Centricity Sean Doyle

In this episode of the Centricity podcast, our host, Will Riley, meets with Eddie Yoon, one of the authors of The 22 Laws of Category Design: Name & Claim Your Niche, Share Your POV, And Move The World From Where It Is To Somewhere Different. They talk about the ultimate business strategy - category design - which uses a passion for change and the need to upend the status quo to drive innovation and growth.
Category Design - The Ultimate Strategy
Instead of competing against other businesses or trying to come out at the top of your field, category design is about competing against the status quo. Companies that subscribe to a “Be Different” mentality grow quickly, but many are too risk-averse to go in this direction. Leaders in these businesses care deeply about their products and believe in what the company produces - they’re frustrated by current societal standards and want to create change. Types of Category Designers
Accidental designers are those who create something great that explodes but don’t know why and can’t replicate their success. Serial designers are innovators who consistently create successful products that they support and care about. Resources
Reach out to Eddie via email at eddie@eddiewouldgrow.com
Follow Eddie on Twitter @eddiewouldgrow
The 22 Laws of Category Design by Category Pirates, Christopher Lochhead, Eddie Yoon, Katrina Kirsch, Nicolas Cole - pick it up on Amazon

In this episode of the Centricity podcast, our host Will Riley meets with Jeremy Miner, author of The New Model of Selling: Selling to an Unsellable Generation. They discuss meeting new challenges as a seller
It’s Time For Sellers to Adapt
More than ever before, consumers have access to plenty of information about all of the products people are trying to sell to them. They no longer need a salesperson to be their consultant.
It’s good to learn about foundational elements of sales from older books, but they focus on “transactional selling,” which is less and less relevant.
Prospects are used to being sold to. When they hear “salesy” talk, they shut down - sellers need to build actual trust with prospects through tonality and asking the right questions.
Moving Beyond Logic
When a seller seems aggressive or desperate, prospects shut down. Using different tones and facial expressions, you can open them up.
Prospects are predisposed to say “no” when you start selling to them. Ask them questions like, “Are you opposed to discussing this further?” Make the ‘no’ work for you!
Stay away from surface-level questions if you are interested in deeper answers. 
Resources
SalesRevolution.pro
To dig deeper into these topics and many more, pick up a copy of The New Model of Selling: Selling to an Unsellable Generation by Jeremy Miner and Jerry Acuff on BarnesandNoble.com.

In this episode of the Centricity podcast, our host Will Riley meets with Connor Jeffers, the founder and CEO of Aptitude 8 and hapily. They dig deep into digital systems and get specific about finding a tech stack that finds a balance between sophistication and efficiency.
Choosing a Solution
Consultative sellers have to understand the pain and needs of the companies they’re working with, because buyers may not exactly know the terminology for what they actually want.
A8 helps customers create what they want to build, and then they build it. On the other hand, hapily offers standard functionality and if you have needs beyond that, you will need to seek them elsewhere.
Independent Software Vendor vs Systems Integrator
Aptitude 8, for all intents and purposes, an integrator. While they can create a setup entirely through HubSpot, but they do end up integrating, especially for larger companies.
Security-wise, they have access to a lot of data. They have systems in place to ensure that data is safe.
When working with big organizations, there is a responsibility to ensure that the new systems work better than the original. There is a lot of risk involved for the organization.
Takeaways About Sales/Marketing
Learn about relational databases, software models, etc. to ramp up your understanding of what you’re selling in general.
Get educated on APIs. You don’t necessarily need to be a coder to have a basic grasp on what an API is!
Resources
Connect with Connor Jeffers on LinkedIn
Aptitude8.com

In this episode of the Centricity podcast, our host Sean Doyle meets with Cecilia Lang Ree, the Senior Product Manager at Biolinq. They discuss applying behavior science to create more effective, successful marketing strategies. 
Why Apply Behavior Science to Marketing?
This gives marketing professionals a science-based framework to start from when creating profiles of their prospects rather than relying on trial and error. People are often motivated by unconscious factors – even if you’re surveying them and getting responses, they may not be able to tell you a complete picture of what they’re experiencing and why. The transtheoretical model maps out how people experience changes in behavior. Marketers need to be familiar with the stages of behavior change in order to have targeted techniques throughout the buyer journey. The Bridge Between Awareness and Action
Awareness is not enough to change people’s behavior.  Understanding intrinsic motivation can help us develop a step-by-step process that can take someone from knowing about your product to choosing to purchase. Getting Started
Get excited about the science. Learn it and teach it to anyone who is interested.  Cecilia lists some of her favorite resources - see below! Resources
Connect with Cecilia Lang-Ree on LinkedIn! 
What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You by Melina Palmer
Using Behavioral Science in Marketing by Nancy Harhut
Start at the End by Matt Wallaert 
Changing for Good by James O. Prochaska
BehavioralScientists.org
Irrational Labs

In this episode of the Centricity podcast, our host Sean Doyle sits down with Ian Altman, author of Same Side Selling, to talk through the three most damaging sales tactics. Tune in to hear the importance of understanding and solving the buyer’s problems, focusing on results, and building buyer trust through tactful language.
 
Focusing on Features and Benefits
 
Lead with exploring the “symptoms” the buyer may be dealing with rather than trying to solve a problem they don’t know they have.
 
Focus on meeting your client’s goals and how your product will deliver those results.
 
BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Time Sensitivity)
 
Focusing on these types of questions creates a “salesy” atmosphere and puts the client in an adversarial position, which causes sellers to lose buyer trust.
 
It’s okay to discuss needs and time sensitivity, but if you start with budget and authority, you’ve already put your buyer on the defensive.
 
If you want to talk about budget, instead, try bringing up the costs of NOT addressing the issues your product will solve. 
 
Forgetting the Buyer
 
Know what problem you solve and present that to your contact at whatever level they’re at in the industry.
 
Align with marketing to understand your buyer and their needs better. If marketing tools aren’t useful, let the marketing team know so they can help you!
 
Resources:
http://ianaltman.com
 
http://samesideselling.com
 
Pick up Ian’s book, Same Side Selling: A Radical Approach to Break Through Sales Barriers, on Amazon!
 

In this episode of The Centricity Podcast, our host Will Riley has Joseph Seo back on the podcast to discuss 5 AI you don’t know about (yet). Seo is the Principal Co-founder at Visual Lime Creative and Revenue Operations Specialist at Fitzmartin. Listen to their episode, “ChatGPT for B2B”, if you’d like to hear more from Will and Joseph!
 Chatbots
ChatBots are becoming more intuitive. While they can’t replace support teams, they are great for triaging support needs.

Fitzmartin uses Chatspot.ai by Hubspot.  Copywriting Support
Seo recommends trying ChatGPT-4, Writer, and Jasper. The differences are mostly about UI, so it’s worth testing them to see what works for you.

Even though these writing tools can’t hold a candle to human creativity and writing quality, they are great for getting your process started.  Audio/Video
Midjourney has plenty of casual applications, but Seo doesn’t use it for business.

AdCreative.ai is more business-relevant. Use this for high-quality ads.  Resources
Follow Fitzmartin on LinkedIn so you never miss an episode with Joe!
For more on AI, listen to Joe and Will’s episode “ChatGPT for B2B”