[Legacy post: Small Business Talent] As self-employed professionals, we need to develop strong selling skills. While content marketing and social media tools have their place in the sales process, our success ultimately comes down to our ability to close the sale.
My guest on the podcast today is Thomas Ellis, a well-respected B2B sales leader and educator. Thomas has 20+ years of hands-on experience in coaching, consulting, developing sales teams, and helping small business owners and solo entrepreneurs to increase their sales.
Before launching his sales training and consulting firm in 2010, Thomas spent many years in the highly competitive telecommunications industry as a B2B sales leader with major companies including Motorola, Nextel and Sprint.
Thomas held a number of Sales Manager and Director of Sales positions. One of many highlights in his sales career was developing the first Corporate Account and Government sales teams in the Baltimore Washington area which led the nation in sales results.
Over the years, Thomas realized that in order for entrepreneurs and sales professionals to achieve lasting success they must first master the crucial fundamentals of business-to-business sales. Based on that insight, Thomas recently wrote and published his first book: How to Close More Sales, Today, Tomorrow and Forever.
On the podcast today, Thomas will discuss his new book — and how you can take your sales results to the next level. Scroll down to the Podcast Player now and listen-in!
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Plan for Success: Tim Berry on Growing Your Small Business
[Legacy post: Small Business Talent] What would you like to accomplish this year? Just as important, how will you get there? My guest on today’s podcast is Tim Berry — a world-class expert on business planning and he’s here to help.
What do other top experts think about Tim and his work? Well, Guy Kawasaki made Tim his business plan expert in How to Write a Business Plan. Pamela Slim, author of Escape From Cubicle Nation, calls Tim the Obi-wan Kenobe of business planning. As if that weren’t enough, Tim is also the business planning coach at Entrepreneur.com.
Tim is the author of The Plan-as-you-go Business Plan and other books on planning published by Harcourt Brace, McGraw-Hill, and Dow Jones-Irwin. He’s the principal author of Business Plan Pro. He’s also co-author of 3 Weeks to Startup, published in 2008 by Entrepreneur Press; and author of Sales and Market Forecasting for Entrepreneurs, published in 2010 by Business Expert Press, and Hurdle: the Book on Business Planning.
Lastly, Tim is founder and chairman of Palo Alto Software, founder of Bplans.com, and co-founder of Borland International. (By the way, he built Palo Alto Software from zero to 40 employees, multimillion dollar sales, no debt, and 70% market share without any outside investment.)
Bottom-line: Tim is a seasoned entrepreneur and a true expert in the field of business planning. As you look forward to creating a successful 2014, you’ll benefit from the practical wisdom and cutting-edge resources that he shares with you today. (Scroll down to the Podcast Player and listen now!)
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