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  2. Systems Thinking, Scientific Method and Ethics in Sales with Guest Liston Witherill - 232

Systems Thinking, Scientific Method and Ethics in Sales with Guest Liston Witherill - 232

Dec 29, 2020

In this episode, Mike talks to Liston Witherill. Liston is the Author of Serve Don’t Sell, the Chief of Sales Insights at Serve Don’t Sell and is the host of The Modern Sales Podcast. 

Questions Answered:

  • What is the connection between environmental science and sales?
  • Why do sales folks struggle with systems thinking concepts?
  • Do you believe people struggle with practice?
  • Why is it important to discuss ethics in sales?
  • What challenges our ethics when it comes to sales?
  • How can we create better alignment between business and personal ethics?

Key Takeaways:

  • Environmental Science and Sales both need systems thinking
  • What are the variables and factors that influence how the system works?
  • How can we picture our business as a system that has inputs and outputs?
  • The only way to make sales a science is to have really large data points and the reality is, that is tough to get.
  • We can apply the scientific method to sales - hypothesis, test, ask questions, isolate for certain variables.
  • Science is about finding cause and effect. You must have a methodical approach and some repetition.
  • People don’t know how or what to practice or what practice would even look like.
  • Not having a process contributes to how a discovery call goes.
  • Write out questions.
  • The value of practice is it frees you up to be in the moment to ask really good follow-up questions.
  • If you don’t have your team present in the same way, there is no way to optimize the process.
  • We can’t pinpoint what causes success or failure when there is too much variability.
  • It is important to sell ethically if you want to sustain being effective at sales and live in a way that is compatible with your values.
  • It is important because the bottom line is, it is the right thing to do.
  • Serve Don’t Sell - sometimes it means to give advice that’s counter to my own personal incentive.
  • We need to understand what our boundaries are and then we need to honor them once we have reached them.
  • Challenges to ethics - loss aversion, mindset and faith.
  • If you have a bigger pipeline and you have more financial security, then it’s going to be a lot easier to honor your ethics.
  • Have a clear understanding of what values your company has that you don’t want to honor. What you have control over always is your behavior.

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