Episode 258: Sara Murray – Prospecting on Purpose: Mastering Active Listening and Genuine Connection in Sales

Bob Woods  00:00

A sales coach, author, speaker and podcast host, Sara Murray joins us today in the Social Sales Link Virtual Studios for this Episode of Making Sales Social. So, Sara is a true multi-hyphenate. Besides everything I just mentioned, she’s also an advisor and consultant. She works with sales teams and sales leaders to unlock the untapped potential in their prospecting and business development efforts. She focuses on the hospitality construction, real estate design and technology industries, and empowers professionals via virtual and in-person workshops. 

Welcome back to in-person workshops, everyone to enhance their communication skills, approach prospecting creatively and effectively affect business needs rather than just simply push products a min to that Sara is also a fellow podcaster with prospecting on purpose, which provides a platform for discussions on prospecting sales, business strategies and mindset. Pretty much like what we do here and making sales social, which is why I’m very happy to welcome Sara to our show today. How are you doing today, Sara? 

Sara Murray  01:16

I’m excellent. Bob, thank you so much for having me. 

Bob Woods  01:20

It’s great to have you here really looking forward to this. Looking forward to this conversation and episode. So our first traditional question we toss it, anyone and everyone who’s willing to answer it, especially when they’re on the podcast is:What does making sales social mean to you? 

Sara Murray  01:39

Well, I love this question. And I think that this is why we get along with Bob is, I think we have similar mindsets and thought processes when it comes to sales. And my approach to sales has always been really to find that human connection piece first. And this can be with anyone, someone that we know is an ideal prospect or just someone you’re sitting next to on a plane, or waiting in line at Starbucks. 

So if we can prioritize that human connection piece, and essentially being social and interested in others than the business side of it, and the sales side of it just becomes more seamless, more organic, it starts us off on a solid footing. And if we can really prioritize the relationship, the sales follow. So making sales social, that’s what that really means to me. And it’s my approach, it’s been the key to my success. And so I’m grateful that you asked that question. 

Bob Woods  02:29

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, if goodness knows, I’ve dealt with some salespeople in the past, where you can tell it’s just a transaction, and they just, it just doesn’t matter to them, who you are or anything like that. And while obviously, I do think that there are certain lines that shouldn’t be crossed when it comes to making sales social. But, you know, there is a lot that can be developed there.

 Sara Murray  02:52

I agree. And I think there still is a transaction piece to it, but instead of transacting with my product, you know, I don’t care about anything else, unless you buy my product. It’s, “Hey, how can I put deposits in your emotional bank account?” “How can I establish relationship equity?” And so it’s transactional, but it’s coming from a place of sincerity, authenticity, genuine like it has to be coming from a selfless place in a lot of ways.

Bob Woods  03:25

Yeah, that’s an excellent way to put that I’d love that I couldn’t have said it better myself, because I don’t think I would have said it myself quite like that. So very good. Very good. So I’m prospecting on purpose, the title of your podcast. I love that phrase. Especially because in my little slightly devious mind, I always go to opposites. So I think, well, you know, it’s better than prospecting by mistake. But as I was typing that sentence, it’s interesting because I started thinking to myself, well, you know, when people aren’t prospecting on purpose, they might actually be prospecting by mistake, right? 

Sara Murray  04:02

Absolutely. And I think it’s a very common thing that we see if you’re doing the actions, but it’s really just spinning your wheels in a lot of ways. It’s like you’re doing the activities that you think you should be doing, instead of going into every type of interaction with your end destination in mind. So prospecting on purpose could also be you know, selling with intention or selling with intention selling with a plan. 

And so when I look at prospecting, I think of how we can go into any type of activity with our end goal in mind. So a networking event, for example, you’re going to prospect at a networking event, have some goals ahead of time of what you want to get out of that event? Because that’s going to maximize any type of effort you do?What is your intention? Why are you doing whatever XYZ activity you’re doing? 

And what do you need to do to get to the next step in the sales process or the next step in the relationship? What do you want to get out of whatever business activities you’re doing? And one of my biggest pet peeves is the example of a lunch and learn pre pandemic, you do Lunch and Learn presentations to your clients or your prospects to get them to understand your product. Do you go into that you might spend 600 bucks on lunch and leave without a project without contacts without business cards. 

