Podcast appearances and mentions of Donald C Kelly

Discovery calls can be just as nerve-wracking as cold calls. What if something goes wrong and makes the deal collapse?In this episode, I'm going to tell you how to keep that from happening. Fixing this one mistake will ensure every discovery call goes smoothly.What Sales Mistake Did I Make?During one of my discovery calls, I made a simple mistake: assuming that everything would go well. I thought it was going to be so easy to close the deal that I forgot to make sure all the right people attended the meeting with me.The deal didn't move through the pipeline, all because I assumed that the person I was meeting with had all the control over closing it.How to Fix the Sales Mistake?Here's what I learned from this sales mistake: instead of guessing that the person I'm meeting with is going to bring the right people along, I let them know upfront.As a consultant, it's my moral obligation in the discovery call to paint the picture of what needs to happen.Typically, I'll let them know I need these three people on the call to help progress the deal. I also explain why they should be there during the call and how it will move the deal forward.Be the consultant and embrace the awkwardness of telling them what to do. You're the sales expert, and prospects see you as such, even when you don't see yourself that way.Taking charge of who needs to be a part of the deal will keep it from falling apart during the discovery call, so don't be afraid to speak up.“You're the professional. You're the one who's done this before. Since you have climbed Mt. Everest, don't rely on someone else's climate to tell you what's supposed to be happening.” - Donald C. Kelly. ResourcesConsider using Aligned to better illustrate your stories and resonate with your prospects.For consistent practice and guidance in becoming a more impactful seller, join my Mastermind class.I'd love to connect with you on LinkedIn! Reach out if you need more support with storytelling or simply want to expand your network.Sponsorship OffersThis episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot.With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales.This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn.Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse.This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation.Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin.CreditsAs one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here:

In this episode of Grow a Small Business, host Troy Trewin interviews Jason Kramer from Cultivate discusses his entrepreneurial journey, starting with a graphic design business before founding his current CRM strategy consultancy. He highlights the impressive growth of Cultivate, averaging 15 to 30% annually and expanding his team. Jason shares valuable insights into CRM strategy for nurturing leads and demonstrating marketing ROI, emphasising the importance of understanding your target audience. He also offers advice on key aspects of business growth, including hiring, the significance of work-life balance, and lessons learned from his experiences. Jason also touches upon the importance of good financial management and the "Profit First" methodology.   Why would you wait any longer to start living the lifestyle you signed up for? Balance your health, wealth, relationships and business growth. And focus your time and energy and make the most of this year. Let's get into it by clicking here. Troy delves into our guest's startup journey, their perception of success, industry reconsideration, and the pivotal stress point during business expansion. They discuss the joys of small business growth, vital entrepreneurial habits, and strategies for team building, encompassing wins, blunders, and invaluable advice.   And a snapshot of the final five Grow A Small Business Questions: What do you think is the hardest thing in growing a small business? According to Jason Kramer, the hardest things in growing a small business are finding quality people who are reliable, dependable experts with good communication skills. He also notes that juggling all the different aspects of the business can be difficult for some, though less so for him due to his organised approach. Reflecting on his early days, Jason would advise himself to seek out those who have experience and made mistakes to learn from them and accelerate success. What's your favorite business book that has helped you the most? Jason Kramer's favourite business book is "Profit First" by Mike Michalowicz. He states that this book has significantly impacted how they manage cash flow in their business using a system of multiple bank accounts. Are there any great podcasts or online learning resources you'd recommend to help grow a small business? Jason Kramer recommends Donald C Kelly's podcast, "The Sales Evangelist", for valuable techniques and ideas. He also finds Jeff Blanto's "Sales Gravy" sometimes interesting. Additionally, Jason's company, Cultivate, offers "Profit Path", a tool with coaching and ebooks for tracking leads and marketing ROI. The "Grow Small Business Podcast" itself, hosted by Troy Trewin, who interviewed Jason, is also a relevant resource, with a past episode featuring Mike Michalowicz, author of "Profit First". What tool or resource would you recommend to grow a small business? Jason Kramer recommends The Sales Evangelist podcast by Donald C. Kelly for practical, actionable sales techniques and Sales Gravy by Jeb Blount for insightful tips on business and selling. He also highlights the importance of mixing in some non-business content for balance, like Conan O'Brien's podcast, which he enjoys for its humor and engaging interviews​. What advice would you give yourself on day one of starting out in business? Jason Kramer's advice to his day-one self would be: “It's going to be a hell of a ride, unexpected but worth it.” He emphasizes the importance of learning from those who've gone before — seeking out people who've made mistakes and grown from them, so you can fast-track your own success by avoiding common pitfalls​. Book a 20-minute Growth Chat with Troy Trewin to see if you qualify for our upcoming course. Don't miss out on this opportunity to take your small business to new heights! Enjoyed the podcast? Please leave a review on iTunes or your preferred platform. Your feedback helps more small business owners discover our podcast and embark on their business growth journey.   Quotable quotes from our special Grow A Small Business podcast guest: When uncertain, seek out those who have walked the path before, learned from their mistakes, and use their experiences to accelerate your journey to success – Jason Kramer Technology alone doesn't solve problems; having the right people in place is key to effectively addressing those challenges  – Jason Kramer I believe it begins with understanding who you're helping and the problems they face – Jason Kramer  

The first ten seconds of a cold call will have your heart racing faster than a cheetah on a hunt.What do you say to keep the prospect from hanging up? How about trying a cold call opener?You might have tried them, but they didn't work out. You probably weren't using permission-based openers, and I'm going to tell you how to do them the right way in this episode.Cold Call Openers Give Prospects a Way OutCold call openers do work, and I recently tried them out. Actually, I tried them out a few times, and they usually work out well.What I do differently is give the prospect an option to end the call. It helps them feel they have a way out when they decide to leave.Think of it as you're at the movies and know the emergency exit is right beside you. Knowing this gives you comfort in case you have to hurry up and leave.Permission-Based Openers WorkIf you don't believe me on permission-based cold calls, then believe the stats: It lowers resistance:Permission-based openers, such as “Did I catch you at a bad time?” have a 40% increased rate on cold calls than those that dive straight into the pitch.Builds trust quickly: When you tell them you're doing a cold call, you become more trustworthy and less seen as a pushy seller. Prospects actually appreciate transparency, and 88% of them say that trust is the key factor in who they buy from.Gives the prospect control: Letting them say yes to you asking for permission to continue with the call creates this micro-agreement that continues throughout the sales process. Research even shows that a small yes will increase compliance with further requests by over 60%.Permission-based openers also take the pressure off you from trying so hard to convince prospects to stay on the phone. They permitted you to stay on the call, so now all you have to do is let the sales process flow through.“I definitely think cold calling works. There's some money in those calls!” - Donald C. Kelly.ResourcesFor consistent practice and guidance in becoming a more impactful seller, join my Mastermind class.I'd love to connect with you on LinkedIn! Reach out if you need more support with permission-based cold calls or simply want to expand your network.Sponsorship OffersThis episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot.With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales.2. This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn.Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse.3. This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation.Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin.CreditsAs one of our podcast

How's your sales pipeline going? It's not performing as well as you need it to during this time of year. That's why in this episode, I'm going to show you how to fix it fast and continue growing your business before the holidays arrive. What's the Number One Sales Pipeline Killer?   You're doing everything right to grow your pipeline, and everything is going great. You're getting clients, and they're saying yes to your pitches.   But now things are starting to slow down, which is frustrating when you're getting used to the groove.   Listen to my short story on how I overcame this unique challenge. It may help you when your sales pipeline suddenly slows down.  Always Be Prospecting Closing deals is what makes you money. Once those are done, you're going to need more to keep the money rolling in.   This is why you always need to be on the lookout for new business opportunities.   You don't want your pipeline to dry up, because once one deal closes, you need to be ready to close another one ASAP.   If you want to learn how to close deals faster, join my Sales Mastermind Class. You can find the link in the resource section. Self-Discipline for Prospecting  Sellers who don't take the time to prospect are the ones who believe it doesn't work.   However, it actually does work. Tell yourself, "I just can't stop prospecting!"  Set aside at least two hours on your calendar for prospecting to help you stay consistent. If you need help growing your pipeline, check out this episode with Monica Stewart.  “Always be prospecting. You want to have more opportunities than you think you need to keep your pipeline full and advance deals.” - Donald C. Kelly.  Resources Cold Call Openers TSE's Sales Mastermind Class TSE's LinkedIn Prospecting Course Donald C. Kelly on LinkedIn  Sponsorship Offers This episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot. With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales. 2.            This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn. Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse. 3.            This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation. Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin. Credits As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We'd love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

Recently, I attended HubSpot's 2024 INBOUND event, a three-day conference showcasing the latest in marketing, sales, and AI. Listen to this episode to hear the three biggest takeaways from the event. Why is HubSpot's INBOUND Conference Important? HubSpot is one of the leading marketing companies, dedicated to gathering and sharing essential industry insights. The conference is a key platform for unveiling the latest trends and innovations in marketing, and sales. INBOUND brings together industry leaders, offering attendees the chance to network, share ideas, and build partnerships with top professionals in their fields. It also features thought leaders and innovators who inspire attendees with new perspectives and creative solutions to business challenges. 1. Search is Dying To some extent, search engines are declining. Is it even worth caring about what Google thinks of ChatGPT writing anymore? HubSpot estimated that search is projected to decrease by 25% by the year 2026.   Why is this happening? Honestly, what's the point of using Google when you can just use AI? 2. Personalize, Personalize, Personalize There are some terrible cold emails out there, and recently, I received one. A guy literally pitched podcasting services to me (Donald C. Kelly

You call a potential client, and when they answer the phone, what do you say to reel them into your offer? “Hello, how are you doing? My name is Kevin?” No, this is going to get you hung up on. Listen to this episode to find out what you're supposed to say instead. I share five effective cold call openers to help you start conversations with prospects. Also, don't forget to download the call opener document for the other five tactics.  1. Curiosity Opener Curiosity makes a prospect more interested in your call and open to conversing with you.  Try verifying the prospect's name and referencing something you saw about them on LinkedIn. Make sure it's relevant to a business problem they're currently having. This initial spark can pave the way to a longer dialogue where you can provide value. 2. Referral Opener You can consider this one as the golden opener.  Use this call opener when you know someone within the prospect's professional network to boost your credibility. Mentioning a mutual contact can make the prospect more inclined to listen to what you have to say. 3. Problem Solver Opener Take time to research a common challenge in the prospect's industry.  Start by stating that you've spoken to others in the same field who have faced similar problems. Then, ask how they are currently handling this challenge.  This approach not only shows your understanding of their industry but also positions you as a potential problem-solver. 4. Industry Insight Opener A part of being a seller is being an expert in industry trends, and you can use this as an advantage when cold calling. After you verify the prospect's name, share an interesting trend within their industry. This will show the potential buyer that you're well-informed and that your solution is timely and beneficial to their needs. 5. Value Proposition Opener If nothing else works, then try to deliver a compelling value proposition.  Be specific on how you've helped similar companies to achieve measurable results. This can immediately capture the prospect's interest and make them more willing to continue the conversation. "You want to spark curiosity. It makes it more intriguing for the prospect." - Donald Kelly. Resources https://thesalesevangelist.com/opener TSE Sales Mastermind Class TSE studios Donald C. Kelly on LinkedIn Sponsorship Offers 1. This episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot. With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales. 2. This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn. Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse. 3. This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation. Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin. Credits As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We'd love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.  

Where does the state of sales stand today, and what should you prioritize to strengthen your pipeline? In this episode, I explore the Salesforce 2024 State of Sales Report to provide answers. Join me as I uncover the top three insights from the report. Partnerships In the Salesforce report, I came across a compelling statistic: 89% of teams currently leverage partnerships, and 50% expect to do so within the next year.  As reaching prospects becomes increasingly challenging, partnerships offer a powerful solution by providing direct introductions within organizations.  I share an example of why partner deals are so effective and why this approach is set to become a major trend in the sales industry. Recurring Sales Revenue More companies are shifting towards recurring revenue models instead of relying solely on one-off sales.  Recurring revenue provides a more stable and predictable income stream, which is crucial in today's fluctuating market.  This approach is important because it enhances financial stability and drives long-term business growth. Importance of Personalization According to the Sales report, 86% of buyers are more inclined to make a purchase when their goals are understood.  Yet 59% of buyers feel that sales reps fail to take the time to understand them. Personalization involves taking the time to understand their problems and offering tailored solutions. “If you're going to be more effective at personalization, look for ways you can personalize around the challenges people are facing.” - Donald Kelly.  Resources Salesforce 2024 Report TSE Sales Mastermind Class TSE studios Donald C. Kelly on LinkedIn Sponsorship Offers This episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot. With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales. 2.            This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn. Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse. 3.            This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation. Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin. Credits As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We'd love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

In a recent episode of the Sales Leadership Show, host Phil Gerbyshak sat down with Donald C. Kelly, founder of TSE Sales Training, author of Sell It Like a Mango, and host of The Sales Evangelist podcast. The episode, titled "Enabling Sales," delved into the nuances of effective sales leadership and how leaders can create environments where their teams thrive. Donald shared his journey, key lessons from both good and bad leadership experiences, and practical advice on how to stand out in a crowded sales landscape.Learning from Good and Bad LeadersDonald C. Kelly begins the conversation by sharing a piece of advice that has stuck with him throughout his career: "Look at the good leaders that you had, look at the bad leaders that you had, and you can learn from both of them." This simple yet profound idea underscores the importance of observing and learning from all experiences, both positive and negative.Donald recounts an early experience with a bad leader who projected her anger and personal frustrations onto her team. This leader's inability to separate her personal issues from her professional responsibilities created a toxic work environment, leading to poor team performance and high turnover. Reflecting on this, Donald notes, "You're not going to stand up towards that level of performance if you feel that you're not cared for or your efforts don't matter.""You're not going to stand up towards that level of performance if you feel that you're not cared for or your efforts don't matter."On the flip side, Donald highlights the impact of good leadership. Great leaders, he explains, are those who have "been through the jungle before," know the path, and understand the process. They provide guidance, support, and patience, helping their teams navigate challenges with confidence."Great leaders know the path, they have a system, and they encourage and guide you through it with patience."The Importance of Process and PatienceA significant portion of the discussion centers around the idea that effective sales leadership is not just about pushing for results but about guiding the team through a proven process. Donald compares sales leadership to leading a group through a dense jungle. The leader's job is to cut through the brush, find the best paths, and ensure the team stays on course. He emphasizes that different team members may progress at different speeds, and a great leader recognizes this and remains patient."A leader who doesn't understand the process and gets impatient can create an unsuccessful environment," Donald warns. This is the crux of enabling sales: creating an environment where every team member, regardless of their pace, feels supported and knows that if they follow the process, they will eventually succeed."A leader who doesn't understand the process and gets impatient can create an unsuccessful environment."Standing Out in Sales: Sell It Like a MangoPhil and Donald also explore the concepts in Donald's book, Sell It Like a Mango. The title draws from Donald's childhood experience of selling mangoes in Jamaica, where he learned that success in sales often comes down to how you position yourself, not just the quality of the product.Donald shares a vivid memory of trying to sell mangoes from his front yard, only to find that he couldn't sell a single one. The lesson? It wasn't the mangoes that were the problem; it was the approach. "The mango that I had was the same exact mango that was probably the one downtown," he explains. The difference was in how and where he sold them. This experience taught Donald that in sales, it's often the seller, not the product, that makes the difference."It's often the seller, not the product, that makes the difference."This principle applies to B2B sales as well. Donald emphasizes the importance of creativity, positioning, and understanding your audience. He advises salespeople to "sell it in a creative way, sell it in a unique way, stand out from the others." By doing so, salespeople can differentiate themselves in a crowded market.Practical Tips for Sales SuccessThroughout the conversation, Donald offers a variety of practical tips for sales professionals looking to stand out and enable their own success:* Do the Opposite of What Everyone Else is Doing: Donald encourages salespeople to find creative ways to differentiate themselves. Whether it's through personalized LinkedIn engagement, sending recap emails, or using video messages, small, thoughtful actions can make a big difference.* Respect Time and Be Prepared: Being punctual and sending agendas before meetings are small but impactful ways to show respect for your client's time and stand out as a professional.* Leverage LinkedIn: Donald is a big proponent of using LinkedIn not just as a networking tool but as a platform for educating potential clients. He suggests posting relevant content regularly to establish authority and build connections with your ideal customer profile (ICP).* Engage in Genuine Conversations: Whether on LinkedIn or in person, genuine engagement is key. Donald advises salespeople to focus on building real connections rather than just trying to sell.* Be Patient and Trust the Process: Finally, Donald reiterates the importance of patience in the sales process. "If you continue to do the system, you're going to get to the end goal," he assures. Great leaders understand this and create an environment where their team can thrive at their own pace.Conclusion: Be an Educator, Not Just a SellerAs the episode wraps up, Phil and Donald discuss the importance of being an educator in sales. With 44% of executives discovering new products through social media, there is a huge opportunity for salespeople to stand out by providing valuable, educational content rather than just pushing for a sale.Donald sums it up perfectly: "Be an educator, not a seller." This approach not only builds trust but also positions the salesperson as an authority in their field, making it easier to build relationships and close deals."Be an educator, not a seller."For those looking to dive deeper into Donald's insights, his book Sell It Like a Mango and his podcast The Sales Evangelist offer a wealth of knowledge for anyone in sales, whether you're just starting out or looking to take your skills to the next level. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit happyaf.substack.com/subscribe

Understanding human psychology will always move your sales pipeline faster than the speed of lightning. In this episode, I share a simple trick that helped my podcasting company secure valuable appointments and generate significant revenue. Discover why the "Close File" method still works and how you can use it. Understanding Human Behavior One of sales's most fundamental and overlooked aspects is understanding human behavior. Every title, email, and phone call in sales is not just a transaction, but an opportunity to connect with a real person who craves genuine interaction.  By grasping the nuances of human psychology, salespeople can navigate conversations more effectively and close more deals. The "Close File" Strategy The "Close File" strategy is an email tactic that can effectively filter out non-responsive leads and revive interest from potential prospects. I share an example of a simple yet effective email that asks the recipient if they still want to proceed or if the file should be closed.  This approach leverages psychological triggers like FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) to prompt responses. Why It Works The success of the "Close File" strategy lies in its psychological underpinnings.  People fear missing out on valuable opportunities, and the confident, straightforward approach of closing the file catches their attention.  This method cleans up your pipeline and accelerates the decision-making process for leads. “The idea of you closing something and taking it away makes them want it even more. It's kind of like when you were a teenager, and your parents told you not to do something. It made you want to do it even more.” - Donald Kelly. Resources LinkedIn Sales Navigator  TSE Sales Mastermind Class TSE studios Donald C. Kelly on LinkedIn Sponsorship Offers This episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot. With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales. This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn. Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse. This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation. Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin. Credits As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We'd love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.  

