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As the leader of your company, can you make sure that your successors are good enough for you to leave without serious mishaps? Here to answer this conundrum is C. Lee Smith, President and CEO of SalesFuel. Lee is the creator of several SaaS platforms for business performance, which include: AdMall, the industry leader for local advertising and digital media sales intelligence used by over 2,000 media properties across America; SalesFuel COACH, data-driven, adaptive sales coaching for time-starved managers; and TeamKeeper, a SaaS-based program for improving company culture, communication and retention. Human personality plays an integral role in a company’s day-to-day operations, and the subsequent interplay of complex behaviors can make or break your profit margins. What if you could skip all the guesswork… and hack the code to efficiency? Ulrik Lork, a specialist in coaching, communication and leadership training, explores the wider implications of various curiosity assessments. He specializes in collaboration and has worked with top organizations in Sweden in the United States, Norway, Japan, Australia, and Switzerland. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share! Here’s How » Join the Take The Lead community today: Dr. DianeHamilton.com Dr. Diane Hamilton Facebook Dr. Diane Hamilton Twitter Dr. Diane Hamilton LinkedIn Dr. Diane Hamilton YouTube Dr. Diane Hamilton Instagram
The Top Entrepreneurs in Money, Marketing, Business and Life
C. Lee Smith. He’s the CEO of SalesFuel, a multi-million dollar sales enablement firm he founded in Columbus, Ohio in 1989. SalesFuel leverages critical insights that enables its clients to acquire, develop and retain their best employees and customers. The company is launching a brand new product called TeamKeeper that will revolutionize the way managers manage and develop their people which leads to a happy, business culture and a reduction in turnover. Famous Five: Favorite Book? – The Sales Bible What CEO do you follow? – Elon Musk and Tim Cook Favorite online tool? — LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator and Lynda How many hours of sleep do you get?— 5 If you could let your 20-year old self, know one thing, what would it be? – “Relax man, you’re going to make it” Time Stamped Show Notes: 02:02 – Nathan introduces Lee to the show 02:42 – SalesFuel does sales enablement 02:48 – It helps salespeople to sell better, close more deals and be the trusted advisors for their client 03:23 – SalesFuel leverages critical insights for both sales prospects and employees 03:35 – SalesFuel has 3 SaaS products: AdMall, TeamKeeper and one still in the works 03:59 – TeamKeeper is already up and working 04:13 – AdMall is for media companies 04:22 – When Lee started the company, the idea was to provide business intelligence based on business type 04:35 – SalesFuel currently has over 450 types of businesses that they’re researching 04:41 – The research team is the second largest team in SalesFuel with 10-15 people 04:57 – Total team size is 30-40 05:08 – 2016 total sales is $6-10M 05:30 – SalesFuel was on the internet in 1995 with a few companies still new to the web when they had their first product 05:56 – It was in 1997 when SalesFuel built their first web application 06:25 – An AdMall customer pays an average of $500-1K a month 06:51 – AdMall’s pricing model is based on the size of the sales team 07:41 – The price depends on the range of the number of employees 07:59 – For a digital agency, they have a different price because of the numbers of tools that they use 08:21 – SalesFuel currently has 1500 customers 09:21 – Columbus is a foodie town 10:03 – Lee sent packs of dry ice cream from a local artisan to their potential clients 10:09 – Lee had calls returned to him—he thinks it was the weirdest marketing strategy he ever used 11:10 – Lee closed a deal from that marketing strategy 12:06 – SalesFuel is 100% bootstrapped 12:38 – First year revenue is around $100K 12:50 – Revenue in 2000 was around a million 13:45 – 2010 revenue is close to $3M 14:40 – SalesFuel’s retention rate year over year is above 98% 15:20 – SalesFuel has client and revenue growth year over year 15:54 – Logo churn is equal to revenue churn 16:34 – CAC 16:48 – SalesFuel gets their leads from thought leadership and business development 17:23 – For research and blog, SalesFuel spends a little over $250K annually 17:45 – SalesFuel currently has 2 SDRs 18:02 – Product team has close to 18 people 18:15 – Sales and marketing team has 10 people and the rest are in operation 19:23 – SalesFuel has around 100 new customers every year 20:52 – The Famous Five 3 Key Points: A slow hustle is never a bad strategy— grow slowly and consistently. There are tons of new ways to gain customers; be creative, bold and just go for it. Believe that you can and will make it! Resources Mentioned: Simplero – The easiest way to launch your own membership course like the big influencers do but at 1/10th the cost. The Top Inbox – The site Nathan uses to schedule emails to be sent later, set reminders in inbox, track opens, and follow-up with email sequences GetLatka - Database of all B2B SaaS companies who have been on my show including their revenue, CAC, churn, ARPU and more Klipfolio – Track your business performance across all departments for FREE Hotjar – Nathan uses Hotjar to track what you’re doing on this site. He gets a video of each user visit like where they clicked and scrolled to make the site a better experience Acuity Scheduling – Nathan uses Acuity to schedule his podcast interviews and appointments Host Gator– The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for the cheapest price possible Audible– Nathan uses Audible when he’s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5-hour drive) to listen to audio books Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesWire.com. The August 2015 edition looks at an outlook for ad agencies, millennials and their mobile usage, and strong sales closing phrases.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesWire.com. The July 2015 edition looks at BIA/Kesley analysis of automotive digital spending, digital display ads still get results, and the sales experience for a prospect.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesWire.com. The June 2015 edition looks at BIA/Kesley analysis of local franchises, mobile web sites and search, and the psychological impact on sales.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesWire.com. The May 2015 edition looks further into the 2015 State of Media Sales, focusing on digital metrics, and common sales pitfalls.