Education, describes a professional sales approach in the first few minutes and then goes on to share some innovative ways of thinking he uses that salespeople can learn from.
Key insights include:
Build ‘trust ramps’ to STOP people from buying
Everything is expensive until it seems cheap
When ego is involved it is difficult to progress
Connect with Jason on LinkedIn, and your host Fred Copestake at https://linktr.ee/fredcopestake.
Is your client more informed than you? But do you think you know best? Clare O’Shea and Fred Copestake discuss alignment of the buyers process and why selling is NOT telling.
Buyer engagement and the methods to sell are now perfectly aligned – and video is the way to leverage this. Mario M. Martinez Jr. covers the why, what and how.
An incredibly generous evangelist for modern selling, he shares techniques that can be used immediately to make a difference. But can sales leaders step up to the challenge?
Key insights include: making a deep psychological impact; use cases for video; monkey see, monkey do. Connect with Mario on LinkedIn and find your host Fred Copestake at https://linktr.ee/fredcopestake.
Clare O’Shea and Fred Copestake discuss the norm of doing business as expected versus the value of virtual meets.
In this episode, B2B sales expert Moeed Amin and podcast host Fred Copestake discuss the 8 elements of trust, including a ‘new’ one that Moeed’s research is showing to be key.
Key points include:
– Why you should feel guilty
– Pure generosity does not work
– Get ‘in the river’ to influence better
Connect with Moeed on LinkedIn, and find him through the Clubhouse app. Connect with your host Fred Copestake at https://linktr.ee/fredcopestake.
Podcast sponsored by Remaster Media.
In this week’s episode of the DON’T series, we have DON’T Over-Deliver! Clare O’Shea and Fred Copestake discuss the pitfalls of over-delivering, and how to build sustainable value through excellent customer experience.
Larry Long Jr brings his unique style and insight into elite sport to discuss being successful in sales. He talks about employing the right approach to avoid ‘commission breath’ and becoming a matchmaker. He tells us about the Say:Do Ration, and even sings us a song!
Key take-aways include: control the controlables, trust the process. and team work makes the dream work!
Connect with Larry on LinkedIn to learn more, and find your host Fred Copestake at https://linktr.ee/fredcopestake.
Podcast sponsored by Remaster Media.
This week’s episode features John D. Hanson, a sales consultant, speaker, trainer and author at Accelerated Revenue. His mission within these roles is to ‘equip companies of all sizes to become Heroes in every human interaction’.
Key insights include:
Proximity is not relationship
Don’t be fake or a poseur
Self disruption is the future
Fred Copestake and Clare O’Shea are back with a new episode of the DON’T series – DON’T Make Friends! You might thinking making friends is a good idea, but your thinking is flawed…
In this episode, Harry Novic talks about how Artificial Intelligence can be used to augment the coaching process and help people grow. Should we be worried about sharing information with machines, and how does it make a difference?
Insights include:
Implement initial excitement and learning into routines
Move forward and make actions
Machines are relentless
Kate Lewis is a self-professed ‘sales enthusiast’ and a massive fan of coaching to acheive results. She sets out a simple framework for how to implement coaching, and reveals why it often doesn’t work. But what does she think about AI-driven coaching chat bots like Rocky.ai?
Episode features:
– Coaching puts a firework up the ass of training
– Find your team cheerleader
– Buy a bloody big umbrella
Don’t gift, but trade.
Venese Lau has a background in event marketing in Tokyo, connecting local brands with international audiences and vice versa, with her career purpose evolving to focus on helping entrepreneurs.
This episode features:
– Using social proof to build trust
– Change is a part of growth – with no change you aren’t going anywhere
– Covid has been a kick in the butt
This episode with Fred Copestake and Clare O’Shea highlights how to work smarter not harder, and the importance of research for lead qualification.
Fred Copestake talks about why he does what he does, including:
– Addressing the 3 big challenges in sales today
– What drives him in his work
– Being proud about what we do as professional salespeople
“I believe we can make selling better, and the potential to do good and make a difference is huge.” – Fred Copestake
DON’T Cold Call! Clare O’Shea and Fred Copestake discuss the importance of prospecting, and the significance of research and planning – developing from ‘cold’, to warm, to hot.
The number one sales tip that nobody tells you: don’t present.
Have we gone all Eighties with this episode? The simple answer is ‘no’, as James shares a very modern and scientifically-backed way of working. Its elegance is in its simplicity.
James Muir, founder and CEO of Best Practice International, shares insights including:
Advancement or continuation?
Close it in THEIR timeframe
Develop yourself in the crucible
Willy Bolander is a Sales Professor at Florida State University. Alongside talking about PQ, he gives a fascinating insight into sales education in the US college system.
