Internal Communications Guide

I built a Top 100 Global video podcast on Spotify. Here’s exactly how I did it. Six months ago, I launched Hot Smart Rich, a video-first podcast for anyone obsessed with the future of culture, creators, startups, and self-growth, on Spotify. We hit Spotify’s Top Business Podcasts in week one. Since then, we’ve charted 7 times, peaked at #5 in the U.S., and landed in Spotify’s Top 50 US podcasts overall. What surprised me most? How quickly video unlocked growth. On Spotify, my audience could seamlessly switch between watching and listening—just like the 300M+ listeners on the platform doing the same thing. That flexibility helped us attract not just more fans, but the right fans. The kind who binge episodes, send me DMs, share clips with their group chats, and now proudly call themselves HSR Angels. And yes, I turned it into a business. Through the Spotify Partner Program with Spotify for Creators, creators can monetize video content without giving up creative control. It’s real revenue, real reach, and a real community. (And let’s be honest: most platforms can’t say that.) If you’re thinking about launching, here’s what I’d tell you: - It is not too saturated. But you do need a plan. Get clear on your tone, flow, format, and point of view. Your audience doesn’t want a copy—they want something new. - Don’t waste money on aesthetic fluff. No one cares about your new photoshoot. Spend that cash on solid audio, decent lighting, and a camera that works. We started with iPhones. - Cut up your clips like your life depends on it. Post. Everywhere (Including Spotify). All the time. - Be consistent. Experiment early. When no one’s watching, try things. Switch formats. Get weird. Then double down on what hits. - Make it your personality. If you’re not hyping your own show, no one else will. You don’t need millions to start. You just need a camera, a mic, a message, and Spotify. Check out how to grow your video on spotify below. https://lnkd.in/gnB5ejaS #podcast #business #spotify #spotifypartner #videopodcast #growth

Know Your Auditee — Deliver Better, Not Louder Audit isn’t just about the finding. It’s about whether the message lands — and whether the risk gets controlled. Here are 5 common auditee types — and how serious auditors adjust their delivery without diluting the message: — 1. The Defensive Expert Knows the process better than the auditor — and isn’t afraid to challenge the audit logic. Approach: Come prepared with evidence, not just policy. Clarify risk exposure, not just compliance gaps. 2. The Fix-It-Oriented Doesn’t want discussion — just the list of what to do. Approach: Be direct. Give specific, actionable points. Avoid technical jargon. Make risk consequences clear. 3. The Silent Skeptic Politely nods in meetings, but never implements. Approach: Show impact. Use past incidents, control failures, or quantifiable gaps. Build trust before pushing change. 4. The Over-Apologizer Admits the issue — but doesn’t follow through. Approach: Shift focus from acknowledgment to commitment. Pin down timelines, owners, and real action. 5. The High-Level Observer Watches quietly — often with the real decision power. Approach: Elevate the discussion. Translate audit issues into strategic risk. Talk governance, reputation, continuity. — Audit is not about raising your voice. It’s about raising clarity — so risk is owned, not just acknowledged. Strong audit delivery adapts — not to soften findings, but to ensure accountability sticks. — #InternalAudit #AuditExecution #AuditeeManagement #AuditDelivery #StakeholderEngagement #RCM #AuditThatMatters #ControlTesting #RiskCommunication #AuditInsight

I’ve sold $100M+ in complex enterprise deals. But what Nate Nasralla told me last week completely reframed how I think about executive selling. When you’re selling a $500K deal, you’re not just selling your product. You’re selling a message that has to travel internally. Because while you’re in one meeting with a VP, there are 12 more happening about you — without you. The best sellers don’t just equip champions with decks. They equip them with SOUND BITES executives can actually repeat. Nate calls them “2-sentence business cases” — and they all have four parts: 1. Shift – what’s changing in the world that makes this urgent 2. Response – your non-obvious way to solve it 3. Avoid – the negative outcome if they don’t act 4. Unlock – the positive outcome if they do Example: “IKEA’s customer base is moving to cities, but their largest stores and highest-margin items don’t fit there. They need a new way for urban shoppers to visualize products in-store. Augmented reality solves that imagination gap.” That’s it. Two sentences that summarize an entire $10M initiative. Now imagine every champion in your deal saying that exact paragraph in their internal meetings. That’s how you win when you’re not in the room. The top sellers Nate’s studied don’t talk in decks. They talk in Lego blocks — small, sticky, repeatable ideas that travel inside a company faster than you can. Great sellers win because their message travels without them. If your deal depends on you being in the room, you’re already losing. Make your message unstoppable. Make your champion unforgettable. Make your story travel. That’s how you win big deals. Watch our full conversation here: https://lnkd.in/gVsVqgFq

I’ve never seen a stakeholder light up because we flagged a missing reconciliation. But I have seen them sit forward when we tell the story of how that weakness could stall a vessel, delay a customer, or hit the bottom line. That’s the difference between a finding and a story. One gets filed away. The other sparks action. Internal Audit’s real impact doesn’t come from how many issues we identify — it comes from our ability to explain why they matter, what caused them, and how leaders should prioritise their response. This is why I believe storytelling is the new superpower for internal auditors. And here’s the good news: with agentic AI now helping us shape clear, structured narratives from solid audit findings, it’s easier than ever to tell the story well. AI can crunch the data — but auditors who master storytelling will turn those findings into insight and impact. Checklists don’t inspire action. Stories do.

