The Sales Evangelist

Three Things Small Businesses Get Wrong When Marketing Businesses often make mistakes in their marketing campaigns and as a result, don’t maximize their exposure. Let’s discuss how strategic decisions about your online presence can make a bigger impact. Stephen Hart is the host of the Trailblazers.fm podcast and is also a digital brand strategist. Stephen enhances marketing and communications for a global software firm by coaching individuals and businesses to improve their own brand. Through his experience, Stephen is seeing the need for people to address their brand presence and their digital footprint. It’s important for your brand to represent your product well and this is done by your prospects associating your online presence with a reputation of quality.. Digitally sophisticated People today are more digitally sophisticated. Employers and consumers often end up going to Google or asking Alexa and Siri for answers to their questions. The same is true when consumers are looking for products or services. They research and ask relevant questions using social platforms before making a final purchasing decision. People look at company websites, verified reviews online, the company’s social platform, and their customer service and support. People want confirmation online long before they ever speak to their first salesperson. There are many touchpoints that consumers look for and by the time they make the decision to meet a product or service rep, most of them have already made up their minds. Five key areas of branding Branding is critical because it’s a visual representation that lets the consumer know what you and your company are all about. Stephen has five key elements that entrepreneurs should consider to define their personal brand. These 5 elements that will help your digital presence include: Color Font Mood and vibe Logo Voice or the tone of your written content Colors in branding Color is important because it’s one of the elements that offer people the first impressions about your brand presence. Research has shown that people make a judgment within 90 seconds based on color tone alone. This is especially important for salespeople and business professionals with a global touch who are dealing with people from a variety of cultural and religious backgrounds. There are websites that can help you decide what color palette works best with your vision. Think about two or three colors that set the tone, and an additional one or two colors you might use as an accent. The website can help you work out these different combinations. Hex Code The hex code is a hexadecimal code that refers to the specific color that you want to choose. You can use this hex code to have a consistent color for your brand. You can document your six-digit color code throughout different platforms so you’re consistently getting the right color and shade.. This will come in handy when making PowerPoint presentations, images in Canva, and more. Just type in the hex code and your color will automatically appear. Even beyond your website, the colors you should choose should carry into your social media. Use them when you create motivational graphics for your social media posts and other areas you want a digital footprint. You want to create a cohesive visual feel across all platforms. This trains people to think of you when they see your color combinations. Be involved in building your brand While it may be a good idea to have experts and professionals handle the execution of your branding campaign, it is equally important to be involved in building your personal brand. It’s important that the final product accurately and authentically reflects the message you want to portray. Suggest color and tone so you can give the experts a launching pad and a sense of the energy you’re trying to create. Focus on the personality of your brand as well. What kind of message do you want to convey? If it’s hard to see with clarity, consider creating a visual mood board. Similar to a vision board, your mood board will be the place you can put images that capture the tone and the vibe of your business, and you. The more specific your vision is, the easier it will be for your marketing team to put a package together that will make your brand stand out from your competition. Another thing to consider is the tone and the voice in which you write your copy throughout your website, social media, and marketing tools. Is it playful, technical, serious? Make sure you have a consistent voice that reads the same, across the board, to avoid consumer confusion about what they can expect from your business. Branding is the promise you're making to your customer. #PersonalBrand Optimize Your Profiles Your social media accounts are mission critical for your brand. With that in mind, make sure you optimize your profile. Use a profile picture that can be found on all platforms, duplicate your cover photos from your website, and use uniform fonts and colors to show con

Abundance Now: Amplify Your Life & Achieve Prosperity Today We all want to amplify our lives and achieve prosperity. Entrepreneurs want to prosper in their business, but how is that achieved? Sales professionals all have the desire to be successful. The definition of the word can be pretty broad and it may differ from one salesperson to another. Lisa Nichols is a transformational coach and her clients achieve massive succes through her use of education, motivation, and inspiration. Getting to Know Lisa Nichols Lisa Nichols was academically challenged in school. She had a difficult time learning and in her twenties discovered she’s functionally dyslexic. While she gets by, she’s slower than most. C was her highest grade in school and she was told she was the weakest writer her English teacher had ever met. Even her speech teacher said, “Ms. Nichols, I recommend that you never speak in public. Get a desk job.” Education was challenging and when she had her son, she had to get government assistance. She applied for WIC (Women, Infant, Children), an organization that gives out free cheese, pasta, milk, and other necessities. There were a couple of days she had to wrap her infant son in a blanket because she hadn’t had enough money for diapers. Why? There wasn’t enough in her bank account to make a twenty dollar withdrawal. That was her all-time low. She was broke and broken and in that state, she learned a valuable lesson. When you’re broke, you’ve just got to figure out how to make money. But when you’re broken, you have to figure out how to be inspired enough to get up and go do something. The beginning When she hit rock bottom, she made a decision to reinvent every part of her. Lisa was willing to become unfamiliar with every part of her journey so that she could become familiar with everything new. She wanted to explore her potential and know who she could be. That was the beginning of how she became the woman she is today. What is abundance? People tend to look at abundance in just two ways - monetary and assets. These things are part of abundance but it doesn’t show the total pictures. Money and assets fall under wealth and wealth is just a slice of the abundance pie. Abundance is a 360 experience and most people fail to see how abundance differs from wealth until they’ve achieved some level of wealth. When wealth is achieved, they realize they want to have abundance. Abundance is not only having wealth and assets. It’s only fully achieved when you also have good health, great relationships, and a spiritual center. Instead of just going for wealth, you might as well go for abundance. #SalesProsperity Lisa works with wealthy people who are fiscally in the top 1% but she’s not coaching them to achieve wealth. She's helping them to achieve abundance. Many people believe that it can only be achieved because of a particular zip code or nationality but the truth is, abundance is everyone’s birthright. Anyone can achieve abundance. The limiting belief Every so often, we live with a limiting belief that was embedded in us from an early age. It can come down through the generations, come from the gender we live in, start from our geographical origin, come from our cultural origin, or from our spiritual background. Carrying limiting beliefs can hinder your future. Salespeople need to let go of these limiting beliefs. When you move toward a more positive, abundant mindset, you will see your world start to shift for the better. How do we begin? The first thing is to feed yourself with better mental food. This will help you produce a different emotional and physical outcome. Learning something new enables you to do something new and when you are doing something new, you also produce something new. Getting abundance Many think they’re getting a good picture of what they want by repeating what they don’t want. The truth is, the more you spend energy thinking about what you don’t want, the more you’re living a contracted experience. Energy grows where energy goes. You are a creator, an artist. You lead where your energy follows. Ask yourself, how far out are you planning? Think about what you want your future to look like in 5 years. Create a plan then work that plan. Most people are living without having created a plan. Ensure that you are being an abundant thinker and live your life intentionally with a plan in mind. As you look five years ahead, ask yourself these questions: What are you driving? Where are you living? What’s the balance of your bank account on a monthly basis? How many vacations are you taking a year? What does your relationship with your children look like? Your spouse? How many times a week do you engage with your parents? How often are you praying? Be specific about the details. Remember that it may not happen exactly that way, but now you have a plan, even if you have to tweak it along the way. Based on your five-year plan, figure out your three-year plan. You will notice the alignment of your pla

Best Sellers In History Series 8 - "Reginald F. Lewis" This episode of the Best Sellers in History series is different from the other episodes we’ve had. We are going to do an interview not with the person himself, but with his friend, Lin Hart. He wrote a book about a period of Reginald Lewis’ life. As we talk to Lin, we discover how Reginald was able to inspire us to achieve our goals and become great sellers as well. Knowing Lin Hart Lin had a great experience when he was still a customer, back when he first purchased his own computer. His brother had told him to get a computer and with the help of his colleague’s daughter, who was a salesperson with new computer company, was able to decide what computer to buy and make all the purchasing decisions He was reluctant but the young lady was excellent. She came over to his office and explained to him all the things he needed. She also picked out the right package for Lin. The computer came with a lot of instructions and she explained how it worked, and explained the purchase price in detail. Her attitude was great. She called personally, came, and delivered the product herself. The beginning Lin started working for Western Electric, a company that later became AT&T Network Systems. This company manufactured all the telephone equipment for all the telephone companies back when they were still in a monopoly arrangement. Lin left the company in 1995 and decided to work for himself as a professional speaker. With success as a professional speaker, the company expanded into executive coaching. The job allowed him to travel around the country. By 2011, he decided to relax and began to limit his traveling. It was then that Lin was asked to write down his thoughts and record his experience. Lin wasn’t keen to do it until Reginald’s wife and mother personally asked him to write about Reginald. There weren’t many people who were close to Reginald Lewis, as he was an extremely private individual. Being so close to Reginald, he was in the perfect position to write about him and Reginald F Lewis, The young man before the billion-dollar empire was born. Sales on Spotlight - Reginald F Lewis? Reginald Lewis passed away in 1993 and at the time of his death, he was arguably the richest African-American on the planet. He had several business deals including that last one, the International division of Beatrice Foods. It was a company that was doing an excess of $2 billion a business. When he closed a deal, they didn’t realize that he was a young African-American businessman. Reginald was an extraordinarily successful businessman with extraordinary wealth. Unfortunately, he was gone too soon. Linn and Reginald’s relationship started when they were young men growing up in the same Baltimore neighborhood. He lived three blocks away from Lin’s family. They would see each other often and eventually, they became friends and competed against each other in high school sports. While Reginald went to Dunbar High School, Linn went to Edmondson High School. They both won athletic scholarships to attend Virginia State University for football where Linn and Reginald became roommates and close friends. They remained close and would stay connected through their professional careers as well. Attributes of Reginald F Lewis Reginald didn’t come from wealth. He was a man who had sustainable beliefs about the inevitability of his own success. He never doubted for a minute he was going to be successful despite many shortcomings. Regardless of the situation, Reginald didn’t let those things deter him from his path to success. While people talk about how to think in terms of a box, he, on the other hand, never saw a box. He was always upbeat and was able to overcome his lack of money with good grades in school. Every salesperson has the innate ability to survive. This instinct is embedded in their brains. We are all born with a desire to be good at something, whether it’s in sports, speaking, or some other skill. The trick is to find what lights our fire. We have to figure out the drive that propels us to go where we want to go in this life. Discovering what lights our fire requires a certain amount of determination. Reginald was certainly driven and it took him a long way. Ability to think ahead Lin and Reginald started to look for jobs so they decided to apply at a recently opened bowling alley. It didn’t take a long time to note that it was a predominantly white institution. While black people can come in, there were certain lines they didn’t cross. Reginald didn’t see those lines and didn’t want to work under such limitations. After a time, Reginald began getting to school late. Apparently, he’d gotten the job and was running the bowling alley as the night manager! It was extraordinary. Lin was working for AT&T and he had the responsibility for network systems engineering in the Western part of the country. He had a little workgroup of guys who came up with ideas about how to provide the propaga

It’s Time To Transform Our Sales Training 2020 is here and there is an opportunity to update sales strategies. The most common ways to execute sales systems, processes, and training have historically been written by men and for men but how do we get take those same techniques and update to include the natural strengths of women? All about Cynthia Cynthia is a keynote speaker and sales trainer who shows sales professionals how to influence decision-makers through her company, the Barnes Sales Institute. Between her company’s focus on women-centric sales training and her global organization, Women who Sell, there is a focus on empowering female sales professionals in male-dominated industries. Their organization is giving saleswomen a voice to be heard, so they can stand out from the competition, and be counted. Buyer’s journey Salespeople need to realize that 70-80% of the buyers’ journey includes conducting their own research, even before they get in front of the first salesperson. In addition to doing the research, they get recommendations from their friends, make a decision about what they’re going to purchase, and then decide who or where they’re going to buy from. Their minds are pretty much made up before they get in front of an expert. Because consumers do so much research on the product they need, they can have more knowledge than the people selling their products. The truth is, this buyer wants to be sold to by an expert. As consumers, they want to know what the salesperson can tell them that Google couldn’t. If you are the salesperson, you have to figure out how to be their expert. Sales training and programs of today Being a saleswoman in a male-dominated industry is difficult. Most sales training today have men in mind. They expect women to act like the opposite sex to be effecting at their job. The majority of sales programs were created 40 years ago by men for men. It was at a time when men made up most of the sales force. In 2017, women made up to 49.8% of the sales force and there are even more today. However, the model still hasn’t evolved despite the change in demographics. Women have the innate ability to be patient and intuitive in the way they interact with people. Instead of using traditional scripts, they can utilize their natural talents by tapping into their authentic selves and their own communication skills to connect with their prospects. Women control 51% of the wealth and influence over 71% of the household spending. Knowing this, it’s wise to train female salespeople. The alpha male approach doesn’t work for the female brain. Effects of gender in the buying process In male-dominated industries such as logistics and truck brokerage, it’s not as common to have a female salesperson. This means a woman coming in as a sales rep has to know the material frontward and backward. Unlike their male counterparts, they tend to have to prove their expertise. Cynthia had her fair share of working with men and the experience taught her how to play in the field. She learned how to become an expert and it allowed her to go from being a salesperson to a consultant. Her natural ability to build relationships and network helped her talk to men on a deeper level, get to know them and build a friendship. Because she was able to break down initial barriers with her expertise, she even knew her clients’ favorite beer and wives birthdays! Women have strong emotional intelligence, excellent listening skills, and they are natural networkers. These qualities allow them to build strong relationships. They shine when the sales cycle is slow enough to build stronger relationships with their clients. Tweaks that can be done for sales programs today Women’s natural abilities include intuition, patience, and relationship building. Women are also perfectionists, address their own weaknesses, and like to play it safe. It’s wise to tap into this resource but many of the current sales programs are not catered toward women. Saleswomen thrive in an environment they feel safe. It’s important they know they can take risks and make mistakes without the threat of being ridiculed. It works well for women to be given space to learn on their own. Educate them on the desired outcome and give them the opportunity to use their own voice, instead of a script, and you’ll start seeing some great results. Women control the majority of the money in a family so it makes sense to train female salespeople. #Saleswomen “It’s Time To Transform Our Sales Training” episode resources Female salespeople have to feel that internal confidence. Connect with Cynthia for questions or call her at 313-586-SELL. She’s offering access to her pilot program for online training that they’re going to roll out soon. Do you have sales questions? Suggestions? You can also talk to Donald about it via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for any sales concerns. This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a cours

How To Tell A Story That Connects & Sells In this episode, we are going to talk about how to tell a story that connects and sells. We tell stories to inspire others, show empathy, and more. The problem is, we don’t know how to tell stories in a way that consumers will be compelled to buy our products. This is what Jude Charles is going to teach you in this episode. Jude Charles is a story-driven filmmaker, brand strategist, and a speaker who’s been running a video production company for the past 13 years. He’s been helping entrepreneurs tell stories effectively to be able to connect with prospects and clients. What is a story? Stories are universal. There is no difference between a story about your normal day and a story you might tell during a sales meeting. The only difference is the ending and its goal. Stories are about a specific moment in time. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. What happens at the end will make your story impactful. When you’re telling a story in sales, you want the listener to buy into the service you’re selling. This story has to matter in a way that by the end, they will want to buy your product or service. Stories can make a connection. Case Example: Money Heist Storytelling works because it’s relatable. A Netflix show called Money Heist has a story that pulls you in. It includes a group of nine guys that are getting ready to rob a mint in Spain. Although viewers aren’t robbers themselves, as the movie unfolds, the audience begins to relate to these men and become more invested in the characters and the plot. The viewer gets to know these nine guys and sees their reasons for wanting to rob the mint. The same is true in selling. You want to share a story with your client that he/she can relate to. Instead of just selling your products and services outright, or presenting bullet points of the benefits, share a success story instead. Set the scene by beginning with the problem. You’ll then go into the actual journey that leads to solving the problem. As the story unfolds, the client or prospect should be able to picture themselves in the scenario. By the end, they will see themselves as the one rescued from the problem by the solutions you have to offer. The basics of presenting a story When forming a story, think about how you will sit with the client and talk to them about what you’re doing. The number one question in your client’s mind is about who you are and why they should do business with you. It’s during this assessment your story telling should be an integral part of the sales process. It will become part of the conversation you’re having with your client. The basic framework of storytelling is pretty much the same: Start with a problem How you went on the journey of solving the problem Reveal the solution Share the results of the solution Jude keeps a story bank and saves story notes throughout the day, from the biggest details down to the minute ones. It’s these pieces that are used to create a story that is meaningful to the client. Kinds of Stories There are different kinds of stories. When you talk about yourself, then you are telling the Who are you? story. Other stories include Client Success stories. These kinds of stories not only build your credibility but they prove your process has worked for someone else. There are also Closing Stories and Value Stories. These are your core values. Clients like to see integrity and transparency so you can tell a story that illustrates these values. To see examples of great stories, a recommended book is The 10 Great Stories That Leaders Tell by Joseph Lalonde. Raising the stakes Let’s look at Money Heist again. The objective of the movie is for nine robbers to be able to get into the Royal Mint of Spain. The first thing they did was to pose as cops. The story raised the stakes when the police commissioner decided to try to break into the Mint of Spain while the robbers are there. The robbers say they have hostages and that one of them is the daughter of Spain’s ambassador. The police could rescue all the people but the stakes are high because the ambassador’s daughter will die. Raising the stakes is getting to the moment in the story where it looks as though you think the journey is way too hard. A great story will illustrate how the characters overcome. What happens at the end The end is where you become very strategic about your story. It will include the lesson you want the client to learn. Your goal is for the client to understand that they need to be all in. The important factor at the end of the story is how you frame the lesson. What are the results after the solution? That’s a question you need to answer. A great way story lets your client know you have an understanding of who they are, what their problems are, and the solutions they need. You want to set the vision of what the future looks like with, or without, your product or service. Another book called The Story Factor by Annette Simmons also talks about sto

Best Sellers In History Series 7 -" Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This is the seventh episode in the Best Sellers in History series. We celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. day on January 20, a legendary man who was the face and voice behind the civil rights movement. We have freedom today and now have opportunities that weren’t available for many people before him. Martin Luther King Jr. fought a tough battle but he never gave up and his efforts paid off. Through his actions and his character he was able to move people closer to justice and freedom. Today’s episode is about Martin Luther King Jr., one of the best sellers in history. We’re going to focus on the characteristics that made him so persuasive and how he was able to inspire a nation to change its ways. Sales Spotlight - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was originally named Michael King Jr. He was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He passed away on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. Martin was a Baptist minister and a social activist who led the civil rights movement in the United States from the mid-fifties until he was killed in the sixties. Dr. King’s leadership was fundamental to the success of the civil rights movement. His involvement helped to end segregation in the South and in other parts of the country as well. He rose to prominence as head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1964 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his continued effort to realize equality among his fellow Americans. King was among the youngest individuals to receive this award. His early life Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was 15 when he entered Morehouse College in Atlanta under the special wartime program. It was created to help boost enrollment by admitting promising high school students like King. Before he officially began his college education, he spent his summer on a tobacco farm in Connecticut. It was his first time to be far from home and what he experienced there opened his mind. He saw how people with different races interacted with each other, he saw what life was like without segregation. He was shocked and he wrote about it to his family back home. He wrote about how negroes and the whites went to church together. He never thought people of the same color could share a meal together. That summer deepened his hatred towards racial segregation. His oratorical skills came from his father and the time he spent going to church. It was further honed when he went to Morehouse College, especially when he met the school president, Benjamin Mays, who was also committed to fighting the battle against inequality and racial injustice. Benjamin accused the African-American community of being complacent in the face of oppression. King saw how strong-willed Benjamin was and this was not lost on the mind of a young Martin Luther King Jr. Becoming the face of the movement King furthered his education by going to a Theological Seminary in Chester, Pennsylvania and proceeded to Boston University where he got his degree and married his wife Coretta Scott. They got married in 1953 and had four children. King became a pastor at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. A year before, the civil rights movement had already begun when everyone started talking about Rosa Parks. She had refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white female. This small group of social activists approached Martin Luther King Jr. because he was admired in his community, he was charismatic, and he was outgoing. Martin Luther King Jr. had ties in the ministry community so he was thought to be the perfect individual to be the voice for the civil rights movement. This launched his campaign to promote freedom and justice for all people. Martin Luther King Jr. was a great salesperson for 5 reasons: Built relationships well Set a vision He was a great orator Created unconventional solutions to conventional problems Was willing to take action and go into battle for those he lead Building rapport and connecting with individuals Dr. King was new to Montgomery, Alabama. He didn’t know many people but they knew about him. They knew of his stellar reputation and they saw something in him. The small group of activists who approached him were already doing taking action but they knew they needed Dr. King to help. They needed him because of his ability to connect and build rapport. It was a risk that Dr. King was willing to take. Build rapport as a salesperson As a sales representative, people will do business with you only if they trust and like you. The community rallied behind Dr. King because they trusted him. As a salesperson it’s important to build trust with your clients as they get to know you. Show them you’re trustworthy, understand them and you empathize with their problems. Reflect similar behavior and language. They need to see that you are in the same tribe. Start with your LinkedIn profile. Check out your social circle and try to connect