So it’s kind of like this was years ago where I started thinking, how can we go into any type of interaction with what we need to get out of the next step? And I think what I see sales professionals do is they get into this merry go round of “Okay, someone’s asking me a question, I know the answer, and you think you’re doing a great job,” but you’re not pushing the exchange forward. And so that’s a big part of what I teach, that’s a big part of what’s contributed to my success is having a plan, knowing what you’re doing, and then using the skills required to get it to the next level.

Bob Woods  05:47

So I guess how does one get it to the next level? I mean, what and obviously, there are so many different situations, it’s probably impossible to just say just one thing, but I mean, I guess what is kind of the mindset going into that about getting to the next level, and how does someone actually get that into their mind? 

Sara Murray  06:06

Sure. I mean, I think one of them, this is kind of an overview of staying in the driver’s seat in the sales process, like staying in control, not part of that intentionality there. But if I look at any, any sales, professional listening, think about the different stages of your sales cycle, which decision makers need to be involved? What is the flow of how projects or opportunities cross your desk? Who do you need to get to, to get buy-in from all the different decision makers. 

And then if you can kind of almost chart that out in my workshops, we make a map of the process. And I literally will map it out and say, “Okay, I have an opportunity to lead crosses my desk, what’s the who’s the customer in front of me?” So I used to sell hospitality technology products. So I would get a hotel project. And it might be from a lighting designer. “Okay, well, I know, this is the person I have in front of me, but I need to get to the owner.” 

So what questions can I ask what sales assets can I use? What storytelling can I weave in to trigger that person that B2B contact, I have to get me on a meeting with their decision maker. And so you start to craft “Okay, once I have a meeting with the owner of the hotel, what things am I asking him about?” “What are the different assets he needs?” “What questions can I ping to show that I’m a valuable consultative person,” and then we go to the next stage and the next stage until we have a purchase order in hand, and we deploy the hotel. 

So kind of mapping it out, understanding where the next step is going to help you go into any type of thing, a lunch meeting, a networking event, or a sales meeting, you’re gonna have an end goal in mind. And then when your client tries to take you off course, by asking your questions or talking about the product, you can just answer it, but steer them back to your destination. And I think that the biggest piece that people miss is the prep ahead of time figuring out what the end goal is to keep moving the ball forward. 

Bob Woods  08:05

Yeah, that’s yeah. And I was going to ask about the whole getting off track thing too, because that’s, that’s so easy to do during I mean, I was gonna say a sales meeting. But honestly, during any type of interaction, if you think about even even going back to like a networking event, I mean, I’ve been to networking events, where I’m talking about business, and then five minutes later, I’m talking about, you know, my dogs, and they have dogs and everything else is like, “What do you do at that point,” I mean, you try to get back on track, but it’s like, it just goes off in a totally different direction.

Sara Murray  08:38

Well, and sometimes embracing the dogs helps, because then it gives you that connection piece. So when you reach out for a follow up, “Hey, how’s your dog buddy doing,like let’s do a walk together one day,” you know, you can find other ways to build those types of relationship Foundation. And I call it putting deposits in the emotional bank account, you have all these opportunities to add value, and put deposits in. But when it comes time for work, it’s so natural to say, hey, while you’re on your walks with your dog, like “Hey, who should I talk to?” “So can you do that introduction?” Like it makes it a lot easier to ask for things because you’re contributing those relationship points.

Bob Woods  09:17

Yeah, and that definitely drives things forward. And in a way that I don’t think a lot of people even even think about necessarily, but I mean, yeah, because you’re definitely getting more, more personal there yet. It still is appropriate and everything. Yeah, that’s just that, that’s great. That’s great stuff. So in your experience, what are the key differences between the most and least successful salespeople? And how can managers foster what you call a bucket one mentality in their teams, and then you have this method of categorizing via buckets to so so I definitely think that that would be helpful to go into 

Sara Murray  09:57

Yeah, I think that probably a lot of people were led to this when I say it, but when you’re working with people, whether it’s your colleagues, whether it’s yourself, you know, I always would group people in one of two buckets. So bucket one, people are like the rock stars, they answer their phone, they’re on top of it. They’re in the driver’s seat. They’re easy to get a hold of their customers, no one likes them. 

And then you have your bucket to people that you have to chase. They don’t answer their phone, they get back to you. I mean, I even put a bucket to person to someone who defaults to a No, before they default to a yes, you know, the bucket ones are gonna say yes, first, or at least, I don’t know, but we can figure it out, you know, like the path forward as a team versus that’s not my job. 