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesWire.com. The April 2015 edition looks at the 2015 State of Media Sales, optimization for your banner ads, and mistakes in sales negotiations.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesTouch.com. The March 2015 edition looks at very small businesses, how to get your company's app downloaded, and enemies of sales productivity.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesTouch.com. The February 2015 edition looks at the predictions that didn't work in 2014, why digital advertising is working, and successful sales habits.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesTouch.com. The December 2014 edition looks at the 2015 local ad market, the challenges of digital ad clutter, and the basics of negotiation.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesTouch.com. The December 2014 edition looks at the 2015 local ad market, the challenges of digital ad clutter, and the basics of negotiation.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesTouch.com. The November 2014 edition looks at Small Business Saturday stats, and instructs how to download the free whitepaper, the popularity of SMS campaigns, and taking notes on sales calls.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesTouch.com. The October 2014 edition looks at giving better service to SMBs, legacy media selling and digital, and mistakes sellers make during cold calling.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesTouch.com. The September 2014 edition looks at Co-op Awareness Month, CMOs considering more digital initiatives and tips for being a good listener.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesTouch.com. The August 2014 edition looks at big data in political advertising, reasons to go mobile and negotiation mistakes.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesTouch.com. The July 2014 edition looks at frustrations for media sellers, mobile use of men vs. women, and getting a prospect off the fence.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesTouch.com. The June 2014 edition of looks at how SMBs find new customers, how to make mobile more profitable for media companies and strategies for reaching busy prospects.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesTouch.com. The May 2014 edition looks at media usage for shopping by age group, Hispanic Millennials' mobile use, and tips for overcoming analysis paralysis.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesTouch.com. The April 2014 edition looks at what SMB owners want from media reps, the use of video to increase sales, and successful sales pitches. For more, visit http://mediasalestoday.com.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesTouch.com. The March 2014 edition looks at trust in traditional media, opportunities in geo-targeting, and tips for apologizing. For more, visit http://mediasalestoday.com.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesTouch.com. This month looks at SMBs' optimism, influencing auto buyers, and how to avoid speaking mistakes. For more media sales insights, visit http://mediasalestoday.com.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesTouch.com. This month looks at the Local Media Sales Forecast, digital marketing for vehicle shoppers, and three things in persuasive pitches. For more insights, visit http://mediasalestoday.com.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesTouch.com. This month looks at more push and text messaging in mobile marketing, selling to women on Mondays, and a good elevator speech. For more insights, visit http://mediasalestoday.com.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesTouch.com. This month focuses on digital confidence, florists' marketing and strategies, and understanding your prospects' buying cycles. For more insights, visit http://mediasalestoday.com.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesTouch.com. This month focuses on major account CMO plans, holiday retail advertising, and how to use suspense in your sales calls. For more media sales insights, visit http://mediasalestoday.com.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesTouch.com. This month focuses on email and search marketing, Co-op Awareness Month, and how to revive a dying sale. For more media sales insights, visit http://mediasalestoday.com.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesTouch.com. This month focuses on the revised advertising outlook, online video ads and sales tips for a slow summer. For more media sales insights, visit http://mediasalestoday.com.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com and http://SalesTouch.com. This month focuses on the digital marketing forecast, selling mobile to SMBs, and marketing with Vine videos. For more media sales insights, visit http://mediasalestoday.com.
Media Sales Monthly from http://AdMall.com. This month focuses on the rise of online video, brunch marketing, and tips for successful sales presentations. For more insights on media advertising sales, visit http://mediasalestoday.com.
AdMall commissioned a survey of 1100 small and midsize business owners in November 2009. They were asked - If you could offer one piece of advice to the media sales executives that try to sell you advertising, what would it be? - This video reveals a representative sample of the answers given to Ad-ology Research.
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4 Ways an Ad can Fail, and how to avoid them with this simple analogy.
Avoiding miscommunication with this simple technique
Before you pitch that great new proposal, first do the math.
Here are some of the most common objections you may hear when the economy slows and suggestions for how to counter them.
Co-op advertising can be a boost to your commissions or a drain on your time. This podcast includes five key points to keep in mind when selling.
Cause marketing tie-ins can be a great way to motivate non-traditional advertisers.
You can learn a lot about your advertiser by simply opening your eyes.
Like most people, advertisers are more apt to buy if they understand what's in it for them.
Use day-parts to keep a rough start from ruining your entire day.
Would you like to have 25 new accounts this year? One way is to simply make just one more sales call every day.
Knowing your advertiser's next major anniversary can create non-traditional new business opportunities.
Generate new business by reactivating former accounts.
How to remember that brilliant response (you thought of too late) for next time.
Tips on how to keep your voice mail messages from being deleted by the industry's top experts.