The Advanced Selling Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Twenty years ago, Bill and Bryan started recording a podcast every other Monday. They never missed the behavior — and that consistency turned out to matter more than talent, luck, or a growth strategy ever did. To kick off ASP's 20th anniversary celebration, Bill and Bryan share the first of several listener tribute clips — this one from Scott, a longtime Insider member and one of the "Globetrotters," a small accountability group that formed out of the show. Scott's story becomes the jumping-off point for a bigger conversation: why "relationship selling" is mostly a myth, and what actually creates lifelong client relationships (hint: it's not golf outings). Bill and Bryan also get honest about regrets — the choices that kept ASP niche and steady instead of chasing bigger growth, why they never built a true listener community, and the lane they might explore next. The Insider program is open for enrollment. To check out our small learning group, go to http://advancedsellingpodcast.com/insider If you haven't already, join 14,000+ other sales professionals in our LinkedIn group at advancedsellingpodcast.com/linkedin Is it time to make a BOLD move in your business? If so, download our brand new book, "12 Bold Moves - Insider Secrets to Reinventing Yourself and Your Business." http://12boldmoves.com

Send us Fan Mail Got something genuinely new to sell — and buyers keep lumping it in with every other "revolutionary" pitch they've heard this month? This one's for you. Bill and Bryan work through a real scenario: a friend building software that could transform hospital billing, but can't get CFOs past their skepticism. The fix isn't a better pitch — it's a completely different approach to who you target and how you position the offer. You'll learn how to sort prospects by tolerance for change (not company size), why positioning your offer as limited and selective beats "revolutionizing everything," and why acknowledging buyer skepticism up front builds more trust than any pitch could. It's the 20th anniversary of the show, and Bill and Bryan want to hear from you — send a short voice memo to listener@advancedsellingpodcast.com for their September anniversary celebration. The Insider program is open for enrollment. To check out our small learning group, go to http://advancedsellingpodcast.com/insider If you haven't already, join 14,000+ other sales professionals in our LinkedIn group at advancedsellingpodcast.com/linkedin Is it time to make a BOLD move in your business? If so, download our brand new book, "12 Bold Moves - Insider Secrets to Reinventing Yourself and Your Business." http://12boldmoves.com

Send us Fan Mail Why do good sellers freeze up the second a conversation moves from a director-level buyer to the CFO? It's not a skills gap — it's identity. Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale break down why sellers resist doing new things, even when they know exactly what it's costing them. Bryan shares what happened when he volunteered to try something brand-new outside of sales — nervous, uncomfortable, and more locked-in than he's felt in years. That leads into why "just say this instead" coaching doesn't work, why the block that keeps a rep out of the CFO's office (or a $400K advisor from becoming a $1M advisor) is about identity, and a simple reframe for calling on anyone above your comfort level: find what's the same before you worry about what's different. It's the 20th anniversary of the show, and Bill and Bryan want to hear from you — send a short voice memo to listener@advancedsellingpodcast.com for their September anniversary celebration. The Insider program is open for enrollment. To check out our small learning group, go to http://advancedsellingpodcast.com/insider If you haven't already, join 14,000+ other sales professionals in our LinkedIn group at advancedsellingpodcast.com/linkedin Is it time to make a BOLD move in your business? If so, download our brand new book, "12 Bold Moves - Insider Secrets to Reinventing Yourself and Your Business." http://12boldmoves.com

Send us Fan Mail You didn't lose that deal on price. You lost it because your positioning wasn't strong enough to make you the obvious, can't-do-without-you choice. Bill and Bryan dig into a claim that gets argued in every sales meeting: is price really the reason deals slip away, or is it a symptom of weak positioning? They walk through a real audit of lost deals — 22 gone in six months, four of them deals that should have been won — and use it to unpack what separates a vendor from a "we can't do without you" partner. You'll learn the four ingredients of unshakeable positioning: naming the beliefs your customer has to shift before your value can land, getting explicit about what you don't do, choosing whether you're a problem-solver or a destination (or both), and painting the real cost of standing still. Plus, why the best time to build this is when business is good — not when you're desperate. It's the 20th anniversary of the show, and Bill and Bryan want to hear from you — send a short voice memo to listener@advancedsellingpodcast.com for their September anniversary celebration. The Insider program is open for enrollment. To check out our small learning group, go to http://advancedsellingpodcast.com/insider If you haven't already, join 14,000+ other sales professionals in our LinkedIn group at advancedsellingpodcast.com/linkedin Is it time to make a BOLD move in your business? If so, download our brand new book, "12 Bold Moves - Insider Secrets to Reinventing Yourself and Your Business." http://12boldmoves.com