How To Rapidly Grow Your Sales Through An Effective Message & A Powerful Sales Script A message and a powerful sales script are important to rapidly grow your business. These strategies can take your sales game from zero to hero. Matthew Pollard was a customer before he became a game-changer and a rapid growth expert. He was 21 when he met the most unbelievable salesperson he’d ever met. The man was part of the Wine Selector’s club. Matthew grew up in a relatively poor neighborhood so beer, straight vodka or bourbon had been his drink of choice. He wasn’t a wine person but the salesman’s script was so good he bought it. Matt signed up for a club membership and collected wine for 7-8 months before he moved houses. He started drinking wine and has become a huge fan. When Matthew told this salesman he’d purchased the wine because of the sales pitch, he was told the secret was to tell the same story every time. What made it so effective was that because he knew the script so well, he could guarantee a great performance consistently, and was developing better versions of his story each time. That resonated with Matthew. The idea of a sales script was something new for him and he wanted to work on it. What is script sales? A sales script can initially sound robotic and monotone. It’s similar to an actor who is reading a script for the first time. In that first run, there’s no guarantee that it’s going to sound great. What will develop the performance is practice. It’s practice that will give life to the scripted words. Actors can embody their characters so well because they run their lines repeatedly. The same is true in sales. When you’re able to connect with your customer from a script, then you know you’ve practiced enough to make the script a natural part of your pitch. Practice and more practice Practice a sales script until it becomes who you are. Tell the jokes and stories repeatedly, watch what works and doesn’t work, and continue to hone the storytelling until you are getting positive reactions in the places you want your client to react. The story could be as simple as how you met your spouse to how you tried and failed to climb Mount Everest. You will get better about crafting your joke or story so it’s more engaging. It’s going to take time before you get comfortable but once it does, your sales script will be so effective. Famous Australian comedian, Jim Owen, does stand up comedy and his shtick is to riff on topics people want him to talk about or he’ll find random objects in the room. He finds humor in all of it. He admits that it’s a huge amount of work for a comedian to come across as original and authentic in the moment. He also adds that part of what he does is scripted and then he practices and rehearses the script until it makes people laugh. How he prepares is to make sure he thinks of all the variables in the room so he can be ready for any eventuality. The key to sales scripting As comedians practice to hone their craft, so should salespeople sharpen their scripts. There are generally four or five problems when you’re selling a specific product or service. If you’re good at creating a unified message, finding a niche of clients to target, and you’re able to sell, then you have most of the problems solved. The only thing that should vary is how you respond to the problems and questions that come up. Your answer should highlight the benefits that fit their special needs. Salespeople want to get really good about differentiating their products and services from their competition and they need to know the profile of their ideal customer. They need to know what their sales goals. Steps to looking for the right customers You never want to pick a market that your competencies can’t support. You can’t classify yourself as an expert in something you know nothing about. Instead, look for a specific person or group of people that benefit from your offer the most. What is the profile of the client that provides the best revenue? Knowing this will allow you to offer a product or service that is specific and work best for their needs. It makes selling so much easier and helps to alleviate competitions because you’ve already differentiated your niche market. This is the perfect time to present your sales script, when you know the specific group of people will move you to rapid growth. When your script is well-crafted, you have a higher rate of closing. Case example: Beijing Language Academy One of Mattew’s clients was a language institute called Beijing Language Academy. They were having a difficult time charging more than $50-80 for a one-on-one consultation. It was a massive problem for them. Matthew was called in to help and helped them come up with their sales goals and customer avatar. When they looked at their existing clients, they found that they weren’t only giving language lessons but their academy was also teaching their customers how to become successful in China. Hence, China Success Institu

How To Create An Environment Where People Thrive At Work A healthy work environment allows people to thrive and grow. But what can we do to create that environment where people thrive? Kingsley Grant is focused on helping leaders get better results by using a framework of emotional intelligence and leadership. He helps sales leaders create environments that support positive output. Reasons why salespeople don’t thrive at work The research group, Aussie Tanner, interviewed people who left their companies. Based on that research, it showed that people leave because they felt unacknowledged, under-valued, and unimportant. The best way to address these problems is to create an environment that supports employees and allows them to feel they are part of the team. This engagement can be a challenge for many leaders. Another reason why salespeople fail to thrive is they don’t feel safe to share their ideas. There is a fear that sales leaders will use those ideas against them. Sales leaders need to create an environment where their team can share ideas they know will at least be considered. When employees feel they’re in an environment that offers room to experiment and make mistakes, these salespeople grow and thrive. How does thriving look like? A salesperson who is allowed to unleash their talents is a person who thrives. For example, L’Oreal is a huge cosmetics company that wanted their people to thrive with their company. They had some of their salespeople trained in the area of emotional intelligence. The rest of their sales team weren’t given the training. What they found was that their trained personnel and sales staff were able to sell more. Their value increased and their net revenue rose to $2.5 million in just a month. Helping salespeople acquire emotional intelligence can greatly impact the company. Allowing your sales team to learn self-awareness is a powerful tool to build their confidence and increase revenue. Defining emotional intelligence Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, understand, and regulate your emotions. It is the ability to have a level of awareness of how you feel and manage your relationships around you. Every salesperson is building relationships around them, whether it’s with their team or their customers. Having emotional intelligence provides the ability to manage a variety of relationships. A sales leader plays a huge part in building their sales teams’ emotional intelligence. The leader must be sensitive to the needs of the members of their sales team. This includes an awareness of what their team is going through, what the sales reps need to learn in order to make better sales decisions, and more. When the sales leader is tuned in to the feelings of their sales team it helps them have a feeling of belonging. This helps the sales reps stay motivated, thrive, and bring in more sales. Building a safe environment for salespeople The sales team should be encouraged to share suggestions they think will help the company. Kingsley shares an experience he had at a previous company when he wasn’t supported. He wanted to help the company by sharing an idea he had and brought the idea to his coordinator. When his coordinator didn’t agree, instead of talking to Kingsley, the coordinator went to the vice president of the company. As a result, Kingsley could no longer trust his coordinator. After his idea was received so badly, he didn’t share other ideas he wanted to offer and quit the company six months later. He could no longer work for someone who would shut down his ideas and talk to the executives behind his back. Sales leaders are often focused on the bottom line, only seeing the end results, and they fail to acknowledge the people who are delivering those results. They fail to see their most important resources, the sales team. The way teams are treated can determine whether or not goals are met. Salespeople have to feel safe. They need to know if they don’t make a sale, they won’t be reprimanded but instead, be mentored about how to be more effective next time. It doesn’t mean a sales leader ignores a sales rep who can’t or refuses to learn but unfortunately, sales people leave a company long before the company realizes their true skill set. People don’t leave organizations. They leave bad bosses. When salespeople feel heard, and their ideas matter, they will stay at a company longer and make more money. Win-win! #SalesWin Reprimand at the right time Sales leaders are effective when they praise publicly and reprimand privately. A sales rep should never be embarrassed in front of the team. Tough love isn’t going to work. As a mentor, build an environment where you can watch your sales team interact and help them modify any actions that aren’t working. Help them to overcome and face a variety of situations that may be keeping them from success. You are learning with them and will see some skill sets you didn’t know they had. It’s these very skills that will prove to be

Best Sellers In History Series 6 - "Mary Kay Ash" It’s the sixth episode for out Best Sellers in History series. We’ve talked about Jesus Christ, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, Mother Teresa, and Mahatma Gandhi. This time, we’re going to talk about someone who helped get others promoted but was overlooked for promotions herself. She noticed how unfairly she was being treated at her job but instead of begging for a piece of the pie, she went ahead and created her own pie! Let’s talk about Mary Kay Ash and how she built her empire from the strong skill sets she developed as a salesperson. Sales Spotlight - Mary Kay Ash Mary Kay Ash is world-renowned for being the makeup and skincare queen. Her pink Cadillac has become iconic. How did this come from someone who kept getting passed over for promotion? Because she is considered to be one of the best sellers in history. Here are five reasons why: Had a purpose and a why Created a vision or a common cause Had a strong and impressive work ethic Had the desire to create and give rewards Willing to take action Mary Kay Ash was born on May 12, 1918, in Hotwells, Texas. She took care of her sick dad for most of her childhood while her mother did the earning for the family. At 17 years old, Mary Kay married Ben Rogers and had three children with him before Ben went to war in WWII. Their marriage eventually came to an end and Mary Kay was left with three children to take care of. She needed to make money to feed her children so she started working for Stanley Home products in 1939. She’d go into someone’s home and host parties with the sole purpose of encouraging people to buy household items. Mary Kay was great at her job and she became a top seller. By 1952, Mary Kay was hired by World Gifts. After 10 years,however, she quit her job. At that time, the sales force was mostly made up of men and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get ahead because she was a woman. She saw the men she was training were getting promoted, going onto better jobs, and they were getting a much higher wage. Had a purpose and a why With $5000, Mary Kay used the money to build her empire. Mary Kay had a purpose. She was a mother who needed to take care of her kids and a woman who wanted to see other women succeed. Mary Kay also had a vision that helped her achieve her dreams. She had a why. As a salesperson, a vision and purpose can propel you beyond a bad sales day. For many people, a paycheck isn’t enough. There has to be a deeper connection, something bigger. Having a purpose is the motivation that moves you to show up even when things get hard. Have a purpose that pushes you to create an opportunity for the people you care about the most. Mary Kay had a purpose that was even bigger than herself. While she wanted to take care of her family, she also wanted to create something that would help other women. Created a vision and a common cause Every great salesperson in this series had a vision and created a common cause. Mary Kay recognized that women were undervalued in the sales industry and other workplaces. Women were not considered as capable as men. This misconception prompted Mary Kay to build an empire that would give women the opportunity to succeed and do more. Her business opened doors for women to become six-figure earners and as a result, became the breadwinners for their families and they had a community where they were valued. The company grew and by the end of its second year, it was making $1 million in product sales. A salesperson can also achieve greater success if they can communicate a common cause to their clients. Creating a brand message that solves problems and identifying a common struggle can create a unifying purpose. Had a strong and impressive work ethic Mary Kay had an impressive work ethic and worked hard. She got up everyday at 5:00 AM. She said, “If you get up at 5 o’clock three times a week, you’ll gain an extra day. You need to try it a few times because you realize a great feeling of satisfaction at 8:00 in the morning when you’ve already finished what would have taken you six hours to do after 8 o’clock because of the interruptions.” Make it your goal to wake up early, put in the time, start working, and be productive without the distractions. Give yourself an opportunity to practice and challenge yourself as Mary Kay did. Had the desire to create and give rewards According to the Harvard Business Review, the three reasons why people leave their job is because they don’t like their boss, they don’t see an opportunity for promotion, or they were offered a better job. Mary Kay understood this and set up a system with four levels of promotion: Independent beauty consultant Red jacket beauty consultant Independent sales director National sales director As sales people hit their numbers, they would be promoted to the next level,and get different rewards. This motivated people and gave them room to grow. The system made them very successful. The ultimat

5 Ways Exercise Will Help You Become A Better Sales Professional Everybody wants to be better and be the best version of themselves. There are ways to help you become a better sales professional. Austin Rolling is the founder and CEO of a software company based in Houston, Texas called Outfield. It’s a web and mobile-based software application designed for organizations that compete for outside sales, field marketing, and field merchandising activities. They created a platform to help companies acquire the necessary data to be effective in rolling out and executing their field marketing strategies. Austin wrote an article about 5 areas we can become a better sales professional through exercise. To be better, exercise doesn't just refer to physical fitness. Mental health is just as important for someone wanting to be a great salesperson. The 5 areas we’ll be reviewing include: Mental fitness Having various outlets to relieve stress Appearance Energy to make it through the day Self-reflection Mental fitness Sales can be mentally taxing, especially with a challenging sales cycle. They have to be able to show up and be ready to do critical tasks month after month. Because of this they have to be mentally tough. You need to be in the right mental state to remember even the tiniest tasks in order to remain organized. With the hormones released by the body during a physical exercise is one way a clearer mind can be achieved. Have an Outlet to Relieve Stress The second area that can help someone become a better sales professional is to have various outlets to relieve stress. We typically feel better after a great workout. The body releases endorphins that help reduce stress and anxiety. The hormones released by the brain due to exercise helps with mental clarity. For Austin, he relieves his stress with hard-core exercise. He suggests sales people look at a variety of outlets like golf, basketball, art, music, and more. Presentable appearance Appearance and grooming play a vital role for salespeople. In sales, it’s important to maintain a level of confidence and you only have one chance to make a first impression. When you want the value of your presentation to be heard, you need to make sure there are no distractions. An example of a distraction may include a wrinkled shirt or dirty shoes. You want to present yourself in such a way that you appear fit, carry yourself well, and seem confident. Having the right energy Salespeople have to be excited about the value they are going to provide to their customers. You want to go into a meeting with contagious energy so your customers will also get excited about your company’s value proposition. Make them believe in what you’re selling by believing in yourself first. If you want them to believe in the value and the services you’re able to provide show the energy that conveys that. In his book, Social Intelligence by Daniel Goldman, a Harvard Ph.D. graduate, he talks about how our bodies are wired to connect with people. We have mirror neurons that allow us to synchronize with other people based on their emotions. These emotions are also based on the emotions we exude. If we are coming off negative, the client will sense it. Make sure that what you’re sending out is positive energy. Two sales reps can share the exact same message but the one with more passion and excitement will get the deal. Exude a level of energy that’s contagious and believable! If you don’t, your competition will. #SalesMindset Self-reflection Setting aside time for self-reflection is another way to become a better sales professional. Self-reflection allows you to see what mistakes you might have made and gives you time to think about how you can become better. It’s a time to think about your missed opportunities so you can make a note of vulnerable areas and allocate your energy to the right activities next time. Taking the time to do this will enhance and sales professional. Even more important than talent and intelligence, is attitude. Do the things that will move you toward a more positive energy and clients will see that in the work. “5 Ways Exercise Will Help You Become A Better Sales Professional” episode resources Talk to Austin Rolling via [email protected]. He is also on LinkedIn so you can just go check his LinkedIn profile. Do you have sales questions? Suggestions? You can also talk to Donald about it via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for any sales concerns. This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. We have a new semester beginning in January and we would love to have you and your team join us. Follow this link to apply to the program. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes so tune in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast,

The Psychology of Sales Behind the sales process there’s a whole psychology of sales that is part of the interaction between sales reps and customers. What does that entail? As a sales performance consultant and coach, Anita Nielsen answers this question for her clients. She works with sales leaders and salespeople to help them up their game and get them to where they want to go. As a sales coach, Anita does one-on-one training and offers sales enablement services. She is known as a fixer when sales aren’t going smoothly. Anita is also the author of the newly published book, Beat the Bots. In recent years, sales reps have been ringing their hands about how robots are going to take away jobs. Anita’s book was the result of hearing these same fears over and over again. She doesn’t agree. She believes people who are great at customer service and building relationships will always have a job. The AIs won’t be able to learn empathy or trust and they can’t build that human connection. Buyers crave that connection more than ever due to the rise of technology. Customers want to work with people who they feel have their back and want them to succeed. They want sales reps they can trust and interact with. How AIS help the sales force Computer-based programs can do many things. AI can help with jobs that entail just dialing or deal with a template but they will never promote trust or empathy. The complex purchases won’t be handled by AI and technology. When they need specific business outcomes, customers still want a sales rep to help them figure out how to achieve those outcomes. Trust and empathy are two of the biggest factors that keep human connection in the sales force. Buyers want to work with people who can provide both. There are many things that a bot and AI can do. Some of the AIs are helping people to screen phone calls and can determine how long a salesperson spends talking to a customer or the length of time the customers is speaking. The technology won’t take away the jobs of salespeople. Tech is there to make sales people better by supporting their work. It’s not there to replace the valuable things salespeople do for their customers. Value is in the eye of the customer When Anita talks with sales leaders, one of the first things they say is that their sales team doesn't know how to articulate value to the customers. She then asks what they mean by value and Anita has yet to hear the same answers. What she does is break down value in three layers: There’s the basic inherent value, the general value. The general value is the reason why customers are buying. The second one is the company’s value. This value reflects what a company does that sets it apart from its competitors. A customer looks at who you are and what you stand for, and how well you understand your customers. As a company, these need to be brought together to bring personalized value to the customer. What can you offer to make your customers feel better or more successful? For salespeople and companies, the only thing that should matter is your customers’ perception of value and being to articulate how you can support those values. Salespeople’s job As salespeople, it is our job to tap into the emotion behind the purchase and figure out what the customers’ motivations are. This discovery, however, has to come from a place of good intent. Be a salesperson who truly wants to help your customers succeed. People can sense your intention and good intention goes a long way. It is this mindset that will guide your interaction with your customers. High performers are the ones who are instinctively tapping into these driving emotions. Anita was working with a saleswoman a few years back who was selling medical devices. The device was sold to emergency departments and it helped get quicker results with less errors when checking for blood pressure and other stats. Everytime a sale was done, training was provided to show the nurses how the device worked. After once particular sale, Sharon the sales rep was working with a nurse director named Florence ( both names changed) and she wondered why Florence wasn’t scheduling the training for her team. Florence had been living in the States for 20 years but still had a thick Philippine accent. As a result, Florence was insecure and stressed about conducting the training. Sharon understood and so she offered to do the training herself. Six months later, Sharon got a call from six different hospitals. She had gotten referrals through Florence, the nurse she’d helped. Florence was a customer for life and was pointing new customers to Sharon. Be the salesperson who is able to anticipate and address a customer’s problems and challenges. Be good at discovery The first thing you need to learn is to be great at discovery. Learn to ask questions that are going to help evoke emotions. Use high-impact questions. For example, if you’re selling technology, you might ask: Help me understand how you guys are using X technol

Best Sellers In History Series 5 - "Mahatma Gandhi" Depending on who you ask, hearing the name Mahatma Gandhi may bring up the titles of leader, spiritual guide, person of nonviolence, The Father of India, and many more. You may think about the man who defied the British Empire. How did one man make it possible? How was he able to get millions of people to follow his ideals and eventually shape the rest of Western culture? For this episode, we will look at Mahatma Gandhi and explore the traits that made him an influential person. Sales Spotlight - Mahatma Gandhi Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, in Pordabander, India. He studied law in London but moved to South Africa in 1893 where he spent 20 years opposing discriminatory legislation against Indians. Gandhi was from a successful family, his father a successful merchant. Gandhi’s experience in working for a law firm in South Africa led him to focus his efforts on helping those who are disenfranchised by society. One particular day, Gandhi was riding on a train in first-class. Being a man of means, he’d the money to pay for the ticket. However, another passenger in first-class didn’t like that an Indian was riding there as well. The conductor tried to encourage Gandhi to move to the lower class but he had paid for the ticket and had broken no laws. He defended himself and was thrown off the train. Gandhi went back to India and supported the home rule movement, where Indians could rule themselves, independent from the British Empire. The British had come into India and raked the country’s resources for 200 years. The British originally talked about how they were going to help the people and the economy, and would create jobs, but it didn’t happen in India’s favor. Most of the money went back to England and English people started to look down on the poorer Indian people. The English people were able to take the whole of India because India wasn’t united. Indian Revolution against Britain The largest rebellion against the British took place in 1857 and it lasted for 18 months. The British called it the Indian Mutiny and it started to spread even though the British downplayed the rebellion and by calling it a mutiny. Both sides had a difficult time but the British eventually won. Many of the Indians were conditioned to think they couldn’t fight against the British despite their huge number. Instead of fighting for their own battle, the Indian army became the backbone of the British empire. The British Viceroy, Lord Curzon said that as long as they ruled India, they would be the greatest power in the world. The Indians, however, wanted their freedom and their own democracy. The lack of unity Imagine the same situation in the B2B world. Suppose a new client has a huge problem? They have tried to fix it in the past but they weren’t able to win against it. As a result, they started to just live with the problem. Within the company there could be groups of people who have great ideas on how to solve the problem but there’s nobody who is unifying them. Every department keeps doing the best they can and everyone just lives with the pain. They need a powerful leader who can recognize there’s a problem, bring all the groups together, and create a solution as a team. Mahatma Gandhi showed that kind of leadership. Going to the masses Unlike other politicians and wealthy people, Mahatma Gandhi spent time with the masses. This was very similar to what Jesus Christ, Mother Teresa, Abraham Lincoln, and the other personalities in this history series did. They wanted to make a lasting impression so they spent most of their time with the masses. If you want to make a massive impact, you need to go to the people. The same is true for Mahatma Gandhi. He went among the people and built relationships with them. He tried to understand what was going on in their everyday lives. This allowed him to see the challenges they were facing as the oppressed people of society. He was able to articulate their problems and speak for the people. He became the unifying voice. Sales reps understand the clients’ pain Much like with Mahatma Gandhi, sales reps need to understand their clients’ pain and see where they’re coming from. You shouldn’t just be a salesperson who comes in trying to get the money and resources. You are a person who should be able to identify with the pain of your clients. Being able to relate to people at that level will earn you their trust. People will respect you and have confidence in you. They don’t give you money for nothing. They give you money because they believe you can solve their problems. Build rapport and talk to your customers regularly. How can you do that? Send them birthday cards and email Send them articles and information you find online Keep in touch with them Touch base with your current customers As a sales rep, it is important to build rapport, understand where they’re coming from, learn about their challenges, and be involved with their lives.

