The Sales Influencer Series Presents: Joe Gianni

Welcome to Episode 36 of the Sales Influencer Series, a podcast featuring the brightest minds in B2B sales and marketing.

Welcome back. In today's episode, we welcome Joe Gianni, the Founder and CEO of 2logical. Joe has developed a unique, belief-based training approach to sales motivaton. For over two decades, 2logical has helped business leaders in Fortune 500 companies remove the obstacles that limit their ability to create results and lead their organization to the next level.

In this interview with Ambition Sales Operations Director Dan Nice, Joe discusses the concept of motivational intelligence and key strategies sales managers and reps themselves can use to maintain motivation through the day-to-day sales grind.

Ep. 36: The Keys to Sustainable Sales Motivation

Interview Topics

Introductions. 0:00 - 5:20.

Joe is the President & CEO at 2logicial, a sales development and training company that has pioneered the concept of 'motivational intelligence' in the workplace. Joe created the 'motivational intelligence' philosophy to address an area of business management (and sales management in particular) that he saw being underserved in the workplace.

Most organizatons place 98% of the training focus on skills and process - Joe's company seeks to apply the same level of attention and rigor to training mechanisms that give sales reps the right mentality to reach their full potential.

Teaching Growth Mindset. 5:20 - 13:15

People have to develop the mindset that they can master anything they need to in order to become a peak performer. The key is having the belief and conviction that they can master the skill set.

Many people enter the adult workforce with a real mismatch. American education and family structures tend to try to box you in as you enter your professional career. Elite sales professionals march to the beat of a different drum. They apply insights and awareness from different life experiences into a meta-understanding of themselves and the world.

The problem is that people tend to give up early in the developmental journey due to frustration. Which is why, during the development process, 2logical constantly applies cognitive dissonance to drill home the willingness to challenge their own belief system. The other key is an 'Act As If' mentality. You cannot become greater than what you first give yourself permission to be.

Teaching Self Accountability. 13:15 - 21:37

Another simple behavioral driver is helping people understand that, in their sales development process, success is not going to be a random event. That success as a salesperson and in life comes down to cause and effect.

Sales professionals must understand early on that cause-and-effect is what drives success - and that to become the best, they must ruthlessly pursue self-assessment, improvement, and ongoing iteration.

The other key thing is to teach salespeople to understand that there's no such thing as good or bad feedback. Feedback just is. It should be taken dispassionately, whether it's praise or criticism, and fully digested. The key is to avoid self-judgment and judgment of other people.

How Great Sales Managers Communicate. 21:37 - 26:15

Managers communicate at two levels, the action level and the mindset level. If you wrote down 3 words, the first word being 'results,' that's the first thing the manager is trying to do, which is help the rep get results. Underneath 'results,' write 'actions.' The results we get every day flow from the actions we take everyday. If there's a mismatch, we get mediocre results.

Most training takes place at the 'action' level. But what we all know from experience is that people will not complete mastery of a fundamental skill until they believe they are worth of it. So if you draw a line to the left of 'actions,' then write 'managers,' since someone who communicates well at the action level qualifies as a great manager.

Underneath 'actions,' write 'beliefs.' To the left, write 'leaders.' Great leaders are what we need more of in business. Great leaders communicate at the 'belief' level as well as the 'action' level. They have a profound impact on the organization because they speak to reps at a different, deeper level.

Hiring for Experience versus Belief. 26:15 - 32:00

Most people recruit for experience. But anyone can fill out a resume and market themselves well. So the problem is that, when a manager only recruits at that level, they fail to dissect whether the person they're hiring has enough motivational intelligence within them to be successful.

We advocate conducting unorthodox interviews that ask questions going to motivational intelligence - which people don't anticipate. Example: what was a time you were really proud of a childhood accomplishment. The ability of the individual to formulate an answer that shows they envision themselves as successful is what gives indication as to their motivational intelligence.

The next level of sequential questions is to ask for a time where the person came up short. People with high motivational intelligence will be able to speak to that, then follow up with what they learned. Their ability to answer these questions truthfully and confidently will demonstrate a high aptitude for sales.

Joe's Final Keys to Success. 32:00 - 36:25

Constantly asking, what are you looking to accomplish? In your career? In life? It's in the 'want to' that people discover the 'how to'. Great managers will speak and toggle back-and-forth from the tactical to the belief-level. Namely, via reminders of their greatness, challenges to realize their full potential, and shared visions of their near-term success and long-term ceiling.

Everyone has one thing in common - we all have dreams. Joe watched his childhood friend Boomer Esiason develop his mental awareness and thinking, then his fundamental skills - in that order. What followed was a Hall of Fame NFL career. Everyone of us has the potential to achieve what we want, but we first must develop the right mindset to master those fundamental skill sets.

Where to Follow Joe: 36:25 - 36 :53

Find Joe on LinkedIn and follow 2Logical on Twitter. Don't forget to check out Joe's brand-new book, entitled Swagger: The Way of the Sway to Sales and Life Success, available for purchase online.

Last but not least, visit the 2logicial website to get in contact about joining the ranks of Pfizer, General Electric, and Blue Cross Blue Shield by bringing Joe's motivational intelligence philosophy to your sales organization.

The Sales Influencer Series Library

To check out further episodes and see why CloserIQ has ranked the Sales Influencer Series as one of the very best sales podcasts of 2016, just click on the links below.

Episode 1. John Barrows

Episode 2. Lori Richardson

Episode 3. Max Altschuler

Episode 4. Matt Heinz

Episode 5. Mark Leslie

Episode 6. Kyle Porter

Episode 7. Jon Bradford

Episode 8. Eks Anderson

Episode 9. Matt Hottle

Episode 10. Heather Morgan

Episode 11. Ilan Ferdman

Episode 12. Ryan Jenkins