The Brandon Bornancin Show

Imagine with me for a minute, it's the end of your month or quarter and so you want to make sure you give it your all so you tell your sales team to come in Saturday and Sunday. Have you ever done that? I know I have but it is the right thing to do? In this episode, Gabe Larsen, Head of InsideSales Labs discusses research on the closing deals on the weekend compared to weekdays.

In This Episode You'll Learn:

• The win rate is 73% higher on weekdays than weekends
• Deal size on weekdays is 83% higher than it is on weekends.
• Tuesday is the best day to close a deal

Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

• LinkedIn Post
• The Sales Acceleration Group
• Gabe Larsen Facebook

Everybody does sales training but not everybody does improv but maybe they should. Robert M. Peterson is a professor of sales at the University of Northern Illinois and he has used improv as an effective method to training his students to become experts in sales. In this episode, Dr Peterson discusses improv and gives real tips on how companies can use this method to improve sales.

In this emerging era of virtual selling, you can pursue strategies that previously would have been cost prohibitive. You can open up markets that would have proved elusive. You can run experiments that would have been expensive or difficult to run. All this is according to the best-selling book, Next Era Selling, co-authored by Britton Manasco. Britton visits the Playmaker podcast and discusses some of the key strategies outlined in his book that large organizations are executing on to move into the next era of selling.

In This Episode You'll Learn:

• How to get front office fusion
• What separates the outside from the inside
• The state of specialization

Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

• 110: Unraveling the Sales Technology Stack w/Lauren Chacon @ConstantContact, Deron Frye @PGi, & Jeff Skousen @Domo
• 14: Using Sales Operations to Drive Growth and Productivity w/Leaders from Apttus, New Relic, Xactly, and Splunk
• 107: How to Grow a Successful Field Sales Team w/Steve Benson @BadgerMapping

We might have had a little fight, Koka and I. Fight might be too strong of a word, a gentleman's disagreement is probably a better term. I started the debate with a post poking the bear declaring that social selling was dead. I felt my argument had some merit. I debated that the word social selling is confusing and the data is lacking to prove the worth of social selling. Koka saw the article and wrote a strong rebuttal and made some strong points. Koka and I started to speak offline and we decided we'd continue the conversation on the #Playmaker podcast. Thankfully, Koka and I came to terms and realized we have more in common than we thought. It's all captured here, check it out.

In This Episode You'll Learn:

• How can you think about the value of social selling
• How should marketing and sales work together to deliver social selling
• What is the future of social selling

Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

• 103: The Number One Thing That Drives Results With Social w/Cameron Brain @EveryoneSocial
• 97: Is Social Selling Dead?
• 90: LinkedIn the Sandler Way w/Mike Montague @SandlerTraining

Wow, there is a lot of hype around AI? Am I right or am I wrong? I'm afraid I'm right. But, there is good reason for it. In 2016, there were 40 acquisitions of companies working to advance artificial intelligence1 and the AI market was worth $644 million2. In 2017, the market value of AI is expected to double and then grow exponentially until it reaches $38.6 billion less than ten years from now3. Inc. Magazine called 20174 the “year of AI” and most every major brand has begun fighting to enter the space. Consumer-driven companies like Google have led the charge with over 11 acquisitions in the AI category to date while business-driven companies like Salesforce, who joined the race late, have quickly begun catching up by acquiring two AI based companies in the last year[5]. AI is here to stay and it’s not just changing the market, it’s shaping the way we live and work.

In this episode, Gabe Larsen, Director of InsideSales Labs discusses the InsideSales.com research report called the State of AI. The report examines trends and perceptions of the US regarding this disruptive technology.

In This Episode You'll Learn:

• Consumers and AI: It’s Only the Beginning
• It Comes Down to Trust: Trepidation Around AI
• Our AI Future: Peering into the Crystal Ball

Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

• LinkedIn Post
• The State of AI Study
• The Sales Acceleration Group
• Gabe Larsen Facebook