Welcome back to another fantastic episode of the "Sales Evangelist Podcast." As your host, Donald C. Kelly, I have some big news to share! I'm pretty excited about this, and I know you will be too. But what's the big news? Don't keep yourself in suspense! Click that play button and get ready for the big reveal. The Sales Evangelist Podcast Updates I'm sure you've seen some of the changes my team and I have made. But in this special episode, I share with you what's really going on behind the scenes:   Is It Over for the TSE Podcast? The TSE team has been a consistent presence in the podcasting world since 2013, and we're now at episode 1800. This long-standing commitment to providing you with valuable sales industry advice is a testament to our credibility. So, if you're looking for a reliable source, who is better than us? Listen to this episode and find out whether "The Sales Evangelist Podcast" is over. New Design If you have not noticed, the TSE brand design has a fresh new look. Let's give a special shoutout to our talented graphic designers who made it possible.  But why the sudden changes? Who am I trying to look special for? Tune in at 2:27 and discover why I created a new brand identity. I'll also share my inspiring start-up story of the original look. Why the Recent Changes? As the sales industry continues to evolve, so does the TSE brand. I'm not just here to provide you with valuable insights, but also to grow and adapt alongside you.  I aim to help you book more appointments and grow your pipeline, and the best way to do this is through continuous growth and change. However, I can't give you everything. Just know that more changes are coming! Are you looking for a podcast company to help you develop your brand and content? Explore TSE studios to make your ideas come to life. My team will provide you with everything you need to thrive and grow! “Are we shutting down the podcast? Is it perfect to stop right now at 1800?” - Donald Kelly. Resources TSE Sales Mastermind Class TSE studios Donald C. Kelly on LinkedIn Sponsorship Offers This episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot. With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales. 2.            This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn. Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse. 3.            This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation. Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin. Credits As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We'd love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

After scheduling an appointment with a prospective client, you're confident they will close the deal once you speak with them again. However, when you enter the Zoom meeting, they're not there. After sending several follow-up emails, it's clear that this client got away. The follow-up game is pretty annoying, so how can you avoid this from happening ever again? Click the play button and listen to your host, Donald C. Kelly, on The Sales Evangelist Podcast! In today's episode, I'm sharing effective sales follow-up techniques that can dramatically improve your sales process. The Importance of Follow-Ups (2:10 - 2:38) Many sales professionals fail not because of their pitch or product but because they need a consistent follow-up system. With a proper follow-up strategy, you can gain quality opportunities. Your role in the follow-up process is crucial. It's about getting prospects to reconnect with what you're selling. To learn how to do this effectively, listen to my key sales strategies that will empower you to close deals and engage prospects. Sales Fundamentals: Follow-Up Techniques  What are the follow-up secrets I share within this episode? Below are some of the methods you'll learn more about when you tune in: Appointment Scheduling: I will share how you can avoid endless follow-ups and ensure your prospective client attends the meeting. Tune in at (3:32)! Vary Follow-Up Timing: Don't fall into the trap of calling a prospect at the same time every day. Click play at 7:56 and find out why mixing up your phone call schedule is better to increase the likelihood of catching them at a convenient time.  Text Message Follow-Ups: Text messaging is a powerful tool for modern sales professionals. Hear my example at the 8:44 checkpoint on correctly sending text message follow-ups. Implementing a Follow-Up System Do you need help creating a structured follow-up system? I share how to do this and why organization helps maintain a steady flow in your sales pipeline. Consider testing these follow-up techniques in this episode to enhance prospect engagement and improve their overall sales process. For more insights and advanced sales strategies, connect with me on LinkedIn, Donald C. Kelly.  Also, join our mastermind group at thesalesevangelist.com, and let's work together to boost your sales performance. Here's to maximizing your sales pipeline and closing twice as many deals! Sponsorship Offers This episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot. With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales. 2.            This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn. Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse. 3.            This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation. Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin. Credits As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We'd love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

You have a client on the phone, and they decide not to close the deal.  Do you? Tell them to have a good day and hang up, or ask if they know anyone else needing your services. In this episode of "The Sales Evangelist Podcast," host Donald C. Kelly shares the most overlooked strategy of asking everyone for referrals. With a passion for empowering sales professionals, Donald shares valuable insights and practical tips to help you unlock the potential of referral generation. Tune in to elevate your sales prowess and harness the power of referrals! Utilizing Untapped Potential Donald discusses the importance of recognizing the untapped potential in every interaction.  He encourages sales professionals to assume that everyone they speak with knows someone who could benefit from their services. The Art of the Ask From his own experiences, Donald shares a simple yet powerful approach to requesting referrals.  He outlines the process of respectfully inquiring if the contact knows anyone who could benefit from the offered product or service.  Donald emphasizes delivering value and building rapport before requesting a referral. Referral Incentives and Tools Donald explores the potential of incentivizing referrals by offering small gifts or incentives to contacts who provide valuable referrals. He suggests options such as gift cards or utilizing specialized software to facilitate the process.  By incorporating these incentives, sales professionals can encourage contacts to consider and actively refer potential leads. Start embracing this proactive approach to seeking referrals and recognize every interaction's vast potential. Challenge yourself and apply these principles to elevate your sales game. Listen to the full episode now and embark on your path to monumental achievement! “Nine out of ten customers are willing to give referrals, but only 11% of salespeople ask for referrals. So there's a big gap of people wanting to provide you with business, but you aren't taking advantage of them.” - Donald Kelly. Resources The Sales Evangelist Sales Mastermind LinkedIn Sales Navigator Donald C. Kelly on LinkedIn Sponsorship Offers This episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot. With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales. 2.            This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn. Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse. 3.            This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation. Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin. Credits As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We'd love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

You spent a week crafting the perfect LinkedIn post and are ready to share it. However, after five hours, you only get crickets on your post.  Maybe if you wait a few days, someone will acknowledge it. Two days later, you receive one like on your LinkedIn post. Frustrated, you scream, “Why is no one paying attention to my content on LinkedIn!” In this episode of The Sales Evangelist Podcast, host Donald C. Kelly discusses the importance of generating engagement on LinkedIn. He provides valuable insights on creating compelling content to capture the attention of potential prospects.  Donald outlines three key strategies to boost engagement: focusing on top-of-funnel discussions, addressing objections, and curating relevant content. Discover the best way to get attention on LinkedIn in this five-minute episode. Understanding Your Audience for Effective Content Creation Donald emphasizes the significance of understanding the needs and interests of one's ideal customers. He recommends aligning content with top-of-funnel topics, such as common questions and initial concerns in prospect conversations. Using his own experience, Donald illustrates how he addresses queries about leveraging LinkedIn for sales and team performance, emphasizing the importance of tailoring content to address prospective clients' early-stage inquiries. Overcoming Objections Through Strategic Content Creation Donald delves into how sales professionals can transform common objections into engaging LinkedIn posts. He introduces the "feel, felt, found" strategy, a powerful approach to constructing persuasive content by acknowledging objections, empathizing with prospects, and ultimately offering solutions. Through an example related to CRM adoption objections, Donald demonstrates how to craft a thought-provoking post that delineates common objections and effectively provides insights into the benefits of CRM integration. Leveraging Curated Content for Enhanced Engagement Acknowledging the value of third-party insights, Donald advocates for incorporating curated content into LinkedIn posts. By sourcing relevant articles and resources addressing prevalent challenges experienced by prospects, sales professionals can position themselves as valuable sources of industry knowledge. Donald highlights employee retention as a critical concern for businesses and encourages leveraging curated content to offer insights and solutions, fostering engagement and demonstrating expertise. Try these three strategies within this episode to elevate your LinkedIn presence. Implementing these strategies can help you attract more engagement and ultimately drive valuable conversations and opportunities. Listen to the episode now and take your LinkedIn game to the next level! “When it comes to the content you're posting on LinkedIn, the first thing I want you to understand is that if your content isn't good enough, people will not like it.” - Donald Kelly. Resources Donald C. Kelly on LinkedIn TSE LinkedIn Prospecting Course Sponsorship Offers This episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot. With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales. This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn. Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse. This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation. Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin. Credits As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We'd love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.  

Do you have a clear vision of what you want for 2024? If not, then you are already setting yourself up for failure. This year should be about improving your income, succeeding, and thriving in the sales industry. But the only way to do this is by establishing a clear vision for yourself. In this episode of the Sales Evangelist podcast, host Donald C. Kelly dives into the importance of creating a vision as a salesperson. He provides practical insights and tips on how sales professionals can develop a vision, set effective standards, and achieve their goals to thrive and succeed in 2024. Understanding Vision, Mission, and Standards Donald clarifies the distinction between vision and mission. He highlights that while the mission statement reflects current actions and objectives, the vision pertains to future aspirations and long-term goals. Drawing from an example by the Lassian blog, he illustrates how a sales professional's vision may encompass aspirational goals, such as becoming the top performer in their organization or making a meaningful impact in a specific area, while their daily mission involves tasks and responsibilities to achieve that vision. Incorporating Standards Donald emphasizes the importance of setting minimally acceptable levels or benchmarks, which individuals should continually work towards.  He draws parallels between standards in sales and other professions, emphasizing that standards serve as critical metrics that align with an individual's mission and vision. These standards represent the key performance indicators (KPIs) necessary to achieve long-term goals. Practical Application for Sales Professionals Donald provides actionable advice for sales professionals, focusing on implementing these principles in their daily routines.  He emphasizes identifying three critical standards directly contributing to achieving the set vision.  Additionally, he suggests incorporating specific daily goals or KPIs that align with these standards.  For instance, he recommends setting goals for prospecting time, outreach efforts, and referral requests, emphasizing their direct impact on achieving the established vision and standards. This episode provides valuable guidance for sales professionals seeking to elevate their performance and achieve long-term success in 2024. Join Donald as he shares his insights and  actionable strategies for sales representatives. “The vision is very different from the mission statement. The mission statement is what you or your company is doing right now. The vision is something you'll accomplish in the future.” - Donald Kelly. Resources The Sales Evangelist Master Program Donald C. Kelly on LinkedIn Sponsorship Offers This episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot. With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales. This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn. Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse. This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation. Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin. Credits As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We'd love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.  

In this episode of the Sales Evangelist podcast, host Donald C. Kelly dives deep into the number one reason why prospecting on LinkedIn may not be working for you and, most importantly, how to fix it. Kelly breaks down the common challenges sales professionals face and offers practical steps to enhance prospecting efforts on LinkedIn.  Understanding the Problem Kelly opens the episode by addressing the frustration of salespeople not receiving responses or appointments through LinkedIn.  He attributes this challenge to the focal point of prospecting efforts - the people being targeted. Focusing on the Right Accounts The podcast outlines the importance of targeting accounts more inclined to purchase, emphasizing the concept of foresight in understanding buyer behavior.  Kelly suggests analyzing past successful deals to identify commonalities among the organizations, individuals, or industry trends, effectively creating a target account list based on these insights. Leveraging Relationship Explorer Kelly highlights the value of using LinkedIn's Relationship Explorer feature to identify shared connections with targeted individuals within an organization.  This approach enables sales professionals to establish more meaningful and genuine connections, increasing the likelihood of engagement. Embracing Foresight The episode stresses the significance of discerning potential buying signals, such as job changes within the target organization.  Kelly underscores that people who have recently changed roles are more likely to be open to making purchasing decisions, making them prime prospects for outreach. Harnessing Alerts for Actionable Insights Kelly advises the strategic use of LinkedIn's alerts feature, which provides timely updates on the target accounts, including job changes, content sharing, and hiring activities.  This empowers sales professionals with actionable insights to engage with the right prospects on time. Personalizing Connection Requests Kelly emphasizes the importance of crafting personalized connection requests based on the information gathered from LinkedIn.  By referencing shared experiences, posts, or geographical similarities, sales professionals can significantly increase the chances of accepting their requests. Unlocking the Power of Warm Introductions The podcast emphasizes the potency of leveraging warm introductions, as individuals are more receptive to engaging with connections recommended or referred by mutual contacts.  Kelly advocates using this approach to establish credibility and rapport with target prospects. Donald reinforces the significance of targeting the proper accounts on LinkedIn and leveraging foresight to drive effective prospecting outcomes. The episode delivers actionable insights and practical steps for sales professionals aiming to enhance their prospecting efforts on LinkedIn.  “Those warm introductions are just like money. It is the bread and butter for LinkedIn because people have a higher chance of doing things with people recommended or referred to them.” - Donald Kelly. Resources Donald C. Kelly on LinkedIn Sponsorship Offers This episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot. With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales. This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn. Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse. This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation. Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin. Credits As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We'd love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.  

"Are you tired of your sales outreach falling flat and not getting the results you want? Well, you're not alone.  Many sales reps miss out on a crucial aspect of their customers' buying behavior. In this episode of the Sales Evangelist podcast, host Donald C. Kelly emphasizes the importance of utilizing LinkedIn as a tool for generating sales opportunities and engaging with prospects.  He highlights recent buyer behavior trends and provides insights on overcoming common challenges faced by sales professionals on LinkedIn. Listen to this week's episode of the TSE podcast to hear a powerful strategy to maximize its potential. Recognizing the Potential of LinkedIn  Many sales representatives acknowledge being present on LinkedIn for years without seeing significant business results. Donald acknowledges the frustration and attributes the lack of effectiveness to a failure in properly utilizing the platform. He encourages listeners to acknowledge that their prospects are active on LinkedIn and proposes that engagement is key to success. Being an Active Participant  Donald points out that a common mistake on LinkedIn is observing and not actively participating. He urges sales professionals to break free from being wallflowers and actively engage with their network. Donald reveals the core strategy: posting at least one piece of content on LinkedIn every week. Overcoming Excuses and Finding Topics  Donald dismisses the argument of lacking time as an excuse for not posting. He underscores that investing 15 minutes in creating a post is manageable for those actively pursuing new leads. To counter the issue of not knowing what to post about, Donald suggests reflecting on objections received during prospect conversations. He advises addressing objections in a post, giving practical examples to illustrate how to do it effectively. Tailoring Content to Address Objections  Donald emphasizes the need to provide compelling reasons in response to objections. He advises sales professionals to dig deeper into objections to uncover the underlying concerns. Using a hypothetical scenario of selling a CRM to a prospect with an existing internal solution, Donald illustrates how to approach objections effectively. By addressing the deeper reasons behind objections, sales professionals can debunk misconceptions and provide compelling reasons for prospects to consider their solution. Donald highlights the significant potential of LinkedIn as a platform for sales professionals to engage with prospects and generate new business opportunities. The key to overcoming common challenges and creating meaningful connections is to participate actively and consistently post relevant content. Addressing objections in a compelling manner allows sales professionals to build trust and convert prospects into customers. Implementing these strategies on LinkedIn can yield remarkable results in expanding the sales pipeline and increasing close rates. “I talked about this several places, but the data is also proving it because most of the buyers are tired of searching and clicking. What they're doing, however, is that they want to find stuff where they are. And the study has shown that 44% of buyers have said they are discovering new software and products via social media.” - Donald Kelly. Resources Donald C. Kelly on LinkedIn Sponsorship Offers This episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot. With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales. 2.            This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn. Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse. 3.            This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation. Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin. Credits As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We'd love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

During this weeks episode of the Skalable Growth Podcast, we're getting real about the struggles that hold us back from achieving our goals.In this episode, Luigi is in the hot seat....and spills the beans on how imposter syndrome stopped him from for over a year launching his podcast, until he discovered the secret to overcoming it.And who better to interview him than the man, the myth, the Sales Evangelist - Donald C Kelly!During this episode Luigi talks about how why he started the podcast and how the podcast enabled him to travel the world and meet some amazing people, all while learning some kickass sales skills.But the best part? Luigi's honesty about the tough moments and the lessons he learned from them. He's proof that with a little grit and determination, you can conquer your fears and make your dreams come true.So, if you're feeling stuck or like an imposter, this episode is for you. Join us for some real talk, some good vibes, and a reminder that you're not alone in the struggle. Let's do this!Big thank you to Donald C Kelly for being this weeks host. Connect with Donald and say thanks for being a big part in inspiring Luigi to start his podcast.https://www.linkedin.com/in/donaldckelly/ This episode is brought to you by Growth Forum Growth Forum is a place to Connect, Learn and Grow. Join now to access the Skalable Growth Prospecting Program. Join Now The program is usually valued at $2500 but if you sign up to Growth Forum now you will receive access to this program for free! https://www.growthforum.io/

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH GET GOINGWhat do you do when everything seems to be going absolutely fine, and then something bad hits you? What if you have an encounter with failure? In this episode, Jordan welcomes Donald C Kelly back for one last round to talk about setbacks and bad days. Donald shares his experience with such an encounter and what he learned to get by and bounce back. Learn more in this latest episode of Peak Performance Selling. PEAK PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS:DONALD: BEAT YOUR PERFORMANCE YESTERDAY“What I try to strive to do is to look for, ‘How can I make it that I'm going to outperform my yesterday? How can I beat what I did yesterday and bring something new to the table?”DONALD: ISOLATE THE BAD MOMENT AND DON'T DWELL ON IT“We don't have bad days, we have bad moments, and we then put that on to everything else, and it's like, ‘No, let's isolate that moment.'” You can connect with Donald and check out his work in the links below:Donald C Kelly | The Sales Evangelist If you're listening to the Peak Performance Selling Podcast, please subscribe, share, and send us your feedback.Jordan Benjamin | MyCoreOs.com | Podcast | Email | Twitter

IF YOU HAVE A VISION, YOU'RE ON A MISSIONDonald C Kelly is back for round 3 with Jordan in today's episode, and now they talk about vision. Vision is what gives you foresight of the goals you want to achieve and targets to hit. Donald shares how he and his wife create their vision board and how much of it is coming to fruition. He also discusses the importance of accountability with himself and his peers. Stay tuned as Donald shares his best practices for maintaining a positive attitude and peak physical health in this latest episode of Peak Performance Selling. PEAK PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS:DONALD: THE PROBLEM WITH REPETITIVE NEGATIVE THOUGHTS“Once you start training yourself to see and look for opportunity, versus live in this fear-based state or scarcity mindset that we've really been programmed with for tens of thousands, if not millions of years, suddenly become more resourceful. Those doors open to you that you maybe never thought was possible, because you weren't thinking it was possible.”DONALD: ACCOUNTABILITY WITH THE HELP OF PEERS“I had set this vision and started working towards it, and the accountability has definitely been helping, and financially, it's coming to fruition, and I couldn't have done that without the accountability from the peers in the community that I have, that's helping me to make that happen.”DONALD: PREPARING FOR TOMORROW“So one of the things that I do at the end of the day today before we get out of the office, I want to look over the day for tomorrow, I kind of did some of it already. But I want to make sure I'm prepped for tomorrow's day, and that's another huge component for me is doing the things now to prep for tomorrow.” You can connect with Donald and check out his work in the links below:Donald C Kelly | The Sales Evangelist If you're listening to the Peak Performance Selling Podcast, please subscribe, share, and send us your feedback.Jordan Benjamin | MyCoreOs.com | Podcast | Email | Twitter

YOUR SUCCESS IS JUST AS GOOD AS YOUR THOUGHTSLimiting beliefs are annoyingly destructive and can lead you to a lack of confidence and a lack of desire to succeed. Donald, the Sales Evangelist is back, and today he joins Jordan once again to talk about dealing with limiting beliefs. He breaks down how having negative thoughts repeatedly will continue to limit you, and that all it takes to keep you going is to keep telling yourself that you should start doing new and creative ways of doing things. Learn more in this latest episode of Peak Performance Selling. PEAK PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS:DONALD: THE PROBLEM WITH REPETITIVE NEGATIVE THOUGHTS“Repeating those negative thoughts over and over multiple days in a row, it becomes true somewhere in your head and then therefore you live according to that reality. ”DONALD: START TELLING YOURSELF, AND YOUR BRAIN WILL DO THE REST“If you start telling yourself that you should start figuring out creative ways, your brain starts to help you and starts to guide you, your reticular activating system gets opened, and starts to point out things to you that you may not have realized when it comes towards closing or when it comes towards those deals.” You can connect with Donald and check out his work in the links below:Donald C Kelly | The Sales Evangelist If you're listening to the Peak Performance Selling Podcast, please subscribe, share, and send us your feedback.Jordan Benjamin | MyCoreOs.com | Podcast | Email | Twitter