You know, we all know the bucket ones in the bucket twos. But there’s kind of this like a hidden bucket, I call it bucket one and a half, where we think we’re in bucket one, but we might be closer to bucket two, and a lot of the ways that you can start differentiating yourself and putting yourself in that Rockstar bucket. I think one of the most important things that we can do as sales professionals is to always ask questions, and then listen to the answer. And I think that that is the biggest piece that will put us in the bucket one, and the questions can be, let’s go back to the Lunch and Learn example. 

All right, you set up this lunch, you got 10 people in the room, you’ve got your presentation that you do. How often are we going around and making everyone introduce themselves? What is your role at the company? Just start asking questions. Hey, before I get into this presentation, would you mind explaining a little bit about your business model so that I can better cater my comments to your needs, like asking questions, the right questions, and then being very active and present and listening. 

That’s what makes the Rockstar salespeople because they can start to peel apart that cater their presentation to their needs. They can listen for opportunities of other, you know, tangential opportunities, other departments, we could talk to other people we can ask for introductions for. So I think the biggest thing is the ability to ask questions, and listen to the answer. And make sure that it’s coming from a place of competence and not ego and arrogance. And that’s really where I think the Rockstar start to really shine and lead the pack.

Bob Woods  12:13

Yeah, so that’s interesting, because I had a quick follow up, pop in mind, but you might have answered it already. I’m just wondering for those people who suspect that they’re in bucket two, and they want to skip that one and a half and go straight to one. This isn’t a question about how to do it, because I think we kind of know how to do it after that answer. But how difficult is it? And what kind of roadblocks might they face in going from from two to one? 

Sara Murray  12:41

No, I think one of the biggest roadblocks is ourselves, we get in our own ways. And I think one of the biggest advantages, if you fear that you’re in bucket two, and you want to get to bucket one, I think taking some time to really sit with yourself and reflect on yourself and maybe prioritize some of the more personal development pieces that you can do. Because I think that where confidence comes from is in liking ourselves and continuing to learn and improve upon ourselves. 

And I’m just gonna guess, Bob, I don’t think that’s a lot of buckets. Two people are listening to your podcast, I think naturally, the people that listen to this podcast are trying to improve themselves in their sales efforts. They’re automatically either in bucket one already or closer to bucket one. But I think if you have maybe a team member who’s not finding ways to open their minds, because usually the bucket. 

Two people don’t realize they’re in bucket two. So find ways to weave in personal development, professional development, maybe demonstrate it as a leader yourself and be a little bit humble and maybe a little more vulnerable and share how you work on your own personal and professional development. But I think giving people that permission is one of the biggest shifts to get you to stay in that bucket one category. 

Bob Woods  14:01

Yeah, that’s great. And then another thing you could do is reformed to this podcast, specifically this episode because honestly, that was a really great explanation and I think that two people who like you said are probably not listening could definitely benefit from hearing. So we talked a little bit about confidence already and about how all of this does build confidence and I think that that’s fairly obvious. Let’s apply that specifically to prospecting and biz dev now so how can individuals increase their confidence specifically channeling towards that area? 

Sara Murray  14:40

Perfect. Yes. I would love to talk about this. It’s my favorite thing to talk about. It really so I feel like one of my biggest strengths in my sales success is the ability to get to the decision maker. I feel confident that I could get to anyone. I know that that sounds dramatic, but I’ve done it enough times that I have the proof points to do it. And one of the things that I think I learned at an early age, fortunately, I would joke, my mom worked for Delta Airlines.And so we would travel a lot as a family and we even sat together. 

Because if you’re familiar with airline employees, you get to travel for free, but you never thought together, it was a family. So as a little kid, I’m always sitting next to grownups. And I was bowled, and I’d say, “Hey, are you going to eat your chips.” And usually, I mean, this back when the airplane served food, time, they were like, so surprised that they would give me their chips and the other half the time, they wouldn’t. And it didn’t matter, because it was just an icebreaker to start a conversation. And so I think, really early on, I learned that nothing bad happens to you, if you ask people. 

And I think what we do, especially when we’re prospecting for business, we’re trying to get to high level decision makers, we are we’re trying to navigate our own organization and get in with the right executives, we put people up here on this pedestal, and we’re all down below, and we’re trying to jump up on the pedestal. And really, what we need to do is not take that person off of the pedestal, but we put ourselves on it with them. And I call this bridging the gap. So the gap we’re bridging is us on the ground versus our prospect on the pedestal. 

