Jeffrey Mard

The question is flawed. You can’t start at sales without understanding what you were selling. The question is backwards. If you don’t do the work (i.e. marketing), you simply… can’t sell.

One of the best ways to gain TRUE audience insights is to have your audience interview one another. Here's how it works: - You find two people from the same audience cohort - You provide one person the questions and you ask them to interview the other person. - KEY: you are NOT involved in the interview. - You make sure they comfortable, in their element and you just role tape... You'll see the level of honesty & transparency far exceeds anything you might get in a traditional interview situation. And the insights often outperform what you'll get using conventional methods.

Imagine you're writing music. Make it easy to consume content. Avoid long sentences. Don't repeat. Introduce patterns. And when it matters most, you might write a long sentence to introduce something they will enjoy. Find value in. Also, break up your paragraphs. Make it pleasant to view. Finally, smile when you write. You feel that? It works. 🤜🏼

Here's a few elements to also consider: - Everyone is busy. And as calls run into one another, it's often hard to remember what someone says, does, asks. Don't launch right into business. Open up the conversation about something unrelated to work. Connect w/them on a human level. 🧐 - Watch the clock. Leave ample time for Q&A. When possible, end the convo early. ⏰ - Teach. Make sure that everyone comes out of the conversation with something "learned." If you do not add value to the relationship, you'll have a tough time scoring the next discussion. 🎓 - Invest in the relationship. Even if it's not the time to do business, explain when it might be or who might be able to help your prospect. They'll remember the trust-bank investment. 💰

Keep your story, simple clear and only ask for one action to happen. The most important action for both you and the prospect. HINT: It may not be a meeting with you. Often times, the best stories have "pass-along value." And when your story reaches the right person, they come to you.

Lean into their business. Here's a simple approach: - Show up to their earnings release, listen, learn & take notes. Pick out the ways you can help solve the pain points expressed by senior leadership. - Leverage AI by ingesting the presentation + speaker notes to have it pull out key thematics. And if you're sharp, write some prompts to help. - Don't pretend to know how to solve the customer's pain point. But be present, be knowledgable & be prepared to meet them where they are with REAL solutions. Here's a link to the NASDAQ earnings release calendar: https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/earnings.