Send us Fan Mail Every person you've worked with has a story you probably never asked about — and sometimes you don't find out until it's too late. In Part 2 of their series on the people of sales, Bill and Bryan honor a handful of people who shaped their careers — a neighbor and airline pilot, a mentor who connected without ego, a customer who never delayed a decision, and a prospect Bryan gave up on too soon. Each story carries a lesson you can use this week: ask people about their actual lives, don't wait to reconnect with old friends, decide fast, and don't give up on a prospect after just one or two tries. It's the 20th anniversary of the show, and Bill and Bryan want to hear from you — send a short voice memo to listener@advancedsellingpodcast.com for their September anniversary celebration. The Insider program is open for enrollment. To check out our small learning group, go to http://advancedsellingpodcast.com/insider If you haven't already, join 14,000+ other sales professionals in our LinkedIn group at advancedsellingpodcast.com/linkedin Is it time to make a BOLD move in your business? If so, download our brand new book, "12 Bold Moves - Insider Secrets to Reinventing Yourself and Your Business." http://12boldmoves.com

Send us Fan Mail Twenty years in this business means running into a lot of characters. This week Bill and Bryan riff on the people — bosses, clients, gatekeepers, baristas — who taught them something they never forgot, whether the lesson was about sales or just about being human. You'll hear about "Leisure Suit Larry," the grocery store manager who refused to acknowledge salespeople existed, and what he taught Bill about never forcing yourself on someone who doesn't want to talk. They also talk about the trap of looking down on younger salespeople — and what a 20-year-old Starbucks employee named Joey reminded Bryan about assuming too much, even when the assumption seems like a compliment. It's the 20th anniversary of the show, and Bill and Bryan want to hear from you — send a short voice memo to listener@advancedsellingpodcast.com for their September anniversary celebration. The Insider program is open for enrollment. To check out our small learning group, go to http://advancedsellingpodcast.com/insider If you haven't already, join 14,000+ other sales professionals in our LinkedIn group at advancedsellingpodcast.com/linkedin Is it time to make a BOLD move in your business? If so, download our brand new book, "12 Bold Moves - Insider Secrets to Reinventing Yourself and Your Business." http://12boldmoves.com

Send us Fan Mail You're six months into the year. Do you actually know what's working in your sales process — and what you quietly stopped doing back in February? Bill and Bryan borrow a trick from football coaches: self-scouting. Before the next game, coaches review their own film to find what their team does well (so they can do more of it) and what they do poorly (so the other team can't exploit it). Bill and Bryan apply that same exercise to your sales year — build a 20-point scorecard, grade yourself honestly, and use it to plan a strong back half. Subscribe, leave a review, and send us your "how I found the show" story to our FAN Mail at the top of the show notes for a shot at our 20th anniversary coaching event. The Insider program is open for enrollment. To check out our small learning group, go to http://advancedsellingpodcast.com/insider If you haven't already, join 14,000+ other sales professionals in our LinkedIn group at advancedsellingpodcast.com/linkedin Is it time to make a BOLD move in your business? If so, download our brand new book, "12 Bold Moves - Insider Secrets to Reinventing Yourself and Your Business." http://12boldmoves.com Ready to stop competing on price? Join Bill's Insider coaching program at advancedsellingpodcast.com/insider .