And gap is an acronym that stands for genuine connection. That’s step one, authentic relationship building, which is step two, which leads to prized relationships, and then intern prized clients. And you I think what a lot of people do, especially our bucket to folks is they try to jump up on the pedestal, but they skip the steps. And so you’re never going to get up on the pedestal, if you don’t take the time to build a relationship. And so that’s a big part of what I teach. And we can get into each of those steps that’d be helpful.

Bob Woods  16:51

Yeah, definitely. Especially because one thing that I thought of is for the people who, who kind of jump the steps and try to go automatically up to that. I mean, I think it’s probably a little soul crushing for them as well, just because, you know, they think that they’re at that level, but when they’re told they’re not by rejection, or whatever that brings them down. And then to the person who is being talked to, it might actually seem a little arrogant, if the person tries to put themselves up, like immediately with what’s got loose with skipping those steps.

Sara Murray  17:29

100%. And I think that everyone, does it, not everyone, I think it’s something that we do, because you can you go near a networking event, you want to meet this person, but you get FaceTime with them, and then you go right to your pitch, it’s like, that’s not how this works, you have to bridge the gap first, put yourself on the pedestal, then and then you could start to ask for business, then you could start to ask for introduction. So I think it’s very clear who’s just trying to skip steps and who’s actually authentically putting themselves on the pedestal with their prospect.

Bob Woods  18:02

Let’s talk about those steps now with a G, A and P once you go through that.

Sara Murray  18:08

So G stands for genuine connection. And I kind of have like three pieces within this step here. The first is listening has to be your number one priority. So think about when you meet someone at a networking event, we keep using that example. So we’ll go with it. You meet someone at a networking event. “Hi, my name is Sara.” “Hi, Bob, nice to meet you.” You know, so often, instead of just listening and being present in that first introduction, we are either thinking about our introduction ahead of time, or we’re vetting them in our head. 

Okay, Bob runs this podcast. Is he someone who is appropriate for me to meet, can he give me business, we’re categorizing people in our heads. And we’re, if we just take the time to listen and be present in that interaction, that’s where so many doors open. Because it gives you that confidence, you’re confident in the fact that you can be present in a conversation that naturally shows through, but that’s where you can start remembering names more efficiently. You know, using people’s names. That’s the most magical piece in the world that helps establish connection. 

If you’re not listening to their name, it really hurts that opportunity to make a quick connection piece. So listening, remembering names. And then my favorite part about this kind of first tier here. I like to use icebreakers. And I think when people hear the term iceberg or they think like cringy team building games, yeah, really like if you’re in line at Starbucks, and you ask someone, “Hey, are you waiting in line?” That’s an icebreaker. So it’s just a way to open a door to a conversation. And so once you get that quick, easy open, that’s when you can go on to the next piece, or you can just ask them for chips.

Sara Murray  19:48

Exactly. That’s nice. Breaker, but nothing bad happens. And I actually category my icebreakers by a mile, medium and spicy, so mild. I’d be like, you know, my might be like, “Wow, like what weather we’re having?” That’s just a mild icebreaker. Where are you originally from just more basic stuff? Medium icebreakers, I would say, are a little bit more personal like, “Hey, how did you meet your spouse?” “Do you have any kids?” “Do you have any vacations coming up?” like just easy little connection points? 

And then this is kind of weird, but my spicy icebreakers I like to use sometimes because they make you really memorable. And usually people are tired of talking about work and business. Sometimes it’s fun to just mix up. So one of my spicy icebreakers that I like to use is, who are three fictional characters who make up your personality? Or who was your childhood celebrity crush, or just little silly things? And I know that you’re probably listening and you’re thinking, why on earth would I ever bring that up in a conversation. 

But what you can do is you can use something like this podcast episode as a buffer. So you get to the networking event, “Hey, I was listening to this podcast on the drive in and the host was asking me, you know, what is the best bird and it was so random, but it kind of got me thinking I really liked hummingbirds.” So you know, it’s kind of silly. But if you can use a buffer to spice icebreaker, it’s just, it’s just a fun way to connect and be memorable and mix it up from the daily monotony of just work.

Bob Woods  21:21

Yeah. 100%. Absolutely.

Sara Murray  21:25

So that’s, that’s kind of, then we trigger into the next step, which is authentic relationship building. And I have kind of two pieces within this step. The first piece I like to call is just being cool. And I know that sounds kind of silly, like when you think you’re cool. It’s not fashionable. It’s not how many LinkedIn followers you have, like, being cool is really just being someone who leaves the other person feeling energized versus drained. That’s a pretty bucket one bucket two differentiator too, right? 