THE SALES EVANGELIST IS IN THE HOUSE!It's another powerful series delivered to you by Jordan Benjamin. In this episode, he welcomes Donald C Kelly, the Founder and Host of The Sales Evangelist, one of the top sales podcasts today. Donald will be sharing his experience in early age selling and hustling that led him to become a top sales professional. Donald also shares his belief that anyone can sell if they have the desire for it, and how to break barriers like limiting beliefs, demographics, and financial brackets. Learn more in this latest episode of Peak Performance Selling. PEAK PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS:DONALD: MAKE IT HAPPEN“Don't beg for things just make it happen, and I feel that I got lucky over the years and I define luck as where opportunity meets hard work.”DONALD: SET YOUR MIND THAT ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE“I want Caleb, my son to be able to have this mindset that anything that he puts his mind to is possible.”DONALD: IDIOTS WITH GUTS VS SMART PEOPLE WHO COULD NEVER DO IT “When a political season comes around, everybody complained, I can't believe this person running for mayor, I can't believe this person running for governor, I can't have two idiots running for president, you don't want to know why those two idiots are running, because the smart people like you said I could never do it. But those idiots took a chance, and it would fail over and over and over and over again until they just break through, but we give up too easily, and it's because of our limiting beliefs that we have.” You can connect with Donald and check out his work in the links below:Donald C. Kelly | The Sales Evangelist If you're listening to the Peak Performance Selling Podcast, please subscribe, share, and send us your feedback.Jordan Benjamin | MyCoreOs.com | Podcast | Email | Twitter

In addition to training sales professionals in workshops, online courses, keynote presentations,and students as an adjunct professor at Brigham Young University-Idaho, Donald C Kelly is the host ofa popular sales podcast called “The Sales Evangelist.” With listeners in over 155 countries andover 3.7 Million+ all-time downloadsIn this episode, Donald walks us through his transition into consulting and then we transition into talking about diversity in sales, selling with insights, running effective outbound motions, and the Social Selling Framework: Connect, Share, Engage. #salesconsultant #salesconsultantpodcast #b2bsales #sellitlikeamangoShow Notes & Time Stamps:[5:08] Walks us through his transition into consulting. Describes his very first clients and what things were like for him in his personal life during this time of his life. “I bet it on myself and haven't looked back since.” - Donald C. Kelly[24:22] Discusses the importance of “Selling with Insights”. Explains the “Dream 100” concept from his book, “Sell It Like a Mango” [29:49] Breaks down his team's seamless outreach workflow whereby they leverage Apollo.io for sourcing data and engaging with prospects all in one platform.[31:46] Explains how they use text messaging at the top of the funnel in their outreach.[36:10] After conducting over 1,000 podcast interviews he shares the most common piece of advice.[39:10] Leveraging LinkedIn to drive sales is an under-leveraged channel so Donald walks us through the ‘Connect, Share, Engage' framework.[53:28] We talk about the importance of diversity in sales. Mentions:https://www.apollo.io/Ultimate Sales Machine (book) - https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Sales-Machine-Turbocharge-Relentless/dp/1591842158https://justcall.io/To Rate This Podcast - just click on the starts under the show description in whatever app you're using to listen (not under any specific show). Please also leave it a short review. Even just a sentence helps.Guest Bio:Donald's mission is to evangelize the method of effective selling and motivate sellers of alllevels to DO BIG THINGS!As a former top-performing technology sales professional, who has successfully sold in both thepublic and private sectors, Donald was able to crack the code of helping teams thrive in b2bsales. He is also the author of “Sell It Like A Mango - A New Sellers Guide To Closing MoreDeals”.Donald has designed his training around concrete fundamental principles adaptable by anyseller.He has helped sellers from companies all over the world build confidence in their selling abilitiesand increase revenue as a result. Organizations such as Rock Venture (Quicken Loans),HairClub, VMWare, Consolidated Electrical Distributors LLC. (CEB), Salt Edge, CharterSpectrum, Hibu/The Real Yellow Pages, Yotpo, Citi Group, and New York Life.Along with helping for-profit organizations, Donald has also assisted non-profit firms such asFlorida State Minority Supplier Development Council, The Eastern Minority SupplierDevelopment Council, GEAR UP, and Cal Poly University.Donald has spoken to audiences all across the country and has shared the stage with speakerssuch as Aisha...

People make decisions on an emotional level and then justify them logically. If you hear a story about someone else that mirrors what's happening to you, you visualize yourself in that role. When you hear that someone else has used this product or service as their solution, it makes the decision to buy easier. It helps ease your nerves.  As the seller, you can tap into the real needs of a buyer that help them make a decision. You do this by sharing real, relevant, and descriptive stories that put the buyer in that scenario. Donald C Kelly shares how story selling is in the details in this episode of Sales Reinvented! Outline of This Episode [0:55] Why is storytelling an important skill to possess in sales?  [2:42] Can you become a more gifted storyteller?  [5:14] What makes a great story that sells?  [7:01] The characteristics of a great storyteller [8:54] Resources to improve your storytelling [10:35] Top three storytelling dos and don'ts [13:14] Why you should share stories that resonate What makes a great story that sells? Every story has to have a hero and a guide. Donald Miller talks about this in his book, “Storybrand.” You are Gandalf and the client is Frodo. You need to make sure you're guiding those individuals and not trying to take the limelight.  Secondly, you have to make sure your story is demonstrating a real and relevant problem. You can't make something up. Frodo had to save Middle Earth from destruction. The guide was able to help them.  What was the defining moment? What was the impact? What is the solution and resolution that comes from it?  The characteristics of a great storyteller Donald emphasizes that you have to have a good imagination. Salespeople tend to push the sale to the close. But when you're telling a story, you need to linger on descriptions. You need to linger on details. You need to linger on the things that pull on people's heartstrings.  You can share how you helped someone with their CRM. Or you could say, “They go into the office dreading opening their CRM because it's so convoluted and difficult to use…” Focusing on emotions helps them imagine the pain and difficulty. Top three storytelling dos and don'ts What are Donald's top storytelling tips? Don't rush your story, tell it with the necessary details. Be sure that you're not telling a dry story. Be descriptive, vary your pitch, etc. It's something you learn in Toastmasters. Be descriptive. It's important to share relevant details. Don't lie. Don't fabricate stories and deceive people.  Don't push a story about yourself, but share one about the prospect. Don't pressure prospects when you tell a story. You want them to feel good and feel like moving forward with your solution. Why you should share stories that resonate Donald was selling software to Indian River County Schools in Florida. The School District wanted to go paperless. They had a place on campus that housed all of their files that no one wanted to use. It wasn't only difficult to find anything but was dangerous because there were boxes stacked everywhere.  So Donald shared a story about another school district in a similar circumstance. Unfortunately, an elderly staff member was hurt because they had to climb on the boxes and fell. He helped his prospect to visualize what could happen without a solution. But Donald didn't stop there. He shared how this school district implemented the digital solution and how their life became far easier. This resonated with his prospect and they were able to move the sale to the school board. But that's not how the story ends. Listen to the whole episode to hear the rest of Donald's story! Resources & People Mentioned Building a StoryBrand Story Selling Sell with a Story The Hero's Journey Connect with Donald C. Kelly Connect on LinkedIn Follow on Twitter Connect With Paul Watts  LinkedIn Twitter  Subscribe to SALES REINVENTED Audio Production and Show notes by PODCAST FAST TRACK https://www.podcastfasttrack.com

In this episode of Aligned Sean and guest Donald Kelly, The Sales Evangelist continue their discussion on how important getting the private commitment is before you can get the public commitment to move your deal forward. Obtaining both private and public commitment will take you on the path to close your deals. Being strategic in obtaining buy-in: Need to ask – “what do you want?” Develop a structure to communicate effectively. Marketing needs to provide the pyramid of the industry and how selling works within that pyramid.  Exercise patience. What is a concise business plan: Should be short and simple. Ask the validation question. Both to you personally and to the enterprise. Case Studies can assist in creating commitment from your prospect. Illustrate what the action plan is and prescribed path. Takeaways: It's all about your prospect and what they want and/or need. Good reviews are helpful in receiving commitment from your prospect. Create a group of raving fans that share the same problems as your prospects. Build a page on your website that defines the journey that past customers have taken to get your prospect's desired result. When prospects make a public commitment – they make the commitment stick. Keep the long game in mind. Be able to define what problem you solve, what happens if you don't solve the problem, and what's the likely outcome. If you want to close more deals, you need to understand that commitment is powerful and has two steps. There is no set time that it takes to go through the process. But there is sequential order. If your prospect is not privately committed then they will never commit publicly.  Connect with Donald on LinkedIn or email him at donald@thesalesevangelist.com.  Submit an inquiry at fitzmartin.com/contact and they'll be happy to answer any questions. This episode is sponsored in part by FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  This episode is sponsored in part by Fitzmartin's Organization and Culture Alignment: Company culture and retention are directly connected. After all, if you fail to build good company culture, you fail to retain top talent. At FitzMartin, we help leaders like you raise their NPS scores from the low 60s to the high 80s (and, more importantly, present a plan to help you do the same.) Create your company culture based on a shared mission to attract and retain top talent. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to learn more.

On today's episode of Aligned, Sean and guest Donald Kelly, The Sales Evangelist discuss the importance of both private and public commitment in the marketing and sales process. When sales and marketing teams work together, your company will see a 36% higher customer retention rate and a 38% higher win rate. Businesses lose deals because they don't act: 40-60% out of 2.5 million recorded sales calls – both transactional and complex deals failed because they intended to act but didn't. Assessing pros and cons of moving forward with the deal. Science states that somebody will not take action until rough six months out. Prospects are looking forward. The “why” of private and public commitment: Always center your efforts on the buyer's needs in the beginning to raise consciousness.  Consciousness awareness is an effective tool early in the process. The needs of the buyers are different as they go through the sales process. Buyers need to make a personal commitment before they make a public commitment. Preparation is a cornerstone from which effective action is built. Takeaways for centricity: A good salesperson knows when to slow down. Need to acknowledge that people are the ones making the decisions. Always have tools that allow you to look forward. Your job is to help the prospect evaluate how your offering will serve them. Create a concise business case to confirm what the buyer's intent is. Resources: Changing For Good; Same Side Selling. Connect with Donald on LinkedIn or email him at donald@thesalesevangelist.com.  Submit inquiry at fitzmartin.com/contact and they'll be happy to answer any questions.

Sales trainer and expert Donald C. Kelly joins Skip and discusses a multitude of topics including why winging it is stupid and why a failure to cross-sell is a disservice to your customers. 

In today's episode of Aligned, our host Sean talks with the Sales Evangelist, Donald Kelly, to discuss late-stage sales, self-help, and five application models that you can apply to late-stage selling. Self-help In any B2B process, you are able to include B2C in the process.  According to Mckinsey 99% of B2B buyers said they are willing to spend $50,000 on self-help. You've got to start implementing self-help in the B2B world.  Make promises around things like service. Remember it's not about the price.  Do a testimonial that is focused on only delivering information that is safe and matters to late-stage prospects.  Give a taste of early access and let your prospects know what it would be like to be your customer.  Utilize consultative selling tools.  Tune in to our past episode with Donald discussing guided help on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and connect with Donald on LinkedIn or at thesalesevaneglist.com for more information and content. To learn more about the transtheoretical theory of behavioral change check out this link. This episode is sponsored in part by FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  This episode is sponsored in part by Fitzmartin's Organization and Culture Alignment: Company culture and retention are directly connected. After all, if you fail to build good company culture, you fail to retain top talent. At FitzMartin, we help leaders like you raise their NPS scores from the low 60s to the high 80s (and, more importantly, present a plan to help you do the same.) Create your company culture based on a shared mission to attract and retain top talent. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to learn more.

In today's episode of Aligned, our host Sean talks with the Sales Evangelist, Donald Kelly, to discuss late stage sales and explore the best practice of building frictionless buyer journeys and understanding the buyers point of view.  Helping relationships The goal is to continue to inspire the prospect to make change. Give them the ability to make a commitment.  Consultative selling is taking off the salesperson hat and becoming a consultant to your prospect - become good at problem-finding and solving problems. A transactional salesperson pushes on closing and focuses on features, benefits and price.  Guided help People need a guide, but if you don't trust your guide it won't work.  Good sales and marketing is about helping other people achieve their goals. If you see sales and marketing as manipulation then this idea won't work for you.  Donald has found massive success in sharing free information and being a guided help to those around him.  Don't be afraid to give people value through providing free information.  There is a whole world of guided help that is another marketing channel.  Tune in to our past episode with Donald discussing reward behaviors on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and connect with Donald on LinkedIn or at thesalesevaneglist.com for more information and content. To learn more about the transtheoretical theory of behavioral change check out this link. This episode is sponsored in part by FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  This episode is sponsored in part by Fitzmartin's Organization and Culture Alignment: Company culture and retention are directly connected. After all, if you fail to build good company culture, you fail to retain top talent. At FitzMartin, we help leaders like you raise their NPS scores from the low 60s to the high 80s (and, more importantly, present a plan to help you do the same.) Create your company culture based on a shared mission to attract and retain top talent. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to learn more.

Social selling is the promised land it's cracked up to be–let's make sure you're doing it right. In this episode, Darryl's guest is Donald C Kelly, The Chief Sales Evangelist. Join them as they discuss why social selling is the antidote to forgettable sequences, exactly how to get started, tactics to create convertible connections, the S word (sharing), the best ways to catch attention, and most importantly of all-what not to do.

Are you scared of failure or rejection? Do you hold yourself back from following your dreams because you don't want to fail?  Hala Taha is proof that having a fear of failure is detrimental to success. After getting fired from two jobs and losing her opportunity to become a reality TV star, she focused her energy on hosting the Young and Profiting podcast, which is now a #1 Education podcast across all platforms.  Today, we are listening to her tell her story on the Be Better podcast with Donald C. Kelly, a Top 29 Salesforce Influencer. Hala and Donald discuss Hala's background in radio and her first entrepreneurial venture, The Sorority of Hip Hop. They talk about why Young and Profiting grew so quickly and how Hala willed Jordan Harbinger of The Art of Charm to become her mentor. Hala also reveals how she leveraged LinkedIn to grow her podcast.  Topics Include: - Hala's background in radio  - Transitioning into blogging  - Getting scouted by MTV - Quitting the entertainment industry  - Leveraging entrepreneurial skills to become an intrapreneur  - Why did Hala want to run Young and Profiting alone at first?  - Why did Young and Profiting blow up?  - Leveraging LinkedIn to grow YAP  - Landing YAP's first client, Heather Monahan  - How did Jordan Harbinger become Hala's mentor?  - And other topics… Hala Taha is the host of Young and Profiting Podcast, frequently ranked as a #1 Education podcast across all apps. Hala is also the CEO of YAP Media, a full-service social media and podcast marketing agency for top podcasters, celebrities, and CEOs. She is well-known for her engaged following and influence on Linkedin, and she landed the January 2021 cover of Podcast Magazine. Donald C. Kelly is the Founder and Chief Sales Evangelist of The Sales Evangelist, which aims to eliminate confusion from B2B selling so sales professionals can consistently hit their target each month. The Sales Evangelist offers instruction and courses on proven sales strategies. He hosts the Be Better podcast and The Sales Evangelist podcast.  Sponsored By: The Jordan Harbinger Show - Search for The Jordan Harbinger Show (that's H-A-R-B-(as in boy)-I-N-(as in nancy)-G-E-R) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts Connect With Donald C. Kelly: Be Better Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/be-better-bhgre/id1611029996  The Sales Evangelist's Website: https://thesalesevangelist.com/  The Sales Evangelist's Podcast: https://thesalesevangelist.com/the-sales-evangelist-podcast/  Donald's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donaldckelly/  Donald's Twitter: https://twitter.com/DonaldCKelly?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor  Donald's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/donaldckelly/?hl=en  Connect with Young and Profiting: YAP's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/youngandprofiting/ Hala's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/htaha/ Hala's Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/yapwithhala/  Website: https://www.youngandprofiting.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In today's episode of Aligned, our host Sean continues his conversation with the Sales Evangelist, Donald Kelly, to discuss the centricity model and how limiting bad customer behaviors can help generate more sales for your organization.  The second-best practice in the countering world is the practice of looking back Buyers will continually look back at their own bad behaviors. When a buyer's response to a seller's inquiry is to ask for more information, they're not seriously considering the solution. Flip the looking back ideology to looking forward - equip your sales and marketing teams with a playbook that focuses on the future state. Don't spend time explaining specs on pricing, features, or benefits. Instead, sell the buyer on the future state they'll experience with your proposed solution.  One of the most common mistakes for salespeople during the close is forgetting to remind the buyer of their initial state. Reminding people where they're coming from is powerful.  Fear of change often comes down to the process.  Irrational self-statements Irrational self-statements are rigid reasons why the customer can't move forward. Create a playbook outlining all the common irrational self-statements that your customers have and how you can counter them. Counter their bad behavior with integrity, courage, and kindness. A dose of rationality makes a strong statement.  Customer success Your customers are constantly looking and information is everywhere.  Even though you know you can name a hundred ways that you are better than the competitor, your customer can't.  How are you marketing to your customers who are rethinking? Not just new customers but customers who are 2 or 3 years in.  Create a report card of the success that you are bringing your customers. Don't wait till the end of the contract to communicate with them.  Offer a channel of your marketing budget to market to your own customers.  There is more money to be made by fixing the end of the sales cycle than there is by creating more awareness, improving your brand, and getting more leads. Sell backwards, start at the end.  Tune in to our past episode with Donald discussing reward behaviors on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and connect with Donald on LinkedIn or at thesalesevaneglist.com for more information and content. This episode is sponsored in part by FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  This episode is sponsored in part by Fitzmartin's Organization and Culture Alignment: Company culture and retention are directly connected. After all, if you fail to build good company culture, you fail to retain top talent. At FitzMartin, we help leaders like you raise their NPS scores from the low 60s to the high 80s (and, more importantly, present a plan to help you do the same.) Create your company culture based on a shared mission to attract and retain top talent. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to learn more.

Sales and marketing alignment is critical for middle-market companies to either expand into enterprise territory or increase revenue for long-lasting company success. In today's episode of Aligned, our host Sean is joined by the Sales Evangelist, Donald Kelly, to discuss the centricity model and how limiting bad customer behaviors can help generate more sales for your organization.  RFPs: a bad (but well-intentioned) customer behavior: The centricity model, discussed in prior podcast episodes, helps frame a seller's mindset to better understand buyer behavior (especially bad buyer behavior.) RFPs, or requests for proposals, are standard for many B2B organizations, espeically those connected with governments. While well-intentioned, these can quickly become a systemic problem where the buying organization opts for the cheapest option rather than the one that provides the most value. Don't invent on the fly; build a plan and a model to produce more revenue. Building relationships with the individuals in purchasing companies helps you understand the reasoning behind the RFP instead of piggybacking off of an existing deal. Remember why a company might want to create an RFP: to create the best deal. As a seller and provider of a service, asking practical questions is the key to understanding the actual value an organization needs. If an organization is focused on utilizing the RFP, create options that aren't dependent on a large-scale implementation, like a department or select area of use. RFPs are done with good intent, but why don't they get the best results? Would you hire your lawyer or accountant based on the lowest bid?  In the process of generating bids, the best client is typically never the one willing to undercut every other competitor to win the bid. Overcoming the RFP through countering: Countering is a technical term for substituting an improper path the buyer is currently on with a better one. (If someone is trying to quit smoking, a counter would be to enjoy a lollipop.)  The behavior a buyer is in is the very reason they're seeking a solution. So even if we understand a habit is wrong, it's still a habit and takes effort to correct it.  Countering isn't about ending the bad habit but instead replacing the bad habit with a more constructive one. Centricity informs you where the buyer is.  One of the most common mistakes is a lack of trust. Because sales and marketing are focused on the end objective, we offer end solutions too quickly. As soon as someone doesn't listen or demonstrate listening before offering a solution, the solution likely won't be accepted. In the middle-stage sales cycle, sellers should restate the problem. Especially if the buyer seems hesitant about further pursuing a solution, reminding them about the problem (and mentioning issues they stated experiencing three weeks prior) is a great way to put them back on track. Tune in to our past episode with Donald discussing reward behaviors on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and connect with Donald on LinkedIn or at thesalesevaneglist.com for more information and content. This episode is sponsored in part by FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  This episode is sponsored in part by Fitzmartin's Organization and Culture Alignment: Company culture and retention are directly connected. After all, if you fail to build good company culture, you fail to retain top talent. At FitzMartin, we help leaders like you raise their NPS scores from the low 60s to the high 80s (and, more importantly, present a plan to help you do the same.) Create your company culture based on a shared mission to attract and retain top talent. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to learn more.

