Manage Smarter

Whether you're a manager justifying your budget with upper management or a salesperson trying to close a deal, you'll undoubtedly encounter objections and need to know how to overcome them. Justin Weeder is the Owner and Head Coach at The Covert Closer. Justin has helped hundreds of sellers perfect their message and overcome objections without the usual aggressive, pushy, confrontation that is associated with selling today. He is the creator of the LISTEN method of overcoming objections and the author of The Covert Sales Method. Bonus content for Manage Smarter listeners: Get The Covert Closer's Code - a free objection eBook Mark has created for managers and salespeople at www.thecovertcloser.com. You can also download his free Sales Mindset Book at www.thecovertcloser.com/covert-closers-code In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Justin discuss:  ·      How he went from homeless on the streets of Vegas to success ·      How a relatable approach is the foundation to overcoming objections ·      LISTEN Method of 6

Jason Reichl co-founded Go Nimbly, the first revenue operations consultancy with the goal of allowing high-growth companies to increase the revenue of each of their customers by 26% through eliminating operational silos. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Jason discuss:  ·      The definition of SalesOps or revenue operations ·      Why tackle revenue operations in today’s COVID-19 climate ·      How to get people to buy more or expand their spend in COVID-19 ·      Creating customer experiences to promote repeat purchases "There are 3 levels of operations and when we talk about operations we are talking about sales marketing and customer success.” – Jason Reichl Rev Ops by Role E-Book: https://gonimbly.drift.click/revopsbyrole?_ga=2.65713198.1433493349.1602689006-1753623276.1600783940 Consult Jason by phone: 415-669-0546 Join hosts Audrey Strong and C. Lee Smith every week as they dive into the aspects and concepts of good business management. From debunking sales myths to learning how to manage with and wit

Global Credibility Expert Mitchell Levy is a TEDx speaker and international bestselling author of over 60 books, including his latest "Credibility Nation." As CEO of the publishing company ThinkAha, his superpower is extracting the genius from your head in a three-hour interview so that his team can ghostwrite your book, publish it, distribute it, and make you an Amazon bestselling author in four months. He is an accomplished Entrepreneur who has created twenty businesses in Silicon Valley including four publishing companies that have published over 850 books. He's provided strategic consulting to over one hundred companies and has been chairman of the boardof a NASDAQ-listed company. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Mitchell discuss:  ·      The new definition of credibility in today’s COVID-19 climate ·      The 3 Pillars of Credibility ·      Specific steps and strategies to build your credibility ·   Lee's new book, SalesCred, and the importance of credibility in buyers qualifying sellers "The qualit

Sophie Chiche, founder of Life by me, Shape House and the latest adventure, becurrent. Serial entrepreneur always on the lookout for concepts that moves the needle of the human experience. She’s earned masters degrees in business and journalism in her native city of Paris, France and added one in psychology soon after she moved to Los Angeles in 1993. She’s given two successful TEDx talks and co-authored the well-received book, “The Power of Personal Accountability: Achieve what Matters to You.” This amazing woman has also lost and kept off 200 pounds, transforming herself and her life.  In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Sophie discuss:  ·      Implementing active choices daily in COVID-19 to make the happiest, best experience you can have moment to moment ·      How to avoid stress eating in the pandemic ·      How to embrace feelings and use them to find a way to happiness "This one day I woke up and I literally had this voice, I heard it as a voice, intuition it said you can have everything you want but bef

Jim McCarthy, started his career in the e-commerce business back in 1997, has almost 20 years experience in live events, has sold tens of millions of tickets to millions of people, co-founded TEDxBroadway, advises entrepreneurs, co-founded Goldstar Events and Stellar Tickets, and is the CEO of both companies. His current mission is to enable artists and organizations to create high quality online content — helping them find success in this new era where online events are transforming the entertainment landscape. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Jim discuss:  ·      New ways to produce events that boost engagement in COVID-19 ·      Making your online events as engaging as a live event ·      Creating a culture of quality in online events ·      Producer/Moderator priorities to inject more energy into online events "These have to be more participatory by design. You can’t allow people to be able to tune out just because the structure doesn’t demand that they do anything.” – Jim McCarthy Join hosts Audrey Stro