Because when you’re when you get to that networking event, you can absolutely connect over an ice breaker that’s negative. You could say, “Oh, my god, the traffic was such a pain in the but to get here today,” like Yeah, that does establish a connection. But that’s a drag. Nobody wants to work with that. So find the stay positive and be energized, energizing, or at least neutral because nobody wants to work with someone who’s draining their energy. 

Bob Woods  22:21

Yeah, that’s a good point. 

Sara Murray  22:23

Yeah. So be cool, stay positive. And then this is kind of I think the Holy Grail here is, you know, Stephen Covey coined the term, the emotional bank account. And if you’re not sure what that is, it’s basically a series of deposits and withdrawals in someone’s emotional bank account. So just like I said, you could have positive and negative connection points. You can have positive and negative bank account deposits, and ways that I like to phrase this as an acronym called AB, AB. And that stands for always being adding value. 

So anytime you go into a conversation with anyone, you’re thinking, how can I add value to the other person and eat and I think that’s one of the biggest ways to get yourself up on the pedestal is to find ways to add value. Even if you think you don’t have anything you do. And it doesn’t have to cost that much money. And so the emotional bank account, I used to sell to architects and I live in Los Angeles, the largest architecture firm in the world, the largest office in the world is in LA. 

So you can imagine every manufacturer, every rep, every vendor is trying to get into this firm. And I met the librarian. She’s kind of the gatekeeper. She told me about a book. I read the book, and I liked it. So next time, I’m going into a meeting in the office, I had thank you cards in my car. I jotted down some books for my Kindle app. I was running by her desk, and I said, “Hey, I forgot to tell you, I read this book. I loved it.” Here’s a couple more, I think you would like her to open it up. She says, “Oh my gosh, I have book clubs tonight. We’re supposed to bring recommendations, “You just saved me.” 

That one like 32nd piece has made my employers millions and millions of dollars from that 1. 32nd piece of effort. It costs me no money, but I’m adding value every chance I get. And then when it comes time to ask for the favor. It’s a lot easier because you’re pulling from a full bank account basically. And then one of the like, holiest grails of them all really, when it comes to the emotional bank account deposit is what could you do to help that person in their business? And that’s the biggest piece of equity you can do with your clients. 

And so try to think about their business model. Think about what they need to be successful. It doesn’t have to cost money. For example, you know, Bob, I’m gonna leave you a review on your podcast because that’s going to be a bank account deposit for you doesn’t have to find different ways to build up The people that you want in your network, because when it comes time to ask, it’s so much easier to ask because you have a full bank account to ask for them. It would be weird if you didn’t ask basically.

Bob Woods  25:08

Right. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. Well, that’s all excellent. Let’s get to pee now.

Sara Murray  25:14

Yeah. So once you’re there, that’s basically once you’re on the pedestal, once the bank accounts are full, right? You’ve done all these things. Now it’s time that you can ask for things. So we pivot from relationship building activities, to business development activities. So once you’re on the pedestal, you can ask for an introduction, you can ask for a meeting, you can ask for, “Hey, can you include your boss on the next call, I’d love to make sure that they’re looped in to what we’re doing.” When you’re on the call with that person’s boss, your sales champion at your client’s level.

To say, “Hey, Mike’s doing such a great job for us, you should be so proud, then you’re building equity in Mike’s bank account.” So making sure that you’re always adding value. But once you’re on that pedestal, then you can start to ask for business. And then it becomes a feedback loop. Because that person is going to ask you for things like, that’s really how we get repeat business, Snowball sales, and that price relationship, but the relationship has to be prioritized, can’t just be KPIs metrics, skipping the steps and trying to get to the pedestal because you’re gonna fail, or it’s not gonna be as organic or impactful as it could have been? 

Bob Woods  26:18

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So it is that human connection that, you know, while KPIs and all that stuff are important, human connection has got to be on top of that, which actually gets me to my next question, because once upon a time, it was a lot easier to do that. Because, you know, we had a lot of person, a person, you know, sometimes in phone and stuff like that nowadays, not only do we have digital, and we’ve been dealing with digital for a little while now, especially during and now after the pandemic, and we’ve been shifting to that. 

I’m also thinking about AI and about how people are thinking, you know, is that going to take away the human connection by using these tools and things like that? I personally don’t think that that’s the case. But there’s but there’s a lot of conversation about that, in the sales world and in the business world in general. So what can we do, to either use those or kind of allay those fears, and continue to build those human connections in genuine relationships?

