This week's episode is entitled "A Mind For Sales: Sales Book Club with Mark Hunter" and our guest is Mark Hunter, one of the best voices in B2B sales today. Mark is the author of numerous books including the brand new book, A Mind for Sales.

These are uncertain times.  A lot of prospects are slowing down on things.  Mark is talking to sales leaders all day long trying to figure out how to keep their team motivated and how to keep selling, how to keep selling with empathy.

I ask Mark what general advice he's giving based on what he's seeing in the field?

Look at the long picture. Look at the long game. Don't try to play the short game, play the long game. We're going to get through this. We're going to get through this. I'm very optimistic.

The piece that I'm saying right now, short term, is you need to be listening to everybody's backstory. Everybody's got a backstory, a personal backstory and a professional backstory and you got to take a couple minutes and listen to that. Listen to it with empathy because you know what?

You've got a back story. What's happened so far to you and how are you responding to it? And if we demonstrate that, it's amazing how we create a much better connection. There's a lot of business being done out there, a lot of business, a lot of opportunities, but you just have to take the time to listen, and listen more intently.

And that's advice that you could give at any time. You could've given it three months ago. You can give it six months from now-- Use your active listening skills and understand where someone's coming from. I've heard pros and cons of people saying, giving the what's keeping you up at night question and making questions too broad.

How do you exercise active listening? How do you let your prospect share while still maintaining control and direction of the conversation?

Mark, in his book talks about minefields and the mind traps, M-I-N-D traps.  I ask him to talk about the things many sellers face when they have good intentions. They develop their systems, they do some of the things he's talking about, but then they start to execute and they lose. Seeing they lose momentum, they lose confidence. I ask, what are some of those common minefields of mind traps and how do you get around those? 

This and a lot more...

Listen in now or read the full transcript on our blog starting Monday, 4/20.  

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Sales Pipeline Radio is sponsored and produced by Heinz Marketing on the Funnel Radio Channel.  I interview the best and brightest minds in sales and Marketing.  If you would like to be a guest on Sales Pipeline Radio send an email to Sheena.