Justin Winter is the co-founder and CEO of Boostopia, a SaaS platform that allows you to manage your newly work-from-home customer support team with the world’s first support department operations platform. Justin exited his prior company after growing it to $22 million in annual sales to focus on a new problem. Boostopia is the missing link to your support help desk software built for managers to understand, manage, and improve both your team and customer experience. The company has also launched a ‘Support Operation Audit’ to support organizations going through the pandemic and the resulting economic downturn.  In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Justin discuss:  ·      Remote customer service changes since COVID-19 ·      How to audit your processes to evaluate your support operations metrics compared to benchmarks from before ·      Strategies to prevent support defects before they happen "The number one mistake managers make is a lack of clear agreement, definition, alignment, accountability too, and emph

Wayne Mullins is the founder and CEO of Ugly Mug Marketing. Over the past 20 years, he has scaled multiple companies and helped hundreds entrepreneurs do the same with their companies. his passion is helping entrepreneurs challenge their assumptions, create value from places they’ve never looked, and having more freedom than they previously believed possible. He has worked hands-on with clients in over 100 different industries, and from every corner of the globe. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Wayne discuss:  ·      Sales and marketing in COVID-19 ·      How to shift marketing platforms to the client side to connect companies communicate ·      Coronavirus business strategies ·      Adjusting marketing messages in the pandemic "No one likes to be sold to and they want to be helped and know that you care beyond just yourself.” – Wayne Mullins DUE TO COVID-19 AND BANDWIDTH ISSUES IN ZOOM, THIS RECORDING MAY HAVE SOME AUDIO DROPOUTS. Join hosts Audrey Strong and C. Lee Smith every week as they dive into the a

Kathlyn Hendricks, Ph.D., BC-DMT*, is an evolutionary catalyst and freelance muchness mentor with 50 years pioneering experience in somatic approaches to relationship transformation. She is the co-author of 12 books, including the best-selling Conscious Loving and At the Speed of Life. Most recently, she has created a website with dozens of free resources focused on Unlocking the Fear Code and Restoring Resourcefulness in our turbulent times. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Kathlyn discuss:  ·      The Four Levels of Fear and tips on how to come with them ·      New ways to discuss fear feelings with your team ·      What happens to your brain when you’re in the fear state of mind ·      Exercises to calm your mind and body "Fear is wired in. We would not be here unless our ancestors had really good responses to fear but it is not something we want to get rid of but we want to recognize when fear is running us. We need to move from fear to here.” – Kathlyn Hendricks DUE TO COVID-19 AND BANDWIDTH ISSUES I

Jason Bradshaw is the entrepreneur/author of the book IT'S ALL ABOUT CEX, the essential guide to customer and employee experience. At 14 years old, Jason Bradshaw started his own telecommunications and hardware distribution business. It was there he began a lifelong passion for customer experience Our guest today says every crisis is an opportunity to grow. Joining us today is Jason S Bradshaw, from teenage entrepreneur to aglob al thought leader on Customer & Employee Experience delivering business growth. With experience in everything from telecommunications to government, media and automotive Jason has the depth and breadth of experience to inspire, engage and deliver results. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Jason discuss:  ·      Businesses who ignore COVID-19 are the ones most damaged ·      Tips/New Ways to boost customer engagement BECAUSE of the pandemic ·      Creative ideas to boost revenues " Many managers create a strategy and don't stick with the strategy long enough to let it work.” – Jason Bra

Brenda Batista is President and Founder of Inspiring Company Culture where she helps leaders transform their work environments to be places where everyone is heard, valued, and appreciated. Brenda is an expert in establishing high-performing teams, healthy company culture, leadership, business system analysis, and strategic planning. For the past 25 years, Brenda has focused on performance improvement and how the power of teams helps sustain business results. She helps teams engage and align with desired business outcomes by providing customized workshops, as well as group and leadership coaching either as a standalone or as part of a consulting project. Brenda holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Systems Engineering, a Masters in Health Administration, and a Juris Doctorate. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Brenda discuss:  ·      How to make online meetings 3D and as if “in person” ·      Changing culture for speaking up to bridge the digital gap in COVID ·      How to engage extroverts in your organiz