Sara Murray  27:23

Yeah, I think one of the biggest pieces is to keep in mind that AB, AB always be adding value. Because I think if you approach your prospecting from a place of service, how can I add value, continue to add value that’s going to differentiate you from other people trying to build those relationships, too. So if you have a competitor sales professionals using AI to send LinkedIn messages or use AI to send automated email cadences, that’s okay. However, you’re going to be able to differentiate yourself, if you think of “How can I add value?” And one of my clients recently shared this with me, they were going to a trade show. 

And you know, everyone’s sending out the emails, visit our booth, stop by the booth schedule, an appointment deck. And it’s like, “I heard your voice in my head, Sara, and I thought, what can we do differently?” And so the trade show was near Niagara Falls. So he made a one page PDF of things to do in New York City, here, excuse me, not New York City, things to do in New York, near Niagara Falls, he organized a bus, if anyone wanted anyone in the show wanted to join them on their excursion to Niagara Falls, he put restaurants to visit things you can’t miss. And he sent that out instead. 

And he said, “So many people will stop by the booth.” He was Mr. Popular when the event planner came and thanked him. And that is coming from a place of service. He is not the first we want people to come by the booth. But how can you be more creative in your approach? And I think if we just keep finding the ways to come from a place of adding value that’s going to shine through even if we’re using the AI tools or not, that’s going to shine through and that’s where the human element is going to overtake all of the automation and all the competition.

Bob Woods  29:08

Yeah, absolutely could not agree more. Yeah, that’s a great idea, too. I mean, if, you know, I think it’s just gonna come down to being creative and having your voice come through. And it sounds like in this case, they were creative. And their voice did come through because their voice came through, I think just in terms of service, because I’m betting that this company values service tremendously. And it’s just another way for them to do that essentially. Agreed. 

Yeah, that’s great. That’s great. So let’s take a step back a little bit and talk a little bit about fear because even when you’re in that building process first for some people, it is going to be fearful to do so. So how do we overcome that fear especially when it comes to potential clients? contacts, even walking into that first networking meeting, you might not have been doing it for a while, or it’s your first networking meeting ever, or you just hate it, because you’re afraid of it, you know, like that type of thing.

Sara Murray  30:11

100%, I’m so happy to ask this, Bob, because when we’re talking about our pestle, and we’re talking about us on the ground, and we’re trying to get on the pedestal, we need to lay a foundation. And that foundation is confidence and mindset. And the way that I teach that, that piece of it that’s almost like your, your own personal brand, or what is your brand authority, but I think it’s composed of four elements. So the first is your values, if you haven’t taken the time to just sit like Google values list and pick the top five, and identify how you show up in your work. 

Because our values can be different as a spouse, as a parent, as a daughter, or son as a, as a professional. So look at it from a work lens, but look at what do I want my clients to feel when they work with me? What are my core values? And then I think that I have them on a poster, no, I know what they are off the top of my head. 

Because when you approach other people, if you know your values, and you’re paying attention to them, and you kind of start to understand what the other person’s values are, even if you have nothing in common, you can find connection points with your shared values.And I think that’s where I’ve been able to work with a lot of, you know, I was in commercial construction for many years, it can be intimidating, you know, it’s a lot, a lot of money on the line, a lot of egos a lot of..

Bob Woods  31:33

Yes. Ego.

Sara Murray  31:34

So, I was always able to connect with the values and get on the same page. So I think if you haven’t taken the time to sit and just think about how you want your values to be when you show up at work, that’s step one. Step two, is I like to sit and think about things like, what are you passionate about? What lights you up? What could you talk about all day? And that’s not necessarily part of your personal brand. And it gives you some things that you can have in the back of your mind to pull from when you’re trying to find connection points at that networking event. 

So let’s say you love riding your bike, or you’re writing a Christmas movie, or you like sailing, whatever that is, that’s a way to show people who you are without necessarily being vulnerable. It’s just showing what your passions are. So one, identify your values to like, embrace and be proud of your passions. And then the next three and four, I call them core competencies. And usually in business, we think about what are our business core competencies? How are we different from our competitors from our company or organization? 

I like to look at it as “What are your personal core competencies for yourself?” Like, “What are your strengths?” So I’m a strong presenter, I can talk to anyone you know, I identify what are my personal strengths? And then what are my company’s strengths? And those four things come together almost like your little armor, or your right, as you have like, when you’re gonna go approach that pedestal it’s like, “Okay, my name is Sara Murray, I value creativity, intention, professionalism, fun, I love reading, I love meeting new people.” 