The 3 Foolproof Secrets to Get Rid of Your Head Trash What does it mean to have head trash and how exactly can you get rid of it? Let’s talk about 3 foolproof secrets to get rid of your head trash. Noah St. John is known as The Power Habits Mentor because he has helped thousands of people master their inner game and outer game to help them make more and work less. He works with sales professionals, entrepreneurs, celebrities, CEOs, athletes, and more. Noah helps them get rid of their head trash about money, relationships, and everything else holding them back. He is the author of 15 books and his most recently published book is entitled Power Habits: The New Science for Making Success Automatic. Through his work, Noah and his team have helped entrepreneurs and sales professionals increase their sales to six, seven, and even eight figures by using his methods. Defining head trash Noah discovered the notion of head trash many years ago. Head trash is the negative voice in your head that constantly tells you, “I can’t because … “ It’s the voice that states all the reasons why you can’t do something you want to do. People consistently approach Noah and tell him they want to reach for more and do bigger things but they can’t because they’re too busy or they don’t have money for it. They have so many reasons why they can’t do the things they want to do. When you tell yourself something your mind is going to believe it. When you say you don’t have the time, then your inner self will believe you truly do not have the time. You are going to make that belief true even when it’s a lie. We all have 24 hours a day regardless of who you are. Time is irrelevant so it’s not an excuse that many people think they have. Head trash is damaging because it’s holding people back. Identify your head trash The first step to getting rid of head trash is identifying what it is. For most people it’s repetitive but people fail to realize that it’s the head trash telling you the same lies over and over again. Ideas such as, I’m stupid or I’m not good enough can go through your mind in a loop and you don’t even realize it. Because these lies are repetitive and habitual, many people aren’t even considering the damage it can cause. Identifying your head trash is fairly easy. Write down the negative beliefs you’re carrying about yourself. Most of the negative things we say to ourselves aren’t true. Writing down your negative thoughts will help you become aware of them. Noah has a client who was a sales professional. She was making about $5,000 a month in sales but she knew she was capable of making more. This salesperson spent time and money to train with gurus but for several years was still stuck at $5,000 a month. She attended Noah’s event called Freedom Lifestyle Experience and hired Noah as a coach. Within a year of using Noah’s Power Habit System, her revenue jumped from $5,000/month to $75,000/month! This is proof that understanding your own head trash and being able to overcome the negative noise will lead to good results. You need to look at your inner game in all the different aspects of your life. Knowing your outer game The outer game includes the systems and strategies, the blocking and tackling. These would be all the sales tactics invested in and studied. By working with salespeople for the last two decades, Noah found that success is attained only when someone has mastered both the inner and outer game. Understand that you can change your beliefs The first step to transformation is awareness. It’s only when you are aware of something that you’re able to change. If you want to change your life, you need to change your beliefs - these are your thoughts. The human brain automatically searches to answer the questions you ask it. Noah thought about that and realized can’t just make statements the way we do in affirmations. We don’t believe it. Instead, we need to start asking ourselves questions to put the brain to work. Start asking empowering questions that will lead to phenomenal answers. AfFORmations An affirmation is a statement of something you want to be true. One of the things Noah loves doing during keynote speeches is using the old-school affirmation method. He instructs people to stand up and say, “I am rich.” Immediately after, the attendees start laughing. When Noah asks why, they say, “I’m not actually rich.” This is why affirmations don’t work. You have to believe in the statements for them to work. Noah, realizing affirmations were ineffective, created The Afformation Method. It is the most direct and powerful yet simple method you can use to change your beliefs. This method uses the act of asking the questions that will lead you to look for the answers. Using the Afformation method, you can change the question to change your beliefs, habits, and eventually your life. Getting the correct mindset It’s important to talk about your goals. In regards to goals, Noah has been telling his clients, “We don’t rise to the l

What Is The DISC Assessment Profile And How Can It Help My Sales Team? The DISC Assessment profile is an important training opportunity for any sales team. It is one of the tools many sales reps have started to utilize as its reputation for personality assessment has grown among sales leaders and their companies. So what is the DISC Assessment and how can it help your sales team? Mads Singers is a management coach. He has been in the management field for 15 years and has worked with industry giants such as Xerox, IBM, and more. For more than seven years, Mads has been running his own business. What is DISC? DISC is a behavioral framework similar to Myers-Briggs. It’s a framework to help people understand themselves and other people. The acronym DISC stands for: D: Dominance I: Influence S: Steadiness C: Conscientious Everyone is born unique; however, there are traits that certain groups of people share. If you look at a sales team, for example, you can see that many members have similar personalities. Salespeople, as a whole, tend to be assertive and focused. Typically, they are also comfortable around other people. These are traits that most successful people have so sales managers tend to be drawn to these types of personalities when hiring sales reps. DISC is immensely effective when looking to hire the right people for the right jobs. Many assume that people are motivated by money but the truth is that people are motivated by goals and having the ability to achieve their goals. Facing the challenge There is a challenge when you are selling to someone who is not like you. Salespeople need to understand the different ways other people think. Sales don’t just happen from a meeting. Rapport has to be built and it’s not as easy when the seller and the buyer don’t connect to people in the same way. For instance, people from software and technology companies aren’t your typical salespeople. They don’t talk as much and they want to cut straight to the point. This can be a very abrupt style of communicating for buyers who need more of a relational approach. For such different personality types, it’s harder to build rapport because the style of communication is so different. The salesperson has to be mindful that they will not always get to sell to a client the way they themselves want to be sold to. It’s up to the salesperson to uncover what style is needed for each unique client. Different Personality types There are four personality types reflected in the DISC Assessment: D - Dominance The high D personalities are very driven people. These are the people who don’t usually smile a lot because they’re constantly thinking. They are focused, law-oriented, money-oriented, and power-oriented. They are the people who will do whatever it takes to get whatever they want to get. You will find a lot of these people at the highest level in big organizations because they are willing to do whatever it takes to meet their goals. These personalities push people to the extreme but they are willing to work just as hard or harder. I - Influence High I personalities are typically salespeople. They tend to be loud and talk a lot. They are the storytellers. Sales managers hire these personality types because of their ability to network and talk to strangers. Because of this they usually know a large pool of people. In sales, referrals are essential and high I’s know how to call in favors. They have a very positive mindset and know-how to inspire people to follow them toward their goals. S - Steadiness The high S groups are the moms and uncles of the team. They are the ones who are more focused on others than on themselves. Their happiness comes from drawing out other peoples’ joy and they don’t adapt well to change. High S’s are people-focused but aren’t the ones who are going to start a conversation. They’re in the corner wanting someone to initiate the discussion first C - Conscientious Lastly, the high C personalities are the accountants and financial people. They love learning every minute detail and will ask a lot of technical questions. They are generally shy, however, and prefer not to have verbal communication. They are very detailed and want to know everything about everything. Salespeople who don’t know their product well fail to make a sale with Cs. Hiring the right sales reps Most salespeople are high Ds and high Is. These are the people who have a mix of high drive and are also excellent networkers. One challenge with having an assessment test for salespeople before hiring them is that most people will tell you what they think you want to hear. Some can tweak their tests to have a result similar to what you’re looking for. The other challenge is that people don’t know themselves well enough to give accurate answers. Just realize that natural behaviors do not change. Even when your personality changes, your natural behaviors stay the same. There is hope for people who are hiring. People can learn coping traits. Someone

Best Sellers In History Series 4 - "Benjamin Franklin" This is the fourth episode for the Best Seller in History series. This time around, the sales spotlight is on Benjamin Franklin. Despite Benjamin Franklin only having two years of formal education, his inventions are used to this day. He was a phenomenal writer when he was a teenager and was an inventor throughout his life. Franklin was a statesman, designed a musical instrument used by Mozart and Beethoven, and was an abolitionist in his later years. It’s worth noting he was also a writer, painter, political philosopher, politician, Freemason, diplomat, and so much more, including a phenomenal seller. We will explore five reasons why. Sales Spotlight - Benjamin Franklin One of the founding fathers of the United States, Benjamin Franklin grew up in Boston, Massachusetts. Due to financial constraints, he wasn’t able to finish his formal education so he worked as an apprentice for his brother who was in the printing industry. When Benjamin was 15 years old, his brother founded a newspaper called The New England Courant. His experience in his brother’s company helped in shaping his skills as a phenomenal seller. There are five reasons why Benjamin Franklin was so effective: 1.Problem-solving skills Curiosity Ability to seek knowledge 4 .Learning from smarter people and masterminding Ability to build a strong rapport Ability to solve problems Benjamin Franklin had extraordinary skills in problem-solving and used this talent throughout his life. James Franklin, his brother, was running a newspaper but he wouldn’t allow Benjamin to write for the publication. He realized the solution was to ghostwrite through anonymous letters, under the guise of being a middle-aged widow. The anonymous letters focused on what was going on in the community so it naturally piqued the interest of the readers. Benjamin would slip the letters under the door of James’ newspaper each night. Each morning, James and his friends would discuss and debate the content of the letter. The letters got published and Benjamin’s alter ego became a popular contributor to the paper. His brother wasn’t happy when he found out that it was Benjamin who was writing the anonymous letters but had no choice but to continue publishing for the readers who loved the anonymous letters. Sometime later, James was thrown in jail after writing something that wasn’t favorable to the government. During his absence, Ben ran the newspaper without major issues. When his brother came back, Ben presented the idea of partnership. When James didn’t agree with Ben’s proposal, Ben decided to leave and went to Philadelphia. Problem-Solving skills as a sales rep There are times when buyers don’t even recognize they have a problem. They are so focused on the status quo and happy with their current system that it doesn’t occur to them to change things. They refuse to learn more or don’t realize there is more to learn. The prospect may even have problems they’re not aware of. Others have identified their problems but they just have a band-aid solution to ease the discomfort. As a sales rep, you need to find a way to actually solve the problem. That’s what Benjamin did. Even when he asked his brother, James said No repeatedly. Ben thought outside the box and he thought of ways to address a problem regardless of the decisions made by James. Your job is to help your clients recognize the problem and present them with a solution, even if they may have objections. Be Curious Benjamin Franklin was curious and was a voracious reader, consuming books and literature. He was always learning. This love of learning led him to create an almanac where he included tips and advice that could be applied to everyday life. As a result, his almanac stood out from the rest of the competition. Benjamin’s curiosity was ever present, even after his retirement in the publishing industry. He made many inventions and even received recognition from the King of France due to his skills as a scientist. Money wasn’t his motivation for inventing things. It was more for satisfying curiosity and creating a better society. Curiosity as a sales rep Sales reps who are curious are the ones who are able to dig deeper and as a result, offer true value. Take for example a sales rep selling a SAS software solution. It is a service that allows you to send mass messages to clients and interact with them. If the sales rep presenting the product jumps directly into the proposal and price offering, he will likely lose the deal. Consider another sales rep who is very curious and wants to figure out why they need the text messaging service. She wants to find out how the client can take advantage of the software. It will be easier for the second sales rep to actually make the sale because she’s gathered more information. She’s able to build more value by asking effective questions. Your curiosity will help you land deals because you’re willing to put in the extra effort. When

10 High-Performance Habits That Lead To Success An article entitled 10 High-Performance Habits that Lead to Success by Justin Su’a is noteworthy. This isn’t a normal article. It talks about 10 specific principles that, if practiced carefully, will help increase one’s performance and mental toughness. Justin Su’a is a former competitive baseball player and despite not having the physical prowess and physical ability like some other players, he was still able to gain success. His family trained him to face any adversity with a positive mindset. Their team also had a sports psychologist who spoke to the players about tools and strategies that were taught to Olympians. The principles taught by the sports psychologist resonated with Justin and ignited a desire for him to follow the same career path. These principles not only work for sports but can be applied by people of all walks to every aspect of life. Here are the 10 high-performance habits that lead to success: Win the morning Do hard things Embrace feedback Learn from failure Choose your attitude Do one more Have a purpose Recommit every single day Be patient Fear no one Win the morning Winning the morning is all about starting strong. People complain they don’t have enough time in the day but the truth is, there’s not enough time because they’re not using the time they have. Instead, they’re wasting it. All you need to do is to start the morning strong by getting up with purpose. Successful people and high-performers are able to do hard things. Sometimes one of these is to wake up early when nobody else does. Move towards your goal by telling your body to get up, even when it wants to sleep. This is you practicing to dominate your body. If you do that over and over again, you are going to be able to train yourself to do difficult things. When you don’t want to pick up the phone to make a sales call, train yourself by telling yourself to pick up the phone anyway. Make that first decision ad it will get easier. Winning the morning is important because it starts your day off with taking control. Tell yourself to do one thing and attack it. Regardless of whether you’re a night person or a morning person, your morning begins when you wake up. Wake up strong by doing it on purpose and with passion. Set up a routine, workout, eat right, fill your mind, and fill your heart. There are two things that people often underestimate when trying to achieve greatness: How long it’s going to take and how hard it’s going to be. Whether you set a personal goal or a professional goal, don’t underestimate how difficult it’s going to be or how long it’s going to take for you to achieve the goals. The danger in doing so is that you’re mentally unprepared when adversity comes. When problems strike, many would-be performers pull the plug and give up. High-performers, on the other hand, have the ability to do hard things because they have acknowledged beforehand that achieving their goals may be hard. They’ve prepared themselves mentally and physically for the hard things. Successful people didn’t realize their achievements overnight. Many hours, days, months, and sometimes years are spent working towards their goals. They win the morning and keep going. Whatever time you wake up, win the morning. Wake up with purpose and attack the day! #SalesTalk Little things matter People tend to seek out the hard actions and don’t realize the tedious detail-oriented things matter just as much. Examples are reading for on-going education and taking notes during training. Great performers don’t take these details for granted. The details that need to be executed will be different from one person to the next. The key is to find the details that apply to your success and whatever they are, do them. Learn from failures The inability to learn from failure is the number one factor that destroys would-be performers. Many professionals from various careers and industries are afraid of failure. It’s not necessarily even the failure in itself, but their interpretation of failure. They perceive that failure means they’re not good enough. These negative phrases that play over and over in someone’s mind lead to feelings of failure but you can train yourself to understand these feelings don’t reflect the truth of the situation. Instead of viewing failure negatively, It can be looked at as an opportunity to learn. Every successful entrepreneur has seen failure and fought against it. They overcome these adversities by using failures as a means to learn from their mistakes and get better. Sarah Blakely, the CEO of Spanx, was asked why she’s so good at her job. She attributed her success to the training that got from her father. Sarah’s father would ask her, “How did you fail today and what did you learn from it?” She grew up learning from failure. Those who are willing to learn from failure will fear it less and those who fear it less are more dangerous because they know how to use it. When you can wake up eve

The Next Wave: Customer-Facing Solutions With the new year, we are all looking towards the next wave in customer-facing solutions available for us. This is important as it helps improve our business and sales strategies. Nicolas Venderberghe is a CEO and entrepreneur. Nicolas is originally from France but has now lived in the U.S. for a good part of his career. He’s been working for tech companies, working at Chilli Piper since 2016. The company’s biggest vision is to improve sales and completely transform the industry by using digital tools. Big companies like SalesForce specialize in back end algorithms and can miss the opportunities on the front end. This is where Nicolas’ company helps its clients thrive. Salespeople used to be technophobes and hated the idea of using technology in their sales process. As new technologies have become available, salespeople now adapt to a variety of tools and have become savvier. Next wave in customer-facing solutions The sales industry tends to move in waves. First, it was about automating internal processes, and that’s why we have CRM. It ensures that everything is recorded so, in any situation, much of the sales cycle happens in the backend. The next generation helps with the interaction and is referred to as customer-facing tools. This is the next wave in customer-facing solutions. An opportunity that Nicolas’ team addresses is in the booking, or scheduling a meeting. In sales, even before the first meeting, an opportunity has to be created to book a time and engage with a prospect. The easiest example would include inbound products, called the concierge. In earlier days, the concierge occurred when prospects visited your site, and let you know they were interested in learning more by filling out a form that provided contact information for the follow-up. Upon clicking the submit button, they’d be brought to a thank you page and told that someone would be in touch. The prospect was left wondering who would get in touch and when. In some cases, there would be no follow up so retention was lost. Many companies are losing more than half their pipeline due to a broken process. Businesses can lose up to 80% of their leads because they don’t act fast enough. Qualifying the prospects Nicolas and his team built an intelligence solution to address this problem. In their version, once the prospect fills out the form for submission, Nicolas’ company uses the information from the form to qualify the prospect right away. They look at the prospect’s company size and the criteria set by their client to qualify. They’re able to do this, and reach out to a salesperson, in real-time. They call the prospect’s number and when they pick up, the prospect is connected immediately to a salesperson. If the sales rep isn’t available, a calendar is made available so the prospect can book a time that works for them, all with one click. Streamlining the front of the sales cycle allows for more direct revenues. Companies that work with Nicolas’ team have seen an increase in revenue and conversation rates between 50-100%. They’ve even seen many companies double their conversion rates. Some companies have even started to work with them with as little as 30-40% conversion, losing 60-70% of their leads. Business to small businesses When a prospect wants to purchase a product or service, the quickest company to reply is typically the one that will get the account. This concept is called business to small businesses, where a bigger company is sending to small businesses. They don’t have an army of people to go through a procurement process. Instead, they’re going to look for a variety of vendors. These are the types of prospects that bigger companies are losing. It’s because they fail to act quickly and respond to their prospects’ needs. For a larger enterprise, the buyer has more time but they’re also going to look at how they are going to be served. The solution to this is called the red carpet. This means showing up, taking the form, and immediately offering the option to talk to somebody. This strategy of being direct is another boost to your conversion rate. As a salesperson, you need to remember that the very beginning of the sales process is to make sure that things end on a very good note. Things don’t go as fast for B2B because of the different teams involved in the sales process. The marketing team is in charge of bringing in traffic to the website. The sales team is in charge of managing the resulting. Each of these teams follows their own processes. The problems can begin when there’s nothing that brings these two teams together. The greater the number of people involved, the more inefficient the process becomes. It takes a long time for people to adapt to the changes. Different teams can have their own incentives and may not be completely aligned with the company’s goals. The breakdown of the decision-making power between the marketing team and the sales team is the reason why B2B may not

Disclaimer: This episode is in no way trying to influence listeners on their religious beliefs. Best Sellers In History Series 3 -"Mother Teresa" The Best Sellers in History series is focused on people who were influential in helping others recognize what was best for their future and motivated them to take action.The first episode focused on the impact of Jesus Christ and the second episode was about the persuasiveness of Abraham Lincoln. In this episode, the spotlight is on Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa wasn’t viewed as a sales rep but she shared a vision and a cause with everyone she spoke to. Her ability to influence and lead others gained such momentum that her impact reaches well beyond her lifetime and the borders of India where she served. The Missionaries of Charity, established by Mother Teresa in 1950 began as a small order of 12 nuns and has now grown to more than 4,500 nuns who are actively working in over 600 missions across 133 countries. Through her efforts, Mother Teresa went on to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. After her death, she was honored as Saint Teresa of Calcutta. Mother Teresa set out to serve others and modeled to others how they could join her. Let’s take a look at the reasons she was so influential and how we can use the same principles in your B2B sales efforts. In this article, we will discuss 5 main points that made Mother Teresa an historical figure of great impact but first, what were her roots? Humble beginnings Mother Teresa was born on August 26, 1910, in Scopia, the capital city of North Macedonia. She eventually left to serve in Ireland and then went on to India where she spent the majority of her life. There, in 1950, Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation. The nuns took the traditional vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience but in addition, they professed to wholeheartedly give their service and strength to the poorest of the poor. Because of her tireless efforts and huge impact around the world, Mother Teresa’s lifetime was filled with awards and recognition, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. How did she go from such humble beginnings to gaining international recognition and worldwide impact? Five reasons: Deep conviction Ability to take action without hesitation Ability to build a strong rapport Ability to teach Drive to push against the status quo Let’s take a look at how these principles can be applied in B2B selling. Deep Conviction A nun is a member of a religious community of women living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. They typically live in a convent or monastery under a life-long calling. Nuns can focus their efforts on various causes such as education and healthcare. Unmarried, they focus on a higher calling. Unlike many missionaries who may commit to a finite amount of time in the mission field, most nuns commit their entire lives to service, like Mother Teresa. She dedicated her entire adult life to serving and helping others, usually the poorest of the poor. She was the epitome of selflessness, committing to what she believed in until she died in 1997. Millions of people around the world believe in God but not everyone has the same conviction to serve others the way Mother Teresa did. Conviction should be important to you as a B2B sales rep because you need to believe in what you do, what you sell, and how you can serve others through your business. If you want to help others by asking them to take action toward change, there has to be a belief in you that will translate to your prospect. Sales reps often jump from one job to another looking for a company that will earn them more money or they go from one industry to another. If this is you, understand that frequent changes can keep you from the commitment to the product or service you’re selling. For buyers, a sales rep who doesn’t stick with a company can translate as someone not dedicated to sticking to what they represent. Buyers can see a salesperson who isn’t willing to be there long-term. OB Smith shared that confidence and enthusiasm are the greatest sales producers in any kind of economy. A sales rep without much confidence and conviction in what he’s selling usually doesn’t get many sales. Sales reps must have conviction and passion. Confidence is contagious and that’s how people perceived Mother Teresa. They saw her confidence and passion and were convinced to work with her and support her cause. When you keep hopping from company to company, you don’t give yourself time to believe in what you’re selling. #SalesFacts Build your confidence You can build your confidence by sticking with a company and product you believe in. If you love CRMs than look for a company that makes you feel confident in their mission and what they’re doing. If you believe in the product you’re selling, and you’re a consumer yourself, you’ll be able to share the value of your product even better. Do your research. Learn about how other customers

How To Grow Sales With Local Networking Events All salespeople have tried to grow sales with local networking events. Many organizations utilize these events to bring awareness and drive sales. It’s a strategy that truly works. Sam Edwards is Chief Marketing Officer of SEO.co. It’s a content marketing and link building agency based in Seattle. He’s been in the digital and marketing space for the past 10 years and now he’s focused on hosting marketing events to get more clients on the sales side. Sam has experience working with TEDx talk and has written for Forbes, Inc, Entrepreneur, and other large publications. Through this work he’s developed his teaching side and helps local communities build their own stories and plans. Sam has a meet-up group with approximately 400 members. Another he’s affiliated with has over 300 and a third has close to a thousand members. Sam’s group has an average attendance of about 50 - 100. They have an upcoming event this February 5th that’s slated for over 120 people. Typically, the idea of going to a networking event right after work isn’t that appealing to people who work 9 to 5 jobs. Sam’s group met that challenge by creating events that are more like fun outings so people were excited to attend, even after a long day. That’s how they were able to obtain and retain the number of people coming month after month. Monetizing networking events Their very first event was agency-sponsored. That agency believed in their idea and wanted to look further into what Sam was doing. They spent $300 for the event and it was focused on an industry-specific topic about how to use the paid SCM data to influence the organic SEO strategy for search marketing. That event cost them $300 but they made eighteen thousand dollars. There are three main things you need to ensure when setting up a networking event. There is no selling at events Focus should be on the quality of the event and the content you’re offering Take the time to build up the group. There is no selling at events People have their guard up when listening to a presenter. It’s after the presentations that everyone lowers their guard, especially when it’s time for the after-party and everyone is going to the bar for drinks. People tend to relax in that environment and it’s then you can start a conversation. When talking to people, just talk, no pitching. People will see what you have to offer through talking with you. If they like what they see, they will want to work with you. Focus on building a relationship using organic means instead of trying focusing on presenting a pitch. Be transparent and honest when you are talking to people coming to your events. If you see the potential client isn’t going to be a good fit early on, be upfront. Don’t take the client just because they’re available. You want to make sure you’re qualifying the people who want to work with you. Make your events free and organize them to grow through invitation. It takes everyone to help for these events to continue to grow, and that includes previous attendees. Understand this is not a one and done quick fix. Even if you only have a handful of people coming to your first event, that shouldn’t deter you from planning another one. It takes time for the actual growth to happen. You will experience growing pains before you’re finally able to identify the kind of event that will attract attendance and growth. Event planning takes time and effort to build. Focus should be on the quality of the event and the content you’re offering Regardless of how long you’ve worked in your industry, your event still needs quality content to be successful. People won’t see the value of your events if they don’t see the benefits they will gain from attending. Sam makes it a point for his events to have specific themes or content so attendees know exactly what to look forward to. The easy part is inviting people to their first event but the challenge is getting them to the events that follow. You do that by ensuring that attendees are presented with quality content. This doesn’t just speak to the presentations. It begins the moment they step into the hall, as you shake their hands, give them their gift bags, and prepare for raffles. A lot of effort goes into a quality event, including everything that is built around the actual presentation. Focus on the details that others may overlook. Whatever industry you are in, try to make your events fun. Create a catchy event title. Sam’s event last October had a presentation entitled, “The Spooky Tell-tale Signs You Need to Fire or Hire Your Search Marketing Agency.” Ken Shankman from bulkcandystore.com was one of their sponsors. They gave him the plugins and suggested that he dress up as Willy Wonka. The event planners made 65 gift bags for the attendees and a golden ticket was put in one of the gift bags. The recipient of the golden ticket won the opportunity to visit his candy warehouse for a tour. It was a fun giveaway and it turned out

