Sales with Darren

We were talking earlier about reasons prospects should switch to your product. Ie, what's your top three reasons or tactics to get a prospect to switch over to you In my experience that I've had—and especially when I'm making buying decisions as well—when someone's shouting out reasons to switch, it can turn you off from the real hurry. In my experience better just to say "hey, look, I don't know if there are any reasons for you to switch." It sets the field that you're not going to put the pressure on and you're just a decent guy that's not gonna shove this down their throat. Then from there, they might give you the reasons and then you could look at their reasons for the switch, and it's a much more back and forth discussion. Thank you for the listen...drop me a line on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/darrenmcabery and tell me what you thought of this episode!

I had an interesting conversation today regarding voicemails & how that can artificially inflate outbound cold call volumes. Cold calls take 30 seconds and very rarely do you get a call back If your objective as the outbound caller is for no's and you know, you're not trying to get someone to say yes, you're trying to get someone to say no, I don't need your help you end up with a lot more quality end result out of that lead. You do have to play the volume game but when you do finally get ahold of someone and you're pushing for the 'no' you will find that psychologically, you will get more quality results and probably a higher quality of leads Thank you for the listen...drop me a line on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/darrenmcabery and tell me what you thought of this episode!

I recently had a meeting with one of our most-valued clients & she was telling me of the time she spent all weekend making cookies for her holiday parties. The whole conversation really reminded me of how awesome it is to tell stories that relate to people & connect on an emotional level. You can read all the books & have all the knowledge in the world about something, but it doesn't connect like a great, personal story does. Thank you for the listen...drop me a line on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/darrenmcabery and tell me what you thought of this episode!

I had a meeting recently without an agenda with a vendor & it turned into a huge waste of time. The content of the meeting wasn't a waste—there wasn't any content to begin with! It ended up being a huge waste for both of us—particularly for him, because he was traveling. If I can impart anything in this video, it's to be professional & shoot your contact an agenda beforehand. Especially if they're a newer prospect that you haven't worked with—an agenda will tell them that you're organized and highly professional. Even better: send them a proposed agenda before the meeting, ask them if they have anything to add, add it as an addendum to your points or weave their points in where you think makes sense, and recap the agenda at the end of the meeting. This isn't some business hack—it's respecting the other's time as much as you respect your own.

I had a great interaction recently when I was giving out promo gifts (one of the cooler parts of my job). Over the years, I've noticed that people don't always come away from the gift-receiving experience positively. You see, when you give someone something, they have an unconscious feeling that they are indebted to you. It 100% depends on the personality, but I've seen prospects don't always like that. In this podcast, I'll explain how to properly leverage the Law of Reciprocity in your sales so you can give your contact something of value, and leave them with a positive experience. Thank you for the listen...drop me a line on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/darrenmcabery and tell me what you thought of this episode!

No matter what technology is disrupting the sales process, there's nothing that can automate a face-to-face meeting. I'm sure everyone has used Zoom, GotoMeeting, Skype, or some other video conferencing software in their sales process. There's no question that they bring value, as well as a level of emotion that a face-to-face meeting has. That said, the connection level of a face-to-face meeting is irreplaceable. You can't properly establish an emotional connection with your clients or prospects without at least sitting across a table from them Thank you for the listen...drop me a line on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/darrenmcabery and tell me what you thought of this episode!

What are you putting up with? Nearly everyone in a reputable organization handles some sort of whirlwind task that they have to deflect, but what happens when the exception becomes the rule? Obviously, the best way to deal with problem areas in your workflow—or even workplace—is to tackle it head-on & nip it in the bud. That said, it's easier said-than-done, especially when you're low on the totem pole. The thing that you need to do is really look closely at these situations. Your best team will emerge and really separate itself from the toxic members of your org. Thank you for the listen...drop me a line on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/darrenmcabery and tell me what you thought of this episode!

With modern marketing campaigns being such a massive capital investment these days, I'm hearing a lot of my marketing friends use focus groups more & more. Focus groups can obviously give a huge amount of value—you're speaking directly with your customer & gathering data in real time. That said, there's a clear negative when going using focus groups, so I figured I'd go over some of those briefly in this episode. Thank you for the listen...drop me a line on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/darrenmcabery and tell me what you thought of this episode!

How many sacred cows are you putting up with? I met with an amazing team today that recognized some sacred cows in their organization & is doing something about it. For you who aren't familiar, sacred cows are the organizational habits of doing something just because "that's always been the way it's been done." Sacred cows are the easiest way to stagnate as an org, and the team I met with inspired me to call that out in the podcast. Drop me a line on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/darrenmcabery and tell me what you thought of this episode!

Something we're constantly navigating is addressing changes to our clients team makeup. We get excited about changes in our clients team, but it's also a premium time for a competitor to swoop in and take over the account. Subtle changes in your client's team can have dramatic effects on a team because they'll bring in softwares or processes that they had great success with, and will try to convince the decision-maker to make a change.

Something I've been training on a lot lately is the notion of keeping yourself from speaking only 30% of the conversation. If you're making a sale, you need to be listening to try to find some sort of value you can bring to that situation.

In our introductory episode of the Sales with Darren podcast, I break down two conversations I've been having a lot, which boils down to this: am I ready to drastically increase my budget. There's some great insights I'm sharing not just to sales people, but marketers struggling with messaging. At the end of the day, your ROI is determined by the amount of time you save. It's a tough sell to make, especially when you're selling software that isn't a part of the prospect's workflow yet, but one that turns the salesperson into an educator for the mutual good of you & the client.