The Sales Evangelist, Donald C. Kelly, talks about making the switch from employee to entrepreneur helping others succeed in the field of sales.In This EpisodeThe excitement of Podcast Movement 2022Talking about podcast gear for a moment since we're at a podcasting conferenceWhat is The Sales Evangelist podcastGoing from employee to entrepreneurThe importance of pushing the status quo for yourself and your clientsDonald C. KellyDonald's mission is to evangelize the method of effective selling and motivate sellers of all levels to DO BIG THINGS!As a former top-performing technology sales professional, who has successfully sold in both the public and private sectors, Donald was able to crack the code of helping teams thrive in b2b sales. He is also the author of Sell It Like A Mango - A New Sellers Guide To Closing More Deals.He has helped sellers from companies all over the world build confidence in their selling abilities and increase revenue as a result. Organizations such as Rock Venture (Quicken Loans), HairClub, VMWare, Consolidated Electrical Distributors LLC. (CEB), Salt Edge, Charter Spectrum, Hibu/The Real Yellow Pages, Yotpo, Citi Group, and New York Life.Along with helping for-profit organizations, Donald has also assisted non-profit firms such as Florida State Minority Supplier Development Council, The Eastern Minority Supplier Development Council, GEAR UP, and Cal Poly University.In addition to training sales professionals in workshops, online courses, keynote presentations, and students as an adjunct professor at Brigham Young University-Idaho, Donald is the host of a popular sales podcast called “The Sales Evangelist.” With listeners in over 155 countries and over 3.7 Million+ all-time downloads, the podcast has received recognition from publications such as Entrepreneur Magazine, Success Magazine, Inc Magazine, Forbes, HubSpot, The Huffington Post, and the South Florida Business Journal.See the full show notes at BeyondTheRut.com/324.Beyond the Rut is a proud member of the Lima Charlie Network empowering others to reach new heights in leadership, self-development, and communication. You can learn more at LimaCharlieNetwork.com. Most people aim for nothing in life and hit it with amazing accuracy. Measure It to Make It is a tool to help you identify what matters most in y our life and create the action steps to turn that dream into a reality. Go to BeyondTheRut.com/goals to download this free tool and make your own path beyond the rut today.Support the show

Donald C Kelly joins the show to talk sales and leadership. It all starts in his hometown in Jamaica where his parents taught him the culture of entrepreneurship. He is now leading others into the future through his Sales Evangelist company and podcast. Join us as we talk about it all. Subscribe for exclusive behind the scenes content - https://anchor.fm/thelivingnumberspodcast/subscribe 1:13 Introducing Donald C Kelly 3:16 The Sales Part 10:14 The Evangelist Part 22:26 Student Body President 34:50 Leadership Guru 40:36 We LOVE The Office 50:38 3 Whats? Unpopular Opinions, Life Changes & Advice 57:59 Where To Find Donald C Kelly - Founder | The Sales Evangelist - The Sales Evangelist For more content FOLLOW Tony Rambles & The Living Numbers Podcast: Official Site: ➡️ https://anchor.fm/thelivingnumberspodcast YouTube: ➡️ https://www.youtube.com/c/thelivingnumberspodcast Instagram: ➡️ https://www.instagram.com/@thelivingnumberspodcast TikTok: ➡️ https://www.tiktok.com/@thelivingnumberspodcast Facebook: ➡️ https://www.facebook.com/thelivingnumberspodcast Fanbase: ➡️ https://fanbase.com/tonyrambles --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thelivingnumberspodcast/message

When it comes to building relationships between a buyer and seller, gift-giving is a powerful and useful tactic that benefits both parties. But how can we successfully implement gift-giving without excess spending on prospects that don't end up buying? In today's episode of Aligned, Sean wraps up his three-part series with Donald Kelly by discussing proper gift-giving and how any seller can build and maintain relationships with their prospects. Gifts should not be for everyone: Gifts should be mostly reserved for people later into the sales cycle, or at least in the middle. If a seller were to buy gifts for every early-stage prospect, they'll face exorbitant costs while also giving gifts to people who will not place as high a value on it as a buyer with an existing relationship with the seller. Sales should not have control too soon when it comes to gift-giving; the buyer should be at a designated spot within the buying process to warrant gift-giving as an environmental control. Sellers should not have private control over their sales data - if they spend company money to build relationships with clients, that information should be available to the organization that paid for it. Bonus environment control: Use NDAs to help control late-stage deals: In general, it's best to work with an attorney to utilize NDAs properly. NDAs can be signed by both the selling and buying organizations to build comfort and reduce anxiety, especially in industries full of proprietary information (i.e. technology and software.)  It is an olive branch that psychology develops commitment and introduces the notion of finality within the deal that encourages the buyer to close. Aligned Episode Resources: Check out the prior two episodes in this three-part series discussing environmental controls, available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. For more information and content from Donald, visit thesalesevangelist.com or connect with him on LinkedIn. Visit fitzmartin.com for resources, articles, and other information that helps any business leader foster connections between their sales and marketing departments.

Even when a buyer is satisfied with their current provider of a service, 80% will still consider buying elsewhere. How can sellers build value and demonstrate the effectiveness of an organization to late-stage clients? In today's episode of Aligned, Sean continues his three-part series with Donald Kelly discussing how to manage and build effective environmental controls to close more deals. Utilizing cues and interruptions: Cues are essential environmental controls because you can limit bad buyer behaviors with them.   Creating automated cues to encourage a particular action from the buyer builds brand loyalty and a level of trust that would otherwise occur with another company.  Buyer's retreat is a natural (and expected) element of sales: Anything within sales and marketing can be done with integrity and morals, or it can be done with harmful intent. Sellers must make themselves valuable, but not at the expense of the company's control. Limit early-stage spending because the relationship driving the sale has not yet been built. Instead, create an understanding and connection, then supplement that relationship with middle and end-stage buyers. Strategies to prevent buyer's retreat: Tie results to your efforts. This makes buyers infinitely less likely to leave because they know their success is tied to your involvement. Demonstrate your values through gifts, events, and communication to deepen the relationship between the individuals within the organization. Tune in to our past episode with Donald discussing reward behaviors on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and connect with Donald on LinkedIn or at thesalesevaneglist.com for more information and content. This episode is sponsored in part by FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  This episode is sponsored in part by Fitzmartin's Organization and Culture Alignment: Company culture and retention are directly connected. After all, if you fail to build good company culture, you fail to retain top talent. At FitzMartin, we help leaders like you raise their NPS scores from the low 60s to the high 80s (and, more importantly, present a plan to help you do the same.) Create your company culture based on a shared mission to attract and retain top talent. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to learn more.

As founder of The Sales Evangelist, consultant Donald C. Kelly “sells sales to salespeople.” When he sat down with John they declared the conversation “just two sales guys talking.” But it was more a crash course in selling with observations like: Showing genuine curiosity engages clients; get “yesses” along the way; an empowered consumer “will buy all day;” avoid “fake personalization” in outreach, people know; work hard to land government contracts “because government people don't like to switch.” … John agrees strongly with Donald's advice to educate prospects instead of dazzling them, advising him to use analogies and “help it make sense to them in their world.”   Connect with Donald on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donaldckelly/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/donaldckelly/)

Gina and Susanna are thrilled to welcome back one of our very favorite guests here, Donald C. Kelly, author, Founder and Chief Sales Evangelist. When Donald last visited, he told the story of growing up in Jamaica and selling mangos at a fruit stand. He learned early on that many people sell the same thing, so it's vital to know how to differentiate yourself. Gina recounts a story of being drawn to a lemonade stand in her neighborhood because it offered a free Oreo cookie with the purchase. This starts a conversation on how to look towards kids and their lack of self-consciousness in order to better our own sales process. Donald talks about the subject he's bringing to Outbound - time management. Differentiating the tasks that will bring more opportunity to sell. and focusing on results over quantity. He gives other tips on how to save time and employ strategic delegation to be able to focus on what is most important and profitable to you. They continue with the important details that can be put in the CRM in order to be used later to leverage a sale, or at least avoid losing it. Find Donald on LinkedIn and The Sales Evangelist Come and grow with Sales Gravy & Sales Gravy University More about Gina Engagement Expert – Speaker – Sales Trainer – Entrepreneur – Improv Comic Gina is a Master Sales Trainer for Jeb Blount's Sales Gravy who combines street smarts and improv comedy skills with her experience in the corporate and entrepreneurial worlds, which sets her apart from her competition.  “Sass without too much crass” is how Gina Trimarco describes herself. A high energy entrepreneur, engager, speaker, trainer, improv comedienne and podcast producer, Gina credits most of her success on her upbringing by her Italian mobster dad and German immigrant mother. Prior to joining Sales Gravy, Gina founded and operated Carolina Improv Company, an improv comedy school and theater, in addition to Pivot10 Results, a sales training company. Thanks to this podcast, Gina was able to “stalk” her business role model Jeb Blount and convince him to hire her … and sponsor this podcast! More About Susanna After graduating from Cambridge University in Music and Education, Susanna took her first sales role selling advertising space on websites. She's always been intrigued by the unfair negative stigma associated with sales and the way that after their initial excitement to work in sales, people will do everything they can to avoid actual prospecting. With 14 years of experience in recruitment, Susanna challenges this mindset through her successful business sourcing sales professionals into recruitment roles. Susanna decided to become a Sales Gravy Master Trainer because Sales Gravy's vision matches her own beliefs and values. She is committed to providing excellence and dedication to all of her trainees so that they can achieve their goals and succeed in sales.  

In the end, the goal of every sales and marketing department is to help their organization close more deals. But did you know six key elements can help manage how a professional relationship operates? In today's episode of Aligned, Sean is joined by sales expert and founder of The Sales Evangelist Donald Kelly in the first of a three-part series to learn how to apply a framework to build and maintain scalable sales pipelines.  Environmental controls dictate the boundaries of the relationship.  Environmental controls have to impact other people beyond the individual buyer. However, you must be buyer-centric and focused primarily on their goals and expectations. Environment management is the key to establishing and maintaining good behavior while limiting and preventing bad behavior. Sellers can't intentionally change many attributes of the conditions surrounding the selling process, but there are some we can exert and influence other elements. Preventing buyer's fatigue:  Throughout the buying process, many buyers grow tired of pushback from teammates, management, and sellers, especially when the status quo is so easy to maintain. If you want to take people through the journey of change, understand how quickly a person is willing to move and scale the journey with the individual. Learn the internal politics within the organization. For example, one person might not want to risk jeopardizing their growth at the company by making the wrong purchase decision. Supply your contact with knowledge as ammunition to reinforce the connection and combat potential objections in-house. Managing different perspectives at different touchpoints within the buying journey: Pain mapping is a powerful tactic because the human desire to avoid pain is incredibly high, whether financial, strategic, or personal. The wrong thing would be to take everyone to golf or dinner and expect everyone to be at the same point in the journey - because they aren't. People don't buy products; they buy the improvement of the business. Marketers and sellers must convince the buyer not about the product's viability, but how purchasing the product will correlate with meeting their business objectives. Constrain the pain - Use social liberation with positive insertions of company collateral in pitches and develop the processes in later-stage opportunities to make the buyer process not only seamless, but designed explicitly for the organization to implement. Environmental changes either add positive or remove negative elements to the deal that convinces the buyer to move forward. Aligned Episode Resources: Read the transtheoretical theorem of behaviors in “Changing for Good” by James Prochaska, John Norcross, and Dr. DiClemente. Check out the Pentateuch, otherwise known as the first five books of the old testament. Tune in to our past episode with Donald discussing reward behaviors on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.  This episode is sponsored in part by FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment: Why does proper sales and marketing alignment result in a 32% average lift in revenue? Because a unified company centered around its prospects can't help but thrive. FitzMartin's Sales and Marketing Alignment program will analyze your current sales and marketing structure to deliver a plan based on the needs of your prospects, bringing you increased revenue, expansion opportunities, and (above all) a unified front when communicating with prospects.  To set your company up for success, visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to discover how to unify your sales and marketing for the best results.  This episode is sponsored in part by Fitzmartin's Organization and Culture Alignment: Company culture and retention are directly connected. After all, if you fail to build good company culture, you fail to retain top talent. At FitzMartin, we help leaders like you raise their NPS scores from the low 60s to the high 80s (and, more importantly, present a plan to help you do the same.) Create your company culture based on a shared mission to attract and retain top talent. Visit fitzmartin.com/solutions to learn more.

Donald Kelly is the Founder of The Sales Evangelist. This sales training organization provides strategies through programs designed to eliminate confusion from B2B selling and help sales professionals consistently hit their targets. As a former top-performing technology sales professional, Donald has helped sellers from companies worldwide build confidence in their selling abilities, resulting in increased sales for organizations such as Rock Venture (Quicken Loans), HairClub, VMWare, and Consolidated Electrical Distributors LLC. (CEB), to name a few. In addition to sharing his insights and strategies through workshops, online courses, and keynote presentations, Donald is the host of The Sales Evangelist podcast. His knowledge and insights have reached listeners in over 155 countries with 3.5 million downloads and have also been recognized by publications such as The Huffington Post, Forbes, and Entrepreneur Magazine. Join us as we hear about Donald's expertise captured in his book Sell It Like a Mango (2022) and discuss how technology, in many ways, is helping sales development representatives sell worse faster and what they can do to elevate their core skill sets to be more successful. Highlights Who Donald C. Kelly is How he started his journey in professional sales What he's seeing in the professional sales today: the challenges and the biggest opportunities The important feedback Donald's wife pointed out to him What he is doing with Brigham Young Their takeaways from different sales people Why Daniel decided to write a book on selling What does it take, in terms of personality, traits, or capabilities, or competencies, to succeed in sales today The three underutilized ways that people are missing out on LinkedIn The people you should always keep your eyes on Where to get Donald's book What are the books he's reading right now? What value engineering is His writing process How people can get in touch with Donald C. Kelly and listen to The Sales Evangelist Episode Resources Connect with Mark Cox https://www.inthefunnel.com/ https://ca.linkedin.com/in/markandrewcox https://www.facebook.com/inthefunnel Connect with Donald Kelly Sell It Like a Mango https://thesalesevangelist.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/donaldckelly https://twitter.com/DonaldCKelly https://www.instagram.com/donaldckelly https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-sales-evangelist/id788738885 

#575 Today I'm joined by Donald C. Kelly. Donald is known as The Sales Evangelist, and his new book Sell It Like a Mango is going to teach us how to close more deals. When I asked why it's called Sell It Like a Mango, Donald told me about how his parents used to sell mangoes in Jamaica, and how everybody else was also selling mangoes. If everyone's selling the same thing, how do you succeed? How do you stand out? We're gonna dive into that today and learn exactly how to become a salesperson whether you have a unique product or not. Show notes and more at SmartPassiveIncome.com/session575.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How does selling mangoes from a Jamaican street cart lead to skyrocketing success in today's B2B sales environment?    In this episode, I interview Donald Kelly , Founder and Chief Sales Evangelist at The Sales Evangelist and author of Sell It Like A Mango: A New Seller's Guide to Closing More Deals , about the best practices when it comes to training-up a successful sales organization in today's marketplace.   Donald and I also talked about: How CX represents the buyer's whole journey Why it's important to use a cohort approach in sales What mindset helps to overcome fear in sales How to achieve pipeline accuracy How hosting your own podcast adds value   Check out these resources we mentioned: Donald C. Kelly on LinkedIn  Donald C. Kelly on Instagram  TheSalesEvangelist.com  Sell It Like A Mango  Logitech  Apple   Subscribe, listen, and rate/review the Customer Experience Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, or Google Podcasts , and find more episodes on our blog.