Mark Boundy has grown businesses in a variety of industries for 25 years , amassing wide-ranging experience in sales, marketing, new product development, and product management. He helps his clients find, win, and keep more business—more profitably. He’s led firms to be value – and price – leaders in a wide variety of product and service industries. Mark wrote “Radical Value. Elevate Your Company – and Career – By Unleashing the Power Within Customer Centricity. Mark lives in Phoenix, Arizona, father of two grown sons. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Mark discuss:  ·      Radical Value definition and how to get there ·      How to measure customer perception of value and modify it ·      Why you should mentor your salespeople on P&L statements ·      Creating value amid COVID-19-how create a buying environment "We all want to be customer-centric…but most of us struggle with that vague term, and how to measure it. Radical Value reveals that the measurable, trackable, trainable thing you really seek --at the

Siimon Reynolds is one of the world’s leading business coaches. He is the winner of over 50 business and industry awards, and the founder of numerous highly successful companies. His last company grew from zero to a stock market valuation of over $500 million, in just 8 years. Siimon coaches entrepreneurs and CEO’s from all over the world, from start ups to companies grossing over half a billion dollars a year. He is also a multi award winning business author. His previous book won the Silver Medal for Best Business Success book at the Axiom Business Book awards. Siimon’s latest book, titled ‘Win Fast. Quick ways to achieve more, earn more and be more’, is scheduled for release in late August 2020. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Siimon discuss:  ·      Resetting your focus in COVID-19 for processes and performance ·      How to do “The 2 Circles of Control” to guide you ·      Magnify for your fear of loss and harness that to propel you ·      Release Breath Exercise to help clear your mind "Far too many bu

Neil Sahota is an IBM Master Inventor, United Nations (UN) artificial intelligence (AI) Advisor, author of the book Own the A.I. Revolution, and Professor at UC Irvine. Over his 20+ year career, Neil has worked with enterprises on the business and marketing strategies to create next generation products/solutions powered by emerging technology as well as helping organizations create the culture, community, and ecosystem needed to achieve success such as the U.N.’s AI for Good initiative. Neil also actively pursues social good and volunteers with nonprofits. He is currently helping the Zero Abuse Project prevent child sexual abuse as well as Planet Home to engage youth culture in sustainability initiatives.  Special message to Manage Smarter listeners about the book: https://www.neilsahota.com/smarter/ In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Neil discuss:  ·      The actual definition of AI  ·      Ways you can use AI and your resources for social good ·      Why promoting incompetent people is a common leadership mi

Daniel Ramsey is the founder and CEO of MyOutDesk, the highest-rated virtual assistant company in the marketplace with over 500 verified 5-star reviews, and over 13 years of experience, serving more than 6,000 clients across industries. Daniel is going to share a Grow Virtual Guide to help businesses and executives how to effectively transition to a fully remote or blended organizational model, how to reinvent the value we provide in this changing market, and how to grow virtual all while reducing operational costs. Daniel is also the author of the bestselling book, Scaling Your Business with MOD Virtual Professionals. TO GET THE FREE GROW VIRTUAL GUIDE: TEXT MOD TO 31996 In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Daniel discuss:  ·      How to expand in the current sales climate and sell more ·      How using virtual assistants can free up valuable time and reduce operational costs ·      Tips for creating strong culture among remote workers ·      Processes he uses to enforce accountability, engagement, work quality

Jonathon Hensley is co-founder and CEO of Emerge, a digital product consulting firm that works with companies to improve operational agility and customer experience. His new book is called “Alignment - The #1 thing at the heart of every successful digital product” In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Jonathon discuss:  ·      The 4 levels of alignment leaders need to understand NOW ·      How to build sustained, constant alignment in your business ·      Remote teams and boosting alignment amid COVID-19 ·      Practical exercises to use to draw out new ideas from your team FREE BOOK - Alignment emergeinteractive.com/podcast "The number one problem/mistake managers and leaders make is not understanding alignment and it's role. The absence of alignment can prevent the best ideas from being realized, erode the strongest teams, cripple the most effective leadership, and ruin even the most successful business. ” – Jonathon Hensley Join hosts Audrey Strong and C. Lee Smith every week as they dive into the aspects and

