Latest / Books4Guys / Sales Leadership in Action - Anna Frazzetto

Transcript

Sales Leadership in Action - Anna Frazzetto · Books4Guys

• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of it's kind of all the same when you get up in that area, you know.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's a quick train ride from one place to the next.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: That's true.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's true.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: But no, Anna, I've been looking forward to this really all weekend because I knew this was going to be one of my first conversations to kick this week off.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I've been very excited to talk with you.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: Just we were talking a couple minutes here before I push record about just your background.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I was letting you know I've been in sales about a decade now, specifically in uh recruiting and staffing, which I've seen some of your conversations with other people in the space, and just you know, there's some correlation there with your career and uh and some of the things you've done, and obviously want to talk about your book, which we'll get to as well.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I want to go ahead and say the title of it because I I want people a lot, like I was telling you, a lot of people I know in sales are listening or they'll watch this.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: Sales Leadership and Action: A hundred tips for coaching reps, building culture, and closing more deals.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: I'm super excited to talk about this because I love the a hundred tips uh part of it.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: But Anna, no, I love to just kick things off with you just giving a giving us an overview of your career.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: You you transitioned into leadership, it seems like, very early in your career.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: And then you started taking on titles such as VP, SVP, C C level titles, founder, and you've been doing all kinds of things.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I would love for you just to kind of talk about your progression and just kind of your story of that's led you to where you're at now.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my goodness.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: That yeah, is there enough time to talk about this?
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: No, all kidding aside, I mean, I I started off technical.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I was a math and computer science graduate and loved doing that.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I started off in development.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: I was a systems programmer for uh for uh a few years.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: And it wasn't until actually it was the CEO of a company that I was working at that said, you have such a way with you know communicating.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: And it was a technical product that we were working on.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: And the salespeople were kind of struggling once it got to a certain point, then how do you explain it even further with clients?
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: So they needed to have that technical sales support.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: So they started sending me out with the salespeople.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that was I had, you know, the taste of sales, and that had me all in, right?
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: So at that point, I slowly started to transition from 100% technical to uh being a salesperson.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: I started carrying my own book of business.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: As my friends in the tech space say, I joined the dark side because I left technical somewhat behind.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: But I loved it.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: I loved the fact that I had the technical strength to be able to talk about our products and services.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: So as time progressed, I slowly started to manage other salespeople.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: Then I still carried my own book of business.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: And then as I kind of went from different companies, I took on more responsibility where I was also managing operations and delivery, recruiting side of things, but I still carried my book of business, made it to the C level.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: And what I started noticing is that when you're in the C level, you start getting involved more and more in administrative, operational type of things.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: And it kind of took me away a little bit from my love of sales, which really that was my passion.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: I've been in sales for 25 plus years.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's probably more like 30, but I keep saying 25 plus years makes me feel better.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: But I decided to start my own company a couple of years ago.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, I just want to focus on the sales side.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: I want to work with salespeople.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I do think that there's a unique component when it comes to anybody that provides sales, and this is both sales and recruiting, right?
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: That you like to learn things not in a classroom setting.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: You like to kind of learn things.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: I call them like the golden nuggets, like things that you can kind of hang on to.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: And that that's what kind of then slowly inspired me to write the book, which we'll talk about later.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: But that's kind of my career in a nutshell.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't planned, but I I am grateful for two things.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: My father, who was a tremendous influence on keeping me grounded.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: And also anytime I had imposter syndrome that I couldn't do something, he'd always get me back to planet Earth and get me back in gear and mentors in my life that would see things in me that I couldn't see in myself that helped me and propel my career forward.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love that.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: You answered one of my questions.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: I was gonna ask you, and I could tell just your passion for sales and the communication piece of it.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: I was gonna ask you as you progressed, was there a point where you were like, I really don't want to progress here because I like the sales side, and this takes me away from that.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm thinking of there's a couple of leaders that I've been very blessed to have as a mentor for me, and I was thinking about just some of the things they've said.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: And you talk about the Nuggets too.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: They loved teaching me things that they did, and they were never telling me what to do, but they were like, they just enjoyed the process and they loved seeing me experiment and try new things out and different communication styles or tricks.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: But they always, they always told me, they were like, Man, one of these days, I know I'm gonna be asked to, you know, go into more of a leadership, but I just I don't want to do it right now because I love the people side and they love teaching just from their sales leadership role.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: But it's funny you answered that question.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: I could just see the the passion and enjoyment you have just being involved in those sales processes and working with people.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that's really cool.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and you know what I love?