Creating a motivating mindset is the most important component of any sales role. In fact, it's a critical component of everything we do, but Donald C. Kelly enthusiastically reminds us in this episode that it's a vital step in the sales process. Adopting a sales mindset can elevate you from a good sales person to a great sales person. Learn from Donald about how to get into the zone of a sales mindset. Donald has an extremely passionate, dedicated, and infectious personality. As producer and host of the extremely popular podcast, The Sales Evangelist, Donald lives, eats and breathes sales. He believes that anyone can become a sales person if they believe in themselves. Something that he started to discover for himself at the age of 7, when he started to sell mangoes in his hometown in Jamaica in order to help get him the cool Ninja bike that he wanted so badly.  We dedicate part of our interview with Donald to discuss the blend of behavioral science in sales. If you're interested in finding out even more about how behavioral science can be used in your workplace, the team at Behavioral Grooves have designed a new handbook on leadership called Leading Human. It is cater-made for leaders in sales or any management role to help explore the human challenges and overcome the stresses of working in a hyper-dynamic world. The handbook walks you through exercises that you can do with your team - to make sure that you are being the most effective manager possible. In this ever changing world, having a deep understanding of how to apply behavioral science insights to better lead your team is vitally important. Topics (3:04) Welcome and speed round questions. (8:40) Are people born with a natural sales ability?  (13:30) Why does our impression of sales come from car salesmen? (18:12) Donald's sales journey started by selling mangoes. (22:38) How important is your mindset in sales? (24:37) How your environment activates your reticular activating system. (36:03) Why is behavioral science not integrated more in sales? (41:10) How Donald uses music to get in the zone. (45:27) Grooving Session with Kurt and Tim sharing what we learnt from Donald.   © 2022 Behavioral Grooves Links  Kurt and Tim on The Sales Evangelist Podcast, “Why Your Brain Lies To You: Cash Is NOT The Best Motivator”: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tim-houlihan-and-kurt-nelson-phd-why-your-brain-lies/id788738885?i=1000473224218  “Sell It Like a Mango: A New Seller's Guide to Closing More Deals” by Donald C. Kelly: https://amzn.to/36cH8Kt  “The Sales Evangelist Sales Planner” by Donald C. Kelly: https://amzn.to/3ipIdAW  Michael Jordan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jordan  Seth Godin: https://seths.blog/  Leading Human Handbook designed for leaders: https://www.behavioralgrooves-store.com/products/copy-of-the-leading-human-playbook-workbook-package  Musical Links  Chronixx “Here Comes Trouble”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfeIfiiBTfY  Koffee “Lockdown”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSzv3K3Keyg  Drake “Money In The Grave”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3lH6CULHD0  Damian Marley “Living It Up”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XN8h3JHmHw 

This episode is a throwback to my appearance on The Sales Evangelist podcast with Donald C Kelly... I hope you enjoy! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/scaling-your-business-wrian-lanigan. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this episode of the Sales Gravy podcast, Jeb Blount (author of Selling the Price Increase) and Donald C. Kelly (host of the Sales Evangelist podcast) discuss how to approach customers with price increases. You'll learn techniques, tactics, and strategies for crafting price increase messages, planning price increase conversations, and compelling customers to accept price increases without losing their business. At Sales Gravy we are constantly adding free sales training resources to our growing library of downloads. Check them out here: https://salesgravy.com/resources/

Today's guest in the Mads Singers Management Podcast is none other than the sales evangelist, Donald C. Kelly! Donald runs an organization called The Sales Evangelist, where he and his team create a podcast and other business resources. He used to be a software sales rep who was very successful in his career. Donald shared what was working for him and enabled him to get coaching opportunities, speaking opportunities, and even consulting to companies where it grew. Now Donald has 14 individual teams where they do consult and sales training with their clients. He is also the host of The Sales Evangelist Podcast, where he and his team product podcasts for their clients.Although it's common for business owners to pass the torch to the next generation to focus on more critical business tasks, it cannot be successful if one does not delegate duties and responsibilities effectively. Effective delegation enables business owners, and managers must be able to plan efficiently.While the pandemic has allowed more people and businesses to be flexible, it has also made more people become easily distracted because many people are working from their homes and can easily be pulled into rabbit holes. Donald shares his top 3 things on how people can manage their time better: (1.) Focus on the essential things on your list first (2.) Breaking down your time to 15 to 30 minutes to get things done, allowing room for error, and lastly (3.) Allowing yourself to have time for fun.While the new normal may seem scary for most people, we can take small steps to improve our quality of life, whether at work or at home. While a schedule can help fast track a project or close a business deal, entrepreneurs shouldn't focus on how much time is being spent on a particular task or project but rather on the output instead. Of course, you'll need to communicate this clearly with your staff or team members.Key Learning Points: Donald shares his top 3 tips on how business owners can manage their time efficiently:  (1) Planning and categorizing your days, (2) Give yourself 15-30 minutes chunks of time and giving yourself room for error, and (3) Have time for yourself to have fun and plan your day before. - 06:31 Mads agrees that many business owners and entrepreneurs tend to do too many things for their business, but it doesn't help their business move or grow at all - 11:26 Mads adds that people should know and focus on their core priorities and make sure that they work on things or tasks that help move them closer to their goals.- 12:06  Donald says that business owners shouldn't push something off to a person if they don't know what's supposed to be done. - 12:38 Mads says that it's better to delegate the things you don't know to other people when growing a big business instead of figuring it out by yourself. - 13:59 Mads says that too many people focus on the process instead of the outcome - 19:30 Donald says that while we can fill up our calendars, it's essential to use your time effectively and allow some room for error. - 24:12 Donald adds that people should do a daily recap when their work ends to be ready for the next day. - 24:24 Donald shares that it's essential for business owners and managers to plan a fun time for themselves and their team, especially with the world dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and adjusting to a new normal in life. - 25:06 Donald says that it's essential for you to nurture this culture to your team or staff, especially with many working remotely, so that things will flow more smoothly. - 26:53 Resources Mentioned:15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management: The Productivity Habits of 7 Billionaires, 13 Olympic Athletes, 29 Straight-A Students, and 239 Entrepreneurs by Kevin Kruse The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months by Brian P. MoranDonald's planner templateConnect with Donald:Facebook GroupInstagramThe Sales Evangelist PodcastWebsiteLinkedInTwitterEmail

"We're BACK!" This is the message today from Jeff and very special guest, Donald C. Kelly, recorded from the floor of OutBound 2021. Donald C. Kelly, aka The Sales Evangelist started from humble beginnings in Jamaica selling mangoes and cookies, to being a highly successful sales professional, sales trainer and founder of The Sales Evangelist, a resource to help small businesses build outstanding sales teams. Jeff and Donald talk about the past year and half and the fluctuations that people had to endure to get through it. Some sunk and some rose to new heights. Donald speaks about discovering the tools we already have, but utilizing them in different ways in order to adapt in a changing landscape. He also provides some personal insight into his own difficult times and how it spurred him onto bigger things. If you have struggled, he provides insight on how to get started down a path to success. Because we're back - It's time to ask yourself, how are you going to be great? Find out more about Donald and The Sales Evangelist  WANT MORE WHY AND THE BUY? Join our new listener group for discussions about episodes and other helpful resources for your business! Get access to the greenroom. Go behind the scenes with past, present and future guests! Follow us on LinkedIn! Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review our podcast. It only takes a second and helps us make more podcasts for you.

Are you a LinkedIn connection hoarder? Your 500+ connections are a dead asset if you don't engage, talk to, and interact with them. In this special episode of INSIDE Inside Sales, Darryl welcomes the one and only Sales Evangelist and OutBound Conference speaker, Donald C. Kelly to talk about the power of LinkedIn for success in sales, and why it's essential to take action instead of sitting back on the sidelines. Tune in to find out how to build and establish a strong presence on LinkedIn, why vanity metrics don't matter, and what you should do in order to be successful, especially when it's the opposite of what everyone else is doing. https://info.vanillasoft.com/subscribe-to-the-inside-inside-sales-podcast (Subscribe now and learn why being different on social media will get you to the top.)

In this episode, host Donald Kelly, lets us know what Changing is all about.  -Donald Kelly is a believer and is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. (Note:  This podcast is not an official podcast of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints but you will hear from guests who also belong to the church.) -In this podcast, you will hear guests whose lives have changed because of an encounter with Jesus.  -This podcast gives you hope that you can change and the world can change.  -Did you know that change is a process?  Change doesn't typically happen overnight and you will hear from people who had the miracle of transformation. -This podcast will help you think about the possibility of change.  -If you are going through difficulties in work, family life, church life, social and economic problems … this is the podcast for you so you can get a message of hope.  -Do you need a break from the evils of this world?  This is the podcast for you! Learn more here: https://www.bbchurchofjesuschrist.org/ MUSIC CREDIT: Audio Jungle (NOTE) This podcast is not an official podcast of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints but you will hear from guests who also belong to the church.)

This episode is sponsored by: Skipio - Get one month free on an Individual plan with code TSE, or, 2 free seats/licenses on Teams. Try Skipio at www.Skipio.com. NetHunt - NetHunt CRM offers TSE listeners a 40% discount for the first 3 months along with free user training and a dedicated Customer Success Manager with any pricing plan.  Welcome to the first episode of Selling in Color. In today's episode, let's talk about why people of color and sales match perfectly together!  The misconceptions in sales When talking about sales, people immediately think about individuals who annoy customers. Many people have negative ideas about a sales job.  There's always a general stigma around sales, people of color, and then people of color and sales.   Black people and sales IBM started recruiting black people in the 70s, and the turnout was good, but the rate of people of color in a sales job or white-collar jobs didn't increase until today.  The jobs available for people of color were in retail.  Today, there are already several other sales jobs out there. In the next episodes, we will have other people of color who work in other industries and in different roles and positions.  Becoming a salesperson It takes work before one can become a great salesperson. The barriers to sales, however, are way fewer than the barriers to other careers such as lawyers and doctors.  While those careers make good money, the road going there is long and steep.  On the other hand, sales also give you the same level of income, but the road isn't as long and steep. You don't need a master's degree or doctorate degree to become a great salesperson. You only need to develop the right skills to become a great salesperson.  Sales allowed Donald to have a good lifestyle, take care of his family, and help other people as well.  With a better income, you are able to build generational wealth for your family.  When it comes to sales, you need to hustle and be creative. You need to stand up against the extreme competition. You need persistence and tenacity. There's a need to have thick skin to be able to weather objections or rejections.  All these mental attitudes are common among people of color.  People of color continue to face challenges and oppressions. We understand difficulties.  Sales is how you can use that attitude and make the best out of it.  “People of Color and Sales” episode resources Speak with Donald directly for more sales talks. Reach him via these channels: LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook about any sales concerns. 

This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio.  Are you sick of crickets? The pain of sales reps continually reaching out with phone calls and emails and not receiving a response is real.  you sick of crickets? The pain of sales reps continually reaching out with phone calls and emails and not receiving a response is real. 85% of people prefer text over email and phone calls because they want to engage in a conversation. All text messaging is not equal. Customers respond to people, NOT BOTS. Be more like people and start having conversations that end in conversions. Try Skipio at www.Skipio.com. This episode is brought to you in part by NetHunt CRM. NetHunt CRM is a sales automation tool that lives inside Gmail. It covers a full set of features to manage leads, nurture customer relations, monitor sales progress, and automate sales and marketing workflows. With native-like Gmail and G Suite integration, you can access all the CRM data, launch bulk email campaigns, and set up automated sequences right from your inbox. NetHunt helps to move your leads down your sales funnel and never let the valuable prospects go untouched. NetHunt CRM offers TSE listeners a 40% discount for the first 3 months along with free user training and a dedicated Customer Success Manager with any pricing plan.  Try NetHunt CRM today →  https://nethunt.com/tse This course 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. It will help them elevate their sales game. Sign up now and get the first two modules free! You can go and visit www.thesalesevangelist.com/closemoredeals also call us at (561) 570-5077. “We value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our 2 mins survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. 

IntroductionWelcome to episode 22 of the Enterprise Excellence Podcast. I am so pleased to have Mr Donald C Kelly on the show today. Donald has focused his career on learning and sharing best practices in sales. He is the host of the popular Sales Evangelist Podcast that focuses on all topics relevant to sales excellence. Donald is genuinely focused on helping people create a better future by engaging and helping their customers. Let's get into the episode. SummaryIf a salesperson does not have a purpose, Donald believes they cannot achieve excellence in sales. Most sellers just wing it. Having a forward-thinking goal is critical for every salesperson and should be greater than just hitting this year's quota. It needs to go further. He gives the example of not only making the Olympics but winning a gold medal at the Olympics. In sales, the goal may be to surpass my quota and help my clients to have success. Donald has been doing a lot of work on salesperson mindset. The thoughts we feed (which wolf) is what will create our reality. Donald mentioned cognitive bias and the fact that our mind will start to seek out ideas that support our thoughts. This process feeds our prejudice and our attitude, which ultimately impacts our behaviour and results. It is essential to feed the right mindset, the right thoughts, like focusing on our goals and our capabilities. The whole organisation should be running like a lean, mean running machine. It is not just sales alone; the ultimate outcome for everyone in an organisation is to generate profit. Unfortunately, sales experts are often elevated into management. Often these leaders are expected to sell as well as lead, motivate and inspire their team. Donald mentions Magic Johnson, who was a fantastic basketballer, but not an effective coach. Successful sales leaders need to develop the right mindset: deeply understand their purpose and help their team build their vision and goals. They do not continue to sell at a high level themselves but inspire and motivate their sellers to achieve their goals. They provide one on one coaching to help salespeople grow. An effective sales team will have a game plan and process that they practice and follow to achieve greatness. Donald is currently finalising a book "Sell Like A mango" covering many of these topics. LinksLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/donaldckellyWebsite: thesalesevangelist.com  (Personal Website) - you can download information and guides here.Key Takeaways:1.     Challenging vision and goal2.     Mindset – which wolf do you feed?3.     Process & leadership coachingSo, thank you Donald for helping us to create a better future through your knowledge in sales and business in general. Quotes11.21min a person trying to do excellence in sales is not like, "I want to take my quota". "I want to surpass my quota and help clients have great success", so going beyond that.17:10min you're going to have good days; you're going to have bad days. And I personally feel that sales is so psychological. Like so much of this thing, it's, like, mental.24:35min sometimes a leader doesn't have to be a great seller. And in that capacity, that they just need to be able to understand how to inspire and motivate the seller to accomplish the seller's goal, not necessarily just the organisation's goals.29:48min It goes to show that any organisation with the right leadership, with the right processes, can do amazing things. 

In this episode Josh talks with Donald C. Kelly, the Sales Evangelist. They discuss sales, primarily prospecting.

Managing tasks as a leader is difficult because all the tasks are urgent and you have the internal battle of deciding which tasks need your attention.  You might have a meeting with recruiters about the hiring, or you've got to do an interview with some sales reps, or you've got to create a report for the VP, and other equally important stuff. The list could go on and on and in the end, you aren't able to get anything done to bring in more revenue.  The challenge  As team leaders, the best thing we can give to the sales rep is our care and utmost concern. Unfortunately, though, things don't go the way we plan due to minute tasks that bog us down. Team leaders are faced with the challenge of managing their time to do the things that will impact the entire team in a good way.  The grumpy sales manager syndrome  The grumpy sales manager syndrome is nothing new and you might have experienced an episode of it once or twice. You are the leader so it's natural to be bombarded with so many things to do:  make reports  attend meetings with sales reps  meet with recruiters meet with marketing folks You are swamped with many different tasks and it's overwhelming you. Mike Weinberg mentioned this in his book Sales Management Simplified where he discussed all the different sales management myths and challenges. He then explained it in a way that's both understandable and relatable. In the book, he said that this problem stems from the executive level.  Company owners or VPs are usually the reason sales managers have a tough time in juggling all their duties and this has nothing to do with the reports they are asking for. Rather, it has to do with the culture that is set within an organization. Executives, for example, aren't focused on sales and so they don't do everything in their power to cater to the sales effort.  First line of defense All the departments in a company or organization are important for the entire operation to work successfully. The marketing team, the development team, and all the other departments you can name are imperative for the organization to thrive. But all these other departments won't be getting any money unless the sales team brings in more revenue.  The sales team is an organization's first line of defense since it is bringing business into the company. #SalesRevenue Sellers are the ones out there who are battling it out against the others. That is a huge amount of weight for the sales team because if it can't happen, the company may fire the sales leaders for the lack of good results.  Salespeople are foundations of a successful company and failing to recognize that is a problem.  We need a culture that is built around salespeople.  Rate the tasks accordingly Sales managers don't necessarily have a defined role and instead, they have interconnecting roles within the organization.  For example, if you are helping the team generate revenue, then all your tasks must be related to that. But that's not always the case.  To define your goal, try to list the things that you do on a day-to-day basis and rate these activities from 1 to 5. (1 if the task isn't helping you in fulfilling your goal, 5 if the activity is directly related to accomplishing your goals).  For instance, a one-to-one meeting with your sales rep to help the CS team increase its revenue is a full 5 rating. The meeting is an opportunity for you to give pipeline reviews with the sales rep to help him close more deals.   Going on key account calls and weekly sales meetings are income-generating tasks and are closely tied to your goals.  Housekeeping On the other spectrum, you can have others complete tasks such as cleaning your inbox, creating spreadsheets to track sales and metrics, and attending meetings not related to your role. Or, if you prefer, do these tasks in your downtime. If you want to clean your inbox, then do it in your downtime. If you want a spreadsheet, then use CRM. If you want to attend the meetings unrelated to your task, you can jump in for a few minutes to check how it's going instead of sitting down the whole two hours.  Assess the tasks and if it's possible to get an assistant to help you, then hire one. There are several platforms like Upwork where you can find somebody who can do something for you on a project basis.  Rating your tasks will make your work more efficient and will give you time for the more important things.  Focus on the important ones Ask yourself a series of questions before proceeding to every task.  Am I needed at the meeting?  Will it run effectively if I am not there?  Will this task help my goal in increasing revenue?  Rate the tasks and pick the ones that are most important by focusing on threes, fours, and fives.  Fives are the obvious things that must happen. Set down the time for your meetings: time for the one-on-one, time for talking to your sellers, and all the other activities that are immediate. You might want to do the interviewing for new hires on a weekly basis or you might want to review resumes on a monthly basis.  You must decide the schedules for the different activities and follow through.  In this way, you can focus on the things that you need to and not be around for things that you don't need to be a part of. You can also set a time to motivate your team and raise their morale by going to weekly or monthly lunch.  Time is important  Time is important and your sales reps need your time in closing deals and making sure that they're overcoming challenges and working effectively.  You are the coach and the sales reps are the players, and the only way for the team to work out is if both the coach and the players work hand-in-hand. If you are bogged down, hiding behind paperwork, and locked up in an office without a chance to connect with your reps, then you are never going to reach your goals.  Applying this to The Sales Evangelist team helped me set the right culture as a leader of an organization.  Money comes through the door when you are focused only on the things that you need to do. “Managing Tasks as a Leader” episode resources  Sales managers and leaders have different strategies in managing their tasks. If you have a story, don't hesitate to drop me a message or tag me on LinkedIn, Donald C. Kelly.  Check out Mike Weinberg's book, Sales Management Simplified.    This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program which aims to help sales reps and sales team improve their skills in finding the right customers and knowing the strategies and activities that work. The program also teaches you the right questions to ask in order to build strong values and close huge deals. Go to thesalesevangelists.com/freecourse to get the first two episodes for free. Audible is also a great avenue for sales learning. It has thousands of books that you can read and audiobooks to listen that can help you to grow as a savvy salesperson.    Give it a go to get a free book and a 30-day free trial. Just type in audibletrial.com/tse. If you enjoyed this episode and learned from it, please do give us a review 5-star rating on Apple podcast. You can also share this podcast with your friends and colleagues who are using other platforms such as Google Podcast, Stitcher, Spotify.  Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