How To Plan And Set Goals You Can Achieve In 2020 With the new year comes new goals and resolutions. This episode’s guest offers new ways and suggestions to help you plan and set goals you can achieve in 2020. Many salespeople don’t realize that sales is easy if you follow a basic formula. Typically, however, sales reps have a habit of following the bouncing ball their prospects are throwing despite the many times it can lead to a dead end. Dave Mattson started out as a client at (David) Sandler Training and he’s been with the company for 30 years. He worked his way up the organization and became a partner in 1994. He had an opportunity to work with Dave for six years before David passed away in 1995. Dave purchased the company in 2012 and is currently the Brand Manager and CEO. They have 265 training centers globally and just last year, they trained 31,000 people and streamed their training to 19,000 people. This streamed training is becoming the way of the world, especially with the technology that is currently available. As a result, people in their system are represented by different age groups, different cultures, and different countries. Dave’s company creates content that is accessible in whatever format their clients need. For example, younger clients prefer several 4-minute micro trainings, versus a 45 minute lesson. With that knowledge, Sandler made 2,700 micro-learning lessons and added it to their suite of products and services. Sales strategies keep evolving so Dave and his company must keep up with new trends. With Sandler being one of the longest running companies, many people in the industry may view them as “dinosaurs” but year after year, they win awards for best sales training, management, and coaching. They clearly have the expertise to do it right. Importance of goal setting and planning From a CEO’s perspective, planning is imperative to make sure all the different groups in the organization know where they’re going. The assumption is that you have great salespeople working for you, competent individuals, but you have to make sure they are all heading in the right direction. It is the leader’s responsibility to see all the working parts. Each group needs to be assigned their tasks so everyone ultimately moves toward the organization’s goals. As a leader, you need to set up a strategy on how to plan and set goals you can achieve in 2020. Layout the benchmarks you want your salespeople to achieve and how you intend to get there. Show your team the contingency plans so they can better define daily goals for themselves. When the entire team has accountability, planning becomes a “we” exercise. The more you socialize it, the more people get involved. Dave suggests that for your corporate goal to become successful, each salesperson needs to link their commissions to personal goals that will keep them motivated. A great question is, “If you earn your $250,000 commission, what are you going to do once you have your money?” Being able to visualize something that is meaningful to them, helps to keep up the momentum. There are two reasons why people leave a company. The first is that they don’t feel like they're being stretched. The second is they don’t respect the person they work for. Sales leaders have to think of ways to motivate their sales reps to achieve their goal, not only for the organization but for individual goals as well. When the team doesn’t play their role The most common reason people say they don’t play their role say is they don’t have enough time. There has always been a serious time compression problem in sales. Many magazines claim that the top 3% of all producers are the people who have written down their goals so 97 out of 100 people don’t. This tells you how difficult the job of a sales leader is in an organization. They are in charge of producing revenue from people they can’t control. Sales leaders need to find a way to motivate their people to make the organization’s plan a success. The planning process The first thing you can do to plan and set goals that you can achieve in 2020 is to think about the different buckets of goals. What are the categories that are most important to you? Job promotion? Family? Purchases? Think of the things you want to do in those areas and mind map. Doing this allows you to free your inhibitions and get comfortable with the things you want to do. It’s the fastest way you can brainstorm. Using your dream board or a journal, start putting these buckets in order of priority. As a CEO, Dave usually focuses on no more than five goals. This allows him to really focus. Goals are more achievable when you don’t have a broad list that can serve as a distraction. Have your mind map, narrow your goals to five, and have some plan of action. Break your plans down quarter by quarter, month to month, and day to day. If you can hit your goals for Q1, then you know you’re on track. If not, plan out your contingency and look for the people who can help you

Best Sellers In History Series 2 - "Abraham Lincoln" This is the second episode from the Best Sellers in History series. This series talks about some of the most successful people and sellers in history. We’ll talk about who they are and what made them so successful. Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States of America and led the nation during some of the most turbulent times in American history, such as the Civil War. It was the bloodiest war and the greatest constitutional and political crisis faced by the U.S. at that time. President Lincoln persevered and was able to abolish slavery, strengthen the federal government and modernized the U.S. economy. Despite humble beginnings, Abraham Lincoln became one of the greatest statesmen leaders in our nation’s history. Sales Spotlight - Abraham Lincoln A half-hour long episode isn’t enough time to discuss what made Abraham Lincoln persuasive and successful in his career. However, we can highlight The Gettysburg Address to illustrate how President Abraham Lincoln had the power of persuasion. Here are the four points we’ll be looking at in this episode: He had the ability to tell stories He sought common ground He was empathetic He had the ability to give compelling reasons In the era of Abraham Lincoln In the early 1800s, slavery in the United States was a very common thing. At its height, there were 700,000 individuals who were slaves. The first slaves came into the country as early as 1619 and slavery was finally abolished in the year 1865. For 246 years slavery was entrenched in the U.S. economy and modern society. It was a fact of life and it brought in so much money that by today’s standards, slavery would account for roughly $6 billion. It’s been 154 years since Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery and still, slavery lasted almost a hundred years longer than we’ve known our country without it! Abraham Lincoln was raised in Kentucky and eventually, it became a slave state. His father who was a farmer but they eventually had to leave their smaller farm. Larger farms had slaves and they couldn’t compete with the manpower. In addition, his father was a Christian and didn’t believe in slavery. Thomas Lincoln took his family and would move several more times before eventually settling in Illinois where Abraham Lincoln grew into adulthood. Lincoln married and his wife’s father had his own slaves. Through this exposure, Lincoln came to know how slavery operated and he didn’t like it. Changing the system Slavery was big business and everywhere. It was a system where some of the most influential people were involved. It would be a difficult system to change but Lincoln didn’t believe that people should be property. It became his passionate to reverse slavery. When he became a president in 1860, many from the southern states weren’t happy about it. They looked at it as the North trying to impose their rights over their way of life and their economy. This eventually led to the bloodiest war in U.S., the Civil War. The nation was divided. Family members who fought on different sides killed each other. This went on from 1861 to 1865. It was a difficult time for the nation. Democracy was hanging by a thread and with the war going on, everything was falling apart. Through the need to unify, The Gettysburg Address was written. The four lessons highlighted in today’s episode came from this famous speech. Lincoln had the ability to tell stories The Gettysburg Address was delivered in an attempt to pull the nation together. Abraham Lincoln wanted people recognize they weren’t just the north and south but one nation. Tim David wrote an article about this and he pointed out the lessons from the address, The first was the power of storytelling. He emphasized that the opening line of the Gettysburg Address was a story about our forefathers and their legacy. From the very first line of his speech, people wanted to know where Abraham Lincoln was going with his story. Abraham Lincoln was a self-educated man. While kids during this time were working in the field, Lincoln was reading books. There were traveling teachers and when they came around, he’d get a formal education, but still, it wasn’t enough on its own. Most of his education stemmed from his desire to learn. He was dedicated to his education and as he read, he learned the power of a story and how it can make an impact when written well. As a sales rep, you need to be able to engage your prospect\ with a story that is grounded in reality. Talk to your prospects a successful experience you had with a client. Help your prospects see the positive results that can come from working with you. Instead of just talking about the benefits of your products and services, offering a real scenario can help to illustrate the point better. Talk about how you helped previous clients and their companies. For example, a social media marketer may say, “We helped ____ generate X amount of return with their social media ads. If I

How To Generate More Initial Appointments By Utilizing A Co-Content Building Strategy Salespeople are always looking for new ways to generate more initial appointments. How do you do that? There are many strategies. In this episode, Donald and Carman Pirie talk about utilizing strategies that include co-creating and content-building. Carman Pirie is the co-owner of Kula Partners. It’s a manufacturing marketing agency that helps manufacturers transform their marketing and sales apparatus by making it more digital in nature. He is also a co-host of the podcast called The Kula Ring, a podcast that focuses on manufacturing marketers and telling their stories. The challenge in sales prospecting Prospecting is a huge part of the sales process. Carman personally does prospecting every single day and he coaches many salespeople on how to do it right. It can be difficult to pick up the phone and start a conversation with people. Many sales leaders and managers have not explored other options outside of traditional practices. They have limited their sales teams by thinking and training the old methodologies. While picking up the phone as a way to prospect isn’t bad, the answer to prospecting isn’t just activity management. There are many tools available for sales reps to use in order to prospect. We don’t want to just bombard people with calls and emails or rely heavily on LinkedIn invites. This is where the challenge lies. Breaking the challenge In working with B2B manufacturing organizations, Carman’s company almost always interfaces primarily with the marketing function. These marketers have an overwhelming thirst for people in sales to actually care. Carman suggests three approaches that Kula Partners recommends for co-creating and content-building. The first is through a podcast. The Kula Ring podcast is their primary vehicle to generate prospects. They put out episodes weekly. They expand their reach by simply talking to more manufacturing marketers and getting them on as guests for the show. Through the podcast, these guests become more familiar with what Kula is offering and some have eventually become their clients. Sending out emails with a subject line that sounds like a request, or extending a LinkedIn invitation, doesn’t typically yield a positive outcome. Inviting somebody to be a guest on a podcast, asking about their industry and showing an interest in what they offer is a much better opportunity to build rapport. The interview gives you a better insight into their problems and challenges. This information then allows a salesperson to come up with specific solutions to offer. As a salesperson, you can use an intent data platform and bring in guests that are likely in a buying cycle. However, it’s best to approach them with the pure motive of getting to know them. After a relationship is built, a discussion about business can happen organically. This introductory conversation can even happen by the end of recording a podcast. Traditional outreach, like a phone call, can typically have a response rate of 10%. In Carman’s experience, they’ve seen that the targeted podcast outreach campaigns have a response rate closer to 50%. When you can’t afford to train with someone, invite them to a podcast. You get to learn while they get their products promoted! #Podcasting Making it work Every business is different so it’s up to the salesperson to experiment with a variety of formats to see what works best for their particular industry. If scaling can work, then go for it. If it’s written content or other similar strategies that work, pick one of those. What works for others may not work for your client’s specific needs so take the time to find the right niche. Look for the right angle or a topic that’s of interest to your client. Create your podcast based on that information. Peer round tables Another suggestion from Carman for co-creating and content-building is to host a peer round table discussion. For example, invite 12 - 20 target prospects in an information-sharing environment and serve as a host to the dialogue. They did this at Kula and they called these meetings marketing leadership exchanges. They brought in marketers who shared common characteristics and fostered an information-sharing conversation. You can easily make an agenda out of five to six topics or questions and turn them into a 90-minute round table for information-sharing. For marketers who are widely distributed geographically, a virtual round table is more plausible. When you can, however, the preference is to have everyone in person. Despite the limitations in a virtual setting, the dialogue can still be rich. The exchange of information is still helpful for prospecting and building rapport. The guests are telling you the challenges they are facing in their business and asking their peers for advice. All you do is to play host to the dialogue. How to activate the conversation and transition it into a sales opportunity is up to you. After

How To Ensure Your Sales Teams Actually Have Time To Sell All organizations, no matter what size, need to know how to ensure your sales teams actually have time to sell. Resa Gooding is a partner in an Hubspot certified agency and they mostly help companies, especially startups, in Israel. As one of the top three agencies in Israel, they primarily work with startups and other traditional companies such as agriculture and manufacturing. They are helping them understand the value of CRM and how to effectively apply it to their companies. Challenges salespeople face The most common problem in the sales force is the lack of training given to the sales team. This lack of experience causes inefficiency as the companies throw their sales reps in deep waters and expect them to swim. Many companies are so focused on the technology or the product they’re producing, they don’t spend adequate time sharing the value and benefits of their product with the sales force. An untrained team ends up spending more time on the administrative tasks instead of selling. They need to be given the information and the tools to effectively sit down with a new prospect. If management fails to offer the sales team a way to stay accountable to the work day activities, management can mistakenly think their team isn’t working. There has to be a system in place so the sales team can report their activities and successes. Having this in place also gives management a tangible way of seeing the work their team is doing. For example, how many calls they’ve made in the workday. Resa set up marketing campaigns for her clients but began to see that if sales people didn’t know how to work with the prospects that came from the marketing, the efforts were in vain. She saw that to make marketing effective, the sales people needed to be able to summarize conversations properly and sales reps needed to reduce their time spent on administrative efforts. They needed to be equipped to spend their time selling. Resa aims to give salespeople the time to study their product, set up appointments, and communicate with prospects effectively, instead of spending their time doing administrative tasks. Ensure that your sales teams are having the time to sell Sales reps need training in order to be successful and reach their goals. Sales processes they can follow have to be set up so their efforts can be checked by management. This promotes accountability. There are three tools that can be used to ensure that sales teams are getting more time to sell their company’s product. Connect your email inbox to your CRM software You can use HubSpot, SaleForce, or other similar CRM software. At the end of the day, what matters is that your sales team is more efficient in their work. The first thing you can do is connect your email inbox to the CRM software you’re using. This is efficiency at its best. Using this software allows your manager to see the emails exchanged between you and prospects or customers. Enabling the manager to view this communication directly eliminates the need to summarize conversations at a later time. Leave that to your CRM. Both marketing and sales today can be measured through this software. Managers and the sales team no longer have to meet each time reports need to be made. All aspects of the sales process can be viewed as needed and everything is measurable. Earlier salespeople, like the ones who sold door-to-door, had to write down all their data or write a report about their sales day. Today, the salesperson just needs to connect to their email inbox on the CRM platform and reports are immediate. Using CRM increase the sales reps’ available time up to 21% compared to doing the reports manually. For example, when you attend a conference, typically you have to wait until you get home to input information manually. You can potentially delay communicating with the contacts you made at the conference up to a whole week. This is valuable time wasted in a world where transactions can happen so quickly. When you are using CRM software, you are able to reach out immediately by asking for their email and starting a conversation while still at the conference. This is a huge advantage to setting up CRM software and free up so much time in the sales process. Connect your Calendly to your email communications The second way to ensure your sales teams are getting the time to sell is to connect your Calendly to your email communications. This is an efficient way of setting up a meeting with prospects and clients. Hubspot has an amazing tool that can help salespeople connect with speed. It’s suggested that you also embed three specific times a client can meet with you. It’s more efficient when they don’t have to work as hard to figure out a time or date you’re available. It cuts down on the emails that have to be exchanged to firm a meeting which also saves valuable time. Use templates effectively Templates are ways to streamline the time it takes to write and s

Best Sellers In History Series 1 - "Jesus Christ" Disclaimer: This episode isn’t a podcast to convince listeners to become Christians. This episode simply highlights how Jesus Christ persuaded people, an important trait in sales. There are so many individuals who have been great persuaders throughout history. This new series, The Best Sellers in History, will be a game-changer for salespeople of today. The best persuaders in history were people who could prompt others to take action and move toward a better way of life. Great salespeople who know they are guides for prospects and clients make great B2B sales reps. With the exception of social media, the way communication works in sales today is historically similar. This eight-episode series will begin with Jesus Christ, whose existence has been proven by history. In the sales spotlight - Jesus Christ It’s the perfect time of year to put Jesus Christ in the spotlight. Today is Christmas, a day where people celebrate Jesus’ birth. In his time, he was referred to as Jesus of Nazareth, the common way people were referred to. Men were known by their name and the place they were from. Donald would have been known as Donald of West Palm Beach. Jesus was a preacher, a rabbi or teacher, and a leader. Today, to Christians around the world, he is the Son of God and the Savior of all mankind. Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and after his baptism, he began his ministry. Most of his preaching and teaching weren’t done in Synagogues but in the countryside where most people lived. Jesus was teaching people they could repent, turn their lives around and return to God. His teachings were based on love. Jesus opened the path for many to know eternal life. People were astounded by his teachings and followed him. He was changing the minds of common people and undermining the wayward teachings of the Pharisees. Because of this, Jesus faced opposition from the leaders of the day. This conflict, and the outcry of many Jewish people, eventually led to his death by the hands of Roman soldiers. While he died long ago, his teachings did not die with him. His words became so influential, to this day, one-third of the world’s population is associated with Christianity. By far, it is the largest religious group. There are seven reasons why Jesus was so persuasive and Donald is going to expand on each to show how they can be applied in B2B selling, even today. He Showed Sympathy and Built Rapport He Was a Skilled Storyteller He Shared a Vision He Challenged the Status Quo He Listened Effectively He Asked Powerful Questions He Invited People to Change He Showed Sympathy and Built Rapport The first reason for Jesus’ persuasiveness was his ability to empathize and build rapport with the people he talked to. Jesus made the time to sit down with common people, who made up the largest portion of the population, as they do today. He talked to people who were marginalized by society and could relate to them. During his time, Romans had the power and ruled over many territories. They hired people to collect taxes from the citizens, including Jewish people, and this money funded the Roman empire. Because the work is done by tax collectors they were not approved of by the communities they lived in. At public gatherings, they were not welcomed to be among everyone else. As a result, they became marginalized citizens. The status put upon tax collectors didn’t keep Jesus from them. Jesus sat down with them and had dinner with them. One of these tax collectors even became one of Jesus’ disciples. His name was Matthew. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector from Jericho. He was a wealthy man but hated by many. When Jesus went to Jericho, people flooded the town and swarmed him. Being a short man, Zacchaeus climbed a tree to see Jesus. Jesus noticed and asked the man to come down so he could be a guest at Zacchaeus’ house, unheard of during this time. Jesus also showed sympathy toward Levi, another tax collector and the son of Alphaeus. Jesus saw him at his booth, invited Levi to follow him, and he did. People didn’t understand these actions but Jesus shared that a physician comes to heal the sick, not the healthy. In the same way, Jesus was spending time with people who needed his help the most. He went out of his way to help the poor and heal the sick. Jesus wanted to make an impact by modeling how he wanted people to treat one another. As a B2B sales rep, how do you show your clients and prospects you empathize with their needs? Set yourself apart from others by taking the time to understand where they are coming from. Identify their pain points and tailor your message to their specific issues. An example of how a salesperson can distinguish himself or herself can be illustrated by two sales reps who want a nursing home to be a new client. Sales rep A sens a generic email to the chief administrator that says he can help them save more money. This same message, however, has been sent by many salesp

Why Your Contracts Are Not Working and How To Fix Them! Ever ask yourself why your contracts are not working and wondered how to fix them? Jason Kren is the man with the answer to that frequently asked question. Sales people want nothing more than to see their contracts and deals turn into a close. Unfortunately, there are times when the inefficiency of getting contracts signed can delay income or prevent a closing all together. How can you make this process more streamlined so this doesn’t occur? Jason Kren’s company PactSafe could be the solution you’re looking for. PactSafe is a company that was built from the ground up. They manage clickwrap contract acceptance at scale. This means they have the ability to manage millions of clickwrap contracts at a super high velocity. An example of this type of contract is illustrated by Disney+. The company recently launched its video streaming service and opened with 10 million subscribers in the first 24 hours of launch. At the end of the sign-up process is a contract that states the terms and conditions of the service that users are getting. These contracts are often the highest valued contracts that a company’s legal department manages on an annual basis. Jason’s company takes this type of contract and utilizes the PactSafe platform. It’s a quick wrap embedded contract and once it’s accepted, the platform will track the version that’s accepted. Using the platform, they can track the time when the contract was accepted and who accepted it. PactSafe can also reproduce what the contract looks like on an individual screen and know whether the contract is downloaded on a mobile device, computer, or tablet. In terms of sales contracts, this platform makes things run smoothly. With just one click, users have signed a legally binding agreement. In the sales application, this same type of contract and platform can be used to speed up the process for sales. Making contracts easier to understand Sales people and legal departments can partner together to make a contract more user friendly and understandable to the customer so closing is easier. The first step is for sales leaders to talk to the legal department about contract design. This includes the language used in the contract, down to the words and phrases, so the contract is easier to accept and lessens the points of negotiation. Ultimately, this removes friction from every step. Moving toward a standardized contract in the contract design includes multiple components that should have the end result in mind. Efficiency and speed of acceptance by the customer is the goal. These contracts are often in order forms for upsells and cross-sells within the organization. Adopt a standardized language A key area to review when moving toward a standardized system for contracts is reviewing the areas that don’t need to be negotiated each time. These areas can already be written and in place each time. Contracts such as these are better for the customers and for the salesperson. While the legal team handles the design of the contract, it’s the sales team’s job to change the language used in presenting the contract to the customer. Most salespeople today are still using archaic language when talking about contracts. An example is “I’m going to send you the contract and once you’re done reviewing it and signing it, we can start.” You want to streamline the process. Sending the contract over for a potential client to dictate the turnaround time can lead to a delay in closing and waste time. With a new design the approach changes to “The contract is ready to go. I’m going to send you its link so you can click on it and we’ll get started.” It eliminates having to talk about the contract and you’re sending the terms they just have to accept. That little shift in your language can increase velocity and reduce the friction of the contract process. Moving away from PDFs Another key change that salespeople can make is to move away from cumbersome PDFs. When you try to close a deal using this archaic method of sending over the contract via signature platform it is costing you money. If your prospect is traveling and they’re on the road with only their phone available, they won’t be able to move through the contract because they still have to go through a PDF process to sign off on certain points. This delays the closing by 48 hours or more. The better alternative is to standardize and minimize your contracts by moving to a clickwrap, one-button acceptance system. By doing that, you increase your customer experience and your deals. When running a particularly high-velocity business, you should know the components that make up your sales velocity equation. If you can tweak these areas then the results can reflect a massive increase in your business and customer satisfaction. Reducing the friction When you can speed up your contract process by one or even two days, that will increase your overall sales velocity. Embedding an email with a link t

