April 26, 2012 Interview on M.O.
MO: Where does your entrepreneurial spirit come from? Who or what were your early influences and inspirations?
Michael: My spirit comes from my heart and my mind. I came from an entrepreneurial spirited background and did not develop overnight. It takes a true risk-taker to be successful in business and you have to be in the right place at the right time with the right amount of money and message.
MO: Why is it a mistake to use generic sales training? What should managers be using instead?
Michael: Great question! Generic sales training is okay to start, but in the end it will not pin-point your true problem until an outside person observes you. Managers can reach out to someone like me and what I can do is observe first and then make solid recommendations on the pain-points that I found. For pennies on the dollar having a second opinion is critical in today’s competitive world. What happens is we go blind to the obvious, because we are so busy in our day-to-day operations that we cannot see the true road-block.
MO: What are some tools, strategies or techniques you use with your clients to help them achieve their sales goals faster?
Michael: 98% of all sales people do not have a sales process in place according to recent Culpepper study. What I do is I tie it all together into a very easy step-by-step process so the sales professional knows his/her messaging and can manage the sales process. It’s critical to always ask yourself “what’s the next step?” and if you do not have an answer, neither does your client/prospect.
MO: Can you talk about the new DVD and CD’s you’ve recently released? Where did your inspiration come from and what did your development process look like?
Michael: I’m really excited about my CD & DVD collections coming out, it’s been three years in the making and I recorded it live at a recent seminar. The inspiration came from the heart, I want people to stop working so hard at selling and find an easier way to be successful. The DVD/CD set gives everyone an opportunity to learn sales.
MO: What makes you different than your competition?
Michael: Me. Every day I sell myself and my services to people. Every day – I still make calls, I still go on sales calls, I still coach people, I still develop new techniques & strategies. I’m in the “trenches” and that’s where I love to be.
MO: What’s the most exciting thing on the horizon for you personally or professionally?
Michael: I’m super excited about my second book that was just purchased by one of the top publishers in the world and you can expect it out in about a year. Also, I just released SalesSense.tv a new membership site for people to ask me specific questions with regards to their sales challenges.
http://www.mo.com/Michael-Krause-Sales-Sense-Solutions
