Episode 10: Anthony Iannarino: Eat Your Competitor’s Lunch

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In this episode of The Manage Your Message Podcast, host Jim Karrh sits down with Anthony Iannarino. Anthony is a highly respected international speaker, bestselling author, entrepreneur, and sales leader. He is best known for his work at “The Sales Blog”, which has helped him gain recognition as a top thought leader in sales strategy. He is also the designer of Level 4 Value Creation™ and Building Consensus, methodologies that help sales organizations achieve transformational, breakthrough results.

Jim and Anthony begin the episode with the major misconceptions about sales and sales people. Anthony quotes Peter Drucker who said, “The purpose of a business is to create a customer.” Drucker also famously said that any business has two major functions: innovation and marketing. Businesses must create value and acquire customers. The sales industry exists because you need to have people who can explain the value of what you are offering. Businesses are sales organizations, embracing that reality leads to the growth of your company.

Jim brings up a topic from Anthony’s first book, Discipline. The discussion of discipline leads Anthony to discuss the need to be a person who is worth buying from. Anthony says that your mindset is the most important thing, as it serves as a multiplier to your skill set and tool kit. Jim points out that there are many things an organization can learn from sales–primarily, helping people get the result that they couldn’t get without you.

Jim and Anthony briefly discuss content marketing. Anthony reaffirms that he is a content marketer and not a “social seller” (stating: “The nail is in the coffin of social selling”). Anthony says results show the telephone to be the most powerful tool for growing a company. Jim points out that many companies short cut the preparation needed for effective sales interactions. Jim suggests a balanced approach that one needs to take when communicating the message of the company.

Jim brings up the topic of productivity and time allocation as Anthony is a super productive author, as well as a business owner and family man. Balancing those roles, according to Anthony, requires ruthless prioritization. He recommends professionals schedule a few 90-minute modules each work day for high-priority activities when they are least likely to be interrupted. The podcast concludes with a short discussion of Anthony’s new book, Eat Their Lunch, which focuses on strategies for “competitive displacement” or taking customers away from competitors by demonstrating greater understanding and value.

Links
Learn more about Anthony Iannarino https://thesalesblog.com/

Connect with Anthony Iannarino on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/iannarino/

Follow Anthony Iannarino on Twitter

Learn about Anthony’s Podcast

https://thesalesblog.com/category/in_the_arena_podcast/

Learn more about Jim Karrh

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