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: It it's like you you get to um problem solve, right?
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: When when a client is kind of going through a difficult time, they don't know what direction to go in.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, there's new technology, for example, and they don't know how to apply it.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: And unfortunately, sometimes sales can get a bad reputation where it's all about the company that they represent and not taking the time to listen and understand the client.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: But I love that part, like getting to know the individual and the company and what they're trying to do.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: So it was definitely that human interaction that I was missing being in development.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: They used to tease me in development because we code like some phenomenal stuff and I'd want to like talk about it and like, oh my God, isn't this great?
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Like we just did this, and they're busy, like nose to the grindstone, moving to the next thing.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like, this is so boring.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody's introverted except for me.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what made the change rather easy for me.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: No, and it makes you a very dangerous, and I mean that term in a good way, a very dangerous sales individual because when you can bring, I always talk about this, the technical aspects to knowing what you're selling instead of just uh, you know, I'm gonna laugh at myself.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: Someone like me who's not very technical, I have to spend a lot of time learning certain products and learning how they work so that I can be an effective seller.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: That's kind of hard actually when when your brain's just not in tune technically, but I love seeing and hearing people like yourself who do understand just the layers that go into it, and then just being able to smoothly spit it out, say what it does.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, oh, I've got to get better.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: I've got to know how to do that.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you, when you do it enough times, you'll you'll be you'll be doing it.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: No, you're right.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_01: You're right.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and then I wanted to to kind of go through some things too, because another question I have, and again, it's so cool seeing people do amazing things.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: And that's that's really what this podcast is all about is spotlighting people doing incredible things and create motivation and positivity.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I wanted to, I noticed some of the stuff that you've accomplished.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I saw SIA Global's Most Powerful Women.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: You're on that list.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: You have a podcast, past the pitch, keynote speaker, author now, a high-level producer and leader.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: As you obviously, you're not done yet, and you've got so much more of an impact that you're gonna have on people.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: But have you ever had a moment where you just kind of sit down and go, man, I just did not expect all of this to happen, or I didn't, I didn't think all of these things were possible.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just curious to know, do you ever look and just be take a moment just to appreciate the things that you've been able to accomplish so far?
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's interesting, it's interesting you say that because there's a couple of things that kind of come to mind.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: One, I have uh a gratitude, you know, journal that I keep every day.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so I started doing that probably, I would say about five years ago.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I felt like it was very helpful because it kind of keeps you grounded and also appreciate the achievements and the accomplishments that you have along the way.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Often I'm not aware, like it's not like I think of everything that I've done, unless like you go join a podcast or you're, you know, you're being interviewed and people kind of go through your bio, and then it makes you think like, oh wow, like yeah, that that is a few things that have kind of happened.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm super grateful for it.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: But I I have to, I have to go back to what I said before of you know, the power of mentorships in your life because a lot of times you personally don't see what you can and can't do.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I I'm a strong believer of that for everyone, men, women, everyone across the planet to be a mentor and be a mentee, right?
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: Because you learn in both directions.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: I do it through American Staffing Association, I'm part of their mentorship program.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: I also do it through communities in the neighborhood where I'm a mentor.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: But I also like being a mentee because what happens is you learn in both directions.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: When I'm a mentor and I have someone who's maybe five years in the sales cycle, and it's a fresh new look at how they approach things.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's helpful to me to understand how they operate and how they think, why they uh perceive a problem a certain way.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: I might find a solution a lot quicker just because I've been around the block a few more times.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: But it's great to have that exchange and learn from each other.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what's giving me the power, I think, to accomplish the things that I have accomplished in my life, because there's always been that support structure in my life that's been able to say, yeah, like, you know, yeah, go for it.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: And then there's also the flip side of not knowing what you like, I don't know what I don't know kind of thing.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: So you're like, yeah, sure, I'll start a podcast.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like, not even knowing like what's going into starting a podcast.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I started doing that when I worked at the company Potential a few years ago that was probably actually it was even before that at Sphereon.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: I started a podcast.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: And and I remember starting it, and it's literally, you know, blind, you know, working with marketing, figuring out what's gonna stick, how long should the podcast be?