Rhiannon Rees is a human behavior expert, international high-performance coach and self-development expert helping CEO's, businesses, elite athletes, coaches and celebrities to redefine their level of success. An Australian native, Rhiannon is a best-selling author, thriving entrepreneur and a global speaker. Her personal sufferings led her to search for answers and into a 30-year study of human behavior. Being completely compelled to help others, she has continued to invest in education in the fields of self-development, neuroscience and business. As a dynamic, results-driven leader, Rhiannon is the founder of the Conscious Coaching Collective, and has demonstrated success in creating both multi-million-dollar companies and individuals and champions. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Rhiannon discuss:  ·      How the shock in her marriage and becoming homeless drove her to self-discovery and a world-class coach career ·      Tapping into your subconscious to inform what business decisions and manifest new goa

Frank Zinghini is President & CEO, Applied Visions, Inc. Applied Visions helps businesses build and expand their digital relationship with their customers, across all of the available digital channels. AVI develops products and services using technologies from the cloud, to desktop and mobile, and even down to the device level with the internet of things, in order to maintain a seamless and continuous connection with your customer. Frank founded AVI with an intense focus on building applications that delight your customers and drives revenue generation for your business. PLEASE NOTE: DUE TO ONLINE PLATFORM BANDWIDTH DEFICIENCIES DURING THIS PANDEMIC, THERE ARE SOME AUDIO DROPOUTS DURING THIS EPISODE. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Frank discuss:  ·      What a digital survival kit needs to contain ·      The new boundaries of relationship with your customers ·      New ways of looking at fulfillment of products and services ·      How to take customer experience to the next digital level of engagement "Some

Jeffrey Hayzlett is Chairman & CEO of the C-Suite Network and best-selling author of "The Hero Factor: How Great Leaders Transform Organizations and Create Winning Cultures." In this episode, you'll learn: *The #OpenForBusiness initiative, which can be defined as getting business owners ready to open safely *Strategies businesses can implement as they get ready to open for business *Protecting your biggest assets – people and customers *Being mindful of cancel culture and current cultural climate "People tend to be more reactive than active. When COVID hit, many paused and adopted a 'wait & see' attitude, but I think that's a mistake -- not just now, but overall." — Jeffrey Hayzlett Join hosts Audrey Strong and C. Lee Smith as they dive into the aspects and concepts of good business management. From debunking sales myths to learning how to manage with and without measurements, you'll learn something new with every episode and will be able to implement positive change far beyond sales. Connect with Jeffrey Hay

Ben Gallagher is the co-founder of B+A, a creative management consultancy whose clients include Converse, Google and Beats by Dre. Before he founded B+A, Ben was a journalist at MTV and later, Sir David Frost’s producer at Al-Jazeera. He then found himself leading Nike’s efforts to make running appealing to young people. With COVID-19, he's here to give his tips on how to work and manage smarter through this time. PLEASE NOTE: DUE TO ONLINE PLATFORM BANDWIDTH DEFICIENCIES DURING THIS PANDEMIC, THERE ARE SOME AUDIO DROPOUTS DURING THIS EPISODE. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Ben discuss:  ·      Building a positive culture with remote, global teams in the pandemic ·      How recognizing small wins to provide enjoyment, hope and satisfaction ·      Boosting your empathy levels ·      Recommendations on better leadership amid the COVID-19 “rollercoaster” "Too often the assumption is that the best answers come the most senior people, but the best answers come from collaboration with the whole team. Secondly, l

Dr. Gleb Tsipursky is a behavioral economist and cognitive neuroscientist studying the psychology of decision making in business and other contexts. He is also CEO of Disaster Avoidance Experts and author of the new book Resilience: Adapt and Plan for the New Abnormal of the COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic. PLEASE NOTE: DUE TO ONLINE PLATFORM BANDWIDTH DEFICIENCIES DURING THIS PANDEMIC, THERE ARE SOME AUDIO DROPOUTS DURING THIS EPISODE. In this episode, Audrey, Lee and Gleb discuss:  ·          His prediction on when a Coronavirus vaccine will be available worldwide to everyone ·          Why our brains are wired to be optimistic but how we must force our expectations amid the pandemic to be realistic going forward ·          His top 6 business prongs that need analysis now to adapt to the pandemic ·          How Coronavirus data has affected him and tips he has on helping managers and teams cope with the reality of what’s to come   "To survive and thrive in the new abnormal, you have to make a radical departur