Why Your Sales Team Isn't Hitting Targets and HOW TO FIX IT 📊Today many businesses struggle with declining sales performance, and one of my clients - a mid-sized tech firm, faced this very issue. Despite having a talented team, they consistently missed their sales targets, leading to frustration and dwindling morale. They started sales coaching with me, and here's how we started and turned things around. Conducting Diagnosis: Understanding the Core Issues through a sales audit, and after an initial assessment, it became evident that several factors contributed to the poor performance. These are listed broadly as follows: 🚫Lack of Clear Goals: The sales team didn’t have well-defined, achievable targets. They were chasing numbers without a strategic plan. 🌀Inadequate Training: Despite their talent, the team lacked training in the latest sales techniques and tools. There was also an inefficient sales process at play. 🗯Poor Communication: There was a significant disconnect between the sales team and other departments, leading to missed opportunities and misunderstandings. 📌Low Motivation: Constant failure to meet targets had demoralized the team, impacting their productivity and drive. To address these issues, we implemented a comprehensive coaching and facilitation program focusing on well executed strategies: 🎯 Setting SMART Goals - to give the team clear direction and purpose. Fine tuning the sales process also contributed to efficiency. 💪Enhanced Training - on advanced sales techniques, product knowledge, and customer engagement strategies. 🧲Optimizing the Sales Process - by identify the bottlenecks and making necessary adjustments, we ensure that the process is customer-focused and aligns with their buying journey. 🎎Improving Communication - by establishing regular cross-departmental meetings and open communication channels to ensure everyone was on the same page. 👊Motivation and Incentives - by introducing a reward system to recognize and celebrate achievements, boosting morale and encouraging a healthy competitive spirit. Within three months, there was a complete transformation - the team had a high morale and camaraderie. Soon, they not only met but also exceeded their sales targets, achieving a 30% increase in sales. The clear goals, enhanced skills, and improved communication fostered a collaborative and motivated environment. The client’s sales performance skyrocketed, and the once-struggling team became a powerhouse of productivity and success. ✨✨ Need help identifying and fixing the issues in your sales team? Contact me for expert guidance and tailored solutions! 📌https://lnkd.in/dGGM5vCK #sonniasingh #sonniasinghleadershipcoach #salescoaching #salesoptimization #businessresults #SalesPerformance #SalesTargets #TeamMotivation #SalesTraining #SalesProcess #SalesLeadership

I met a sales team that tracks 27 different metrics. But none of them matter. They measure: - Calls made - Emails sent - Meetings booked - Demos delivered - Talk-to-listen ratio - Response time - Pipeline coverage But they all miss the most important number: How often prospects share your content with others. This hit me yesterday. We analyzed our last 200 deals: Won deals: Champion shared content with 5+ stakeholders Lost deals: Champion shared with fewer than 2 people It wasn't about our: - Product demos - Discovery questions - Pricing strategy - Negotiation skills It was about whether our champion could effectively sell for us. Think about your current pipeline: Do you know how many people have seen your proposal? Do you know which slides your champion shared internally? Do you know who viewed your pricing? Most sales leaders have no idea. They're optimizing metrics that don't drive decisions. Look at your CRM right now. I bet it tracks: ✅ When YOU last emailed a prospect ❌ When THEY last shared your content ✅ How many calls YOU made ❌ How many stakeholders viewed your materials ✅ When YOU sent a proposal ❌ How much time they spent reviewing it We've built dashboards to measure everything except what actually matters. The real sales metric that predicts closed deals: Internal Sharing Velocity (ISV) How quickly and widely your champion distributes your content to other stakeholders. High ISV = Deals close Low ISV = Deals stall We completely rebuilt our sales process around this insight: - Redesigned all content to be shareable, not just readable - Created spaces where champions could easily distribute information - Built analytics to measure exactly who engaged with what - Trained reps to optimize for sharing, not for responses Result? Win rates up 35%. Sales cycles shortened by 42%. Forecasting accuracy improved by 60%. Stop obsessing over your activity metrics. Start measuring how effectively your champions sell for you. If your CRM can't tell you how often your content is shared internally, you're operating in the dark. And that's why your forecasts are always wrong. Your move.