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: And then every company that I've gone to, I've brought a new podcast into the mix and I found it a great way to communicate.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then before you know it, it becomes like, yes, I I do podcasts.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I enjoy doing them.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's that kind of thing.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: I've had some really good conversations around podcasting and just how powerful of a networking tool it is.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: I was, I was actually at a work function last week and I was like, this tool has given me the ability to meet with the most incredible people that if I would have, if I would have sent just a recruiting sales message, they would have probably never responded.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: But to be able to talk to someone and spotlight them and do have great conversations like this, I think it's still there's so much opportunity for it because there's so many companies that don't utilize it or haven't implemented it into their strategies yet.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'll be interested to see what that looks like maybe over the next five, six years if people start um trying to do more of it, because it is such a great tool and and way of communicating.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: I've I've definitely enjoyed it very much.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm I'm like you.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: I started it from nothing and had to learn how to edit, what tools to use, and it's been such a fun journey.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: But I remember my first couple weeks, I was like, oh, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to do this.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: I it's so it's so true, but it is it is fun and rewarding.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: And also what happens is I think after you get past like the first, you know, five that you do or whatever, you kind of develop a knack where it becomes a natural conversation that you're having with a person.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: And uh there's nothing more rewarding than if you think about it, if it was a phone interview, it would not be as effective as being, you know, doing a video, an actual podcast where people can watch and listen.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I agree with you a hundred percent.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: No, and I love that you mentioned journaling and mentorship too.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's funny.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: I just had a former NFL player on a few weeks ago, and his whole platform is talking about how important journaling was for him and his career and how he utilizes it now to help coach people specifically just how to be financially educated.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: But he just talks about the you know how important writing things down are, just to just to go be able to go back in time and remember how you felt about something or to or to see if you've been able to grow over the years.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: Are you having the same thoughts and problems you did last year?
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, you probably need to figure something out, you know, but just the power of writing.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: But he also talks about gratitude and having that groundness and thankfulness.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I've had several people talk about that.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: And it's amazing actually the the amount of text messages I get from people who listen who say, I've started journaling again thanks to your podcast, because so many people talk about it.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: So that's very important, it seems.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: I do a little bit, I need to get better at it.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: I keep saying that.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: I I've gotta I do it like every other day.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: I've gotta get back to doing it every day.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: So so you know it's interesting.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: The trick for me was to do it first thing in the morning, right?
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: So because if I if I get up and and immediately check my phone for messages and then hop in the shower.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: So before you know it, it's lunchtime, and then I still haven't done my uh my journals.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: So I have two journals, right?
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I have the Gratitude Journal, and then I have it's called manifest this stuff journal, which is basically write about anything you want to write about that you want to get off your chest.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: I also find it's therapeutic in the sense of if there's an issue that's bothering you, an employee that's not working out, or a client that's not working out, when you take the act of writing it out, you actually are able to like contain your emotions because now you've put it on paper and you can then reflect in a more objective way as to how to resolve it.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: You know, a trick that I've learned over the years is I always talk about hitting the pause button and I always talk about give yourself 24 hours to respond.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody sends a very strong email to you and you 100% disagree, and all you see is red when you read that email, do not respond.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: I learned very early on in my career that's a big mistake because you're responding purely with emotions.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: So you let it sit for 24 hours and then you go at it and say, Am I still as angry as I was 24 hours ago?
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: If I am, I let it sit for another 24 hours because I want to make sure I approach it in a very factual way and non-emotional way so that you can have a more productive conversation.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: So just a couple of things about when you talk about journaling.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: I think journaling is such an easy, free thing to do.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and and it it definitely helps your mental sanity.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: And that and that's a hard thing to practice on the patience of waiting 24 hours.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: I know when emails come through, everybody just wants to clear the inbox and respond immediately, but you are so right about the waiting because a lot of times your emotions change and you're able to kind of settle down, think about maybe both sides, where they're coming from, and you can just better understand maybe where that message, what the underlying tone is, what the real problem is, and and maybe you can approach it with a solve instead of the emotion that may make things worse.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, 100% agree on that, Anna, for sure.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: But I would love to talk about your book for a second here, Sales Leadership in Action.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: I love the the hundred tips part of it because I feel like that's something that kind of like journaling.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't have a ton of time to read through the whole book, you know, in a couple of days, you're able to maybe flip through and see some things that you can maybe apply that day or practice that day.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know if that was the approach or idea behind that specific point of the book, but I would love for you to share just maybe a couple of those tips that you have in there that you think are extremely important that maybe if they don't take anything else away from the book, like here's a few of the tips that everybody should be able to practice and and uh you know use as they progress in sales leadership.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: No, that's great.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: So, so the book it it is it was kind of an exciting journey that got me to the book.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: What had happened was when I started my company two years ago, I uh I started doing to kind of get my own brand out there on LinkedIn, I started doing a sales tip of the day.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a little video clip that I would post every day, and it would have, you know, basically, you know, how to, you know, polish your pitch or talk about pipeline hygiene, well, whatever, things like that, how to get more meetings.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um I I did a hundred of them.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I posted for a hundred consecutive, you know, uh work days.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: And um, a colleague of mine, somebody well known actually in the industry, said, Do you have these written down anywhere?
