Interview with Dave Anderson: Leadership, Sales, and the Power of Video

Dave Anderson is a leading international speaker and author on personal and corporate performance improvement. After an extensive career in the automotive retail business, Dave began LearnToLead with the goal of helping individuals and organizations reach their personal and corporate potential. He is an author of 14 books and the host of the wildly popular podcast, “The Game Changer Life.” Dave’s no-nonsense messages impact listeners and readers in nearly 70 countries. Dave speaks more than 100 times per year to a wide array of businesses and non-profits and works as a mental toughness consultant for individual athletes and teams. We spoke to Dave who shared his top tips about business trends and video's impact on sales.

About Dave

Covideo: You are the President of Dave Anderson’s LearnToLead, an international sales and leadership training and consulting company. How do you usually present your company to someone who hasn’t heard of it?Dave: We provide the resources, inspiration, and support individuals and organizations need to reach their fullest potential both personally and corporately.Covideo: Before LearnToLead, you were very active in the automotive industry. How much has that experience helped you in your current business?Dave: Tremendously. I’ve been in the trenches and faced the same challenges our clients do, so I can offer real-world solutions to grow themselves and their people.Covideo: Also, we have to mention that you are the author of 14 books. Can you tell us what your audience is like—who are the people who read your books?Dave: I’ve written three books on sales, and the rest have been on personal and organizational leadership development. Because of this, they have an appeal that transcends borders, industries, and even generations. As a result, I’ve been able to speak at seminars in 18 countries and help individuals and organizations from very diverse walks of life.Covideo: As an author of many training programs in sales, management, and leadership, how do you maintain a relationship with your audience? What are the elements you find most important in nurturing that relationship?Dave: We need to be personal and accessible in multiple ways. For instance, our social media, virtual training, podcasts, website resources, and various articles help clients continue to build upon what they’ve learned in my books or seminars. But, it’s also important to customize communication specifically for their groups that individualize messages most relevant to them. You have to move beyond sterile emails and notes to more engaging and personable communication like Covideo, and customized web conferences.

About Learn to Lead

Covideo: How would you describe an average LearnToLead client? Do your clients have something in common?Dave: We have everyone from teenage athletes who listen to our podcasts and college athletes who attend our seminars; to professional athletes I counsel personally; to seminar attendees ranging from leaders of non-profits, CEOs of small and major companies, entrepreneurs, frontline workers aspiring to move up the ladder; and more. They all have one thing in common: they want to get better. So, while we don’t have an average LearnToLead client in a demographic sense, they all share a common motivation to improve their performance, be able to impact others more significantly, and maker a bigger difference in the world they live and work in.Covideo: Since you’ve been active in the automotive community for a long time now, what are the main challenges for automotive companies and dealerships across the US in making constant business growth? Is that even possible?Dave: The same as it’s always been: their leaders don’t lead well enough. Within their dealerships there is little vision or accountability, anemic attention given to cultural development, and a low priority on proactive and consistent talent acquisition. Their style is to overmanage and under-lead, and people are promoted because they excel in one position—then move into a new and unrelated position they have little expertise in or training for. In order to grow their businesses, they’ve got to get better at growing their people and retaining their customers; the former will help the latter.Covideo: LearnToLead was founded in 1999. We believe a lot has changed since then, but if you have to choose which changes made the biggest impact on sales professionals in 20 years, what would they be?Dave: Changing technology and a customer’s access to information.Covideo: What are your company goals for the future?Dave: Our goals haven’t changed in an overall mission-sense in 20 years. It still boils down to finding ways to increase our relevance to customers and to become an indispensable training partner to facilitate their growth.

About Video

Covideo: When talking about the technological achievements of our time, do you see them as something that complements business processes or do they have a negative effect?Dave: When it comes to technology, you can either be the boxer or the bag. We prefer to use it to our advantage rather than get beat up with it.Covideo: As president of an international sales and leadership training and consulting company, what tools or programs do you use that you couldn’t imagine doing your job without?Dave: Our website. My laptop. Covideo. Online banking and purchasing.Covideo: On your website, you share a significant amount of video material. How much has video helped you in delivering your message to your audience? What do you love most about it?Dave: Videos convey personality, warmth, and passion moreso than other mediums. They allow you to customize and personalize messages for marketing, customer updates, customer acquisition, and customer retention. For instance, we use Covideo for all of these purposes. Our clients love the personal touch, and we love how it differentiates us from others using less effective methods.Covideo: You’re also a Covideo user. What are your favorite features? Do you recommend Covideo to others?Dave: The instant accessibility, ease-of-use, and templates with external links to vital aspects of your organization are all tremendous. Reliable technology and support staff are also unmatched. I don’t have time to waste, and Covideo demonstrates a high regard for that time in many ways.Covideo: In the next five years, do you think that business communication will stay the same or will it change somehow? Do you see the video as an important part of that communication?Dave: I believe where and how you are able to communicate will change to a degree; but, the primary mediums are likely to be very similar—only we’ll see faster, better versions of those mediums.Covideo: You once said that if people want to set themselves apart from the competition and make the price less relevant for their customers, they have to create better experiences. Regardless of the industry or job position, what would be your advice when trying to create a better experience?Dave: You’ve got to get the customer to say “WOW.” “Wows” throughout the customer experience make price less relevant. If you are only doing what is expected and required of you, you’ll never stand out, and you will create apathetic customers that have a relationship with you based solely on price.

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