How do field reps stay entertained in traffic or while travelling to a customer who’s an hour or more away? Do they tune in to music or talk radio? Or, do they prefer listening to a podcast or getting lost in the plot of an audiobook instead?
A field sales rep’s car is probably the most important space they spend time in each day. It’s their office on wheels, where they de-stress and recharge between customer visits. With the right sales tools, they’ll use that time on the road to complete daily admin tasks, plan ahead and sharpen their skills. But when they’re en route to their next customer or prospect, what do they choose to tune into or keep themselves pumped up with on the road?
Well, it appears from our survey of 400 field sales professionals in South Africa and the UK, that music is by far the preferred choice of entertainment to tune into on the road. A good number of reps also enjoy listening to talk radio shows while only a minority spend some of their drive time listening to audiobooks and podcasts.
These stats are taken from our surveys of field sales professionals in the UK and South Africa pre-covid. Learn more…
These surveyed South African and British sales reps also shared the 21 songs that kept them pumped up and selling on the road. So, naturally we decided to create the Skynamo playlist for sales professionals on Spotify with all of these awesome tunes. It also got us chatting about our own favorites and the discussion quickly became a little nostalgic, so we created the Skynamo Sales App Golden Oldies playlist on Spotify, for those reps (and managers) that love the classics as much as we here at Skynamo do.
Podcasts, on the other hand, offer direct access to daily conversations between some of the sharpest minds in the business world. Like music, these podcast recordings can be downloaded ahead of time to listen to while you’re out on the road. Not only are they a great way to change up your daily playlists but you might pick up a thing or two that may help you convert that next prospect or keep that customer coming back for more. Here we list 10 podcasts regularly sharing first-hand accounts from leading salespeople, business owners, entrepreneurs, and marketers.
1. The Salesman
Average Duration: 30-40 mins
Will Barron interviews both people inside and outside the world of sales to help listeners improve their sales skills and performance.
Website | iTunes | STITCHER | YouTube
2. Accelerate!
Average Duration: 25-30 mins
Andy Paul interviews the world’s leading thinkers on sales, leadership and marketing. His website provides summarised ‘Key Takeaways’ to help you find the most suitable content for your needs.
3. In the Arena
Average Duration: 30 mins
Anthony Iannarino gathers world-renowned names around the table to discuss what a winning mindset, effective strategies and good habits look like.
4. The Sales Evangelist
Average Duration: 20 mins
Donald Kelly’s passion for sales becomes tangible as he shares stories and interviews concerning real and relevant topics. Kelly brings in experts from the broader business world to guide listeners, especially those starting out in the B2B world, to sales success.
Website | iTunes | STITCHER | Spotify | Google Podcasts
5. The Advanced Selling Podcast
Average Duration: 20 mins
Bryan Neale and Bill Caskey hosts one of the longer-running podcasts on this list (over 500 episodes and counting!). The duo opts for a more traditional discussion instead of the interview format. They focus on tactical, actionable advice which could be implemented immediately by salespeople into their individual sales strategies.
6. Sales Gravy
Average Duration: 5-10 mins
Jeb Blount is “to-the-point, simple, yet loaded with basic truths that I need to hear over and over,” shares a regular listener of the Sales Gravy podcast with its 5-star listener rating on iTunes. He focusses on discussing high-performance selling, effective account management, skills training, customer experience, and much more.
Website | iTunes | STITCHER | Spotify
7. The Sales Podcast
Average Duration: 45 mins
Wes Schaeffer integrates sales and marketing and pays attention to personal growth as part of the selling process. Schaeffer employs an unscripted interview style as he chats to successful entrepreneurs, professional salespeople and business owners.
Website | iTunes | STITCHER | Spotify | Google Podcasts
8. Women in Sales
Average Duration: 40 mins
Ali Powell hosts this podcast for women who work in sales roles. “Even if you’re not a woman or you’re not in sales, this is a great podcast to learn about managing and directing one’s career, building and leading an organization, and what success in running and winning in sales takes from women who’ve done it.” – podcast listener review
9. Winning at Selling
Average Duration: 40 mins
Scott Plum and Bill Hellkamp host this podcast talking about market changes, how buying evolves, tips on generating greater revenue, memorable experiences, and create client advocates by subscribing and applying relevant selling skills.
10. TED Talks Business
Average Duration: 12 mins
TED Talks Business is an extension of the popular idea-sharing platform and an excellent place to engage a range of the most innovative business “Ideas worth sharing.”
Are there any podcasts you would recommend? Or did any of your favorites tunes make our Golden Oldies or Top 20’s list? We’d love to hear in our comments section some of your favorites, and who knows they might just appear on a future Skynamo playlist…