Things To Look For When Hiring Successful Sellers Hiring is part of the sales process but businesses know there are things to look for when hiring successful sellers. Getting the right people to join your sales team is one of the most effective ways to boost your sales revenue. Billy Keels is a businessman living the life of a busy entrepreneur. In addition to being a happy husband and father, he is also working for a very large enterprise software company. There, he takes on different sales and leadership roles from regional to global levels. He’s done businesses in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Recently, he’s been doing enterprise sales in Barcelona, Spain by day as well as building his own investing business in the U.S. Things to look for when hiring successful sellers Sales leaders are always looking to hire successful sellers to help increase their revenue. The model in which a business is working is an important consideration when hiring new people. Business models vary. While some are constantly looking for new businesses, others adopt a farming role where they want to sell more within their existing customer base. Another consideration is the size of the business, whether it is a multinational brand or targeting a smaller niche. Hire the right behavior Of the three things to look for when hiring successful sellers, the first and the most difficult is the right behavior. If a business is hiring someone to work inside sales or remote selling, for example, and you’re looking to hire a salesperson who's going to have to make fifty to a hundred calls a day. The ideal candidate will need to be someone who can be proactive. They should be able to work without someone having to tell them to pick up the phone and make calls. This is a challenge because no matter how skilled the salesperson is, if he doesn’t have the impetus to pick up the phone, smile while talking with the customers, or keep the calls energetic, then he won’t have the behavior be successful in that position. Most successful salespeople didn’t have this proactive spirit when they started selling. It had to be developed over the years of working in sales. Being proactive is a core strength for sellers. It opens more doors, creates more connections, and can eventually point their customers toward the right decisions. At the end of the day, when you consider the sales process, regardless of the products and services you sell, it all comes down to being proactive and having the ability to go out and do what’s needed. Whether it’s selling knives door-to-door or selling in an enterprise, a salesperson should be able to design and execute an effective sales process by talking about the value they lend to the consumer through their products. As a hiring manager, a good interview question for potential candidates will give them the opportunity to talk about an experience when they got to be proactive. New sales reps tend to go through trial and error as they gain more experience, so ask about their experiences and what they have done, not what they would do. As they answer, listen carefully as they explain the way they dealt with needing to be proactive. Their answer will help you understand how they will do things in the future. Look for self-awareness There is so much opportunity that comes from being self-aware. The benefits are tied to existing behaviors as well as understanding the candidate’s skills, ambition, and attitude. Looking back at the successful people Billy hired in the past, he saw their high sense of self-awareness. Self-awareness is also integral to the type of model the seller is in. If you are hiring a salesperson for inside selling, then you might forego knowledge and go for a person who has a higher potential in selling products and services over the phone. As a sales leader, you compensate for that gap and understand that their self-awareness may not come with as much knowledge but they can be supported by the strength of available training programs that are offered to sales reps. To see if a candidate is self-aware, you can also ask about the issues they had with quotas and what they did to improve those results. Listen to what they tell you and tune in to the things that they did to address their challenges. When they say that they haven’t had any challenges in the past, then that can set off a big red flag. It’s a hard truth in sales that we don’t win all the time. Being able to overcome their issues and how they came through can shows you how self-aware they are. People who are self-aware typically know where they need help, they recognize where they are in a specific model, and most importantly, they know if they’re ahead or behind the curve. They’ll come to a sales manager with the areas they need support based on the models that they’re in. It helps support the seller and it helps the sales leader be more focused on the areas where they need the most help. Having a methodology, skill, and understanding of the pro

The Accidental Seller Recap - "Three Things I Learned" For the past 8 weeks, we have been interviewing several successful “accidental sellers” and sharing their stories. We have come to know how they started in sales when it wasn’t their intention to ever be in sales, and what they did to become successful. The last episode aired last week when Donald interviewed a very special person in his life, his own mother, who Donald credits in shaping him to be the man he is today. As he wraps up the series, Donald wanted to share his three main takeaways. The Accidental Seller Series Recap This series has been well-received by listeners because they’re hearing their own stories in these interviews. Each story has been relatable and speaks to the struggles and successes that many experiences in the sales industry. The guests were very open about their challenges and feeling like a failure as being part of their journey. These are stories everyone relates to. From these struggles, a success story was born, and it’s these stories that offer a fascinating insight into what it takes to make sales a career. Through this series, Donald has learned three main points: The view of sales How they have a guide Sales was easier than they thought The View of Sales When you ask someone to share their perception of a salesperson, it’s common for someone to bring up the stereotypical used car salesperson. Many of the guests on the Accidental Seller series thought the same thing. This is the stigma around sales and it’s been embedded in the minds of many. Society has painted salespeople in such a bad light that naturally, salespeople are seen as people who are only looking out for their own best interest. While this doesn’t apply to everyone, unfortunately, it has been proven to be true for some businesses and industries. For example, when a big bank has been caught in unethical dealings. As a result, integrity has to be proven as everyone in sales comes under scrutiny. When there are opportunities to gain large sums of money, people can end up making the wrong decisions. It may not be true for all salespeople, but people who are caught in shady dealings make it harder for honest salespeople to connect with potential clients. Several of the more high profile crimes get turned into movies. Consumers aren’t going to line up to hear about a great salesperson in the same way they want to know more about a salesperson’s dishonesty. There’s no drama in that. These movies helped shaped the perception of many and have influenced people into thinking that sales is a career they would never touch. However, that’s not the sole reason people steer clear from sales. De Juan, the second guest in The Accidental Seller series, shared his own definition and feelings about salespeople. His father was a good sales rep selling insurance. Growing up, De Juan saw how the business worked. His dad did hours upon hours of door-to-door selling. Watching his dad work, De Juan grew up thinking sales was an extremely hard job. It was a lucrative job but also very difficult. Salespeople were undesirable and homeowners would pretend to be out of the house so they wouldn’t have to spend their time talking to salespeople. De Juan, believed joining a sales force was a waste of talent. He believed that if someone had the ability to connect to people and have meaningful conversations but used it in a sales position, it was a waste of skills. However, that view changed when De Juan finally got a good feel of what selling really is. The job wasn’t a waste of talent or undesirable. In fact, it was something he could be proud of. In addition to that, he realized that you didn’t have to sell door-to-door to build good relationships. He discovered you could help businesses solve their problems and be greatly rewarded for it. It’s the responsibility of the seller to break free from the stereotypes. Kids can be taught early on that sales is a lucrative career and should be considered as an option. As a salesperson, you can help others recognize the value of professional selling. John Barrels and his daughter finished a book recently to help enrich the views about selling, especially for future generations. It’s a great idea to give kids the proper education about selling, even at a young age. We can share the value of professional selling even in elementary school. Everyone Needs a Guide For anyone who has goals and dreams, it’s helpful to have a guide who is going to help us down the path and lead us in the right direction. Ashley Reusch’s story is a great example. She wanted to take a break from college and her dad suggested that she try to get into sales. Like her dad, she became a car salesperson and sold new and used cars. Despite it being a male-dominated industry with a high turnover rate, Ashley thrived because she had her father to guide her along the way. Wendell Jordan was helped by his sales manager. Although his sales manager wasn’t always there at the beginning,

Stop Hiring From Your "Gut" - Putting a Formal Hiring Process In Place That Works The hiring process can be a challenge for many. There’s the temptation of hiring people from the gut when in fact, there needs to be a formal hiring process in place that works for every company regardless of its size. Kristie Jones works with early-stage startups and helps these companies do three things - process, strategies, and people. She has been in the staff leadership industry for 20 years and as part of her consulting services, she offers companies the strategies for hiring the right people. Kristie now manages her own company, the Sales Acceleration Group, and has helped funded and non-funded startups in the Midwest for the last four years. Her services are focused on the strategies that companies can use to hire the right people. Hiring from the gut Hiring from the gut is basically hiring based on first impressions. In the sales world, it’s very much like sending a contract to your prospect without doing a discovery call. Salespeople follow the sales process in vetting and finding prospects. In the same manner, there is also a process that sales leaders should follow in vetting and finding the right candidates to join their companies. The ideal candidate The process begins by deciding on your ideal candidate profile, which includes their competencies and skills. As a salesperson, you take the time to figure out who your ideal customers are by spending time with them. The same goes for hiring new salespeople. You want to invest the time in figuring out what competencies are most important to the success of your company, and build interview questions around those competencies. It’s also imperative to build your ideal candidate profile with business culture, core education, and relevant experience in mind. Candidate discovery In this stage, you identify their experience. The resume is only a piece of paper that details a person’s information. In the hiring process, you need to be asking the candidates open-ended behavioral-based questions. Make them an educated consumer This stage of the hiring process entails flipping the table on your candidate and allowing them to interview you. This isn’t done by everyone but it’s a strategy to start a great working relationship, even at the interview stage.. This point in the interview allows the candidate to see whether or not they will be happy working in your organization by getting to ask questions that are important to them. When hiring the right people to join your sales team, you can’t just hire from the gut and have the expectation of longevity. You need a formal hiring process in place that works. This process includes understanding your ideal candidate profile, preparing your discovery questions, and lastly, giving the candidates an opportunity to become the interviewer. Knowing your ideal candidate Experience is important in hiring the ideal candidate. Look for people who have a good track record of success. It’s your job as a sales leader to discover the candidates’ competencies, characteristics, and traits that have helped them become successful. There are many ways for a business to find the right people to hire. Kristie has used recruiters to line up job candidates for her clients but she’s also helped her clients build and post a strong job description through a paid LinkedIn ad. Through these efforts, they’ve been getting between 50-70 resumes within the first two weeks of posting a job on LinkedIn. It’s not necessary to utilize recruiters when you are looking for lower-level sales reps but they are a good resource if a company is looking for specialized sales leaders. When posting a job on LinkedIn, the most attractive posts will include the following information: Job Title - Many companies use the titles Account Manager and Account Executive interchangeably. When you are looking for a new salesperson for your company, it’s a good idea to specify the job titles that are specifically related to your industry or niche. Length of time you’ve been in the business The markets you use How successful your company has been A short description of the job Transparencies and accountabilities - you need to state what their job will look like and be upfront about the things they will be doing. Compensation range A great job post will be gender neutral and have a wow factor. Impress the best candidates with your company’s values and share the perks and bonuses that will come if they choose to work for you. If your company offers free lunches, happy hours, personal development training, or quarterly healthy bonuses, make sure you say so! Candidate discovery When Kristie first works with her clients they go through a list of competencies and pick several that are most important to work for that specific company. They then create their behavioral-based interview questions from the competencies they’ve chosen. The questions will vary for each company and will be influenced by the

How To Craft A Rock Solid Sales Pitch To Potential Investors A sales pitch is part of the selling process but not all salespeople know how to craft a rock-solid sales pitch to potential investors. First, everyone is a salesperson. Regardless of what you do, everyone sells to someone. Brian Harrington started in the infomercial business. He worked for his father who was one of the principal pioneers of the infomercial industry. His experience taught him the craft of selling products on TV. In those early years, Brian saw how easy it was to sell through television advertising but he eventually saw how investments could be lost as fast as money was made. They made some changes and instead of sticking exclusively with Infomercials, they followed customers to where they were making their purchases. That decision led them to the digital world and social media. Brian and his team started to sell products through Google and other online opportunities such as Facebook. Since then, they’ve branched out to several other platforms. They sell directly to consumers with a diverse selection of products including health and fitness, beauty, home products, and more but continue to also sell through traditional brick and mortar retail stores. Brian’s company sells products with a focus on three core worlds: Product Education, providing ongoing training to entrepreneurs and sales professionals Investing/ Advising/Consulting where they help startup businesses grow and provide value. Mistakes you’re making when pitching to investors It’s easy to make mistakes when pitching. especially if you have no idea how to craft a rock-solid sales pitch to potential investors. The first mistake people make is not being prepared. If you show up to a meeting and don’t know enough about their business, competition, industry, to answer a potential investor’s basic questions, you can tank a meeting in the first few minutes. It can make you look incompetent in an area you claim a level of expertise. Investors do not want to get involved with people who seem to lack core knowledge. Simple changes can make the pitch so much better. Brian says it can be broken down into 3 easy steps: The Tease, The Please, and The Seize. The Tease, The Please, and The Seize The Tease: Get the investor’s attention right away. The first impression matters and you have a small window to capture a potential investor’s interest. Cater the pitch to the person you’re pitching to and keep the company’s culture in mind. BE PREPARED. Your goal is to capture their attention and interest in the first 10 seconds. You also want to be mindful of how your actions and words may be received by your audience. If you’re working with international investors, do the research about how to conduct yourself during the meeting in order not to make a faux pas. The Please: On the one hand, you want to be sure you’re prepared to answer any questions your potential investor might ask. On the other hand, you also want to withhold enough information so they continue to ask questions and dialogue continues. Take a breath when you’re talking and allow those questions to happen. These unanswered questions will keep them excited and interested in hearing more. There’s a balance between the information you want to offer and the information you want to hold onto until the pitch closes. The Seize: Once you’ve had a great launch to your pitch and generated excitement, your job is to keep up the energy. You do this by making sure every pitch has a call to action. You want to think of ways to make your pitch intriguing enough for the investor to enjoy your presentation, see the value in your product, and have the desire to work with you in a new venture. You want them to have confidence in you and the products or services you represent. It’s important to take the time to do the research in potential investors. Make sure you know they’re looking to invest in your industry or type of product before you ever get in front of them. Find out what kinds of pitches they’re drawn to. For Brian, the best pitches are the ones that come from people who command attention and hold the attention of the room throughout the presentation. Have the right amount of confidence Confidence is key for any salesperson. That confidence, however, has to balance with the facts that are being offered. A good investor is going to research the data you are using to support your claims so stick with the truth. Don’t makeup stories to make yourself look good. It can compromise your integrity and an investor needs to be able to trust you. You also want to be careful about being annoying. Again, you don’t have a lot of time to make a great first impression. You don’t want to come off as too cocky or flashy. The best course of action is to substantiate your claims and have a real plan you can confidently and competently execute. The truth is, not all pitches will be successful. There are risks in every opportunity but oftentimes, the rewards

The Accidental Seller Series 8 - "Norma Bell" This is the last episode for the Accidental Seller Series. Because it’s the last, it needed a very special guest, Norma Davis Bell, Donald, The Sales Evangelist’s mom. Norma Bell wanted to become a policewoman growing up because of the idea of protecting and helping people. As she grew older, however, her path took her in another direction. After Norma decided she wasn’t going to train to be a policewoman, she discovered she had the skill to make dresses. Norma’s older sister, Ivy, wanted to support her and connected her with a friend with the idea that Norma could be her apprentice. As it turned out, however, the friend wanted an assistant more than she wanted to teach so the opportunity was short-lived. Ivy, who owned a small store and bar at the time, new Norma was great with people and invited her to work with her. Ivy had a great head for business, was able to network well, could make things happen and managed the administrative details of their work. What she was lacking, however, was the customer service skills. Her little sister, Norma, had a natural gift when it came to working with customers, entertaining people with jokes, and bringing joy to their places of business. This was especially evident when Norma worked in the store. As a cashier, even if she had the longest line, people would stand in line longer, just to wait for her. She knew the names of each of her customers and Norma made each of them feel special. With the sisters working together, the businesses thrived. Working as a salesperson in the shop Norma felt good while working in the shop because it gave her the opportunity to earn money. She felt happy knowing she brought in more customers to the store and to the bar. She talked and laughed with them and she became their reason for coming back. People gravitated towards the shop and the bar because of Norma’s outgoing personality. Seeing all the success, Norma’s husband eventually convinced her to quit working with Ivy to start her own business. She hadn’t wanted to leave but did so with her husband’s encouragement. Running and managing the store on her own was a challenge because all the pressure was on Norma. She no longer had Ivy handling the administrative aspects of the job and the money was leaving as quickly as it was coming in. Norma decided to close it down when the money ran out. She went to live back with Ivy. After some time, the family moved to the United States and Norma went into customer service. She struggled for almost 4 years before things began to smooth out for her family. Despite the hardships, Norma decided to take on the challenges and opportunities the United States had to offer in order to give her kids a better life. Today, Norma enjoys the fruits of her labor through the success of her grown children, like Donald. Even when he was young, she had dreams of Donald becoming a radio announcer. Today, she gets to be interviewed by her son! It’s a joy for Norma to listen to Donald, The Sales Evangelist, as he makes a global impact through his podcast. Norma’s best advice: Keep on going. Keep on praying. “The Accidental Seller Series 8 - "Norma Bell" episode resources You can connect with Norma and her life story on Facebook. You can also catch up with Donald via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for any sales concerns. This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. This podcast is also brought to you in part by Reveal the Revenue Intelligence podcast. It’s about utilizing data to make business decisions instead of just guessing your way through major sales decisions. Visit gong.io for their podcast. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes so tune in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to. You can also read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

How Can My Personal Brand Set Me Apart From My Competition 2020? The year is almost over. As a salesperson, how can you set your personal brand apart from your competition in 2020? Veronica Romney is solely focused on educating and facilitating individuals in their marketing and branding efforts. Veronica and her team are helping clients to stand out from their competition. They make it their goal to ensure you position yourself correctly so you can jump into the narrative and story that your prospective customer has as opposed to trying to force the customer into yours. You Don’t have to Be the Best of the Best Many businesses and sales reps are under the assumption that in order to distinguish their personal brand, they have to be the best of the best. The prevailing thought is that the only way to be seen as special is to look bigger and be better than everyone else in the same industry. This mindset can be exhausting for both business owners and sales professionals and can lead to burnout as they fight for consumer attention. Customers are bombarded with attention-seeking ads, streaming services, and other campaigns. Companies and salespeople do a disservice to them by adding additional distractions that just focus on how great they are. Veronica teaches her clients to focus on something more critical: You don’t have to be your customer’s hero. It’s more important to be their guide in helping them get to where they want to go. Tony Robbins, for example, is a huge brand. He is a big name and a big individual with a big personality. Everything about Tony Robbins is larger-than-life and at the end of his documentary,Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru, he was asked what he hoped people would better understand about him through the documentary. His answer is critical to his branding and should be a great takeaway for people who work with consumers. He said that it’s not really about people caring about the person, Tony Robbins. The Tony Robbins brand lets customers know that it's the means to an end and it’s a company that will get them to where they want to go. Tony is aware that he isn’t the show and he isn’t the product. It’s more about how they are transformed through him and what he teaches. People respond to the things that cause change, keeps them hungry, make them feel fulfilled and feel alive. His organization does that. The Positioning Technique This is a method being used by CarMax in selling cars. This industry is overly saturated and the competition is stiff. There’s no point in fighting against the current. Instead, CarMax guides their customers where they want to go. Whether the customer is purchasing a car, trading in or selling a car, CarMax has made it a simple three-step process. They have removed the barriers of haggling and negotiation from the interaction with their salespeople and by doing so, have made it easier for the customer to do business. This positioning technique relieves salespeople from having to be the product or prove they’re the best. Instead, they can concentrate on being a guide, mentor or coach for their customers. Because of this, burnout is greatly decreased. People need a guide when purchasing decisions need to be made. For example, someone buying a weight loss program or supplement isn’t just buying a product but the transformation that product offers. As a salesperson responsible for packaging products and services to the consumer, the goal isn’t to make the product the hero of the sales pitch. The goal is to offer transformation by helping customers understand how the product can get them to their destination. Position Yourself as a Guide, Not the Hero. We live in a world that is driven by consumers who are focused on their self-interests. Consumers want their problems solved quickly and as salespeople, guiding them through their ambitions is key. Develop your voice It’s tempting to want to be a chameleon who can be everything to everyone but it’s also impossible. Yes, it’s important to mirror the person you are talking to in order to help build a connection but your voice must be unique to you and your brand. Let’s take Warren Buffet as an example. He is a billionaire, investor, and businessman. Warren Buffet is famous for writing an annual letter to his shareholders to talk about his market forecasts and investments for the upcoming year. These letters are so famous they have been turned into books, with the information also being consumed by MSNBC and Forbes. He has been able to deliver consistently, over decades, to successfully build a personal brand that people can trust and feel confident about. Warren did this by writing letters to just a single person, Doris. Writing to just one person makes the letters have a unique and intimate tone. Speaking to one person creates consistency in your voice and people relate to that when you connect with them. Find Your Own Doris Doris is Warren’s sister. He has an emotional connection to her and that’s the kind of affect