The Sales Evangelist podcast features experts from all over the world, and Zoom helps us bridge the distance for video conference calls without added expense or travel.   We use Zoom to power The Sales Evangelist Certified Sales Training, and it enables us to help sales reps and sales teams improve their skills, find the right customers, generate effective activities, establish successful strategies, build strong value, and close more deals.     World travel Zoom is a powerful video platform that makes it easy to communicate with people all over the world in a matter of minutes. It powers webinars, video conferencing, and video phone calls. In the early days of The Sales Evangelist, we used Go To Meeting for our conferencing and demonstration needs. It was the Kleenex of the industry.  Skype was available but it was mostly used for personal needs, like friends and family members looking to stay connected. Eventually it was bought by Microsoft, and we tried using Skype Business for our podcast interviews. Though the audio quality was ok, the service frequently dropped calls. Additionally, because there was no way to record, I had to incorporate a third-party app to save our interviews.    User-friendly Around this time, a guest came on the show and shared his experience using Zoom. His company did all of its recording with Zoom and they liked that it integrated with a lot of other tools the company was already using. I was skeptical, but when I started my research, I discovered that a lot of other industry folks were using it as well.  The audio quality was great and it didn't generate a lot of background transformer-type noise. Other tools like Google Hangouts and join.me emerged, but they were clunky and complicated for the customer who was logging in.    Selling points Perhaps most importantly, Zoom was free to use. It didn't have the same capabilities as the robust premium account, but I could log in and talk to someone for 45 minutes, or invite up to 100 different people to join me on a call. Eventually I discovered I wanted access to the premium tools, and it was easy for me to transition to a paid account, as well as being cost effective for a small business.  Zoom offered high-quality HD video recording that I could record to my cloud account or use on my YouTube or social media channels. I could also connect it to Dropbox.  It integrated easily with Slack, which made it easy for me to communicate internally with my team. Zoom also integrated seamlessly with Salesforce, Google Drive, Gmail, and Blackboard. In some cases, the connection requires Zapier, and in others the tools connect directly.    Sharing information Zoom offers powerful educational capabilities as well. If I'm giving a demonstration to a buyer I can use the tools to underline or highlight important things and give the buyer complete interaction on the proposal. Screenshare is an option, of course, and you can even use your cell phone, either plugged in or via wifi and Bluetooth, for screen shares.  People buy after they recognize value. If you teach them something they didn't know before, you'll engage your prospects, despite the fact that they are sitting in China and you're in Milwaukee.    Powerhouse Zoom is a powerhouse that beats the pants off the big name providers in the industry. If you're planning to renew your GoToMeeting account, check out Zoom first. I'm not getting any money from them for doing this, but I use Zoom daily and it's perfect for the work that I do.  Zoom Rooms allow you to gather multiple people on a screen, and the company is hosting a conference called Zoomtopia this October. Zoom is pushing the boundaries of connecting people, and the company continues growing.  Even for the technologically-challenged people in our lives, Zoom works well because it's user-friendly.    “Video Conference Calls” episode resources Check out Zoom.us for more information about video conferencing for your organization.  If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there. I'm fairly easy to connect with. Just comment on something about my podcast. Send me an email. You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group. If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561) 578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program. This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. As a savvy seller, you'll want to continue learning, and you can take advantage of a free 30-day trial, complete with a free audio book, on Audible. They have thousands of books to choose from and you can begin your free trial today.  I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. When you share your experiences with the show, others will read the reviews and give us a listen. I truly appreciate you and appreciate your reviews and your subscription, and your willingness to tell your friends and anyone you know that's in sales about the podcast. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Your closing process will often require you to speak to a board or a group of people about your product or service, and you must provide value to your audience when presenting in person. The Sales Evangelist Certified Sales Training Program provides specific sections for prospecting, building value, and converting to a paying client, and we've designed the training to help sellers prepare for presentations and to train their teams to do the same. It's designed to help sales reps and sales teams improve their skills, find the right customers, adopt the right activities, ask the right questions, build strong value, and close more deals.  Guessing game Many situations demand that sellers meet with a team of individuals who will ask a variety of questions about the product or service. You're wasting your time if you don't understand the problems they need to solve or the challenges they are facing. It doesn't make sense to play the guessing game during the limited time you have with this group of people.  Once you understand the issue, you must also determine who the decision-makers and buyers are. You must understand the timeframe they are working against and their budget for the purchase.  The company you're pitching to will also bring in competitors who will pitch as well, but they aren't your concern.  Storytelling John Livesay recently spoke about storytelling and the need to be memorable. It doesn't matter who presents first or last, but rather who tells a better story.  Consider having other team members attend the presentation with you and introduce themselves by telling an interesting story. Perhaps your CTO can share how his love of Legos® pushed him to create complex things and find solutions to problems. It inserts personality into the presentation.  Tactical presentation Make sure you know who will present information on the buyer's behalf. Have someone from your organization research to determine who will attend. If possible, learn what those people hope to discover from your presentation. Engage your champion, or the person you've been working with to this point, to find out whether you can introduce yourself prior to the presentation. When you do that, ask them what questions they'd like you to address in your presentation and then be prepared to address those specific topics.  Once you understand who will attend and what information they'll be seeking, you can build your presentation around those topics.  Recruit help If at all possible, take someone else to the presentation with you. Take several people if you can. Assemble a team of people from different departments.  When you set up in the conference room, don't divide yourself on opposite sides of the table. Use name cards for both groups to indicate where different people should sit. Also make sure you spell everyone's names correctly.  Intersperse the members of your group among the members of the company you're pitching to. When you have breaks in the action, because the two teams are sitting together, they'll be able to share conversation instead of squaring off like rival gangs.  We recently used name cards for a presentation and they were a huge hit. The company was blown away by the preparation and the organization that went into the meeting. They assumed that if we were willing to invest that much preparation in a presentation like this, we'd certainly do it in our efforts to help them solve their problems.  Control engagement Develop slides that include imagery rather than a jumble of words. Tell a story about the problem your prospect is facing and how you can help solve it. Demonstrate your solution.  Assign one member of your team to watch for reactions from the others in the room. Use him as a spotter. If he notices that someone is disengaged or fighting against sleep, he can signal that to you by interjecting or posing a question that will signal to you to adjust your direction.  Have him watch for body language that indicates interest or to take note of those people who are jotting down things while you're talking. If, for example, the IT director takes lots of notes during the presentation, at the break I could suggest to the presenters that we talk a bit about IT and the most common questions we hear.  The spotter's role in any presentation is to be an integrator and to make sure questions get answered. We don't want anyone to leave with unanswered questions. #SalesPresentation  Business case Thank your champion in front of the entire group for making the presentation possible. Make her feel good in front of her colleagues.  Then begin the work of building a business case for your prospect. Explain that you'll answer the questions they submitted ahead of time and address the challenges you see based on the lessons you've learned. Describe how you've solved these problems for others and how you'll translate that to this organization.  Talk about how much the problem is likely costing the company and why they need to fix it. Explain how you'll help, and do it all using stories.  Virtual meetings You can apply many of these same concepts to your virtual meetings as well. Although you can't intersperse the participants, you can consider sending some treats that will arrive prior to the presentation. You can even send treats that somehow tie to the presentation you'll be making, like Swedish Fish to make the case that you're going to help them land bigger clients.  Work to stand out from the pack by being unique and telling an amazing story.  Action plan When the meeting is complete, everyone in that room should leave feeling like they participated and like they were fulfilled by what happened. Then provide a specific action plan for what happens next.  Present a few different options for ways to move forward. Give them time frames and explain the steps required to progress.  I conduct presentations this way and they work well for me and for the people I'm presenting to. I want you to realize the same benefits in your own presentations. "Presenting In Person" episode resources If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there. I'm fairly easy to connect with. Just comment on something about my podcast. Send me an email. You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group. If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561) 578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program. This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. As a savvy seller, you'll want to continue learning, and you can take advantage of a free 30-day trial, complete with a free audio book, on Audible. They have thousands of books to choose from and you can begin your free trial today.  I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. When you share your experiences with the show, others will read the reviews and give us a listen. I truly appreciate you and appreciate your reviews and your subscription, and your willingness to tell your friends and anyone you know that's in sales about the podcast. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

The sales landscape has changed as buyers have gained access to more information, and the result for sellers is changing rules for sales tools.  Subhanjan Sarkar runs a company called Pitch Link, which helps companies solve the problem of being able to scale by finding good salespeople.     Balance of power David Cancel wrote a book called Conversational Marketing in which he suggests that the balance of power has shifted from supply to demand and from company to customer. Thirty years ago, selling centered around the ability to mass-produce products in factories. Walmart's mantra at the time was “stack them high and sell them low.” The system used to work with the information estimate tree that existed between suppliers and buyers, because the suppliers and makers always had more information available to them than the buyers did. The buyer never knew, prior to the Internet, that certain items were available from other sources for lower prices.  Over the last 20 years, the buying and selling process has been disrupted. Most of us won't say it out loud because so much of the information from the previous era becomes irrelevant.    Old things Subhanjan said that people often challenge him on this premise because they can point to places where the old way of doing things still works. Though it may still work, it is less effective. Email open rates, for example, have dropped from 40 percent to 2.8 percent.People aren't taking calls from people they don't know.   The fundamental shift is this: traditional sales was based on the principle of interruption but buyers don't want interruptions. This doesn't mean that reps shouldn't do their jobs anymore. It simply means that reps must change the way they do things.  He points out that they are called salespeople for a reason. They aren't called prospecting people or lead-generation people. But they are expected to fill up a CRM, to write emails, to prospect, and to make phone calls.    Local connections In traditional sales, people knew each other because they went to school together. They played football or baseball together and then they graduated and one became the manager of the local factory while the other became a salesman. They built trust over the course of 20 years.  Now people trust brands rather than salespeople. They might eventually trust the salesperson over five to 10 years of working together, but initially, it's the brand.    PitchLink As Subhanjan built the company, he understood the story behind the company's development in great detail. He could explain why the company evolved the way it did because he was in the thick of it. Then, he hired a hot-shot sales guy who understood marketing automation and social selling, but his storytelling wasn't as authentic.  The company's story wasn't being delivered authentically, so the company discovered a need to standardize its narrative. The more tactical problem was that without face-to-face meetings, the sellers couldn't make pitches. The presentations got postponed.  Small organizations that only have three interested prospects will struggle if they aren't able to meet with two of them for weeks or even months. That's catastrophic.  Finally, they discovered that even if they could meet someone within a prospective company, it was often difficult to schedule meetings with the decision-makers.  How do we establish our product or service or value proposition? And how do we do it so that our prospect isn't rushed?    Creating experience PitchLink worked to create an experience that was as close to face-to-face as possible without actually being face-to-face. It could never be exactly the same but they worked to create a system that allowed room for narratives and questions. They built a tool that allows users to link up any kind of file format like a playlist.  So imagine how you would pitch to a prospect about your product. Just as you would start by greeting the prospect and thanking him for the time, you can record audio or video of the same personalized introduction. The moment the prospect clicks the link, he immediately sees the personalized greeting.  Your pitch will include the pitch, the scenario, a demo, and a comparison with competitors. All the elements of a typical pitch can be packaged into a single product and sent as a link to your prospects. You can effectively do all the things you would do in person by way of this link.    Freedom These packaged presentations free your prospects to consume your information when they have the time and mental capacity to do so. They'll also be free to engage with specific parts of your presentation multiple times if necessary.  Once they've done that, they can decide whether the product is right for them, and then invite others to view it. All invitees see the ame pitch on the same interface and they can ask questions within this interface. All users can see the questions asked and the answers that were given.  Everyone is always on the same page.  Clients are busy and focused on other things. The way we sold in the past won't always work, so we have to evaluate new options and provide them in a way that's best for the prospects. #SalesEvolution   Sales myths The biggest myth perpetuated on us is that great sales guys close deals. Suhanjan believes that sales are closed by the buyer who finally signs the deal. He believes that sellers must respect that shift.  The buyer is in control of the process, so we must rethink the way we talk about value transaction. Sales has evolved so much that perhaps we can't even talk about sales anymore.    “Changing Rules for Sales Tools” episode resources You can connect with Subhanjan Sarkar on LinkedIn and at PitchLink, where you can also sign up for a free trial. Listeners of The Sales Evangelist podcast will get 120 days free instead of the 90 days that everyone else gets.  If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there. I'm fairly easy to connect with. Just comment on something about my podcast. Send me an email. You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group. If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561) 578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program. This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. When you share your experiences with the show, others will read the reviews and give us a listen. I truly appreciate you and appreciate your reviews and your subscription, and your willingness to tell your friends and anyone you know that's in sales about the podcast. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Instead of pushing your message out to your prospects in hopes that they'll latch on, sellers can make their message magnetic and practice better selling through storytelling.    John Livesay is known as the “pitch whisperer” because he helps people become compelling storytellers. Plato said stories rule the world, and it's still true, except 2,600 years later, we have many distractions that he didn't have.    Push and pull   Pushing your message out to sell a product or service just doesn't work anymore. The new technique is to pull people in with great stories. John's work as a storyteller began at an ad agency where he was tasked with creating 30-second commercials for movies. He discovered the need to tell a concise story that made people want to see the movie.    During a stint in Silicon Valley, he competed against IBM and other massive companies to sell technical products. He realized that if you confuse people, they say no. But you can pull people in by telling the story of what the technology does.   His work culminated in a career selling ads for Conde Nast magazine, where he had to bring to life the vision of a particular brand to a particular advertiser so they could see why their brand would resonate with the stories being told in the magazine.      Self-esteem roller coaster   John points to the fact that sellers tend to feel good about themselves only when their numbers are up. When they're down, self-esteem suffers.    He recognized his sense that he had to constantly push information out, which was exhausting. Even worse, if you're pushing and trying without getting anything in return, you end up feeling bad about the whole process.    Good storytellers allow people to see themselves in the story, which makes the message magnetic. When you become a better storyteller, people want to take your calls and open your emails. #MagneticMessage    Campfires   The glow of PowerPoint has replaced the glow of campfires, and we often sit in meetings where someone reads to us from a slide. Don't do that. Nobody wants to be read to. John suggests using a series of images from which you can tell a story.    Stories work because of our right-brain, left-brain way of processing information. If you're buying a car, when the seller shares how many miles-per-gallon it gets, you cross your arms and prepare to negotiate on price. But if you say, “Donald, let me tell you a story of someone like you who bought this car and how it changed his life,” you'll pull the buyer into the story.    People buy emotionally and then back their decision up with logic.    Sellers who deal in Ferraris don't talk about miles-per-gallon. They sell the emotion of driving a sexy car. People buy emotionally, and storytelling is the best way to tap into people's emotions.    If you tug at people's heartstrings, they open their purse strings.     Sales outreach   John recently worked with Honeywell on the sales of technical products that keep the air clean inside operating rooms. The team talked a lot about the technology and the specifications and how it was better than what the competition had to offer.    The real story is what happens if the air isn't clean in the operating room. The patient gets an infection and has to be readmitted for additional surgeries.    Just about every seller has a case study or testimonial of some sort that can form the basis of a good story.    Paint a picture   Some sellers use before-and-after pictures to sell their product or service, accompanied by a bunch of facts. There's no emotion or story.    A good story has exposition and it paints a picture of the work you did with a previous client. It marries the who, what, when, where, and why of a client with the problem you were solving. It demonstrates how much better life is for your client after he works with you.   But you are never the hero in the story. Tell your story so that the client can see himself in your story. It will make your closing very different because the client will want to take that journey with you.    Tell a story with specifics, and be sure to include the drama that happened along the way.    Presentations   Most sellers make the mistake of having too many words in their PowerPoint presentations, and failing to think about what their opening will be. Thanking them for the opportunity to be there isn't memorable because everyone does it. The fact that you're excited isn't what excites your clients.   Whether you're pitching to fund a startup, to get hired, or to tell people why they want to work with you, use an opening that pulls people in. It's the most important part of any presentation.    Sellers often rely on ploys like presenting last in hopes that their presentation will be the most memorable, but the best story is going to get the sale. It doesn't matter what order you present in.    Sell yourself first, then sell your company, and then sell your product or service. Most people skip the first two. Tell a story about yourself, then about the company and its culture, and then how you help other people.    Elements of a story   Don't just tell the story of how you solved a problem for a client. Paint a picture of the resolution and what the client's life looks like now.    John recounted a client who was dropped into the Amazon jungle when he was 18 to survive for two weeks as a rite of passage. The entrepreneur shared the story of how his lessons in the Amazon jungle translated into the concrete jungle of entrepreneurship, and he got the funding he was looking for. His investors figured if he could survive in the Amazon, he'll figure out how to survive here.   Make yourself memorable and connect emotionally with your prospects. It gives you a tool in your toolbox that you don't normally have.   Three stories   Anytime you're starting out with this concept, ask yourself these questions:   How am I going to sell myself? Why did I take this job?  What's the company story of origin? What case study can I develop into a story that people will see themselves in?   Arthur Ash, tennis pro, said the key to success is confidence, and the key to confidence is preparation.   Episode resources   Grab a copy of John's book, Better Selling Through Storytelling. Text the word “pitch” to 66866 and John will send you a free chapter of the book that has a step-by-step process on moving from invisible to irresistible as a seller.    You're a savvy salesperson who wants to learn and grow. Check out audible for thousands of titles, plus a free 30-day trial, plus a free book.    If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there. I'm fairly easy to connect with. Just comment on something about my podcast. Send me an email.   You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group.   If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561) 578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program.   This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link.   I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. When you share your experiences with the show, others will read the reviews and give us a listen.   I truly appreciate you and appreciate your reviews and your subscription, and your willingness to tell your friends and anyone you know that's in sales about the podcast. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Sometimes sellers trust too much of our sales process to autopilot, and we lose sight of the fact that even the best sales tools can't replace you.    We get distracted from the things that matter most and we miss out on opportunities or ruin relationships because we forget the importance of the most important component of the sales process.    Sales tools   Sales tools help us promote or sell a product. They could include CRM, which helps us sell by allowing us to track information. These tools may help us understand more about the prospects who are working in the organizations we're pursuing.    Tools might include your email account, your LinkedIn Sales Navigator account, your BombBomb account, your cell phone, or your Hubspot tools. There are countless tools you can take advantage of that will help you promote or sell your products more effectively.    Sometimes I rely so heavily on those tools that I effectively take myself out of the cockpit. I'm unable to guide the sales process because I've trusted my tools to automate it.    Where to automate    Automation without oversight can leave room for errors.   While it's good to use tools like prospect.io to automate your outreach, the problem emerges when we fail to personalize the process. If we set up generic emails and then blast them to hundreds of different people, you won't get the results you're seeking. People can immediately sniff out bulk outreach.    If you rely on it, you'll discover that very few people read your emails and even fewer responded. You may even discover that some unsubscribed from your communications.    On the other hand, if you use merge tags to personalize your messages and you focus on a specific industry and you address a specific problem that this industry faces, you can create a message that speaks directly to that industry.    Reaching out    While I'm emailing these prospects, I'll also reach out to them on LInkedIn via an invite, and I'll comment on some of their relevant content. I'll also use personal phone calls as well as text messages or possibly even Twitter.    Unlike the generic situation which was devoid of my personal involvement, this option leaves room for my own personality. The prospects have a chance to interact with me in different settings because I'm actively involved. I'm present, and I'm overseeing the process.   People want to be treated personally.    Don't lose focus on the human side of your connections. Make sure to differentiate yourself from the competition.    “Sales Tools Can't Replace You” episode resources   You're a savvy salesperson who wants to learn and grow. Check out audible for thousands of titles, plus a free 30-day trial, plus a free book.    If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there. I'm fairly easy to connect with. Just comment on something about my podcast. Send me an email.   You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group.   If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561) 578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program.   This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link.   I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. When you share your experiences with the show, others will read the reviews and give us a listen.   I truly appreciate you and appreciate your reviews and your subscription, and your willingness to tell your friends and anyone you know that's in sales about the podcast. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