The preparation some of the students go through is something that many full time sales professionals could learn from. Some practice advanced skills with the number of role plays they complete going into triple digits.
Willy’s take on how sales can be developed as well as his own unique journey is well worth listening to, with important points including:
Create something that didn’t exist
Be conscientious and competent
Vulnerability is not a sign of weakness
This week’s podcast features Trent Peek, Group Director at CCM.
Key points of the episode include:
– Avoid selling for the wrong reason
– Explore your weaknesses together
– We can’t stand still
This podcast special episode features an overview of the EVOLVE model, showing why it’s time for virtual selling to move over for a hybrid approach.
Ariel Feyderov is the sales and business development manager at Tektronix and the author of Sellosophy.
Some key points from the podcast:
– Sales is an exchange of values
– Following recipes or learning to cook?
– If you have a why, you can bear any how
In this episode, Fred speaks to Sales Technologist, Futurist and Author Justin Michael about what we might look forward to in 2021 and beyond… he told me what is happening NOW and it is well worth a listen.
This episode includes:
– McGyver your stack
– Leverage tech to elevate selling
– Beware amplifying garbage
Connect with Justin on LinkedIn and learn more about The Salesborgs, a B2B driven community with a focus on sales and technology.
This episode features Alexander Low who gave some great insights and solid practical advice on what we can use to make our selling more effective.
Alexander is a change consultant focused on delivering revenue, with a background in property and a particular interest in technology.
The episode features:
– Take control of your destiny
– Augment the humaness
– Understand the art of the possible
Connect with Alexander on LinkedIn and social media!
In this episode I was lucky enough to speak to the founder of SerialTrainer7, Simon Hares.
Simon is an international sales trainer and coach with over 20 years’ experience.
Key points include:
– We are not the centre of a customers life
– Beliefs manifest in conversation
– Don’t be a cock!
You can connect with Simon on LinkedIn, and visit his SerialTrainer7 website to find out more.
This episode features Michelle Hecht, sales trainer and coach at The Sales Rebellion. With twenty years of corporate sales experience, Michelle has revitalised her career path to pursue coaching and training with a focus on humanism and authenticity.
Key points include: We are emotional but complex creatures, Everything is transitional, Mitigate the potential of short term loss. Connect with Michelle on LinkedIn and by email: michelle@thesalesrebellion.com.
This episode features Mark Schenkius – sales trainer, and author of ‘The Other Side of Sales.’
Mark has fifteen years experience in procurement, working with Mars across technical and strategic divisions. He then set up his own company, ROI10, who now provide training and development support to professionals within sales and procurement. Alongside this, he lectures part-time in business economics.
We discuss how the elements of partnering skills can be used to develop buyer relationships, and gain a greater understanding of buyers.
Key insights from this episode include:
Ignore what buyers say
The best question in 15 years
Procurement has left sales behind
Connect with Mark on LinkedIn and visit his website www.roi10.com to learn more.
In this episode, I had the chance to explore partnering skills with Tom Williams.
Tom is the Chairman and Founder of Strategic Dynamics, and an advocate for buyer-centric selling with over twenty years experience in sales and marketing.
We talk through how he uses partnering skills in his profession, including: Improve current state through collaboration, Explore feasability of ideas, Get past status quo with via comfort, curiousity and concern.
Connect with Tom on LinkedIn!
Bob Britton is the Director of Sales Enablement for cybersecurity firm, Netsurion, alongside running his sales performance consultancy, Sales Enablement Sherpas.
In this episode, he shares his thoughts on partnering skills including:
– Don’t position yourself as a solution provider
– Externalise the problem
– Embrace the suck!
Based in Texas, you can connect with Bob on LinkedIn: brittonrobert.
Selling Through Partnering Skills is about using the elements of PQ to adapt and refine your approach to selling so that is becomes more collaborative.
One of the things we have created to help people on this journey is a diagnostic to help sales professionals understand themselves better in relation to this.
George is the CEO and Founder of Membrain, a sales platform centred around codifying our way of selling and driving successful behaviour.
In this episode, he shares his thoughts on partnering skills including:
– Win-win is about alignment
– Society is short sighted
– Complex B2B sales is change management
George is on a mission to elevate the sales profession with technology and partnering.
You can connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgebronten/ and discover his B2B sales book ‘Stop Killing Deals’!
Tim runs the management consultancy practice ‘Consulting 51’, working with ambitious business leaders to help them achieve their goals through tailor-made services.
With an early background in mentorship and a particular interest in Fintech and Data Science Startup sectors, he is open to new opportunities and available to message through LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guesttim/.