How To Create A LinkedIn Profile That Consistently Brings New Business To Your Pipeline Many salespeople create a LinkedIn profile to bring in new business but are they creating a profile that is attractive to a potential buyer? Felipe Lodi is a returning guest and he’s back to teach salespeople how they can create a LinkedIn profile to bring in new business. Felipe is based in Ireland and he is helping other expatriates like himself to establish themselves in Europe. By teaching them the social skills needed and building their LinkedIn accounts, he’s helping them market their abilities and attract opportunities. He launched his book, Advanced LinkedIn, last year based on hundreds of workshops he’s done within the public and private sectors throughout Ireland. Common Mistakes Salespeople Make on LinkedIn There are many common mistakes made on LinkedIn. Once you know what they are, they can be avoided. The most common mistake is the failure to use headlines creatively. The headline is 120 characters long and can be found underneath your profile picture. Most people just list their titles with a brief job description. Doing this is a waste of characters. The tagline stays visible and can be used to make a value proposition. As an alternative to your job title, create a sentence that shares your why, how you do what you do, or what you sell. Another common mistake is that people don’t utilize their Summary or About Me sections effectively. These areas give you a whopping 5,000 characters to really make a statement. Typical content: Creating bullet points Providing your contact number and email address A better alternative: Reasons why you’re doing what you’re doing Tell people why you are the right person for them Your profile is where you talk about yourself. When you go outside your profile and start engaging with people and creating content for others, talk about your prospects and how you’re going to solve their problems. Creating your LinkedIn profile It’s not necessary to spend money on LinkedIn to make money. Use LinkedIn because of its organic reach instead. There are three ways to enhance your account: Optimize Your Profile To better ensure people will get to the information about you you want them to see, make sure your LinkedIn profile is visually appealing. Many people mistakenly view LinkedIn as a community board where someone can look for a job and get hired. Instead, approach this platform as an opportunity for you to engage potential employers, collaborators, and colleagues in a way that opportunities can present themselves through these relationships. Don’t open a LinkedIn account to just looking for employment, but seek ways for you to find opportunities.#LinkedInSales If you are in sales, start believing that LinkedIn is your sales platform. It’s the best place to reach out to C level executives because you have direct access. There are no gatekeepers on LinkedIn and salespeople can use this accessibility to their advantage. It’s important to make your profile visually appealing. People will judge images before they read any information. Have an avatar and profile picture that looks professional. When Felipe changed his profile picture to an image of him holding a mic, the invitations for speaking engagements began to grow. People believed he had the ability to speak because of the image of him already doing the job. Use your photo to tell people what you do without them ever having to go to your profile. The people who invited Felipe to speak were the people who already had him on their radar because they already had a relationship through previous engagements on LinkedIn. Every little detail counts - the picture, the tagline, and the summary need to support the story you want to tell and what you want potential clients to know. Start Creating Content Unlike Facebook and Instagram, LinkedIn’s algorithm doesn’t downgrade content that looks like an advertisement. You can take advantage of the organic reach by posting ads for free. In doing so, you reach people with whom you’re connected without paying any additional fees. LinkedIn’s ad platform is still fairly young compared to Facebook. For example, LinkedIn doesn’t have a feature to target a specific demographic but it can still be used to publish compelling content to attract business. The second part of Felipe’s methodology is to create a LinkedIn profile to bring in new business by including compelling content. Your content is your vehicle to attract more people to your profile. If offers an opportunity to include information about your products and services in a way that’s appealing. For example, create educational content and allow people to have access at no charge. Include some components that talk about the items or services you offer. How to build your content: In the first paragraph, talk about what you do. In the second paragraph, tell them a story about how you’ve helped someone in the past. Content on LinkedIn needs to be there

The Accidental Seller Series 7 - "Debby Montgomery Johnson" Here’s another episode from the Accidental Seller Series where we interview successful salespeople who didn’t start their careers with the intention of going into sales. Debby Montgomery Johnson is the president of Benfotiamine.net. Most of Debby’s family members are in the medical field and growing up, she wanted to be an anesthesiologist. It was during middle school when she worked at a hospital, she thought being an anesthesiologist was cool. When she got into high school, she discovered medicine wasn’t for her. Her interest was in languages so she studied French, Spanish, and a little bit of German. Once in college, she majored in Political Science and got her bachelor’s degree. Debby had planned to go on to law school but after she got out of college, she enrolled in paralegal school and worked for a firm specializing in corporate and family law after graduation. Unfortunately, she was let go from that job. Getting into sales Being released from her paralegal job became the catalyst for her going into the Air Force where she served for eight years, even in Germany. Debby was working with the Pentagon as an imagery analyst and during that time, their work entailed analyzing photos from the Cold War. Till then, Debby had never really looked at the sales industry as a career. When Debby thought of sales, thoughts of a car salesman or vacuum cleaner salesman came to mind. She didn’t really want to be a salesperson. Debby left the Air Force when she had her third baby and started working as a bank manager. There were sales involved in her job but what she really wanted to do was assist people and help them with their finances. Debby left the job when her husband died so she could take over their company. Debby had no experience in running a company that was based on internet sales. As she became more involved, she realized the company made more money in a month than she made in a whole year. This convinced her to jump into the business full-time. Fears about sales The biggest fear was the fact that the company wasn’t familiar with the details. It was built to help people suffering from diabetes with neuropathy. Her late husband, Lou, had the same disease. The company offered products that worked for him and he shared a personal testimony about how each product worked for him. It was hard for Debby to really embrace the company as hers and to believe in herself when she didn’t know how the products helped their clients. She didn’t have the confidence in herself that she could actually sell. Debby was able to get past that fear by bringing her father into the company. Her father answers the phone and talks to clients. Being a retired dentist, he has a medical background that helps build rapport. Debby’s father also understands the chemistry side as well as the medical side of their company. Debby’s first sale made her ecstatic. It was fun and it released her from the fear of talking to clients. She was getting to interact with them as a person, not just a client. She made it her goal to build relationships, not just transactions. Selling is helping Debby has a great mindset as a salesperson. She talks to clients and only sells products that will help their specific needs. She keeps a positive outlook throughout but understands people are different and every product may not work for every person. With this understanding, she tries to create opportunities for clients to try a product so they can see if it works for them. Instead of just trying to complete a transaction, Debby is making interactions more personal. She thinks of her clients like family and she’s willing to go through great lengths for her family. Even with all their success, there are trying times throughout Debby’s sales experience as well. An example is when she’s calling potential clients and there is an apprehension the client will say no. Cold calls are dreadful for Debby. One challenging client was a doctor. Debby’s company had stopped selling the product the doctor wanted so Debby called her and left a message. When she finished the message, she started complaining about the client to her son. It was right after that she heard on her phone, “If you are satisfied with the message, please hit send.” Needless to say, she got a phone call from the client telling her how unprofessional she had been. Should I quit? It would be easier to quit than run a business but Debby has become very close to her clients and sees them as part of her family. She feels responsible for the products they take and she just can’t turn her back on that. With the mindset that clients come first at all times, she keeps on pushing on with sales. Her husband’s death has been life-changing for her but it’s the reason why she went into sales. She has since expanded her career path and is now an advocate for relationship survivors. Debby has also started a nonprofit organization called The Woman Behind the Smile.

5 Counterintuitive Mistakes Preventing You From Closing Revenue There are times salespeople don’t make the best decisions that lead to closing deals. These mistakes can cause a loss in revenue. Let’s take a look at the 5 counter intuitive mistakes preventing you from closing revenue. Devin Reed is a content strategy manager at Gong. He handles all the content marketing strategy courses and is responsible for presentations. He also goes to roadshows, such as Sales Live Miami. At this roadshow, Devin talked about 5 Counterintuitive Mistakes Preventing You From Closing Revenue. It’s about the five things salespeople think are good practices, and are trained to believe are good habits when in fact, they’re the opposite. These five mistakes hurt their deals and sales conversations. What Devin is sharing is backed up by data. Devin works for a company that has millions of sales conversations. They’ve analyzed these conversations to see patterns that help them get an idea of the things salespeople talk about the most. Here are the 5 counterintuitive mistakes preventing you from closing revenue. Using the ROI to seal the deal Focusing on quantity when it comes to discovery questions Answering objections quickly and thoroughly Using large enterprise clients Using cold call opening line Don’t use ROI to seal the deal People make the mistake of using the ROI to close. Finding a way to bring ROI into the conversation is one of the basic strategies taught to beginning sales reps. This strategy is proving to be counterintuitive. ROI isn’t bad in itself, but it becomes an ineffective tool when it is used for persuasion. Presenting your ROI to the client doesn’t work because the information doesn’t go to the right part of their brain. The human brain has two parts - the emotional and rational. More often than not, the right part processes information later than the emotional part. If you want to get the attention of your prospects, you need to tap into the emotional side of their brains first. You do this by giving them a before and after story. “Hey, I was in a podcast and not to brag or anything but that podcast did so well. They were doing this and that. I came on and I did this thing and two weeks later, they saw an X increase in their ROI.” This is an example of having a “before and after”, then diving into the ROI. When you are able to provide the identifiers with the before and after stories, the emotional pull comes in. Make it a goal to tap into their curiosity instead of just desperately presenting the numbers. A good salesperson always starts with emotion and understands people need to feel before they will give you their ear and show interest. After you’ve piqued their interest, then you can get to the boss to present the ROI. You show them what you can do for them is not only a great idea but also makes fiscal sense. Another reason why presenting the ROI often doesn’t work is because it’s naively done. Junior sales reps usually speak to CFOs who have years of experience. Their newness in the industry and lack of confidence make their calculations look phony. CFOs don’t find the numbers trustworthy. Focusing on quantity when it comes to discovery questions Most salespeople have a discovery playbook with 15 to 30 questions. New sales reps believe it’s necessary to ask them all because they have the mindset the more questions mean more information and eventually, the more chances of closing the deal. While asking questions isn’t a bad thing per se, it can give buyers discovery fatigue. It feels more like an interrogation than a valuable business conversation. Based on the data, 11 - 14 targeted questions is the sweet spot for the number of questions a salesperson should ask. The article by Chris Orlob entitled Why You Can’t Sell to C-suite Executives shares how salespeople only have four questions to ask C-suite executives. Tips when asking targeted questions: Use open-ended questions Using open-ended questions allows you to get more information. Ask one question that prompts a stream of answers. Get someone to think instead of reciting information Ask questions that will make them think about their answer. For example, “How is that tech stack preventing you from closing revenue?” This question causes them to take a moment before giving an answer. Ask connected questions Don’t just throw out random questions. Ask them in a way that paints a bigger picture. Answering objections quickly and thoroughly Answering quickly shows how ready salespeople are to handle objections but the downside to that is the risk of actually answering the wrong objections. Instead , pause and wait. The benefits go both ways. For the salesperson, pausing creates room to time to think and for the prospect, the pause makes them feel heard. By the middle of the discussion, the prospect has already decided if they want to actually meet with the salesperson. It’s the salesperson’s responsibility to make sure the conversation is good throughout

How To Write A Cold Email Your Prospect Will Open And Reply To The cold email has been part of the sales process for a very long time but how do you actually write a cold email that your prospect will open and reply to? Anton van Rhyn is the CEO and founder of the company Wavo, a cold email platform that helps salespeople automate email outreach and follow-up. He also built Huron, a company for outbound prospecting and service. Anton has used both his software development experience and sales development experience to fine-tune the email automation platform. A cold email automation platform Anton built a cold email automation platform in order to assist sales representatives to relieve them of these more mundane tasks. The platform creates a sequence for the machine to follow. It can reach out to prospects and follow up in a way that looks like human effort. The tool is very efficient in that it focuses on making initial contacts while it frees up sales reps to focus on their demos and talking to people. Anton’s company has been utilizing email for three and a half years. They’re previous experience came from being a prospecting service where they used emails to contact different verticals and industries. regardless of company size. Email makes it easy to prospect because most people today already use email. It is reminiscent of the cold calls used in the past. Cold calling was effective because most people were already sitting at their desks and ready to pick up a phone call. Today, very few people own office phones. Businesses have resorted to using emails to reach their clients. It’s become one of the most powerful channels to engage with prospects. Emails that don’t work Using a template in making cold emails is one of the reasons why this strategy often fails. In the U.S. alone, the phrase cold email template is searched for around 200,000 times a month in Google. Mail servers create a hashing algorithm to identify email content, and using these algorithms, servers can quickly identify these emails as spam. The other reason why cold emails are failing is that some people in the email list aren’t interested and just flag your email as spam. When you’re using the cold email templates, it’s very easy for emails to go straight to spam. Over time, Anton’s company developed a framework in using cold email, calling it the 1-2 punch. It’s a series of emails to address a topic. After some time, another mail is sent to revisit the topic sent two emails ago. It’s important to give the recipient a break. Use a good subject It’s important to use a good subject when creating a cold email so it seems you are really writing to someone. A subject line that looks like a headline from an ad stands out to people. Even when the email isn’t flagged as spam, or ends up in the Promotions Tab, the receiver will still likely not open it because nobody likes being sold to. An ad is off-putting. Google and Gmail Suite are also getting smarter by the day. They check your inbox and look at how people engage with your emails. A sender who gets replies gets a higher score than sanders whose emails don’t get opened and responded to. As a salesperson who is using emails to reach their clients, find smart ways to get them to reply. One trick Anton suggests is to include a way for people to unsubscribe. For example,“Hey, if you don’t want to hear from me again, please reply to this email with your request to unsubscribe,” or some other variation.. Anton’s clients have seen how using this trick improved their engagement rate. While there are some who reply unsubscribe, they also see positive responses coming back as well. At the end of the day, your goal is to make your cold emails sound more human to get the other person to respond. The three word-subject line works well. You can email your list with no more than a three-word subject line and talk about the value proposition. Salespeople have to be creative in their emails without sounding like they are selling products and services. #SalesTalk Talk about the quarter’s results or a related subject clients may find interesting. A quick question subject line is the most overused subject there is but it has 40-60% open rates. This shows just how effective a short subject line is. The body of the email You can write a cold email that your prospect will open by building a series of two emails. The first email shouldn’t be longer than three sentences. Salespeople often make the mistake of putting everything in their mail. They try to explain every value proposition and all the information about what they’re selling. Explain the most important things in three lines: Who you are Why you’re reaching out The relevance of your product/services to your prospect Anton observed that trying to get the conversation started is what matters. It’s equally important to give the prospect breathing room regardless if they respond or not. After two days, send them another email as a reminder. You can also add

This entry is the sixth episode of the Accidental Seller series. A lot of people didn’t grow up with dreams of getting into professional selling. In the United States alone, there are about 4.14 million people who are in sales. Joseph Storer is one of them. Growing up, Joseph Storer wasn’t sure of what his career would look like. He was a lazy student in high school but he had a passion for playing baseball. Joseph thought he’d end up working with cars as an electrician, just like his father. In his freshman year in college, he discovered his interest in business and working with people. His first experience in business was right after he went on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Going into the mission field was a difficult decision because he had a student permit that was valid for six years. He was sent to Brazil, learned a foreign language, and lived in a big city. Joseph discovered a whole other world filled with great people and exciting experiences. The mission taught him to have structure and order in his life. Coming home, Joseph went back to college for accounting and finance. During the summer, he was able to get a union card and went to work building two dams in Idaho. The pay was very good so he decided to put a halt to his college and continued to work on the dam. He was then given another assignment as an aid to an engineer for a new project. While working in Rexburg, Idaho, he met a lady who became his wife. Joseph got married and didn’t go back to school. They moved to Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia where Joseph started his waterbed business. Sadly, the business went down six months after launch and that became the catalyst for starting his professional sales career. His friend saw his potential in the world of B2B selling. This, along with having a neighbor who was in manufacturing sales, made him interested in selling for manufacturers. Challenges in being a true sales professional The biggest challenge when he started was the wage. He was working in construction and was earning well. He then transitioned to sales where he was earning $1,200 a month, as well as a commission-based income. He wondered if he could make ends meet but at that time, there was no choice. Maria, his wife, was very supportive and she believed that sales was something that Joseph could do. His boss trained him and taught him basic selling skills. Joseph was given a list of all the hospitals and clinics in the area and was told to set a goal to make at least three face-to-face calls every day. He took the lessons to heart and ended up making more than three face-to-face calls a day. Even when he was done for the day, he tried to do one more. At the end of his first year in sales, he was in the top 10% of salespeople in the company. He started his sales career being “consciously unconscious” but through time, he learned to sell and became very efficient in sharing the product line and distinguishing his company from the competition. Effectiveness in sales A lot of his success was due to putting in the face time with people and being available to meet their needs. Joseph took great care with this aspect of sales. For example, he worked with a hospital in Washington that needed a suction system. The people there said they had very poor suction. Joseph assured them with his products, their suction would get better. They purchased the device but then, Joseph went arrived with a bucket of peroxide, rubber gloves, and did the installation. The next morning, everyone in the operating room was amazed by the volume of blood the suction was able to get. The results weren’t just due to the product but also because of Joseph’s extra steps to make the product work better. At 67 years old, he is now in the latter years of his sales career but still, Joseph feels like he is just starting again. He is in a new company and there is technology he doesn’t understand. Joseph is learning and back to the same reliable process, he used in 1977 - getting on the phone, making calls every day, talking to people, getting in front of them, and learning the ropes. In Sales, the more you learn the process, the more effective you become. The very principles that started his career back then are the same that are driving him today. Joseph loves the medical industry because he knows that he is helping to save lives. He's making a difference. This is especially evident when he visits third-world countries. It’s not just about6 the money. At the end of the day, he is helping people and for Joseph, that’s what matters. Joseph loved learning and learned many languages. This helped him talk to more people and advance his career. His boss once saw him speaking Portuguese. It opened up the opportunity for him to lead a Latin American division of his company called Spacelabs based in Dallas, Texas. Joseph did well. He was also called to go to Macau to take care of a $7 million deal. He arrived with his translator but during the pr

How Can I Use AI To Increase Sales? Have you ever thought to use AI to increase sales? In today’s society, the application of AI is apparent throughout many industries, including sales. 27% of global consumers say that AI can deliver better service than humans, 38% believe AI will soon improve customer service, and 73% of global consumers are willing to utilize AI if it makes their lives easier. Chad Burmeister is a cofounder of Sales Ex Inc. Their company is rooted in the idea that AI can increase revenue, eliminate repetition, and make selling more efficient and effective. Growing up, Chad had always been at the cutting edge of technology and was always looking for ways to make people’s lives more efficient. Chad is officially releasing his book, AI for Sales, this Thanksgiving, November 28th along with Stu Heinecke’s Get the Meeting. If you buy both books on Amazon and send them a screenshot, you’ll get a dozen VIP conference codes for next year to attend events such as Sales 3.0 and AISP. With the codes, you’ll get a20% - 85% discount.. Chad is encouraging everyone to read the books and meet the authors at the conferences. Use AI to increase sales Chad has seven virtual sellers who are commissioned salespeople. The team has set up a daily data poll for these virtual sellers with a company called Lead 411. The data is fed into their CRM and the CRM goes through their email bot, a virtual assistant named Marissa Brown. They create preconfigured emails that filter through these virtual assistants so multiple batches of emails can be sent every day. The AIs are preprogrammed to have a “conversation” akin to what you see on a chat feature. When a person responds, the AIs can communicate with the prospects. The chatbots can also set up meetings and appointments.The AIs chatbots are configured to know when to schedule an appointment. It knows when you’re out of the office or if you have time for a meeting. One simple questions has about a thousand variations, such as the cost of a service or a product. The AI knows what to listen for and offers a very simple answer. It then replies with the cost, along with a link to your calendar so the prospect can set up a meeting. As the business owner, you need to teach the AI to respond in a way that gets the highest level of conversion. If you are a BDR (Business Developer Representative)assigned to pulling data from a CRM and pushing the send button, then your job might be in jeopardy. However, most BDRS are doing more than just pulling data. They are also pulling relevant lists, and doing research. Additional tasks include figuring out which people to send emails to, writing a good email, and leaving a voicemail as needed.BDRs are responsible for a complex system of outreach. Setting appointments via AI Chad’s tools called BDR.AI executes 50 to 100 connection requests per day through LinkedIn and gets over 100 emails a day on the same platform. By using this software, they get five to fifteen meetings a month. As a result, the organization can work more efficiently. The AI allows the BDR more time to do other tasks. This would include getting on the phone to connect with people personally. This enables them to understand their customer’s needs and show a more personal interest to the prospects. The tools let the bots and humans do what they do best. In Sales, AIs can let you do more with less. #SalesTechnology Tokyo, for example, pushed a 4-day work week and the results have shown about 40% increase in productivity. That increase can be attributed to the use of AI in their respective industries. Salespeople can do more with their day than just sitting in their offices, making appointments and making calls. They can now spend time with their families or take the Friday off to just improve their quality of life. The downside of AIs In the virtual world, somebody always gets to play God. Let’s consider the trolley car example and put yourself in the conductor’s shoes. As you’re going down the tracks, there are five people on the right side and one person on the left. You can’t stop the train so you have to pick a side to do an emergency stop.. Many people would say to choose the left to minimize the damage. However, let’s say the five people are wearing an orange jumpsuit and the one on the left is your child. In this scenario there are many solutions and a million points of data to consider.. Mathematician Chris Beal says it would take a very long time before we could put all that information in the system. He further added that the AI can only get to a certain point and then it’s up to us to make the final decision. We tend to let the bots make the decision for us but think of the trolley dilemma. In hiring, the bot would go to the more qualified candidate. But who really determines the qualification? In small companies, a decision like this is easy. It’s much more efficient to get a bot who can do a better job at a lesser cost. The same isn’t true for bigger companies

