Episode 49: Mark Ripley

Summary: 
This week on the Sales Development Podcast, David welcomes Mark Ridley to the show. Mark is the founding director and partner of Transform Performance International, and co-author of the book, The Salesperson’s Secret Code. Listen as Mark shares more about his book, their journey on finding the secret code, and the 5 core destination beliefs of salespeople.
 
3 Key Points:

1. Salespeople are not just transmitters. Good ones know there needs to be a dialogue.
2. Look after your network and there will come a time that your network will look after you.
3. Self-awareness is a trait for successful people.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 00:00 – Subscribe to our show on YouTube and review us on iTunes
• 01:01 – David introduces Mark to the show
• 01:23 – Mark’s book, The Salesperson’s Secret Code, has launched
• 01:56 – Mark has been in sales his entire career
  • 02:31 – He talks about beliefs, values, and ethics around sales
  • 03:26 – He realized a lot of beliefs in old selling don’t apply anymore
• 03:56 – Transform Performance International started in 1999 when Mark and his partners decided to create a business around sales and technology
  • 05:44 – “The world of sales hasn’t stopped evolving”
  • 05:55 – Mark now looks at where marketing and sales are interrelated
• 06:30 – A new generation of sales people have come up because of automation
• 07:41 – What Mark realized from their research is that salespeople who recognize they are part of a larger collaborative unit cannot be the end to end point for the customer
• 09:25 – “The customers have changed as well”
• 10:10 – “Forge relationships within your own organizations”
• 10:48 – Mark tells the story on how they found the secret code
  • 11:05 – Like many businesses, they’ve been adept at delivering skills and knowledge-based development
  • 11:35 – The day came for sophisticated CRM systems
  • 12:28 – It’s not about skill, but something to do with behavior
  • 12:42 – If you don’t believe in using CRMs, it will manifest
  • 12:59 – Mark and his partners asked to interview salespeople from different companies
  • 13:54 – They interviewed each person between 1.5-2 hours using clean questioning
  • 14:31 – They transcribed and analyzed a thousand interviews to know the secret code
• 15:07 – Ethics come from holding certain beliefs
• 16:16 – What Mark got from the interviews was a pattern of beliefs
  • 16:31 – The 5 core destination beliefs
    • Fulfillment
    • Accountability
    • Resilience
    • Influence
    • Communication

○      19:59 – The top 5% of salespeople have an optimal balance between fear of failure and being better than they already are

• 22:20 – Be careful in hiring! Recognize people who are afraid to fail too
• 24:11 – Lower performers talked about influencing
  • 24:48 – “Influence is about flexibility”
• 25:59 – The need to communicate is another thing that came up in the interviews
  • 27:03 – “It’s not always about simply transmitting. It’s about being able to create a dialogue”
  • 27:28 – Communication is a continuous dialogue
• 29:47 – The network is all important
  • 30:49 – Make the time to look after your network
  • 31:35 – Be mindful of the appropriate behavior for the situation you’re in
  • 32:07 – Successful people are those who are self-aware
    • 33:09 – Ask yourself important questions
• 35:11 – Robert Cialdini’s book, Influence, also talks about the behavior of influence
• 37:31 – Mark talks about trying to box the careers of some of the best people in the planet
  • 38:26 – The humility in sales
• 40:31 – Don’t forget to check out The Salesperson’s Secret Code
• 40:39 – Connect with Mark on Salespersons-Secret-Code.com, Transform Performance International, and onLinkedIn
• 43:20 – Subscribe to our show on YouTube and review us on iTunes
• 43:27 – Contact us to discuss your sales development needs

 
Resources Mentioned:

• Transform Performance International – Mark’s company
• The Salesperson’s Secret Code – The book Mark co-authored
• Influence – Robert Cialdini’s book Mark and David mentioned