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: Because I would love to use these as a way to coach my sales team.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought about this.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, oh my God, this is that's a great idea.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: I think I am.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think I'm gonna write them down.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: Because what led me to actually create them was something I said, I think earlier in the podcast.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: Salespeople like to learn, not in a classroom.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: They like to learn, you know, like these golden nuggets, right?
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: Things that you can apply and then hit the ground running.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: You know, of course, when you hire new salespeople, there needs to be an onboarding process that you go through.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: But usually most companies will wind up doing is that they have like a two-week onboarding and then they shadow another salesperson and then they're off to the races, and then training is off the table.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like it becomes just on-the-job training.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: There's nothing else, and then it becomes measuring the metrics.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: How many sales calls did you do?
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: How many touch points?
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: How many, you know, have you sent out any, you know, what do what do your sequences look like?
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: What, you know, and all this stuff.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: And you're avoiding the topic of are they learning, are they getting better at their trade?
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what kind of led me to develop the sales tips.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: That was the intent of it.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: And then when I put the book together, I have it's not just the sales tips.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: The first section highlights eight to nine different sections that basically, if you want to focus in on, like I said, pipeline hygiene, how to approach your first meeting, how to do the right discovery, you know, sessions, being a consultative salesperson versus a transactional salesperson.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so it makes it easy for also the sales leader to help coach their team.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a fan of coach in the moment, if that's one message I want to leave with everybody, is coach in the moment, not at the end of the month or when something goes wrong.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a big problem.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: What happens is, and I get it, because I've been in the shoes where you have a lot of pressure.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: I was a chief revenue officer in my last position, and you have a lot of pressure that you got to get the numbers where the numbers need to be.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: And it's human nature to just say, Are you are you you're you're not having enough meetings?
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like we need to get, we need to get out there more, we need to do this.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: As opposed to hit the pause, right?
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: And understand why why are we struggling?
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: Why are we not more productive?
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: And and sometimes it's just fixing some of the fundamentals of how we approach things.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's getting in front of clients more.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: I think COVID, that's another thing that I think COVID actually, you know, it hurt us and it helped us, right?
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: When you take a look at it from a business perspective.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was a big challenge.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: I know it was a big challenge for salespeople to be salespeople when you're doing everything on Zoom or Microsoft Teams or Google meets.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: Horrible.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: You can't establish that relationship with an individual.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: Then what happens is COVID is over and sales started to get a little lazy because it became easy to do Zoom calls and Microsoft Teams, right?
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: So, so it's that I encourage people to get back in front of clients.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's how you establish the power of relationship, being curious, right?
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like understanding what your client needs and demands are, asking questions, not you know, another expression I use all the time is not showing up and throwing up, right?
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of times salespeople just show up and they just want to spew all the wonderful things that their company does and not, and the client is immediately shut down and like, I, you know, I'm done.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: This is not the company for me.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's like the power of listening and how you get there.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: As you can tell, I could go on and on and on with different tips and different ways of how to approach things, but that was the intent of the book.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: And it's worked out really well.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: You can get the book on Amazon if anyone is interested, but um, it's a it's a great tool.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's a small book on purpose.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: You can throw it in your jacket pocket, you can throw it in your briefcase.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's easy to carry around and you can flash read a couple of tips before you go into a meeting.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: If that's what you need to do.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I love, I love all of that, and I love all the the tips.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: And you're right.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: As sales, sales individuals, it's kind of that fine line of you're you're always sprinting because you've got a lot to do and you've got a lot to accomplish, but there's an aggressive patience aspect to that too, to where you, you know, you've got to slow build and build those relationships and that credibility.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so you've got to, again, find that line between aggressive patience and sprinting.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: But I love and we're always looking for that nugget from either a podcast or a book like yours or just something we can quickly say, oh, that makes sense.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: Let me let me practice that or use that.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: And and I love, I just love that.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: I use that term a lot too.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: Just give me a nugget, give me something I can just grab onto and quickly use today if possible.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: But um, no, and Anna, we'll make sure the notes to this conversation, anyone who's interested in purchasing your book, we'll make sure they have access to the website and the book and all of that.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: But one more question for you, because I ask everyone this question, and I'm really interested in your answer just because, again, being in sales and and how you've progressed.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm curious to know, Anna, what is a book or two that has meant a lot to you personally or professionally?