Send us Fan Mail Imprecise language is quietly sabotaging your sales process — and most sellers don't even notice it happening. This week, Bill and Bryan dig into the art of precise communication and why "what they hear" matters more than "what you meant." Bryan shares a real example from his own sales process: his team retired the vague word "calendars" as the last item on a sales agenda in favor of the more direct "get calendars out." They also cover why stating up front how many points you're about to make makes you easier to follow and easier to buy from, and why tired open-ended questions like "what keeps you up at night?" should be replaced with sharper, stack-ranked questions that force a real answer. Plus: details on ASP's 20th anniversary celebration and how to get your ticket to the live September event. Send us your story (audio, video, or just a note): listener@advancedsellingpodcast.com The Insider program is open for enrollment. To check out our small learning group, go to http://advancedsellingpodcast.com/insider If you haven't already, join 14,000+ other sales professionals in our LinkedIn group at advancedsellingpodcast.com/linkedin Is it time to make a BOLD move in your business? If so, download our brand new book, "12 Bold Moves - Insider Secrets to Reinventing Yourself and Your Business." http://12boldmoves.com

Send us Fan Mail Bill and Bryan continue their series on the hidden patterns that quietly cap sales performance. Building on last episode's conversation about "drift," they dig into two more limiting patterns: fear (and why naming it is the first step toward detachment) and the belief that bigger outcomes simply "aren't possible." Along the way, they tackle the either/or trap — the binary thinking that convinces salespeople they have to choose between income and time, ambition and family, more and enough — and make the case for replacing it with "and." Plus, a bizarre drone-rescue story that turns into a surprisingly useful metaphor. This episode also kicks off the celebration of ASP's 20th anniversary — Bill and Bryan want to hear from you. Send in an audio or video sharing what the podcast has meant to you for a chance to attend an exclusive live coaching celebration this September. P.S.: Watch the drone rescue clip that kicks off this conversation: https://www.tiktok.com/@foxweather/video/7650957122145930509 The Insider program is open for enrollment. To check out our small learning group, go to http://advancedsellingpodcast.com/insider If you haven't already, join 14,000+ other sales professionals in our LinkedIn group at advancedsellingpodcast.com/linkedin Is it time to make a BOLD move in your business? If so, download our brand new book, "12 Bold Moves - Insider Secrets to Reinventing Yourself and Your Business." http://12boldmoves.com

Send us Fan Mail Bill and Bryan dig into what they call "patterns of limitation" — the ingrained habits and mindsets that quietly cap your sales growth, often disguised as things that are already working. They explore four key patterns worth examining: the tendency to focus on the big picture while ignoring critical details, the trap of pursuing vague or undefined problems with prospects, the danger of plateauing without recognizing it, and the gradual drift away from your core purpose and identity as a seller. The conversation also includes a fun detour into time zones, a live phone interruption from Bill's wife, and a preview of their upcoming 20th anniversary celebration event in September — where every listener who submits a video is invited to join. This is Part 1 of a two-part series. Part 2 picks up on the concept of drift. The Insider program is open for enrollment. To check out our small learning group, go to http://advancedsellingpodcast.com/insider If you haven't already, join 14,000+ other sales professionals in our LinkedIn group at advancedsellingpodcast.com/linkedin Is it time to make a BOLD move in your business? If so, download our brand new book, "12 Bold Moves - Insider Secrets to Reinventing Yourself and Your Business." http://12boldmoves.com

Send us Fan Mail Bill goes somewhere different today — and that's intentional. In this solo episode, Bill Caskey shares the first six of twelve core sales principles, each grounded in a biblical reference. From understanding your divine assignment and serving before selling, to detaching from outcomes and deploying your unique gifts, Bill connects the spiritual underpinnings of great selling to the real-world results you're after. This isn't a tactics episode. It's a foundation episode — and for many listeners, it may be the most important one they hear. Part two drops in a few days on another solo episode. The Insider program is open for enrollment. To check out our small learning group, go to http://advancedsellingpodcast.com/insider If you haven't already, join 14,000+ other sales professionals in our LinkedIn group at advancedsellingpodcast.com/linkedin Is it time to make a BOLD move in your business? If so, download our brand new book, "12 Bold Moves - Insider Secrets to Reinventing Yourself and Your Business." http://12boldmoves.com