And my business does this. And my core competency is this, like, if you kind of have that little script in your mind, you have, you know, the value that you bring to the table, whether the other person knows it or not. And the way that you can show them is to use the steps to get on the pedestal, and now you have the ability to really partner in a collaborative approach. And that I think knowing yourself is what’s going to make you more confident approaching the pedestal.

Bob Woods  33:38

That’s great stuff. That is great stuff. Because, um, you know, when you have a plan, you have a purpose. And that gets into everything that you do, essentially. But I mean, having a plan, I think is, if you know, purposeful. It’s not doing things by mistake, when you have a purpose. And you’re able to plug that plan into it, things are much more likely to happen than if you’re just going in and you just don’t know what the heck you’re doing.

Sara Murray  34:03

Exactly. And I think just taking some of that time to prep. And really, honestly, I think a big part of it is we throw the word authenticity around a lot. And I liked that word. But I think that it’s getting a little diluted and I’m trying to bring it back around. But when I think about if you can identify those four components I just mentioned. When you are confident in who you are, and you like yourself, and you’re authentic in how you show up in your work and your personal life, of course, I have found that when I’m my authentic self, it gives other people permission to be their authentic selves. 

And no matter what level they’re at, I’ve had CEOs that you know, you would never know but now we’ll set it. I’m eating Subway sandwiches with their family, because I was just my authentic self. And sure, that’s what people want to work with. And if you’re your authentic self, it’s gonna shine through and it’s gonna give the other person that permission to just relax. And that’s kind of cool to me too. It’s like you’re just your own skin. And then that’s what’s gonna give the other person their permission to be there themselves, too. Yep. Yep.

Bob Woods  35:12

So before we wrap up here, there’s something that I just thought of when it comes to marketing. And I haven’t forgotten my marketing peeps out there. So don’t worry about that. So if I’m in marketing, I’m listening to all of this. And I’m thinking, this is all fantastic stuff. I love it. How do I help my sales reps with it? 

Sara Murray  35:34

I love that question. Because I think historically, marketing and sales can kind of butt heads. 

Bob Woods  35:38

Absolutely.

Sara Murray  35:39

And personally, I think one of the biggest ways that they can collaborate with each other is I like to always approach things from a business model, and understanding my client’s business model, and then build your messaging and your storytelling in a way where it overcomes objections. And I think, you know, this is maybe a little old school, but I think one of the easiest ways to do that is in our, our assets, like our sales assets, which marketing produces, but instead of, instead of producing a sales asset, that’s all about the features, and you know, widget functionality. That’s important. 

But it’s not as important as how is my product going to help my clients business move forward. And so in a guestroom application, I sold hotel technology, but I’ve collaborated with marketing, and we built a, you know, three page document and said, This is the benefits to the staff, this is the benefits to the guest, this is the benefits to the owner. And we just put our heads together, put together a whole list and then bucketed it into those categories. And then that is how I would approach ownership, it’s a, “Hey, I have this thing that’s gonna make your staff more efficient because of x.” It’s not leading with the product features. 

And I think technology, software, especially, it has an opportunity to speak more to the business human side of it, like how’s it going to make your life easier, how’s it going to improve your life and your business, and that’s where we need to focus on. And I think that’s where sales and marketing can interview customers. I think one of the biggest things when it comes to storytelling and feedback from sales, if you find a story that really supported your business, pass that back to marketing and find ways to weave it in, just like I did with my example of my client who went to a trade show. 

I didn’t have that story until he told me he did it. And then I’m able to share that. And now I think it establishes my expertise more efficiently, because it’s a little customer case study. So making sure that there’s that open feedback loop, we’re talking to everyone. And then we’re always coming from a place of adding value. And speaking to business model, that’s, I think, going to have the marketing and sales teams lit up and more energized to produce the apps that actually help push to the next phase in the business cycle. 

Bob Woods  37:57

Yeah, and actually, and speaking of pushing to that next level, I’m going to bring in social selling really quick and how to do that. And that is to, you know, develop content that people can share along with the introductions, especially if it’s on LinkedIn, about what customers are facing and how things helped out. But then, you know, do it in a way that’s present on social so that people are building credibility, before they even get this whole process started.

Essentially, I mean, that’s what making that’s what part of making sales social. I mentioned it again, but it’s true. It is all about. I mean, that’s, that also generates excellent content that can be shared and can be used by sale. So I just felt the need to insert that really quick, because it’s something that we teach all the time here at social sales link. And that’s a great way to approach it.