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: And what's a book you like to recommend to others?
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my goodness.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: So one book that I, Simon Sinek, right, who's very popular, obviously, in in the sales, but also he does a lot in mental health and and uh he really is kind of a well-rounded speaker over the years.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: He wrote a book, Leaders Eat Last.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: Leaders Eat Last, impactful book.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought it it touched on a lot of the components that we've talked about actually today, but it it talks a lot about how you know what makes a great leader.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm a fond believer of a leader doesn't mean that you have all the answers.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: A leader is somebody who is empathetic, who is vulnerable, who knows how to encourage the input of their team, who knows how to hold their team up.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: I used to, you know, I still to this day will tell my teams my job is to remove your obstacles.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: And how do I, how do I do that to make your life easier, make you more successful?
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's the benefit to the company, to you, to all of us, is to make you more successful.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: So that's one book I would recommend.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: And another book that I would recommend is uh Make Make the Adjustment by Chris Mater.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, that's a book.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh uh I recently had him on my podcast, and he talks about how his life was impacted by a coach that he had in uh college.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: And it's all about making the adjustment in life.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: And it's really is the paradigm shift of sometimes you view a problem, you know, the classic of it's not, you know, it's not me, it's like everybody else around me that's causing this problem.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: But it's making the adjustment where you shift everything and say, no, what what can I do?
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: What do I need to adjust so that I can handle the situation better?
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's such a valuable lesson because it happens in early leaders where they feel that they have to be all knowing and have to show authority immediately and don't listen to their team, right?
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then they kind of learn the hard way and it's making that adjustment to evolve into that very valuable.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: I've experienced all of that, you know, is being a leader the first time around where you feel like, okay, like now I'm in charge and I need to, you know, operate a certain way.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: And that was like I threw that out the window because I'm like, this is not gonna work.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: I need to be more like me and understand the people and what they need and how to make them, you know, happier, better.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: Every meeting I start, I always start with um, how you doing?
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: How are you feeling?
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: What's going on?
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like more of a personal note because mental state is so incredibly important.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that book does a great job in talking about that.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: That it's funny you mentioned Chris because he's actually coming on the podcast here uh in a few weeks.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: So that's great timing.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, tell him, tell him, tell him I was bragging about him.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_01: I will, I will, I love that.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: It reminds me of another book.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: There's a book called QBQ Question Behind the Question by John Miller.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the book I read early on in my sales journey.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: And really, it's about personal accountability.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: So, same thing.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: Instead of saying, you know, why can't they do this or why can't they do that?
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's more like, okay, how can I affect change?
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: How can I be better?
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: And when you flip the switch and think that way, it is incredible.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_01: Just it just changes your whole attitude.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: It helps you accomplish so much more.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: You work with people differently.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: And that's a book I read every single January, just to kind of reset and get ready for the year.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it sounds like Chris is very similar in one that I'm gonna enjoy reading just from that standpoint because it is incredible when you can shift your mind and think a different way, especially, you know, as sales folks, you got a lot going on.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: It makes a huge difference in how you are able to do your job successfully, and anybody for that matter, not just sales.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: So so it's interesting, it's interesting you say that because it reminds me of when I say hit the pause button or give it the 24 hours, because it'll allow you to then, you know, almost like detach from the situation and kind of flip the switch a little bit and say, Okay, what can I do better?
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: So, yes, uh agree a hundred percent.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: And that's exactly that scenario.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: It it kind of makes you think of what they're experiencing.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_01: So then you kind of see it and then you can kind of approach your response a different way.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it creates a little more patience, which is good.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_01: But Anna, thank you so much for taking the time to do this.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_01: Again, I I was so excited.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_01: I'm even more excited now.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_01: I can't wait to get your episode and our conversation shared because I think a lot of people will find value and enjoy it.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I hope, I hope everyone gets your book and reads it and takes one of those nuggets away from it that they can use to help make their you know, careers more successful and their approach more successful.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so, Anna, I'm excited to see again.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: I know you've got so much more impact to have, and you're you're doing amazing things, you've done amazing things.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so now that we're connected, uh, I just I can't wait to follow you and see just the impact that you continue to have.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so thank you again for doing this.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you so much.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_00: I was thrilled when you reached out to me.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: So really grateful for being on the podcast, and uh thank you so much.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Anna.