Send us Fan Mail What if the beliefs driving your sales career are built on a foundation of lies? In this solo episode, Bill Caskey breaks down seven deeply normalized lies about achievement, income, and sales success — the kind that quietly run your life if you let them. From "hustle harder to earn more" to "the best closer wins," these aren't fringe ideas. They're mainstream beliefs that keep good salespeople permanently busy, permanently stuck, and wondering why the results never match the effort. Bill challenges you to audit which of these lies you're living — and gives you a framework for getting out from under them. The 7 Lies: Your performance determines your well-being The prospect holds your future in their hands Income is determined by work ethic More activity equals more results The best closer wins There's a scarcity of opportunity If you're good enough, they'll find you The Insider program is open for enrollment. To check out our small learning group, go to http://advancedsellingpodcast.com/insider If you haven't already, join 14,000+ other sales professionals in our LinkedIn group at advancedsellingpodcast.com/linkedin Is it time to make a BOLD move in your business? If so, download our brand new book, "12 Bold Moves - Insider Secrets to Reinventing Yourself and Your Business." http://12boldmoves.com

Send us Fan Mail Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale continue their series on how to become the Obvious Choice for your prospects and customers — not by closing harder, but by selling smarter throughout the entire process. In Part 2, they cover four powerful moves: Proactively raising problems, concerns, and objections so you're never caught off guard Delivering a Statement of Detachment that comforts prospects and skyrockets close rates Setting a go/no-go instead of asking for the business Warming cold audiences with pre-meeting video pages The Insider program is open for enrollment. To check out our small learning group, go to http://advancedsellingpodcast.com/insider If you haven't already, join 14,000+ other sales professionals in our LinkedIn group at advancedsellingpodcast.com/linkedin 📌 TIMESTAMPS 0:00 – Intro: 20 years of podcasting & ASP listener meetup in London 2:15 – Life observation: car alarms and bathroom fans (things that don't work) 6:50 – Part 2: How to become the Obvious Choice 7:37 – Tactic 1: Proactively surface problems and objections 10:08 – Tactic 2: The Statement of Detachment (22% → 45%+ close rate) 13:08 – Tactic 3: End precisely — the go/no-go and stating your desire 15:20 – Tactic 4: Warming up cold audiences with a pre-bid video page 18:22 – Insider promo: June 5th — How to build a conversion event #SalesTraining #B2BSales #AdvancedSellingPodcast #SalesProcess #ObviousChoice #Detachment #Prospecting #SalesStrategy #Closing #BillCaskey #BryanNeale

Send us Fan Mail How do you become the vendor your customers never even think to replace? In Part 1 of this short series, Bill and Bryan break down what it actually takes to become the obvious choice — not through last-minute discounts or closing tactics, but by building that clarity from the very first interaction. They cover three foundational moves: filtering your pipeline through the right lens (are they an obvious fit for you?), getting pristine on your message including who you're not for, and articulating a clear payoff — not just ROI, but the tangible transformation clients can expect at different stages of the relationship. Plus, they discuss the power of multi-threading — bringing multiple people into the conversation on both sides — and why the obvious choice is often the one that does the most work before the final decision is ever made. If you're tired of scrambling at the close, this episode is your reset. The Insider program is open for enrollment. To check out our small learning group, go to http://advancedsellingpodcast.com/insider If you haven't already, join 14,000+ other sales professionals in our LinkedIn group at advancedsellingpodcast.com/linkedin Is it time to make a BOLD move in your business? If so, download our brand new book, "12 Bold Moves - Insider Secrets to Reinventing Yourself and Your Business." http://12boldmoves.com

Send us Fan Mail Fear shows up at every stage of a sales career — first calls, big promotions, major presentations, and yes, posting on LinkedIn. In this episode, Bill and Bryan dig into how fear works, why your brain treats a LinkedIn post like a saber-toothed tiger, and how to reframe anxiety into something useful. Plus: what beekeeping taught Bryan about walking into uncomfortable situations, and why the doom-and-gloom crowd is almost always wrong about new technology. The Insider program is open for enrollment. To check out our small learning group, go to http://advancedsellingpodcast.com/insider If you haven't already, join 14,000+ other sales professionals in our LinkedIn group at advancedsellingpodcast.com/linkedin Is it time to make a BOLD move in your business? If so, download our brand new book, "12 Bold Moves - Insider Secrets to Reinventing Yourself and Your Business." http://12boldmoves.com