Three Ways To Make You More Successful Selling Over The Phone Have you ever tried selling sale without being in front of someone? Three tactics to successfully sell over the phone include building relationships, choosing the right words, and knowing the right speed. Joe Ingram is a sales genius who uses an intellectual approach to sales. Looking at the training cycle and sales industry , Joe realized that phone conversations play an integral part in the process and many people are missing this key point. The average individual in the U.S. touches their cellphones 2,500 times a day. It’s very observable when you walk into Starbucks. Nobody would even notice you walked in because they’re looking at their phones. We are continuously on the phone. While using email is a good way to communicate, the product is only perceived as great up to a certain price. Sending out a well-written email is a good marketing strategy but there’s a big difference in sending emails and talking to somebody over the phone to get the call to action to take place. If the price goes over a hundred dollars, then you need to make a phone call. The way you present yourself and your company, during the phone conversation will determine if the potential client is going to purchase the product. Communicating over the phone Communication is divided into the following elements. As a speaker, you need to be able to perform all of them to accurately get your message across. 55% of communication comes from body language. The person you’re talking to is watching the way you move during the conversation. For example, when we were at school, we observed how our teachers moved, paid attention to the things they pointed out, and more. All these signals conveyed to us what they felt, what they meant, and what they were trying to teach us. 38% of communication comes from tone and inflection. You can say the same thing but use different tones to convey a whole different meaning. Tone and inflection tells your client what to pay attention to. 7% of communication is based on the actual words we use in a face-to-face conversation. In a phone conversation, you lose 55% of your ability to communicate because your client can’t see your body language. Because there are many disconnects over the phone, salespeople tend to veer away from calls as a channel to making a sale. Without body language in phone conversations, you’re left with 80% tone and inflection and 20% words. Based on that percentage, it would be easy for a phone conversation to go badly if the right tone and choice of words aren’t being expressed well. As a salesperson, you can’t sound like a customer service provider. Many cell phone providers don’t sound excited over the phone because they’re not trying to make a sale. They are talking to you because you need something from them, and regardless of their performance, they know you will not drop the conversation. You will tolerate a mediocre to poor performance to accomplish your goals. There’s no selling involved. However, it’s different when you tell them you’re cancelling your subscription. You immediately get transferred to someone on their sales team and suddenly, the conversation takes a turn. Their goal is to make you feel better and they want you to feel good enough to stay. Joe sees this in a lot of companies. They teach their sales department to treat everyone like customers, even though people who are still prospects need to be approached differently. Building relationships through your phone Building a working sales relationship takes time. The easiest way to start is by phone as it allows you to hear and understand each other. Joe has worked with companies who are able to make sales using phone calls. When Joe was working as a manager in Chrysler Dodge Jeep, he had an employee named Jay. He spoke four languages and it was difficult to understand what he was saying. Jay was able to sell 20-25 cars each month while maintaining great customer satisfaction and profitability, all because of his body language. He made sure that potential clients felt safe during the sale. His clients watched his mouth when he spoke because it helped them to understand him better. Joe knew his customers needed this visual cue so he didn’t talk over the phone but preferred to conduct a sales transaction in person. because then the customers won’t be able to look and see what he’s trying to say. Joe teaches people how to use better words when talking to prospects. Choosing the right words Our subconscious mind cannot process the negative part of what we’re saying. When we’re told, “Don’t think of a kitten,” our mind zeroes in on the kitten, the opposite of what we’re told. The same thing is true when we tell our clients, “No problem.” Their subconscious mind picks up on “problem” and you want to avoid that. A simple strategy is to replace “No problem” with more positive language. For example, “my pleasure,” “certainly,” and others. Create a positive mental pic

The Accidental Seller - Stephen Snyder Welcome to the fifth episode of The Accidental Series. Some people are into sales because it’s their passion, while others were led to the industry because of their circumstances. We call them the accidental sellers. Stephen Snyder is a district sales coordinator for Aflac. Growing up, Stephen loved playing sports and he aspired to become a professional athlete. In his college days, he was fortunate enough to play baseball. He was good at it and his life revolved around playing the game. Despite that, he didn’t become a professional baseball player. Apparently, life had other plans for Stephen. Stephen realized that sports wasn’t for him after doing an internship during his senior year in college. He saw how tough it was to work in the field of sports marketing. You didn’t become the head of scouting just because you knew the game. His job as an intern required physical labor from 7 AM until the end of the game. A sports manager had to be at the field long after the game was over to help with any tasks needed, including covering the field with tarp.Stephen thought that he could do more. Becoming an accidental seller By the time Stephen finished his education, the economy was taking a downturn. Although he graduated with a degree in sports marketing and kept looking for work in his field, most available jobs were all about sales. It seemed everyone was either selling a yellow book or insurance. Salespeople were often associated with the “usedcar salesman” stereotype so because of this, it took a long time for Stephen to consider sales as a long-term career. Stephen eventually reached out to his friend who had been working with Aflac. He decided to try sales until he could find himself a “real” job. Years later, Stephen is still with Aflac excelling as a salesperson. He realized the old stereotypes don't have to apply. For Stephen, it was about meeting people and talking to them about the services provided by Aflac. The difficult part of selling When he started with the company, Stephen was provided with a script. When a sale didn’t go through, he was made to think that it was because he didn’t stick to the script. Stephen is anl introvert and although he is comfortable with talking to people, he’d always kept a protective shell around him where he could remain comfortable. The challenge he was facing in sales was how to prospect in his own way. Like any other salesperson, Stephen was also afraid of rejection. There were many days he thought of quitting sales but when he actually got to thinking about it, he found that sales could be fun too. As a former athlete, he found the competition he loved could be applied to sales too. There was a scoreboard all the salespeople tracked their sales this brought out the competitive spirit in him. Seeing success in sales Competitiveness and a good team atmosphere are great ways for an accidental seller to stay motivated. Salespeople thrive when they know that a mistake is made, they won’t be criticized, but instead, coaching is offered instead.. As a salesperson improves and starts setting appointments, he sees his actions cause a snowball effect . This results in good sales. Stephen’s first deal started with an elevator ride. He began talking to a man who turned out to be a business owner and the decision-maker in his company. They had a good-natured discussion and Stephen was able to land an appointment. That business owner decided to pay 100% of the voluntary insurance product for his employees. It was one of the best deals Stephen’s company had seen.. After 11 years, Stephen continues to work for Aflac.. Working for the company has given him so many opportunities and a certain level of success. A salesperson needs to consistently find ways to improve. A scoreboard is one strategy to track success and stay competitive. Even when you’ve found sales by accident, keep going because you will find success. Just put in the work, have a routine, and you’ll start seeing results. #SalesTalk “The Accidental Seller - Stephen Snyder” Contact Stephen Snyder via his email, [email protected] or connect with him on LinkedIn. You can also reach out to Donald via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for any sales concerns. This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes so tune in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to. You can also read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episod

How to Build A Six Figure Income Even If You're Not Great At Closing! Ever wonder how you can build a six-figure income even if you’re not great at closing? Closing is one of the most important parts of sales. It is crucial and every word you utter during closing matters. Terry Hansen hails from Idaho Falls, Idaho. His plan is simple but he still has impressive sales success stories. He’s worked with many organizations and sales reps around the country and helped them boost their sales. Throughout his sales journey, Terry has observed three bottleneck scenarios in which entrepreneurs and sales professionals can get stuck. The first is that many struggle to increase their sales and income because they are not getting in front of the right kinds of companies and individuals. They are going at it like opening a phone book and just calling from the top of the list, hoping that someone will buy from them. Once on the phone, they don’t spend time introducing themselves, starting a conversation and making appointments. The second scenario a bottleneck can occur is the lack of framework to qualify customers and salespeople end up closing with people they shouldn’t. This comes from a scarcity mindset. There will always be goals and sales quotas, that have to be hit. Because of this, many people in sales end up trying to sell to without taking the time to determine whether they’re selling to their target customer.. Sometimes, salespeople can close a client and later have regrets because they didn’t share their work values. The third bottleneck in failing to close well comes from not having the right skills. It is each of these three scenarios that can become the speed bumps that keep entrepreneurs from growing their sales. The value of prospecting Many sales books stress the importance of having closing techniques. You have to be a champion in overcoming objections and resolving concerns to become successful in growing your sales. Another secret to success is becoming an account manager. You need to have stellar customer service, be able to ask for referrals, take good care of your base, and keep your competitors from your clients. Terry read a variety of books and did everything they suggested but he still wasn’t hitting his quotas and achieving the level of success he wanted. He then had lunch with a great mentor and was venting about his frustrations. Terry let him know that despite doing the right things, he was still living paycheck to paycheck. His mentor shared an illustration about two salespeople, one great at appointment setting but lousy with closing and the other, great at closing but bad with appointment setting. The first salesperson could schedule 40 appointments per month but only closed 10% of those appointments, which resulted in only four sales per month. The second salesperson lands four appointments per month. He is an amazing closer and but can only close deals 50% of the time, making two sales per month. Terry understood that he would make more money by being good at setting appointments and increasing opportunities. Closing is equally important but the analogy taught him he needed to redouble his efforts in making appointments and meeting with people. The challenges in prospecting Prospecting is uncomfortable, scary, and awkward. Stereotypes of salespeople being manipulative, talking a lot, listening too little, and using high pressure tactics have to be overcome. Most salespeople don’t want to be perceived as manipulative and try to make relationships a priority. However, there can be a period of adjustment as they work to avoid reflecting the negative stereotype. Salespeople are having a difficult time getting past the gatekeeper and making contact with the decision-maker. Too often they leave multiple voicemails and emails with the hopes of getting a reply but typically, that doesn’t happen. The challenge is to be compelling in those initial interactions. Terry tries to be generic in his voicemails to avoid stereotypes. The first three seconds you’re identified as a salesperson are the most challenging. The person who is being contacted can lose interest regardless of what is being sold. It’s best to veer away from bad introductions and barking up the wrong tree. Salespeople shouldn’t just go through the phonebook without a clear idea of who they want to contact. . There’s no need to spend too much time trying to facilitate an introduction with people who don’t fit the ultimate goals. Doing so will delay getting in front of the clients who actually need the service or product being offered.. Building your client Salespeople should look at their top 10 best clients, profile them and get an overall sense of the companies they represent. From this information, they can build a dream list of similar companies. Use these strategies and tactics to make contact with the decision-makers: create a profile, build and stay focused on a specific list of desired traits, and use the right kinds of tactic

Networking Effectively and Creating a Sphere of Influence The idea of networking effectively and creating a sphere of influence is nothing new in sales. It’s a facet of sales that everybody understands and executes. Networking is one sure way of meeting new people, building relationships, and it eventually opens doors for opportunities. Likky Lavji has been meeting people and building relationships for 30 years. He built and grew his IT company based on his referral network. By the time he sold his company, he had ample knowledge about how to do the business. Now, he’s sharing his knowledge with others. The old methods of doing business Face-to-face meetings and getting to know people before starting the business are old methods of doing business. Today, people depend on social media to grow their business. We are bombarded with social diversions making us adept in communicating using social media platforms. The downside to that is it’s becoming more difficult for many to have conversations face-to-face. As salespeople, we need to combine old and new methods to make it work. It’s great to go back to the basics. Look at your existing base of connections and get to know them. Identify your best clients from your database, the ones who not only bring in revenue but referrals as well. Once you’ve identified your clients, you can start building your sphere of influence. Creating your sphere of influence is easy to do. You need to know your people and reach out to the people they know as well. In a networking event, look for the person who has people around them. Find an opportunity to start a conversation and be authentic. Don’t force anything. It has to be organic. Likky once stuttered and it held him back. With the help of Bob Burg, the author of The Go-Giver Way, he was able to move past his stuttering. Building relationships It’s normal to have some level of fear when talking to strangers in a networking event, or anywhere else. However, that fear can be overcome. You need to veer away from the misconceptions of others. Put those aside and just be who you are. People fear networking because of the notion they have to sell. Change that mindset and think of networking as meeting people and making friends. Build connections allows people to get to know you and like you. As these relationships are built, they will get to trust you and your business, which can lead to referrals. #SalesSkills Don’t go into sales mode right away. Likky uses the acronym F.O.R.M. to start conversations: F - Family. Everybody wants to talk about their family. Some people even have their family photos in their wallets. You can talk about their dogs too. O - Occupation. You can ask about their occupation. For example, ask them how they got into their business. R - Recreation. Find your common ground and talk about their hobbies and interests. M - Message. These are the things you stand for. Listen to what they say Build meaningful conversation and listen to their response. Ask more questions about their interests. It doesn’t matter if they don’t ask you questions because this isn’t about you. Make sure they do all the talking. Bob uses 10 field questions when meeting new people such as, “What do you enjoy most about your profession?” and “Describe the strangest thing you’ve experienced in your business.” People get excited when talking about these things. It’s your job to hear and understand what they’re saying. Show empathy and put yourself in their shoes. Understand what they’re going through. Listen well, take notes and follow-up. In Bob’s book, he suggested listening with the back of your neck. This means listening to what they’re saying and putting everything aside. All the words would go through your mouth, your face, through your ears, and to the back of your neck. There’s nothing else present except for those words coming into you. Giving out business cards isn’t the best way to execute networking effectively and creating a sphere of influence. Whenever Likky sees he may need to give away his business card,he tries to avoid it. Connect them to others In networking effectively and creating a sphere of influence, another way to do this is by giving referrals to someone else When you meet people in a networking event, ask them who their ideal customers are and you will see there are others in the room who have the same audience that they have. Refer them to those people and help them make a connection. They will learn to trust you because you helped grow their business. Don’t worry if the referral sources aren’t 100% successful. All you need to do is make the introduction and let them have the conversation. If they want to do something for you in return, then talk to them about the kind of customers you are looking for. Consider having a meeting with them first so they know who you are and what you want. You'll also get to know who they are, their centers of influence.. If you meet somebody and you promise them something, always ma

The Accidental Seller Series - Wendell Jordan This is the 4th episode of the Accidental Seller series. Wendell Jordan is the owner of Jordan Consults and a local SEO specialist. His company works with small businesses to increase their digital footprint. Growing up, Jordan and his friends wanted to become professional basketball players. However, playing for the NBA became an afterthought when he reached high school. His first few years in college were spent actively pursuing the business side of music. By then, he was in and out of recording studios in New York City. Perceptions of sales Wendell thought of salespeople as sleazy individuals. He first came across sales when he was young. A vacuum salesman was doing door-to-door sales and he wouldn’t leave until his mother threatened to call the police. The salesman was trying to force his mother to buy a product they didn’t need. That experience had a negative impact on Wendel and affected how he viewed sales. Wendell’s mother worked for the city of New York and his father was a postal worker. His parents’ jobs, along with how he viewed salespeople made him think that sales was not for him. He accidentally came into sales when he was checking out Craigslist ads. The ad was looking for someone to work in customer service and didn’t mention sales. When he went in for the position, it was commission-only, door-to-door selling. Wendell’s wife played a huge part in his decision to take the position. She had faith that he could do it and encouraged him to try. He’s been in sales ever since. Overcoming the fear Like any new salesperson, Wendell had feared. He worried he’d become the sleazy salesperson who had to be removed from someone’s home, just like the man from his childhood. In his first days on the job, he shadowed a sales rep and was told just to take notes. For two days, he tried to learn what he could from shadowing. On the third day, he was thrown into the fire and had to have his first door-to-door experience on his own. Making a sale on the first day can be difficult but Wendell was able to do it. His first deal felt magical and it inspired and motivated him to keep going. He thought, if he could do it the first day, he can also do it the second day so he kept going. However, the lack of sales training affected his morale and the number of sales made. Shadowing others for a day or two wasn’t enough for him to sell door-to-door effectively. He just didn’t have the skillset to close and the result was a lot of deals weren’t pushed through. Quitting sales Wendell’s sales journey wasn’t easy. He experienced being removed from payroll and spent a good part of the year in limbo, not knowing if he’d be able to make a sale again. The instability of the job almost made him quit. An old business partner convinced him to try again, but this time, he’d be selling websites. Considering that his previous sales experience wasn’t stellar, Wendell felt trepidation. Still, he tried again and started cold-calling businesses. Wendell went from a door-to-door sales process to talking to potential clients and educating them about their services. Sales has been one of the greatest opportunities Wendell has ever had in his life and he would choose it again. It allows him to work from home and learn about different cultures. The door-to-door sales experience exposed him to different lifestyles and it trained him in different ways to socialize with others. If you’re new in sales, keep at it. Don’t get caught up in what people perceive sales to be. #SalesMotivation Shift your focus. See yourself three years down the road. You’ll think about the number of Nos you got but you’ll remember the Yeses were far greater. Focus on the bright side. “The Accidental Seller Series - Wendell Jordan” episode resources Reach out to Wendell Jordan vis his phone number, 314-325-829. You can also visit his website and check out the contact form there. For other sales concerns, you can also reach out to Donald via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Use these practical sales tips and let him know how they work for you. This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. The episode is also brought to you by Sales Live Miami. It’s an event put on by a group of friends and it’s designed to help sellers and sales leaders improve their sales game. It’s going to be this November 4-5, 2019 in Miami, Florida. We hope to see you there! You can find more about this event on The Sales Evangelist website. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes so tune in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to. You can also read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Au

How to Seize Attention and Build Trust in a Busy World As salespeople, we look for ways to seize attention and build trust. While prospecting and building trust among clients is critical, it’s also one of the most difficult tasks in sales. Ron Tite is the founder and keynote speaker of the Toronto-based agency, Church+State as well as the author of Think Do Say: How to Seize Attention and Build Trust in a Busy, Busy World. Being an executive creative director at a large multinational ad agency, Ron has extensive knowledge about traditional agency marketing, advertising, and design. In addition to that, he’s also an experienced comedian, using that in his own entrepreneurial journey. Ron is also an investor who appreciates the need for sales to do business. The desperate need for attention Salespeople are looking at the ecosystem correctly but are using the wrong tactics to make a breakthrough. They’ve been chasing metrics that don’t deliver to build long term businesses. There are so many thought leaders, evangelists, and LinkedIn lead generators who are going about it in the wrong way. Seeing this drove Ron to eventually build his own agency. With a growing number of salespeople, the sheer number of sales reps and clients are overwhelmed by pitches.. Time Square is a great metaphor. Everybody is in Time Square. Big corporations and companies use traditional means, such as using billboards, to get attention. Meanwhile, there are smaller sellers on the streets that are doing things differently. They are more aggressive, targeted, and their pitch can be customized. These are the people who sell practically everything in Times Square, from ripped off t-shirts to street meat. Every one of them trying to get attention. However,the challenge doesn’t stop there, it continues. Now you’ve got their attention, how do you earn their trust? Salespeople thrive in a busy environment by bringing respectability and credibility. They have to be aggressive and nimble in their sales approach. #SalesManagement Other salespeople are still using the automated messages they used in the 60s when talking to potential clients. They could have customized their message and tailored it but they didn’t. They need to revamp their style with three phrases in mind: based on what you think, based on what you do, and based on what you say. Set yourself apart As a salesperson, the ‘based on what you think’ approach considers the things you firmly believe regardless of what you’re selling. This is important because you aren’t selling a unique product. There are others selling the same product so what you think is what makes you unique. Ask yourself: Do you believe that relationships are the key to success? Do you believe that you should deliver the most value? Do you believe that your role as a salesperson is to connect people with the right opportunities? ‘Based on what you do’ are the things you do to reinforce your beliefs. The last part, ‘based on what you say.’ Salespeople can be hesitant about sharing their products/services with others because they don’t want to come off as “pitch slapping.”It’s important to deliver the right message through their actions and behaviors by talking about what they do in an authentic way and transparent way. Don’t create smoke and mirrors and say nice things just to make a sale. People are sensitive to that approach and they can see it a mile away. Use the following questions as a guide to start your conversation. Who do you do it for? What do they want you to do? Who do you do it with? For so long, salespeople have used many strategies to seize attention and build trust but still find it difficult to have a breakthrough. They need to customize their sales pitch and talk to clients according to their needs. They don’t need to cheat the system. They just have to speak to potential clients in the right way. Invest in being good Comedians come and go and they try a variety of tactics to make people laugh. However, nobody has sustained a career in comedy by doing anything other than being really funny. It is the same thing in sales. You can try other platforms in the course of your sales career but it won’t work unless you show your humanity and have the best interest of your clients and prospects at heart. Jumping from one platform to another may give you some benefit and short-term metrics but it won’t sustain your business in the long run. Ron’s first project when he launched his agency was with a client he already knew. The marketing director discovered Ron was running his own agency and she gave him his first project. The trust didn’t come from Ron chasing tactics. It was due to Ron’s honesty in the business.. Red Bull is a great company that bases its marketing on the three things mentioned earlier. The company firmly believes that life with an adrenaline rush is a better way to live. They reinforce that belief by encouraging activities where their audience can have an adventure. Their advertising reinfo

How to Negotiate a Mutual Win Salespeople are always looking for a win and when closing with clients, landing a great deal while being able to negotiate a mutual win is the idea goal. Adam Ayers studied mechanical engineering and built a software technology startup after graduating. He is now the Chief Technology Officer and founder of company, Number5, which specializes as an outsource CTO for celebrities, eCommerce companies, and internet brands. Fifty percent of their operations involve running technology, and acquiring customers, for commerce businesses and executing the data science. The other fifty percent is on custom technology where they build platforms, APIs, and high-performance software on the internet. Negotiate a mutual win When Adam was a child he asked his father what inventors do and the response resonated with him.. He was told the best inventors don’t just invent things, they are capable of selling what they’ve invented. That thought motivated him to make things himself,build a team, and sell the things he created himself. As an engineer, Adam has learned to think in frameworks and processes, finding that telling stories are effective ways to negotiate a mutual win and make a sale. The biggest problem most salespeople face is the tendency to talk more and listen less. Generally, people want to be listened to. We want to be asked questions and understood. This is a factor that other sales reps forget. No matter what you are selling, you must put the clients’ interests first. Listen to them, ask questions, and understand where they’re coming from. You learn to see their problem and present customers with a solution when you sincerely tune-in to what they are saying. This is how they make the buying decision, to trust the solution you present to them. The ideal ratio is 80-20, where 80% is spent listening to the clients’ story and asking them questions while 20% is spent sharing a story about how you’re going to help solve their problems. The book entitled, You Can’t Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar emphasizes the Sandler sales submarine, with the initial point being we need to bond and build rapport with our customers. Showing compassion and kindness and asking people who they are and what they need is the first step to negotiate a mutual win. The importance of self-awareness Self-awareness is knowing who you are, what you’re good at, or not, and being honest about it. #SalesTruth It’s a trait that many salespeople need to master to negotiate a mutual win. Being who you are is important because that’s how you connect with people. While compromising is a good thing,you also want to be authentic. Your flaws as a salesperson will make you more human and more relatable to others. A corporate approach in sales is uncomfortable because ultimately everyone is just looking for a smart friend with whom they can make a connection when they’re being sold to. Adam sells software development, customer acquisition, and data science and these are products the average person doesn’t understand but they know they need it to grow their business. He understands he needs to nurture confidence in his potential clients, that they want to feel good about hiring him. Adam highlights his previous experience, his background, who he’s already worked with, their integrity and what he’s already delivered. Adam’s team doesn’t sell. Instead, they connect with people - they talk, dine, and get drinks. While the sales process and negotiations are pretty straightforward, the reality is that it works for his team. When Adam knows that his services aren’t going to fit what the client needs, he is upfront and honest about it. Adam knows his customers need someone who can execute the tasks and if needed, communicate to the stockholders and investors what’s going on. Unconventional approach works This approach of combining tech expertise with a personal touch is the core of , Number5, a company name inspired by the1986 movie, Short Circuit. Because not everyone understands the technology behind the work, they’re hired based on relationships.Their process on how to negotiate a mutual win is shaped around helping clients understand their needs and what their role is to make meet the company’s goals. Adam shows them how his team uses technology to deliver the solution efficiently and effectively. One company Adam was an engineer for, had the Five Four Club, a men’s clothing line subscription, that quickly rose to popularity. The company needed the technology to keep up with its growth.. Adam not only offered the tech to support the growth but as a leader, helped offer resources to build up the existing team. Adam didn’t have to explain how the tech worked but still offered suggestions on how employees could support it within their roles. Clients say that Adam’s approach is abrasive and shocking until they get to know him. Once they see his process and his ability working for them, they’re on board. Many salespeople aren’t ju