If you're not already harnessing LinkedIn to develop a consistent stream of quality leads, you're missing out on more referrals, possible testimonies, and a powerful prospecting tool.    Mike Jones owns and operates a local Sandler Training franchise where he works with sales leaders and salespeople in those cultures to develop nontraditional ways of prospecting and selling. He has the privilege of seeing best practices and working intimately with sales culture. He loves the experience of moving between industries and geographies to see what the consistent themes of success are.    Utilizing LinkedIn   Sellers must take advantage of LinkedIn, but many people use it wrong.    They often don't understand LinkedIn's power to get to the right person. It's difficult to connect with the right person, but LinkedIn gives people the ability to determine who they need to be talking to.    There is power in connections. If you aren't using it to find the right people in the organizations you're connecting with, you aren't using it to its full capabilities.    There's two kinds of prospecting.    Active prospecting, which includes developing daily behavioral metrics about how many conversations you want to have, how many appointments you want to have, and how many existing clients you should be reaching out to. Activity always precedes outcome. If I can dial in my activity and monitor it and compare it to a monthly revenue goal, that allows me to make strategic behavioral changes. Whatever outcome you're seeking, you have a system perfectly designed to give you that outcome. If you want a better outcome, analyze what you're doing from a behavioral standpoint in order to achieve that outcome. It's a form of prospecting that provides real-time decisions, and it gets immediate results.    Passive prospecting doesn't provide immediate results. If, for example, you work 250 days a year and your prospecting system requires you to send out 10 emails, either directly to a prospect or a contact in LinkedIn, asking for an introduction. Over a year, that's 2,500 prospecting attempts every year. In today's business culture, it works and you're missing an opportunity if you aren't seizing it.    Thinking about now   Sometimes, as sellers, we get so focused on the now that we forget to focus on the future. In the early days of my sales career, I was guilty of it, too. Every phone call you make doesn't have to result in an immediate close.    We may even make the mistake of prospecting to convince people, and that creates a lot of pressure. Instead, identify what kind of prospect is in front of you.    There are four distinct mindsets that prospects have.    They have a need they know about.  They're comfortable and they aren't making any changes. They are willing to make changes in order to have a better return on investment. They're arrogant.    We can only help number one and number three. Numbers two and four will communicate with a salesperson differently. Instead of trying to convince, try to determine which of the four you're dealing with. It will help you understand whether they're open-minded about it.    Prospect's mindset   Don't give up too early. When a salesperson reaches out to a prospect, they're trying to change the prospect's mindset and alter what they believe.    Be consistently persistent. Develop a cadence that falls somewhere between “I'm bugging someone” and “I'm ineffective.” Prospecting takes time and sellers must stop looking at their monthly revenue as the barometer for success. We do it because we think that's how the game needs to be played.    Realize that your individual metrics and your revenue are important, but you don't get a pass on your prospecting simply because you hit your revenue. Failure to prospect will impact you months from now. You must manage your calendar to make sure you can service the people you're selling as well as your future prospects.    LinkedIn content   LinkedIn is a huge tool for marketing and it's designed to help people think and share different ideas and insights.   You must give to get, and you must be a giver. Life is an open book test and we should be cheating off each other. #give   When we look to give back, we'll get stuff in return. The more you give, the more the people who want your help will come to you.    If you're a giver and you're prospecting, you're giving so much great information. They'll keep coming back to you.    Introductions   Many salespeople don't do enough to leverage their connections in order to get introductions, which is probably a better word than referral. Probably 20 percent of your clients will provide an introduction without being prompted to. They like to connect people.    At the same time, there are probably the same number who don't like doing it. The 60 percent in the middle will do it if someone asks them to. We just have to become proactive and make it part of our process.   The best time to ask for an introduction is when the prospect realizes that he got his value and he's happy. If you've already found a process that works, don't change it. But if you aren't having success asking for introductions, wait until the buyer realizes what they have in value.    It also probably depends on the type of product you're selling.    Team behaviors    Figure out what behaviors your team should be doing and build some healthy accountability around those things. It's easier to coach people who have individual belief systems and business acumen. Based upon metrics, you can give unique instruction to each person.    Make sure to have a direct line to the decision maker in the company you are pursuing, and build it around a story. In other words, figure out a common connection to the person you're trying to connect with and use that. That connection is much more likely to be successful than cold outreach will.    Don't wing it. Use your KPIs and other metrics to get prepared. Good sellers won't sabotage their efforts or be lazy. They'll want to do something that will help them earn more money.    Finally, get your life “why-dialed in.” Figure out why you get out of bed in the morning, because that's your source of power. If you don't have your life “why-dialed in,” you'll go through the motions and it will be mundane and boring.    Evaluate your patterns and habits. Are you getting the habits and outcome that you're looking for? Sales is a purposeful, predictable event. If you're serious about what you're doing and how you're doing it, you can track and measure your output and change it.    “Harnessing LinkedIn” episode resources You can find Mike on LinkedIn or you can connect with Sandler Training by The Ruby Group. Visit Sandler Training to connect with someone in your own area.    If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there.   You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group.   If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561) 578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program.   This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link.   Take advantage of a 30-day free trial, including a free book of your choice, at audible.com/tse. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. When you share your experiences with the show, others will read the reviews and give us a listen.   I truly appreciate you and appreciate your reviews and your subscription, and your willingness to tell your friends and anyone you know that's in sales about the podcast. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Many sellers assume that experience makes them good at building valuable relationships, but there's an art to tactically leveraging relationships to land your biggest customers.   Zvi Band is the co-founder and CEO of Contactually, a relationship-oriented CRM designed to help businesses build and maintain relationships with their networks. He was an introvert in college who hardly ever left his room, but that was before he discovered that relationships would be his best asset. He is the author of the book Success is in Your Sphere.   Sharpen your tools   Zvi recognized the need for Contactually because he would connect with people and then lose track of them and miss the opportunity. It wasn't that he was doing a bad job. He was simply so focused on working hard for his existing clients that he lost touch.   To measure the strength of your network, he recommends opening any social media tool and considering whether your network would come to your side if you asked for something simple like $20. Then, if you truly believe your relationships are your most important asset, what are you actually doing to nurture those relationships those won't pay dividends next week but might in the coming months or years?   For most people, the answer is, “Not too much.”   Tactically leverage relationships   The goal should be to build and nurture personal, authentic relationships without any necessary plan or intent. Then, they'll call us when they're ready to buy. Or if we call them, they'll pick up the phone.    The problem is that sometimes, we aren't necessarily sure who is important in our relationships or what our goals are. We must begin by figuring out what we're trying to accomplish. Are you trying to increase the number of referrals? Increase your close rate or your repeat business? Looking for an entirely different job or different career steps?    Clearly identify your goals and then develop everything else to ladder up to those goals.    Always take a step back and ask what you're really trying to do.    Nurture opportunities    If you're going to conferences and meetings, you're likely trying to nurture the opportunities that emerge there. But rather than connecting with everyone there, determine who is there and who you should be working with. For Zvi, that intentional decision shifted who he engaged with when he went to those events.    The worst thing we can do is walk in with a set of business cards and have conversations that will never turn into anything real for either party. Those business cards get lost in the washer and you've wasted time that could have gone to people you could truly serve.    Once you've identified who you want to connect with, develop a cadence to make sure you're staying top of mind. Follow their social media and watch for news about their company. Don't be afraid to tell your connections that you're simply working to stay in touch.    Value and service   Don't assume follow-up is most important. Focus on value and being of service to someone. The best way we can get what we want in life is by helping others get what they want. That way, as soon as the moment comes where your contact needs what you have, he'll immediately think of you.    When Zvi was nurturing sales opportunities with large brokerages, he wasn't necessarily trying to pitch them on the value of software. Understand more about the prospect's business. Work to understand challenges and identify other existing customers who experienced the same issues.    Work to show your prospect that you aren't simply trying to get a dollar. You're trying to build a successful relationship that will ultimately benefit both of you.    “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” -- Zig Ziglar   Technological age   Technology allows us to connect with so many different people, but the problem is that it does the same for everyone else. That means your customers are being flooded with other ideas and messages. We have to find a way to build personal, authentic relationships.    Realize that being a nice guy isn't enough to produce business opportunities for you. People have to know what you're looking for.    Zvi recalls that he was looking for a CPA recently and one of his friends mentioned that a guy they know well was a CPA. Though he knew the guy well, he wasn't aware that he was a CPA. Make sure your audience understands the skills you bring to the table.    Relationships assets   What strategies are you willing to put in place to grow this relationship asset? After all, these assets are just like the dollars in our bank account. We can invest in the asset. It can go up or down. We have to put strategies in place to make sure we're growing that asset.    There was a time when “always be closing” was the mantra. Now, though, our role has switched to a subscription based business so it isn't just about selling. It's about building and nurturing a relationship. Reputation matters and referrals matter.    If a company brings on a customer that won't result in a successful relationship, that's bad for everyone involved. We aren't just trying to get a deal; we're trying to get a partner. #SalesPartner   Capital strategy   The best thing you can do is ensure you have time to build relationships. That can be as simple as blocking time in your calendar to build relationships. You don't respond to email or text during that time. You nurture authentic relationships with people who aren't at the top of your inbox.    Consistent. Establish a strategy and do it regularly.  Aggregated. Collect all your relationships in one place like CRM or spreadsheet. Prioritizing. Identify which relationships are most relevant. Investigate. Gain intelligence into your relationships.  Timely. Make sure you're staying in touch over a certain amount of time. Adding value. Don't simply follow up.  Leverage. Do whatever you can to make it simple.    The CAPITAL strategy ties them all together with a bow. It allows us to understand how all these parts connect together.    Long-term numbers   Avoid the temptation to focus solely on numbers. If you're going to think about them, focus on long-term numbers. Look at touch points and engagement to make sure your reps are staying on value and touching base with clients.    Nurture those relationships to stay top of mind.    Relationships are our most important asset so ask yourself what you could be doing today, tomorrow, or next week to develop that asset.    “Tactically Leveraging Relationships to Land Your Biggest Customers” episode resources    Check out Zvi's book, Success is in Your Sphere and hare it with another relationship professional that would benefit from it. All proceeds from the book's sale go to charity.    If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there.   You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group.   If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561) 578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program.   This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link.   Take advantage of a 30-day free trial, including a free book of your choice, at audible.com/tse. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. When you share your experiences with the show, others will read the reviews and give us a listen.   I truly appreciate you and appreciate your reviews and your subscription, and your willingness to tell your friends and anyone you know that's in sales about the podcast. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

 We've all encountered price wars against the lowest bidder, but today we're going to talk about how you can stand your ground, protect your margins, and earn the price that you're worth and how that will help you grow your business.   Chris Perry works with Market Sense, a Sandler Training franchise, that helps business attrackt, assess, hire, and on-board world class sales people.   Great ideas   There are lots of great ideas in the world. Many businesses have built things that they are excited about and proud of, and eventually others notice that they are making a lot of money doing it. So they jump into the game.   Suddenly options exist where they didn't before, and consumers, whether they are B2B or B2C, don't know how to differentiate between them. Many of them fall back to the cheapest option.   If we fall into that trap, the buying process becomes all about price, and we're forced to trade dollars for deals. We must cut our prices, and that's a slippery slope. It's also a great way to go out of business.   Consumers will treat you like a commodity if you allow them to.   Money mindset   Attitude makes a big difference in this scenario, because the salesperson's mindset plays a huge part in price. Human beings are trained to seek deals and discounts. Chris' company runs a lot of assessments on salespeople and they've discovered a lot of what they call money tolerance issues.   We all grow up with different relationships to money, with some of us believing it's rude to talk about it. Others are taught to pinch every penny, while still others believe there is always more money available. Whether it's conscious or not, we have a bunch of recordings playing in our heads. Those recordings impact our money conversations.   If, for example, a seller grows up believing it's rude to discuss money, he'll be less comfortable talking about it. He'll likely wait until the last possible moment to address cost, because he assumes the prospects are uncomfortable talking about it, too. Waiting until the presentation to discuss price can be a recipe for disaster for sellers.   Sellers who believe that $500 is a huge purchasing decision, but who are selling $50,000 solutions, will be nervous about the price discussion. They'll sweat a little extra, and the prospects will see that anxiety and they'll assume the seller doesn't believe in the product. They might also perceive that there's room to negotiate price.   Recognizing value   The key is to change the way you perceive your value so you don't undersell yourself or your product. If you do, you've already lost before you even get started. You must believe in yourself and your product.   The truth is that it's hard to change someone's mindset. People won't generally understand their worth simply by listening to a podcast, no matter how good it is. Chris recommends that you begin by acknowledging your mindset. Figure out which relationship you have with money and then leave it in the car.   When you go on a sales call, your relationship with money shouldn't matter. Focus instead on the prospect and figure out her relationship with money. That's the conversation that matters.   Behaviors   There are many aspects to behavior: having a goal, developing a plan to accomplish the goal, and establishing activities that get you to those goals. But with regard to budget discussions, we must be more consistent in knowing when and where to discuss pricing.   We're typically mentioning it too early, before we've helped the prospects understand the value, or too late, when they've already got some idea of what they should be paying. Many sellers are winging this aspect of their sales process.   Have a plan. Develop milestones for your sales process. Have an idea of things you have to check off before you move to the next step. If you could establish just a bit of organization, if you could figure out the key steps in your sales process, you could map it out and figure out where the budget discussion should fall.   Then stick to your guns. Don't allow the prospect to pull you into a discussion you aren't ready to have yet. Many people routinely argue that the prospect is always right, so we must follow where they lead. Your role is to help your prospect, so you have to explain that it's irresponsible to sell something or provide a quote without understanding what he needs.   Sales conversations   In a world where prospects see all alternatives as basically the same, with price as the only differentiator, the one thing that remains within our control is how we sell. Our sales conversations make a huge difference. If we're doing like many reps and choosing the “showing up and throwing up,” option, dumping features and benefits and then giving a price, we're missing an opportunity.   Differentiate by slowing down and asking good questions. When the prospect asks for price, push back a bit in a compassionate, professional way. Ensure that you want to make sure you're both a fit before moving forward to price. The prospect will appreciate your effort to understand his world.   Pricing objections   In a scenario where you aren't the cheapest option, what should you do? This is likely where most sellers could use a little help. We know our product or service but we don't know the prospect's world. But the prospect is evaluating us on how we fit into their world.   In that sense, the prospect is best equipped to resolve those objections. We have to ask the right questions to get to that discussion.   So once we've run our sales conversation, asked the right questions, sought to understand the prospect's world, and talked a little bit about budget, it's important to acknowledge the issue of price.   “Hey, Donald, you know, I've really appreciated the opportunity to talk with you about your world and how our services might help, but we've got a problem. My guess is you're probably going to be talking to other folks to see how they might help as well. I get it. I'd probably do the same thing. The problem is if you compare us on price, I can almost guarantee we're going to be the highest bidder. So my question is for you, if you were me, would you still put together a quote?”   If they agree to a quote, ask this: “What do you need to see from someone to compel you to pay a premium?” Now we're figuring out what the prospect needs to see to make it worth paying more. Chances are the prospect hasn't thought about this before, so now he's selling himself on value.   If the prospect says no to a quote, then you can acknowledge that perhaps you aren't a fit, but you can still ask what the prospect would need to see in order to make a decision based upon something other than price.   Continuing the conversation   Now, whatever the prospect says, you're continuing the conversation. If they need on-time deliveries or fantastic customer service, you can continue the discussion. You'll move from being an order-taker to a problem solver. You'll also sound confident in your discussion because you aren't desperate.   These things won't work if you don't believe in your product or if your pipeline is anemic. Having a full pipeline cures most ailments. If you don't absolutely need this deal, your technique can be a lot stronger.   Don't try to do this on the fly. Sit with your manager or someone on your team and practice this stuff. Practice fielding tough questions. Practice handling pricing objections. Practice handling conversations where the prospect immediately asks about price. If you do, when you find yourself in thoe scenarios, it's second-nature rather than something you fumble through.   “Protect Your Margins” episode resources   Sandler Trainers are worldwide, so you can always look for a local office to help you. If you're in Austin, connect with Chris at their website, ms.sandler.com. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn to see the videos and articles he shares there.   If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there.   You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group.   If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561) 578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program.   This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link.   Take advantage of a 30-day free trial, including a free book of your choice, at audible.com/tse. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. When you share your experiences with the show, others will read the reviews and give us a listen.   I truly appreciate you and appreciate your reviews and your subscription, and your willingness to tell your friends and anyone you know that's in sales about the podcast.   Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Donald C. Kelly is THE Sales Evangelist. As one of the leading figures in the sales industry, a sales coach and the host of his own podcast “The $ales Evangelist”, Donald has spent 5 years both learning and discussing the different ways in which our industry has changed, in addition to the experiences of different sales leaders from around the globe. Donald is truly an inspirational guy, and someone to look up to for the mindset and attitude he brings to work each day. This episode is packed with loads of great content about mindset and awesome stories about Donald's podcast. As you listen to this episode, consider your mindset, how you show up every day and what you could be doing right now to become the next sales gun in your organisation. Where you can find Donald: – https://www.linkedin.com/in/donaldckelly/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/donaldckelly/) – https://twitter.com/DonaldCKelly (https://twitter.com/DonaldCKelly) – https://thesalesevangelist.com (https://thesalesevangelist.com) Timestamps:[02:40] – Donald and Luigi discuss their podcasts and the effort that goes into making them [05:25] – Donald shares his journey into sales [08:00] – What made Donald's father such a big influence in his career [10:50] – What inspired Donald to start “The $ales Evangelist” podcast? [15:00] – Moments Donald looked back and thought ‘What an episode!' [17:30] – Common traits and skills of high performers [23:40] – How Donald breaks out of a negative mindset [30:20] – The importance of having a morning routine and a positive mindset [39:00] – The little things that make a high performer stand out above the rest of the crowd [43:30] – What Donald would have done differently [46:10] – Sales: an art or science? [Luigi at it again!! Ed] [48:00] – Where you can find Donald