Sara Murray  38:51

And it’s a great way to add value through your social selling. So I think you hit the nail on the head.

Bob Woods  38:57

Yeah, thanks. Appreciate it. But yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I mean, you got to be adding value not only in your, in your personal communications, in your personal relationships, but in social in general too. Because if you’re not doing and social, people aren’t going to know that about you that when they talk to you that you are there to add value, you’re not there as a finger stepping stereotypical salesperson who’s just interested in closing the next transaction. And that’s it without anything else.

Sara Murray  39:25

Exactly. And that’s people don’t want that anymore. Everyone’s tired. 

Bob Woods  39:30

Everyone’s tired of it. And yet so many people in sales just don’t realize that yet. I have the LinkedIn direct messages that prove that trust me.

Sara Murray  39:39

Sort of why? And you know, the ones that I respond to are the ones that added value. Like they’re the only ones that I replied to.

Bob Woods  39:47

Well, the ones that I reply to are those except sometimes I’ll say something like, is this really working for you? And guess what, they never reply. So you know, so in other words, it’s not working and they just. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. or AI or automation or something like that. That’s a good point. I never thought about that. That’s actually a good point.

Sara Murray  40:05

I posted that I have one living grandparent leftover who was really close to all my grandparents. And she’s 89 and I just hung out with her. And I asked her “What are the keys to living a long life?” And her answer was quick, “As you know, have a cup of coffee every day, drink on occasion, sleep and when you can, like it was pretty, pretty basic for my 89 year old grandma.” And I posted it and it had a lot of engagement. 

And then somebody commented on it saying something like, Thank you for sharing your grandmother’s sales journey. Okay? And I was like so wanting to comment and be like your AI Did you dirty man, but I did it. Yeah. So obvious to the person who wrote that comment.

Bob Woods  40:45

AI Did you dirty that’s like a T-shirt, I think or something like that. That’s funny. Oh, my God. Yeah, I’m doing it. I’m doing it. I’m trademarking it, and you’ll get 10%. Sir, I probably sounds good. 

Sara Murray  41:00

Okay. Sounds good. 

Bob Woods  41:02

Sounds good. So, I love love those, you know, one thing you can do right now kinds of takeaways from shows like this. So, Sara Murry, if there’s one thing our audience can do right now to improve their sales prospecting through everything that you’ve just discussed? What would that be? And I feel like a drum roll is necessary.

Sara Murray  41:21

I know, because I feel like I have a lot of different things we talked about. I think that the whole I think that active listening is one of the greatest skills that we can work on. And I think we have opportunities all day long to listen actively. And so I would challenge everyone, the next conversation you have, forget anything that’s happening after that conversation and do everything you can to just be very present with the person you’re speaking to. 

And listen to what they’re saying and respond and don’t, because I think we’re all multitasking, we got so much to do, just do your best to be present, because that’s gonna leave the other person with a feeling of genuine connection. And that’s what’s gonna continue to build. And it’s an easy thing to practice. Every time we talk to someone, cut out all the noise and just be present with who you’re speaking to.

Bob Woods  42:10

Excellent, excellent way to ramp up. So if our listeners want to get in touch with you, find out more about what you do and how you can help them. How would they do that? 

Sara Murray  42:21

Sure. Well, I’m happy to connect on LinkedIn, that’s the easiest way to find me, Sara Murry. My website, Sara Murry, quite a common name. But I did get the URL. So it’s Sara Marie. There is S-A-R-A M-U-R-R-A-Y. And then I have a great podcast called prospecting on purpose. It’s available everywhere you listen to podcasts, and I’m pretty easy to get in touch with. So please reach out. I’m happy to support you.

Bob Woods  42:45

So you the listener, your homework is to stay on this platform, because I’m sure that we’re both on the exact same platforms everywhere. Your next task is to search prospecting on purpose and catch one of Sara’s episodes because I know that they will be worth it. So Sara Murray, multi-hyphenate when it comes to sales, prospecting and coaching, thank you for joining us today. Really, really appreciate your insights.

Sara Murray  43:11

Thank you for having me on the show. It is a real honor, Bob.

Bob Woods  43:15

Oh, thank you very much. I appreciate that. And thank you for streaming this episode of making sales social. So remember when you’re out and about this week, be sure to make your sales social, and climb up that pedestal too. Thanks everybody. Bye bye.