The Accidental Seller- "Ashlee Reusch" This is the third episode for the Accidental Seller series brought to you by The Sales Evangelist. Ashlee Reusch is a business development representative at Cognos HR. Ashlee was always on the lookout for change growing up and thus wasn’t chasing a specific career. She graduated high school a year early and proceeded to go to college. She was aiming to get her radiology technical certification at the local community college. She majored in Science and went into the medical field. Ashlee had a change of heart and realized that science wasn’t her passion. The classes didn’t excite her and being a creative person at heart, she felt like the course didn’t foster that part of her. She didn’t want to sign up for endless classes to get certifications to advance her career in the medical field in the future. She was at a loss for what to do next and that’s how she fell into sales. Falling into sales She was finishing her associate’s degree at a community college and was deciding whether to proceed to her bachelor’s degree at a university. She lost her passion in science and she also didn’t want to invest in her education being unsure of what she really loved. She had lots of friends who studied at universities and paid tens of thousands of dollars but in the end, went back to square one because they were no longer interested in the career path they chose. She didn’t want to be in the same boat. Ashlee talked to her dad about her predicament. He has been with the local Chevy dealer selling cars. He then suggested that she get a job and try out sales for a full year. She thought of it as an intersection where she wanted to experience the world and figure out what she wanted at the same time. That’s when she became an accidental seller. The first few days were nerve-wracking, especially being there were only 2 women in the sales department. Everyone else was men with the average age of late thirties. Ashlee was 19 years old then. The experience was both exciting and nerve-wracking, especially since there was no sales training available. She shadowed other salesmen for a week and then she was put on the floor after that to sell some cars. Since her dad had been in sales his whole life and both her parents were entrepreneurs owning a small art business in the late 90s and early 2000s, sales and business was nothing new for Ashlee. She also saw how her parents worked long hours. There was a lot of instability in sales and that made her think that sales was not her cup of tea. She wanted something stable with normal work hours. Sales was never part of her plan even until her college years. Selling for the first time Ashlee was an introvert growing up and she likes to hang out in the background a little bit. This part of her made sales a scary avenue. It was difficult for her to talk to strangers face to face and sell them cars. Her limited training lasted only a week. She was the typical salesman but she made it her goal to be honest with her clients. Whenever she doesn’t know anything, she tells them that she doesn’t have the answer at the moment but she’ll find it out for them. She found out that people respect honesty and humility. She was working on a hundred percent dealership commission roll, so not selling a car means not getting a paycheck. It was a motivating factor to learn the ropes quickly. She spent almost four months before she felt like had things under control. She moved from one salesperson’s cubicle to another to learn how to strike a deal in her downtime. She’d listen and take notes on how to handle common objections. She followed her dad’s suggestion. A salesperson absorbs the things around him, takes what works for his style, and turns it into his own thing. #SalesPerson A moment of doubt Being an accidental seller means that sales isn’t your first choice and when faced with difficulties, an accident seller would tend to fold. Ashlee has her moments of doubt and thinks about quitting. When it does cross her mind, she convinces herself otherwise by thinking of all the skills and opportunities of the people she met in the sales industry so far. It’s easy to get caught up in the negativity but it’s important to not get swayed by all of it. Her dad told her the way to get out of a rut is to sell. Whenever she feels down, she tries again. Her first sale wasn’t that exciting. She sold to a newly married couple who were buying their first car together. It was special for them and they used a true car certificate. All she had to do was a test drive with them and make sure that they liked the car. The experience wasn’t overwhelming but the income that came with it was fun and exciting. Moving forward, she went from selling cars to membership training for a large gym chain and made her way into the Chicago tech world. She is now working for a small outsource HR company where she helps businesses accomplish their goals every day. There’s a lot of networking and meeting othe

How to 10X Your Income With Repeat and Referred Business Repeat and referred business is a sure tactic to grow your business 10x. Despite that, not many are looking into it. A reliable tactic to increase income is to use repeat and referred business. Gia Le, a successful real estate agent in Australia, whose heritage is Chinese-Vietnamese, uses this strategy with great success. However, before she got into real estate, her career started in finance and insurance sales through the automotive industry. Gia wasn’t always the top salesperson she is today. Working for Australia’s largest automotive holding company, she was almost fired in her first three months as an insurance and finance consultant. Selling using out-dated methods Early in her career, Gia attended several training programs offered by her company. She learned a variety of selling techniques and rehearsed the scripts but they proved to be ineffective.. These original methods sounded rote to the more sophisticated customers and the techniques were perceived as out-dated and insincere. The dealership was a very fast-paced environment, sometimes having to close sales within two or three hours, and she was struggling and fighting. In Australia, a dealership makes more money on the finance and insurance than on the vehicle itself and accounts for nearly 60- 70% of the dealership’s profits.. Gia knew if she didn’t start performing her time at the company was going to come to a close. It was then the right mentor appeared.ia recalls, “He pulled me aside and said, ‘Hey, Gia stop trying to focus on the sale. Why don't you just start focusing on the people and realize that we're selling more than just finance and insurance.’” It was in that moment that she understood she was there to solve problems and provide a service. “I truly sold nothing.The only thing I truly sold was a promise, an opportunity and above all, a relationship. The moment I started connecting and focusing on my client's pain, empathizing with them and gaining their trust through the art of storytelling, I was basically closing nearly 70% of all the clients who walked through my door.” Sales is about selling an opportunity, and above all else, relationship. #SalesSuccess Working at such a fast pace, she also understood the need to act quickly. “Nobody was in a dealership to waste their time because time is the most precious commodity anybody ever has.” She knew if her client walked away they didn’t want to work with her. It was in these moments she decided not to give away her business card. “I would never give out a business card because any seasoned consultant should really understand that, yeah, (them taking your business card) is a consolation prize. It’s their way of saying, I'll take something off you and I'm going to go away. I'm going to leave you living in hope but hope doesn’t pay the bills.” Knowing she needed to make a connection in those fleeting moments in order to close a sale, she became proficient in understanding the client’s needs, addressing their concerns and offering a solution. Gia worked for the dealership for seven and a half years and at the age of thirty, decided she no longer wanted to work seventy hours a week and wanted more flexibility. She wondered what else she could do with the sales skills she had. By then, Gia was working with a life coach and with real estate’s flexibility and use of her sales experience, they thought it was the perfect answer. Gia was a real estate agent for about a year when she noticed that using the emerging digital platform to market properties was being underutilized in Australia. “The use of social media four years ago was only just starting to blossom. I started a digital agency after I saw that opportunity. I made $500 in my first month after making big dollars in finance. Now, my digital agency is growing across Australia. We're now in Asia.” Growing the business through repeat and referred business Gia credits the growth of her business to her sales background. As her company continues to grow she is still selling and understands that referrals don’t happen by luck. From the beginning, repeat and repeat business was her focus and she set the tone for her employees. “I kept telling everybody across the company I wasn't the best consultant or the best sales woman, but I was certainly the most disciplined and process-driven. I always played the long game with every single client. It's all about having a strategy and being disciplined. It’s making sure that system is bigger than yourself.” Gia took advantage of the downtime when It was during these early days Facebook and Google were increasing in popularity as a sales tool. While other salespeople were busy Facebooking and Googling for new clients during their downtime, Gia was busy prospecting. “I was busy following up with all my old clients because I understood that 90% of my sales were going to happen before they even walked in the door to see me again. The moment they walk

The Main Things Generating The Most Leads Right Now! As salespeople, we often ask ourselves about the main things generating the most leads right now because we always want to be in on everything that works. Consumers’ purchasing decisions are affected by their experiences and we want to know what affects them in order to appeal to those emotions and convince them to buy our products or services. Sales professionals that we are, we love leads and we like getting new prospects. Vlad Calus is the founder at Planable, a content collaboration plan for freelancers and marketing teams. It is the most visual platform that helps you preview your social media content before publishing it. Planable helps you check and review your content before publishing it. It makes collaboration and asking for feedback from your teammates easier as well as asking for clients’ feedback before finalizing the content and scheduling the posts through social media. Generating the most leads right now There are three things that helped Vlad to get leads. The first one was writing a book. He wrote a book called Marketing Themes of the Future which gained them over 2,000 leads in just a couple of weeks. They also published the Content Academy and it generated them more than 500 people in just a couple of hours. Publishing is one way to generate leads and that’s what Vlad and his team did. They also did a content calibration report where they reported on the state of content marketing and how content marketing teams are working. For them, their team wasn’t able to generate many people by just a sudden initiative. They did the planning on how to create their content and spent a lot of time in it. They called their content marketing as special initiatives. They worked on it for about 12 months and all of the people involved were on the same page. They then had press releases for client launches and they constantly repurposed their content. Content calibration Vlad’s team looked for the problem in their industry and wanted to address it. Based on their research, they found out that there have been no content calibration reports done for the last nine years. They wanted to understand the state of the market but there are only old data available. In marketing, data are key players to a business’s success. They then understood the need to generate a lot of data and started the project with their customers, connections on the net, and the people they met. They generated leads by using the data of the report they collated. One of the data they have is on how to repurpose content for their followers. There’s also the part where you need multiple stakeholders as part of your content strategy. They also discovered in their research that broken collaboration is wasted time and communicating with your stakeholders vie spreadsheets and emails is one of the most broken workflows there is. They use all these data and share their marketing reports to their clients and potential clients to motivate them to jump on a call with them and start using their Planable. This can be applied to other industries as well regardless of the size of the company. You can make reports using the data from the audience that you are working on. You may start by sending your audience Facebook polls or sending them a simple type form they can fill out. You can collate the data and use it for your marketing strategies. Publishing a book to get more leads works especially if you promote it yourself. Put your email signature in the book and see the number of people who click on it every single day. From readers to lead generators People who have read Vlad’s book started recommending it to other people they know. The book presented the benefits of collaborating on the content and using many different platforms to create a more collaborative market. The ebook also presented solutions that you can use for your content marketing collaboration as a marketing team. Every email we get, we put them into an email marketing flow and we ask them to jump on a call with us for them to find out more about Planable. We send people case studies on how Planable has been helping companies. The other thing that helped them in generating the most leads right now is their Content Academy. They interviewed over 30 experts in content marketing from different industries. These people are the front line in creating content, from the ideation, editing, writing, publishing, and generating leads. The Content Academy includes seven-step videos with topics like ideation strategy, content editing, content publishing, promoting, and so on. Vlad’s team presents it to potential clients and we give them sneak peeks of the things they can learn in the Content Academy. He makes snippets and minute-long videos showing how it would help businesses and publishes the videos on his LinkedIn and other social media. In content marketing, don’t be afraid to try creating content and putting yourself on camera. Get yourself out

Impossible to Inevitable How can salespeople turn the impossible to inevitable? Aaron Ross is the author of the book Predictable Revenue and a proud father to nine children. The book Predictable Revenue is called the sales bible of Silicon Valley. It changed how the fastest-growing sales teams are designed. The book talked about outbound prospecting which can be a very predictable way to drive appointments and if you have predictable appointments, you can create predictable revenue. It also talks about sales specialization instead of letting the sales reps do the prospecting. Managers must break the sales team into specialized groups to assess where they excel. Impossible to inevitable His new book called From the Impossible to Inevitable is the growth bible. It’s more for C-levels:the managers, executives, and the leaders who understand the few key reasons why a company gets stuck and won’t grow. The book answers three questions: Why aren’t you growing as fast as you can? How can you grow faster? How do you keep it up? This book touches on sales models and expands to lead generation. From Impossible to Inevitable will teach you the ways of the fastest-growing companies in the world such as SalesForce and Twilio. The first section of the book is called Nail a Niche as it addresses the hard truth that most companies are not ready to grow and that’s the reason why they don’t grow as much as they want. You can’t paddle downstream if you’re not even in the stream. Nailing the niche When beginning a business, there’s the tendency of selling everything to everyone. But that doesn’t work. What it does to you is that you either have no customer or you have a bunch of customers who are a little bit of this and a little bit of that. An entrepreneur may sit back and ask which of the customers are easiest to close, or who is the audience that really needs me? It is important to define who needs you. Aaron was part of Salesforce, where he built an internal sales program. He left the team in 2006 and did what he wanted to do. He went into adventures and went to do other things. He worked in a venture firm, then on a thing called Unique Genius, then on CEO Flow. He was exploring and then he got married. He realized that he had to start making money. He needed to focus on a niche and figure out where his expertise lies so that he could deliver the most value for his customers. He then thought of outbound prospecting. I wasn’t the general sales consulting. For us salespeople, this can take a lot of testing, talking, and experimentation with companies to get the right package and the right pricing programs before you nail your niche and start to grow faster. Sometimes it can take a long time because we have all these unrealistic expectations on how fast it should happen. Do it like Twilio does it Twilio is a platform company that provides a bunch of technologies. Twilio is used by many companies that build software or iPhone apps to power their message alerts and phone calls. For example, Uber uses Twilio to make an Uber phone call and text because it’s difficult and time-consuming to build it themselves. Simply put, Twilio is a platform that companies can use to do many things. The challenge when you are marketing something like Twilio is that it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact help it can offer to a company or a client. A salesperson must paint a specific picture for people to get it. Twilio researched to get into the minds of their customers, to understand and build empathy with their customers. The common corporate value which is to walk in the shoes of your customer is something that Twilio really lives by. The company put much effort into walking in their customers’ shoes to know what they want and what they are looking for. Salespeople need to remember this value at all times, whether you’re writing an email or making a call. You need to know what they need to get your message across. Another secret of Twilio’s success is to let all their employees have a taste of what it’s like being the customer. Specific targeting Turning the impossible to inevitable is also a result of specific targeting. You need to be more specific in choosing your audience. It’s important to talk to fewer people that are relevant to your products or services. Having fewer people to talk to doesn’t decrease your number of opportunities. Your goal is to become the big fish in the small pond and specific targeting is the perfect way to do that. It’s harder to change your products and services but you can do the easier part: you change your targeting instead. Types of leads Lead generation is the main driver for your growing business. There are three kinds of lead generation: seeds, nets, and spears. The seeds are relationship-driven leads, these include referrals, word of mouth, and friends/families. Since these are relationship-based leads, they are faster to close and with a higher rate. The downside is that it’s more difficult to generate. Wo

The Accidental Seller Series 2 - "DeJuan Brown" This is the second episode of the series The Accidental Seller. There are more accidental sellers in the sales industry than we know of. In fact, there are about 4.14 million sales professionals in the United States who fell into this career. DeJuan Brown wanted to be a chemist when he was a kid. He also wanted to be a system analyst because he wanted to follow his uncle’s footsteps who worked as a system analyst for Guardian Life for a long time. But in college, he studied Psychology and Philosophy. The mathematics included in studying both Chemistry and System Analysis dissuaded him to push through with his childhood careers. His view of sales and of the salespeople came about when his father started selling Insurance when he was two years old. Selling insurance then was very different compared to how it’s done today. People are able to sign up online or pay for their premium online but before, selling insurance was a door-to-door sport. His dad would spend hours going door to door collecting premiums from people. Seeing his dad selling made him think that sales was super lucrative on the back end but also super hard at the same time. DeJuan initially thought that salespeople were undesirable. The sale stigma The perception of salespeople then didn’t change much until today. There’s still a bad stigma and DeJuan didn’t want to be associated with it. Salespeople are seen as sleazy and manipulative and even though his Dad is not like that, he came to adapt that view as well. It’s apparent with a car salesman and the salespeople you see in infomercials and TV. People kept telling DeJuan that he’d be good in sales but for him, it was a choice between using his skills for the worse which is doing sales or using it for the best which is helping people through law and other things. The accidental seller DeJuan was doing a variety of things and was moving from one job to another. He ended up waiting tables and bartending. He was good at it and made a tremendous amount of money in it. His friends kept telling him to go into sales because he’s good at selling entrees but still the stigma of salespeople stuck in his mind. The stigma prevented him from considering the possibility until his buddy got a job at Intuit. His buddy convinced him to get into sales and he applied. He got a schedule for an interview and got a part-time job of 16 hours a week doing transactional sales. That’s when he got into sales. He fell in love with the reward of sales and it was the first time that he felt good about serving people. Fears in sales He had fears and trepidation when he started sales and most of the fear revolved on the thinking that he had to push people. DeJuan wanted to help people. If they want something, he wants to help them get it and if they do not want to get the product and services, then he doesn’t want to push them and he just wants to leave them alone. The fear went away relatively early in the process when he realized that he was helping people. He understood people and all that they have at their disposal. He gave them all their options and made sure that they made decisions based on what they have. Helping people changed his paradigm on sales audits. DeJuan thought about quitting during his tough times but his experience helped him get through the rough times. When he isn’t at the top of the leaderboard, he thinks of quitting and starting out on another career. Sales is a rollercoaster ride: here’s no such thing as always up and always positive. #SalesMotivation That fact kept him on and motivated him. There’s no such thing as every time you dial, someone picks up the phone or responds to every email. Understanding that helped him control the inputs and outputs. The mindset shift helped him shift his attitude towards selling. His first sale was unforgettable for him. He was consistent with his deals and he was able to enhance someone’s product or their order. For his first sale, he was able to sell a logo and on the same sale, he was able to add color and shadow. He also offered the self-sealing envelopes on the same order. DeJuan is now in the enterprise industry and connected with Seismic. DeJuan was an accidental seller but if asked if he was going to choose another path, he’d say that being an accidental seller is one of the best things that happened for his career. “The Accidental Seller Series 2" episode resources Reach out to DeJuan via his LinkedIn and he will also be in the Sales Success Summit. He is also on Twitter. Go ahead and hit me up for concerns and questions about sales. You can also reach out to me via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Use these practical sales tips and let me know how it works for you. This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modu

One Major Closing Question You're Neglecting To Ask There are times when the sale is almost a done deal but at the end of the day, it’s not pushing through because there’s that one major closing question you neglected to ask. This can happen to everyone, not just for the new sales reps. That one closing question you neglected to ask Let’s take Dave as an example. Dave is a seller who is wrapping up things with Bob in a phone call. Dave gave an amazing demonstration but Bob is being wishy-washy in his response and told Dave that he is still going to analyze internally first before moving on with Dave’s deal. Now, Dave is upset, furious, and blurted out some things. Dave could have done things differently by asking follow-up questions. Seeing it from Dave’s perspective, his outburst was understandable. He’s been working the deal for three months and he thought that he already got everything right. He already told his manager about it and he’s pretty excited for it to officially close. He needed this sale to achieve his quota. The result could have been different had he remembered to ask the closing question that many neglect to ask. “Would I make this purchase based on the same information I know if I were the buyer?” Based on the things you’ve shared with the buyer, would you have made the decision to make the investment? Many take this for granted because oftentimes, salespeople are shortsighted. Focusing on your pipeline Having focus is a great characteristic, however, focusing on the wrong thing isn’t. As salespeople, we need to shift the focus from ourselves and our pipeline, rather, we need to focus on our clients and our prospective clients. Going back on Dave, he was too focused on himself and the need for impressing his manager. He is a rising star in the company and the deal would be 25% of his quota. Everything was about Dave. Sometimes, a similar thing happens to us. We tend to focus on ourselves and fail to show empathy toward the clients. Stephen Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People states that the fifth habit of becoming effective is to seek first to understand then to be understood. The outcome would have been different if Dave asked himself the closing question mentioned above. Dave was in a difficult situation. He just got promoted and he’s now in the big boy’s league, this means that he’s afraid. The thing is that all these situations that Dave is facing don’t help his potential client solve his problems. Bob has nothing in him to consider shifting to Dave’s offer. If you were Dave, you would have gone a different path. Instead of looking at your fears, you instead looked at what Bob’s company needs. Perhaps you’d look at some studies and do some homework about Bob’s industry in relation to the software that you’re selling. A great salesperson focuses not on himself but on what the buyer is going through and the challenges that they’re facing. #SalesTruth Reality in sales Not every deal is going to close, that’s a universal fact in sales. But when you try to ask the closing question mentioned earlier, you won’t get in an awkward situation. Take for example the close rates, it’s the sales rep’s number of prospects to the number of deals converted. A 25% close rate means closing 10 deals out of your 40 prospects. The average close rate is between 15%-23%. Some people have higher close rates and others have a lower close rate. The close rate would increase if we work a little more in asking the tough questions. Salespeople must analyze the situation from the buyer’s standpoint. You can start the conversion process after every call, ask the buyer the same closing question, “Based on what you know, do you feel comfortable moving forward with us to a demonstration?” “Based on what you know, do you feel comfortable moving forward with us toa proposal?” Do this in every step of the process. The closing question you neglect to ask should be given priority now. Ask yourself and the buyer that question. Find more of your ideal customers and have more meaningful conversations with them. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. “One Major Closing Question You're Neglecting To Ask” episode resources Go ahead and hit me up for concerns and questions about sales. You can also reach out to me via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Use these practical sales tips and let me know how it works for you. This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. The episode is also brought to you by Sales Live Miami. It’s an event put on by a group of friends and it’s designed to help sellers and sales leaders improve their sales game. It’s going to be this November 4-5, 2019 in Miami, Florida. Come and join us. You can find more about this event on The Sales Evangelist w