Send us Fan Mail Are you walking into sales calls without getting clear on the actual problem you're solving? In this episode, Bill and Bryan dig into one of the most overlooked fundamentals in B2B sales: defining the real problem before pitching solutions. They explore how process focus beats outcome obsession, why accountability starts with you (not the market or the prospect), and how knowing when not to move forward is sometimes the most powerful sales move you can make. The Insider program is open for enrollment. To check out our small learning group, go to http://advancedsellingpodcast.com/insider If you haven't already, join 14,000+ other sales professionals in our LinkedIn group at advancedsellingpodcast.com/linkedin Is it time to make a BOLD move in your business? If so, download our brand new book, "12 Bold Moves - Insider Secrets to Reinventing Yourself and Your Business." http://12boldmoves.com

Send us Fan Mail What's the #1 problem facing salespeople and customer acquisition professionals right now? Bill and Bryan each share their answer — and while they come at it from slightly different angles, both point to the same root cause: the absence of a real system. Bryan breaks down why time misallocation kills pipelines, and Bill makes the case that lead generation is the core issue most companies struggle to solve — not because of effort, but because they're relying on activity instead of architecture. The guys walk through practical examples of what a real lead gen system looks like: calendar blocking that actually holds, consistent outreach cadences that generate 1-in-5 conversations, and leverage-based content strategies that let buyers raise their hand instead of being cold-called into a corner. If your sales are inconsistent, your calendar is the first place to look. The Insider program is open for enrollment. To check out our small learning group, go to http://advancedsellingpodcast.com/insider If you haven't already, join 14,000+ other sales professionals in our LinkedIn group at advancedsellingpodcast.com/linkedin Is it time to make a BOLD move in your business? If so, download our brand new book, "12 Bold Moves - Insider Secrets to Reinventing Yourself and Your Business." http://12boldmoves.com

Send us Fan Mail Bill and Bryan are back from spring break with a powerful lesson about the long game in sales. Inspired by a 35-year-old charity event that grew into a $400 million movement, they dig into how the small actions you take — or skip — today create enormous downstream outcomes you can't predict. They challenge sellers to stop making excuses, stop being selfish with their knowledge, and start showing up consistently — on LinkedIn, in the field, and with their prospects — because someone out there might be suffering simply because they haven't heard from you yet. The Insider program is open for enrollment. To check out our small learning group, go to http://advancedsellingpodcast.com/insider If you haven't already, join 14,000+ other sales professionals in our LinkedIn group at advancedsellingpodcast.com/linkedin Is it time to make a BOLD move in your business? If so, download our brand new book, "12 Bold Moves - Insider Secrets to Reinventing Yourself and Your Business." http://12boldmoves.com

Send us Fan Mail Trust is the missing ingredient in most failed deals — and the old methods of building it (the hearty handshake, the enthusiastic follow-up email) no longer cut it. In part four of the Sales Identity Crisis series, Bill breaks down why modern buyers are slow to trust and offers a counterintuitive fix: create content. Bill shares how consistent content — podcasts, video, written pieces — lets prospects sample your thinking long before a sales conversation begins. When they finally reach out, they're already sold. He also challenges the habit of chasing prospects for next steps, arguing that if you're the one pushing, something went wrong earlier in the process. 🔗 Want more advanced sales training? Join ASP Insider: https://advancedsellingpodcast.com/insider Download your complimentary copy of the 12 Bold Moves audiobook at 12BoldMoves.com/Audiobook

Send us Fan Mail In this solo episode, Bill Caskey continues his series on the Sales Identity Crisis — specifically, the shift from being a laborer to becoming a leverager. If your sales approach is built on effort alone — more calls, more hours, more hustle — you're operating on an old model that's nearly impossible to scale. Bill breaks down a better framework: Discover, Develop, Deploy. Find the assets you already have (client success stories, your personal story, your expertise), build the skills to use them, and put them to work in the market. Most salespeople close 20–25% at best, which means they're burning 75–80% of their effort on people who will never buy — largely because they never leveraged anything in the process. Bill challenges you to identify where leverage is absent in your sales approach and start building a new identity around it. 🔗 Want more advanced sales training? Join ASP Insider: https://advancedsellingpodcast.com/insider Download your complimentary copy of the 12 Bold Moves audiobook at 12BoldMoves.com/Audiobook