In this episode, Tim discusses how partnering skills were applied within his previous organisation’s sales team (Zoedale), where Fred coached during Tim’s role as Managing Director.
He shares his thoughts on:
Turning down business
Sharing how the customer feels
The best way to win new business
Register for Tim’s FREE Goals + Mindset Webinar with SAS: Who Dares Wins’ Ollie Ollerton on the 10th November 10am GMT live – recorded version available: https://www.consulting51.uk/create-a-positive-mindset-and-achieve-your-goals-webinar/
Warwick is the founder of Account Manager Tips, which he runs alongside his role as Key Account Manager at The KAM Club.
From initial industry pigeonhole frustration, his ambitious initiative has led him to expand into helping organisations grow their revenue through consulting, training, and account management.
We talk through how he uses partnering skills across both businesses, with a mix of digital community and organisation-based situations. Here’s what is included: strategies based on zero sum games, ideation to make ideas stick, and ‘don’t own the relationship’!
Connect with Warwick through LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/warwickabrown/ and the hashtags #AMTips and #KAMclub.
Aaron Evans, Director Sales Enablement at GlobalData, shares how he uses partnering skills within his profession.
In this episode: hacks for building trust, creating negotiaion rules, and the danger of instant gratification.
You can reach Aaron through LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronevanssalesenablement/.
Connect with your host, Fred Copestake, on LinkedIn and social media, and order the Selling Through Partnering Skills book on Amazon now: https://linktr.ee/fredcopestake.
Tim Royds, Director at highclere sales training, shares how he uses partnering skills within his career.
Tim is hugely passionate about the sales profession, and has been involved in sales since the 1980s. You can reach Tim through LinkedIn, Twitter, or by email.
Connect with your host, Fred Copestake, on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and order the Selling Through Partnering Skills book on Amazon now.
www.linktr.ee/fredcopestake
Chris Slay, Managing Director of Skills Provision, shares how he uses partnering skills within his profession.
Chris started off his career in the finance sector, and now provides professional recruitment services worldwide. You can reach Chris through LinkedIn or by email.
Connect with your host, Fred Copestake, on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and order the Selling Through Partnering Skills book on Amazon now.
Duncan Yellowlees, Director at Duncan Yellowlees Training, shares how he uses partnering skills within his profession.
Duncan is a presentation trainer and speaking coach with a background in performing arts and a passion for storytelling. You can reach him through LinkedIn, Twitter, or by email.
Connect with your host, Fred Copestake, on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and order the Selling Through Partnering Skills book on Amazon now.
Stuart Taylor, Head of Sales Development at Refract, shares how he uses partnering skills within his profession. Stuart has over 15 years experience in sales, and his current position at Refract involves leading and coaching sales teams. You can reach him through LinkedIn or by email.
Connect with your host, Fred Copestake, on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and order the Selling Through Partnering Skills book on Amazon now.
Mike Willoughby, Founder and Executive Director at MPI, shares how he uses partnering skills within his profession. Maximum Performance International (MPI) is a training and coaching consultancy delivering transformative differences in business. You can reach Mike through LinkedIn or by email.
Connect with your host, Fred Copestake, on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and order the Selling Through Partnering Skills book on Amazon now.
Jeremy Cassell, owner of Jeremy Cassell Coaching, shares how he uses partnering skills within his profession.
Jeremy Cassell Coaching, which offers presentation coaching for business leaders and entrepreneurs, and is the co-author of the UK Business Book of 2018 ‘The Leader’s Guide to Presenting’. You can reach him through LinkedIn or by email.
Connect with your host, Fred Copestake, on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and order the Selling Through Partnering Skills book on Amazon now.
Clare O’Shea, Founder and Lead Consultant at Marlow Sales Academy, talks to Fred Copestake. This episode explores how Clare uses partnering skills within her career. Clare has over 20 years experience in sales, consultancy and training. She has been at the center of UK sales qualifications since 1998, when she designed and delivered the first accredited training programmes, with the first Institute of Sales Professionals (ISP). You can reach her through LinkedIn, Twitter, or by email.
Connect with Fred Copestake on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and order the Selling Through Partnering Skills book on Amazon now.
Fred Copestake is the podcast host and author of the book ‘Selling Through Partnering Skills’. In this launch episode he introduces the concept of partnering intelligence (PQ) that forms the basis of discussions with show guests.
Fred is a consultant, trainer, coach and an expert in helping sales professionals around the world improve their performance and unleash their full potential. He uses the elements of PQ to help salespeople develop a more modern collaborative approach to selling. The elements of PQ are
- Trust
- Win-win orientation
- Interdependence
- Self-disclosure and feedback
- Comfort with change
- Future orientation
Connect with Fred on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter https://linktr.ee/fredcopestake