Everything you do internally shows up externally. The common saying is “You ship your org chart,” but it goes so much deeper than that. This Whiteboard Wednesday, I’m covering how to influence external outcomes by pulling internal levers (beyond product development). It's incredible how internal conversations dictate what shows up externally. At FERMÀT, the situation I notice most is how we talk about customers. Here’s an example: Let’s say a sales rep logs onto Slack for the day. The first thing they see is someone from CS sharing an amazing customer story. They read it. They have a pitch scheduled in 5 minutes… …and now they’re going into that call with incredible energy, ready to share that story. It all gets circulated. The culture of how we communicate internally fundamentally impacts how we’re selling externally. I give more examples of how this influences marketing and hiring in the video below 👇 Of course, I’m not saying to share anything confidential. But everything you scream and shout about within your company (good or bad) is visible externally in some way. Especially the way you talk about customers. So you need to be super-mindful about the tone in internal conversations, as it significantly influences how your company is perceived. If you're new here—I do these whiteboard recordings every Wednesday. What other topics would you like to see me cover? Any questions you have here?

“It’s easy to break a single stick, but not a bundle of sticks.” This applies perfectly to audits and reviews. Many young professionals or auditors often focus on listing more observations, thinking numbers create impact. But here’s the truth: It’s not just about finding issues. It’s about connecting them. Let me explain with a quick example.... Observation 1: Wrong product or partner info uploaded on the company website (user error) Observation 2: No maker-checker process for website updates — process gap Observation 3: No change log maintained for website edits Individually, they may seem like small, operational misses. But now, let’s bundle them — like sticks: “Incorrect information is published on the company’s website due to absence of a maker-checker process. There's no change log to track edits, and the update files are stored openly in shared folders without password protection — exposing the company to errors, tampering, and reputational risks.” Boom. Suddenly, it’s no longer just a ‘small’ issue. It’s a serious process control failure with wide impact. Lesson: Finding observations? That’s just 50% of the job. Presenting them effectively? That’s the remaining 50%. Remember, management doesn’t just want a list — they want the full story. Be the auditor who connects the dots. If you’ve faced a similar experience, I’d love to hear it! Share your thoughts in comments. #RiskManagement #InternalAudit #AuditTips #ProcessImprovement #ProfessionalGrowth #CareerTips #LinkedInLearning

Something remarkable happened when we started bringing Customer Success leaders into our sales conversations. The traditional sales process transformed into a strategic partnership discussion that benefited everyone involved. After implementing this approach across hundreds of deals, we discovered benefits that went far beyond our initial expectations. Sales teams gained a deeper understanding of post-implementation challenges, which helped them qualify opportunities more effectively. Instead of focusing solely on closing deals, they began asking questions about operational readiness, internal champions, and resource allocation. Prospects received authentic insights into what successful implementation truly requires. Our CS leaders shared real examples of customers who thrived and openly discussed common obstacles they might face. This transparency built trust and helped prospects make informed decisions. Better aligned customer expectations from day one. When CS leaders joined these conversations, they highlighted potential roadblocks and success metrics based on similar customer profiles. This practical guidance helped prospects understand the work required to achieve their desired outcomes. This early involvement proved invaluable for our CS team. They gained visibility into the customer's vision before contracts were signed, allowing them to proactively plan resources and create tailored onboarding strategies. A surprising result was the reduction in "rescue" situations during implementation. We eliminated many issues that typically surfaced months into the relationship by addressing potential challenges during sales discussions. The data supported our approach. Deals that included CS leaders showed 40% higher implementation success rates and 25% faster time-to-value. More importantly, these customers renewed at significantly higher rates. For those considering this approach, start small. Choose strategic opportunities where CS insights could substantially impact the prospect's decision-making process. Document the outcomes and refine your strategy based on that feedback. Great customer relationships begin with the very first conversation.

Your Marketing Isn't Failing Because of Strategy. It's Failing Because of What's Happening in Your Team Meetings. 86% of executives cite poor communication as the root cause of workplace failures. But here's what they miss: those communication breakdowns aren't just hurting your team. They're killing your market message before it ever reaches a customer. Last quarter, I watched a brilliant company launch fall flat. Their external messaging was polished, but internally? Six different departments had six different understandings of what they were actually selling. The internal-external gap is costing you more than engagement. It's costing you revenue. When employees clearly understand your company's purpose and message, they generate over $8.5 million in earned media value through their advocacy. Here are three leadership communication failures that directly sabotage your marketing: 1. Compartmentalizing Strategy   → Marketing plans created in isolation   → Customer-facing teams excluded from messaging development   → Critical market feedback never reaches decision makers 2. Assuming Information Flows Naturally   → Key insights stay trapped in department silos   → Customer pain points get sanitized before reaching leadership   → Success stories remain untold and unused 3. Speaking Different Languages   → Leadership discusses "market penetration" while sales teams talk about "closing the deal"   → Product teams focus on features while customers care about outcomes   → No one bridges these disconnected conversations Organizations with aligned internal communication see 25% higher productivity and 4.5 times higher employee retention. But the real business impact? Their external marketing resonates with authenticity because everyone is telling the same story. Try this tomorrow: Before your next team meeting, ask each person to write down your company's core value proposition in one sentence. Compare answers. The gaps between those responses reveal exactly where your marketing message will break down in the market. What's one communication gap you've noticed between your internal conversations and external marketing? ♻️ Share if this challenged your marketing approach 🔔 Follow Mike Hays for more strategic growth insights