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SALES PERFORMANCE AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT INSIGHTS FROM AMY FRANKO
4 Strategies Entrepreneurial CPAs To Become Trusted Advisors
How can CPAs position themselves to survive -and thrive- through COVID-19? Amy Franko made a return appearance on the Entrepreneurial CPA Podcast with Garrett Wagner to discuss how to pivot, how to interact with clients, and how to continue the important job of business development-- while also delivering client solutions. Whether you run a firm or are part of the firm, these tips can help. Shift your mindset. Most CPAs have likely transitioned to a home office and are not seeing clients face-to-face, as you typically would, especially at this time of year. Lots of issues are vying for your clients' attention. Think through, how can you be of service to your clients and establish yourself as a trusted advisor to them? Part of your job is to cut through the clutter, to connect with them, and help them prioritize what’s most important to their business and their team right now. If you can home in on that,...
Video: 3 Fresh Strategies for Selling Through Disruption
The arrival of COVID-19 changed the way we live, work, and sell. My friend and fellow sales expert Tibor Shanto launched a video series to share insights on how to positively approach the times we are in. I was pleased to be his guest on a recent episode. In our discussion, I offered three actionable strategies for selling through COVID-19—and beyond. All of them revolve around being agile, which of course is one of the five dimensions of being a Modern Seller. Here are some highlights, and you can watch the full, 8-minute video below. First, if you’re agile, you’re a fluid thinker. You adapt quickly to ambiguity. You probably love the fast pace of change. When you’re agile, you’re seeing ahead of the curve, adapting and navigating through what’s next. Agility is always an integral skill in sellers and leaders, but it’s especially essential during disruption. We have to not only be nimble in our decision...
From Survive to Thrive: Guide to Maintaining Agility in Chaos
It’s been about a month since the world turned upside down with COVID-19, and it has created so many unknowns for us personally and in our businesses. I also believe there’s huge opportunity in moments of disruption. Opportunity to reevaluate and reset. Opportunity to serve others. Opportunity to come out even stronger on the other side. As I look forward, there’s one thing that’s for certain. There’s never been a more important time to maintain agility. Agility will help you to keep optimism and harness opportunity in uncertainty. All things that your teams need in these moments from you as a leader. All things that...
Strategic Relationships and Social Capital in Times of Crisis
The disruption caused by the coronavirus is profound and far reaching. Effects may vary a bit by industry or location. But one thing we’re all experiencing together is the challenge --and opportunity-- of staying connected. It is a reminder that we’re all connected and that our relationships matter even more. To thrive in sales uncertainty and build relationships of lasting value, one tool in your toolkit stands out above the rest. Social capital. Social capital is the collective value of our relationships, and the win-win results we create through them. It may not be on your company’s P&L statements, but it is one of the most important things we can be investing in, especially right now. When we focus on our social capital strategically and the relationships that we're building, it serves us well in times of uncertainty. When we invest in social capital and build relationships, we have an opportunity...
Podcast: Sales Reinvented featuring Amy Franko
How to Prioritize High-Value Activities If you learn to define and prioritize high-value activities you will become a more productive sales professional. If you know what activities hold the highest value and act on those over lower-value activities you set yourself up for success. We have finite reserves—you get to choose where you invest your time, energy, motivation and discipline. Amy Franko joins host Paul Watts in this episode of Sales Reinvented to chat about how she prioritizes her time to be successful in sales. Listen in to learn: What is productivity? What makes us unproductive Improving productivity Attributes of a great salesperson Productivity Tools and tips Top 3 dos and top 3 don’ts Learn more about Sales Reinvented and how to subscribe here.
Build Your Sales Territory Like a Supply Chain
What I’m sharing in today’s blog is an article I originally published in Top Sales Magazine, about supply-chain thinking from The Modern Seller. Supply-chain thinking can provide the structure and agility we need, especially when things around us are uncertain. I’ve added some additional ideas you can apply today, and into the future. To borrow a phrase from Oprah, here’s “what I know for sure”— our prospects and clients are looking to us for ideas, solutions, and partnership. They’re looking for the certainty that we are the right choice to partner with them, no matter what might be happening out there. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Build Your Territory Like a...
Vanilla Soft International Women’s Month Podcast with Amy Franko
Always Bet on Yourself March is dedicated to women in history, and March 8 was #iwd2020. Vanilla Soft, a sales engagement software company, is celebrating women in sales all month long. As Darryl Praill, Vanilla Soft's CMO, says, "Women in sales are so much more than a month or a day. They're a force to be reckoned with. A rising tide lifts all boats. So, if this is the case, how come women are so under-represented in our sales teams and in our leadership ranks?" How can those women who are just starting their sales career, or who are a few years into it, be encouraged and mentored to achieve all that they are capable of? I don't have all of the answers but we at VanillaSoft do know one thing — people learn from the mistakes and the wisdom acquired by those who have gone before of them. So Vanilla Soft's #sales evangelist Ashleigh Early, set out to interview the most prolific, most amazing women she could...
One Word to Start a New Decade
I once heard someone say that “individual days may feel long, but the years, they fly by.” How true that is! A new decade is this big, blank canvas where you can dream up the next 10 years. What will that look like for you, professionally and personally? What are the goals and legacy you’d like to be actively creating?
In my sales and leadership keynotes I talk about the need in today’s world to design your legacy looking forward instead of looking back. From exactly where you are today, you can choose to be an active creator of your life and legacy. That’s what I’ve come to look forward to about my annual One Word Tradition. Creating the anchor point I want to live by for the next 365 days.
In this week’s post, I share my One Word for 2020. Have you participated in the One Word tradition? If so, I’d love to hear your word and reasons behind it.
Podcast: The Inquisitor Podcast featuring Amy Franko
Do You Make The Cut As A Modern Seller? The Inquisitor podcast is produced by salespeople for salespeople for the ambitiously lazy sales professional. Delivering practical, real-world sales tips and advice to help you sell more, sell more often, sell to more people and sell for more money you will learn about the best practices in direct sales, sales management, selling to the C-suite, sales recruitment & predictive hiring in sales, how to prevent wrong hires, buyer-seller-manager sales psychology, enterprise selling, channel sales and channel sales management. Amy Franko spoke with host Marcus Cauchi about The Modern Seller. She defines and explains each in detail. We investigate why lacking any of these qualities results in a weak pipeline full of maybes and call me backs. We delve into why 83% of first meetings worldwide never result in a second meeting. Read that again. Most of the 4 in 5 of first...
The 10 Most Popular Sales Blog Posts of 2019
2019 is almost a wrap. This has been an eventful year that’s included my recognition among the LinkedIn Top Voices in Sales and Top Sales World’s Top 50 Sales Blogs. Those awards are especially meaningful, because one of my goals is to continually grow thought leadership resources for the sales community, to help you ignite your sales and make a leadership impact.
From my dozens of posts in 2019, here’s a recap of the sales blog content that most captured your attention and can provide important lessons you can carry with you into 2020.
I look forward to sharing more insights with you in the new year. Happy Holidays, and here’s to your continued success as a modern seller!
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