We consume information from a variety of platforms, so we have to connect with prospects from different angles using **omnichannel outreach**. We have to find our audience where they happen to be listening. Mark Kasoglow is the VP of Sales at Outreach, a sales engagement channel, and he's explaining today how sales reps can include omnichannel outreach in their efforts. His passion is developing people and creating a winning, fun, positive atmosphere where people are inspired to do their best. He said if you are going to have a hard worker, they have to enjoy work. That doesn't mean you have to enjoy what you do. It means you enjoy working and you're likely always tinkering around the house. His dad taught him that if you make people's work easy, they'll work hard for you. To that end, he tries to make people's work easier so they'll work harder. ##What is omnichannel? Consider the following questions as you're considering what omnichannel is. Do you answer the phone when someone calls? Do you reply to every email you receive? Will you sometimes engage with people who contact you on social media? Will you sometimes talk with people who stop by your home or office to sell something? That's omnichannel. As humans, we engage with people in many different ways depending on our mood or their approach or the channel. The point of omnichannel outreach is to meet people where they are. People have preferred methods of communication, and by limiting yourself to a single channel you're excluding a large number of people. You're missing out on a growing audience. Because your audience is all over the place and they communicate in different ways, you have to do the same. #omnichannel ##Overthinking omnichannel Many people don't understand how to use omnichannel. With social, for example, if I'm targeting you on [social media](https://thesalesevangelist.com/episode846/), I'd begin by following you. Then I'd read your posts and engage in activity to let you know that I'm interested in you as a human and in the things you're doing. After I've built an online social relationship, the person I'm targeting should understand a little bit of why I'm interacting with them. At that point, you can reach out with a value pitch or something that helps people understand what you're offering. As humans and nonsellers, we do this kind of stuff all the time very naturally, but then when we bring it to our careers and the way we make money, we get weird about it. We do stupid stuff that we would never do as a normal human. But the truth is that if you engage professionally on social media the same way you engage on your personal pages, you'll be a great social seller. ##Beginning with omnichannel Sales managers who hear this may wonder how to introduce these concepts without disrupting the success their team members are already having. Admittedly it's difficult to introduce change while trying to avoid disrupting the status quo. At Outreach, the teams begin with a hypothesis like, “I believe that by engaging with our top 10 accounts that we can create more meetings.” It's specific and measurable. Then they create a plan to go do that. Maybe set up a strike team of your best reps or a cross-section of different kinds of reps and have them run the same process. Then, using KPIs, measure their results against the control results. If there's a lift, then people will be happy to move to the new techniques. Realize that you cannot have people who conduct activities in different ways. There must be a workflow and process in place to ensure that you're measuring the process rather than the ability of the individual. In the end, you must have the guts to make a decision. The only sellers who should balk at this kind of change are those that live in the exact house that they want, who are driving the exact car that they want, and they are happy coming into work. If a seller fits that description, he's likely already making $10 million a year or he is lying to himself. ##Tracking results Sometimes our tracking processes do a fantastic job of motivating our activities, but they produce such a heavy cognitive load that teams spend more time managing them than they do in their sales activities. Mark equates sales to plate spinning, where you spin up a couple of people on Monday, and then spin a couple more on Tuesday and then again on Wednesday, but you have to return to the Monday people to keep them spinning. The problem is that you can only spin so many plates at a time. Technology allows you to add a motor to the stick that will keep the plate spinning until the motor runs out of gas. Technology helps you administer and run the system, and Outreach does exactly the same thing. ##Personalize Even if you're automating a system, you can build out processes that allow you to be personable. Include a first step that involves research to discover two or three specific things about your prospect. Then include those in your CRM and write an email based on those things you found. The first step should not be an automated email. Even if you send an automated email to 10,000 people and get 100responses back, you will have burned out 9,900 people by sending a generic email. Take your time and send personalized messages to a select group of people. ##Organization size Outreach works with single seller startups and huge companies like Adobe, Microsoft, and Amazon. The tool is meant to be flexible. The sweet spot is probably from 100-500 users; a company that is seeking to really nail down their scaling strategy. It's for those companies who can't afford to rely on the top 20 percent to carry the load for the other 80 percent. Your company must have a much more operational system driven way of selling. One of its secret sauces is its integration with SalesForce and Dynamics so that every action is logged into the CRM automatically. The tool uses a feature called Amplify that involves complex, futuristic machine learning. ##Machine learning As an example, the average percentage for out-of-office replies is 17 percent. So 1 in 5 of those responses will likely include the date the person will return, and the name and phone number of someone else in the organization who may even be higher in the organization. And most reps probably delete those emails despite all the good information that's in them. You're 46 percent less likely to book a meeting with someone if you contact them a second time when they're out of the office. Pair that information with the fact that the majority of those emails will include the contact information for another person on the team. Outreach has created machine learning that can read out-of-office replies. It reads the date of return in the email and offers an option to pause all communication until the recipient returns. It also notifies you of the other team member's contact information. With one click, you can address these issues. From the company's origins, they scanned emails and discovered 73,000 phone numbers in the email signature blocks. Of those contacts, only 23 percent of those were added to [CRM](https://thesalesevangelist.com/episode979/) by the reps. Seventy-seven percent of those were never captured. In 9 out of 10 deals, you end up talking with the person who was originally listed on that out-of-office email. And considering how much less likely you are to book a deal if you contact the person again while they are out of office, it's damaging your efforts if you don't read the out-of-office email. This helps you be more personable because you're not contacting the person continually while he's on vacation. ##Multiple channels If you aren't contacting people on multiple channels, you're limiting your ability to succeed. But don't go willy-nilly spending half your day on LinkedIn. It's a waste of time. Create a defined experiment with a hypothesis to test against, measure it, and see if you can get better at what matters by doing something different. If you can combine those two things, you can potentially improve your performance in two weeks. ##"Omnichannel Outreach" episode resources You can connect with Mark on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkosoglow/), where he's fairly active. He doesn't do Twitter, Facebook, or other social media. You can also connect with him at [outreach.io](https://www.outreach.io/) to book a demo and experience world-class inbound lead handling. Within two minutes you get a personalized email from a rep, and within 15 minutes, large companies get a phone call from a rep. If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at [Donald C. Kelly](https://www.linkedin.com/in/donaldckelly/) and watch the things I'm sharing there. You've heard us talk about the [TSE Certified Sales Training Program](https://thesalesevangelist.com/hustlers/), and we're offering the [first module free](https://the-sales-evangelist.teachable.com/courses/the-sales-evangelist/lectures/8879661) as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group. If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561) 578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program. This episode is also brought to you in part by [mailtag.io](https://www.mailtag.io/), a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. Take advantage of a 30-day free trial, including a free book of your choice, at [audible.com/tse](http://audible.com/tse). I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on [Apple Podcast](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/sales-evangelist-sales-training-sales-coaching-business/id788738885?mt=2), [Google Podcast](https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/I3glp3xlbzb65ib6k4d2332kqda), [Stitcher](https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/donald-kelly/the-sales-evangelist-sales-trainingspeakingbusiness-marketingdonald), or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. When you share your experiences with the show, others will read the reviews and give us a listen. I truly appreciate you and appreciate your reviews and your subscription, and your willingness to tell your friends and anyone you know that's in sales about the podcast. Audio provided by [Free SFX](http://freesfx.co.uk/) and [Bensound](http://www.bensound.com/).

We've all encountered the guy who attends events just to see what he can get for himself, but there are ways to effectively use networking events in your sales outreach efforts. You know the type: his conversations are one-sided because he's only focused on his next big opportunity, and he has no time to learn about your business. His pitch kicks in when he finds out you're a business owner. But he could have fixed his approach. And you can make sure you're not like him in your outreach. New clients No matter what type of sales you're in, you need to get clients in the hopper. The way you get new leads varies based upon your industry. Some demand door-to-door while others require phone calls. Today, we at The Sales Evangelist use social media and other efforts as well as networking events. Typically, at networking events, I encounter potential clients or people who can connect me with other people who are potential clients. Outreach done well can be very rewarding. But as we mentioned in the teaser, you can't become the obnoxious guy that others avoid. He may not even realize he's coming across that way. He has likely had just enough random success to believe that he's effective. But he could perform a lot better and gain more leads and opportunities if he changed his approach. Plan Before you attend a networking event, do your best to find out who will be there. Will the people there tie in with your demographic? Will they represent your ideal customer? It may be impossible to find out who will be there, but it's worth the effort to try. If you know the organizers, ask them about the top companies that will be represented there. If they give you names, research them before the actual event. Use tools like LinkedIn to gather data about those companies. Plan who you want to connect with at the event. Develop a short list. The spray-and-pray mentality that involves giving out 10,000 business cards doesn't look good. Instead, be intentional about the cards you give out. Broaden your reach Identify people you'd like to do business with as well as those who can become potential partners for you. Then, consider those who may not purchase directly from you but who can introduce you to other complementary partners. You could even consider connecting with those you consider competition. I've had a good working relationship with companies I compete with, and we were able to help each other out. Whether we're pursuing the same customers or different ones, it doesn't make sense to burn bridges unnecessarily. It's also good to identify people that you could potentially help. Be genuinely interested People don't necessarily care about you but everyone cares about their own problems. We're all trying to solve problems, so the obnoxious seller might do well to understand our challenges. Perhaps he should have been curious about our business and asked additional questions. Be sincere. You'll never have enough information to prescribe a solution if you don't listen. Ask questions. Then ask followup questions. We did a great episode with Bob Burg who gave us great insights on this issue. It's worth mentioning, too, that we're having a local sales meetup where Bob will be the guest speaker. We'll be talking about his book, The Go Giver. Bob recommends having a list of questions you can ask. Why did you get involved in this business? What's the biggest challenge you are seeing? This leads to deeper discussions that will help you identify issues. Simple message Be prepared for their questions. Don't begin by telling them what you have to offer, but be prepared for them to ask. Give a simple clean message that's no more than 30 seconds. Let him know what you do. Consider something like this: “We help small businesses who are interested in growth, build out a sales process that's actually going to help them increase revenue. We do this through consulting as well as through sales training.” This will lead to further discussion and it will open opportunities for you to talk more. It may even provide more time for you to pitch in front of the group. Jason Lynette, who appeared on episode 1081, gave a masterful message about situations where you have more time to share your message. Draw in the room Jason told a story of a murder. A woman came into his office with a horrible fear of bugs. She was a high-powered attorney who backed out of the case of a lifetime because she saw a cockroach in the courtroom. Within 10 days after their first meeting, she killed a housefly with her bare hands. Draw in the room. While everyone else shares what they have to offer, you demonstrate that you're a human. Entertain them. Share a story. Prove that you're someone they could work with. Connection Then you can ask whether or not they know others who might benefit from what you offer. Consider, too, whether you might be able to help them by identifying people who can benefit from their product or services. After the event, connect with all of those same people on LinkedIn. Remind them that you connected and nurture that relationship. Then you can utilize those connections to build your business. I shared this with you because I want to help. I don't want you to be that guy at a networking event. I want you to find more ideal customers. I want you to build stronger value. I want you to close more deals, but most importantly, I want to challenge you each and every single day to go out and do big things. “Effectively Use Networking Events In Your Sales Outreach Efforts” episode resources If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there. You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group. If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561) 578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program. This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. When you share your experiences with the show, others will read the reviews and give us a listen. I truly appreciate you and appreciate your reviews and your subscription, and your willingness to tell your friends and anyone you know that's in sales about the podcast. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Sellers often seek the path of least resistance, and if your programs aren't designed to incentivize them to sell, your sellers may game the system and engage in activities that won't help themselves or the company.  If you design your commission plans and your structures effectively, you'll create more effective sellers who feel like they've actually earned something and who will achieve wins more often.  Happy sellers As a sales leader, you know that your sales reps will make outbound calls and try to close deals. Your goal is to incentivize them to do their jobs. You want them to be happy. You also know that if they are earning something, they will feel good.  In the natural order of things, if they are doing well, they'll love working for you and the company will prosper as well.  Flawed incentives In her book, The Sales Development Playbook, Trish Bertuzzi lays out different concepts to help organizations develop the proper incentives. Sometimes companies design their incentives poorly so that reps are only encouraged to make phone calls.  Many reps will game that system because it doesn't measure anything meaningful to the company. If you're only counting activities, they'll figure out that all they have to do is make phone calls.  You know, though, that appointments lead to more deals. So if you're expecting an appointment every 20 phone calls, but your reps are simply calling and hanging up without having meaningful conversations, you won't likely achieve those appointments.  Commissions Trish points out that many companies promise great incentives but we neglect to clarify the actual process were seeking. We make promises about being able to “earn more than the CEO” without explaining our expectations.  We fail to tell them, for example, that the sales cycle is seven months long, so it will likely take them about three months to really get established. They probably won't make any real money until about 10 months into the process. Then it will take about 30 days beyond the close date for them to get their payout.  You can help them survive the long cycle by offering ways for the rep to win. Perhaps you'll provide a more competitive base because you realize it will take them a while to build a commission.  Set up for success Without a meaningful way to win, your sales reps may stick around for a few months and then move on to something else. Instead, set them up to succeed.  If you're talking about your BDRs, how can you give them an opportunity to make money? If your AEs earn 10 percent for a closed deal because you know it will be a while before they close a deal, they'll be eating pretty well. Your BDRs, on the other hand, earn only 1 percent, they'll have to wait a long cycle before they get their piece. How excited do you think your people will be to work hard in the cycle? What if you pay them per appointment set, but they get part at the beginning of the process and part at the back end of the process.  If you offer $10 for each appointment, they can earn $5 at the front and $5 at the back. If your reps set quality appointments with qualified prospects, they'll earn $5 at the beginning and $5 at the end. If the prospect isn't a quality one, they'll get the initial money but not the money at the end.  Then, if you realize that your sellers have a lot of rejected opportunities, you can determine that either the AE is doing something wrong or the BDR is. Once you determine which is the case, you can coach them to close those deals.   Hoarding appointments Here's the other challenge. Some sales reps will realize that they've already earned what they needed for a certain month and they make the decision to sit on other opportunities for the following month. They hang on to them to make sure they'll hit their numbers the next time.  Again, you can incentivize this. You can set an expectation of 20 leads per month, or five per week. If your reps hit that number, they will earn the full amount for those appointments. If your reps only land 16 appointments, their earnings will be pro-rated to reflect the shortfall.  If, on the other hand, some of your sellers exceed the 20 appointments, you can raise the amount they'll earn for quality appointments. They'll still get half at the front and half at the back.  Now everyone is happy because they are earning money throughout the process instead of starving until the deals close.  It's easier to keep a good seller than to start over again searching for new ones.  Make sure they eat Make sure your sellers have an opportunity to eat.  I'm a strong believer that if hire the right people, pay people right, coach them, and train them, they'll perform for you. But you also have to make sure they don't game the system. Make sure that everyone walks away with the sense that the process is fair.    "Incentivize them to sell" episode resources You can check out Trish Bertuzzi's book, The Sales Development Playbook, with a free trial of Audible. Check out the 30-day free trial to listen to the book for free.  If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there. You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group. If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561)578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program. This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. When you share your experiences with the show, others will read the reviews and give us a listen.   Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Asking questions and learning about the client is an accepted part of sales, but the key is assessing curiosity to optimize the performance of outbound sales reps. Alex Burg, who has a consultancy in curiosity quotient selling, focuses on leveraging mutual curiosity. He said isn't so much the case that sellers aren't thinking about curiosity, but rather that they are thinking about it too tactically.   Learning about clients Most sales methodologies are a bit too complicated and don't really require that much detail. Sellers don't need to write down 27 questions before they sit down with clients. They simply need to learn enough to ask intelligent, informed questions. By demonstrating your curiosity, you built rapport much more quickly. Stephen M.R. Covey wrote a book called Speed of Trust that reports a significant correlation between the development of trust and the pace of decision making. In other words, if you really want to accelerate your sales cycle, build trust. And the fastest way to build trust is to demonstrate curiosity. Types of curiosity Alex distinguishes between social curiosity, which is about people, and technical curiosity, which is about how things work. If you're in a transactional sales environment, you must focus on getting a decision made quickly. So too much open-ended curiosity could be detrimental. Begin by assessing what kind of sales organization and what kind of sales process you're engaged in. You also must know what sort of clients you're selling to. Then, assess your individuals and your organizations to determine whether you have the right characteristics to thrive in a particular sales environment. From there, you can assign or hire people based on their ability to deliver on those requirements. Assessments As an individual, a certain degree of introspection will help you determine whether sales even makes sense for you as a career. There are many assessments available that can help you determine whether you're epistemically curious with a general thirst for knowledge or perceptually curious with a desire to solve problems and fix things. If you're epistemically curious, you're well suited for long sales cycles, complex selling, and larger deal size. If you're more focused on getting it done today, you'll benefit more from a transactional sales environment. You'll get more satisfaction from quick decisions Leverage strengths Once we understand where people's strengths lie, leverage this information in the sales environment and then coach your team accordingly. The most important part of the sales process is the initial discovery. That's where you're qualifying the prospect. The thing you have the most control over is how you spend your time. Determine whether you even have a solution that makes sense for the prospect. If we can get a little better at driving rapport and a little better at collecting information, we can reduce the sales cycle. Imagine what it would do to your bottom line if you could shorten it from 6 months to 3. Creating questions You must begin by learning enough about the client to ask intelligent questions. Your leadership must also have a mindset that encourages curiosity. Make appropriate risk-taking acceptable. Many companies will say they want to develop a curious organization, but then they don't act that way. They focus more on mitigating risk than on allowing reasonable risk. Ask the tough questions that aren't always comfortable. Don't necessarily show up with a list of 15 questions. Instead, develop a list of the five most important questions and then focus your attention on those. Mindfulness Before you get on the phone with your clients, eliminate all distractions. Turn off your notifications on your phone so you can really listen to what the other person is saying. Don't simply go through the checklist. Focus on asking better questions. Realize, too, that if you learn from situations that you view as a mistake, then they aren't truly mistakes. They are learning journeys, and they aren't negative experiences. By demonstrating your interest in your prospect, you develop rapport, make the sales cycle more efficient, and hopefully shorten  Injecting curiosity Individual sellers can begin by learning the tools to become more curious. The big win, though, is when companies try to inject more curiosity into their organizations. Companies that are too internally focused and not client-centric make poor decisions. Alex recalls working for a company who sent a rep to get a deal signed by a prospect who was in the hospital following a heart attack. The key to long-term success is delivering great value to your clients. In order to do that, you must conduct yourself in a way that communicates your intent to deliver the best possible outcomes. Arm your people with tools to conduct themselves that way. Leverage technology to make sure your reps have the information they need at their fingertips. Judging intelligence People judge our intelligence and empathy by the questions we ask. As a seller, it's better to approach a client and ask about the issues that are most critical to the company's growth. Communicate to the client that you aren't throwing out a blanket solution. Base your proposed solution on what the expressed needs are. Come prepared. The primary reason clients become dissatisfied with sellers or that they don't buy is because the seller didn't care about them or their businesses. This seller deficit disorder happens when we propose solutions that aren't informed by knowledge about the client. We must make it painfully obvious that we understand the client's perspective so our solutions feels like something uniquely designed to solve their problems rather than something off-the-shelf. If you're a sales manager working inculcate more curiosity into your sales organization, offer tools that help your client and your salesforce be more curious. Then, when your people use them and find success, celebrate that and give them opportunity to share their stories. Embed ambassadors in your sales organizations. Don't forget this is about mutual curiosity. When you think you know enough about your clients, ask one more question. “Assessing Curiosity to Optimize the Performance of Outbound Sales Reps” episode resources You can connect with Alex via email at alex@cqselling.com  or on his website at www.cqselling.com where you can schedule an interview or a phone call. You can also call him at (770) 330-6221. If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there. You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group. If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561)578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program. This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.  

Sales is equal parts art and science and one of the keys to success is leveraging sales incentive data to increase performance and ROI.  Jason Atkins is the founder of 360 Insights, a software platform that enables large brands to execute all of their channel incentive strategies. Jason's company works with tens of thousands of salespeople who work for major brands and helps them get smarter and make data-driven decisions.  Critical data Many people believe that sellers must be born with the skillset to succeed. We believe that anyone with a desire to sell can succeed and get the proper training. Understanding data will help tremendously.  The art of sales deals with the relationships, the conversation handling, and dealing with objections. The science of sales revolves around data and activities.  Jason recalled hearing that we've created more data in the last year than in all of mankind combined. That kind of growth is exponential. Think about how much data that represents.  So how do you mine through the data and leverage the insights contained within it? How do you make the data actionable? Leveraging data Many companies believe that consumers buy products become of promotions or rebates. Jason's company doesn't believe that's always accurate. Their response to these situations is that they'll track the data and the consumer purchase information, and they'll figure out why the consumers bought what they did.  What they found was that the promotion was the fourth reason the consumer purchased. The number one reason was “because the sales guy told me to buy it.”  The question becomes why are you so focused on the promotion when you should be focused on the key drivers to the relationship? Consider how you're educating the buyer about your product? How are they ensured that you're the trusted advisor? Purchases are a big decision, and people often buy based upon advice from others. How are you leveraging that to ensure that you provide great advice? Status quo Many of us make choices based upon the status quo. Zig Ziglar tells a story that his wife always cut the ends off of the meatloaf without really knowing why. Turns out the meatloaf was always too big for the pan she had, but no one knew that's why she did it. Zig's wife just always cut the ends off.  In sales, we often do things because that's how our company has always done it. Instead, we should look at the data and determine what is actually most effective.  Jason's company always deals in context for the data. In the case of the meatloaf, no one had context for why the ends were cut off.  Determine the context for decisions that were made in the past, then look at the hypothesis of what we should be doing in the future. Then we can execute against that and then measure it.  Executing sales incentives One of the first keys is to understand why people sell what they sell. Jason's company started by interviewing 1,500 sales reps to determine why they sell what they sell. They determined that sellers do so because of quality, because of price point, because of brand, because they've been educated, to ensure happy customers, because they want to know what's in it for them, and because they of the relationship they have with the brand.  People don't want to sell something that isn't great. They like to buy something they've heard of before, so new brands often struggle.  Creating sales incentive Focus on building data around the data you have, and building context so you can get to better decisions.  Start by understanding the customer journey and the decisions that are made throughout that journey. Then align the incentives across the journey. At the end of the day, an incentive is just a motivation tactic to get to a specific action.  Incentives might include rebates that are perceived as price discounts, sales incentives that motivate a seller to keep a specific brand top of mind, or volume incentives to drive sales into locations.  If you want to run an incentive program, don't think about the incentive. Instead, think about the customer journey and identify opportunities to use incentives to drive actions.  Customer journey Many silos exist in larger companies. Certain teams in the company understand different components of the buyer's journey. It's really important to bring all those silos together to understand the complete journey.  In the early days of incentives, many companies intentionally made rebates difficult to submit in hopes that consumers wouldn't actually send them in. But in a digital and social age, that kind of program is problematic. Brands realized that this kind of program could backfire.  Jason's company saw a huge opportunity to step in and create an unbelievable experience for the consumer. Instead of a rebate being the last touch point a brand had with its consumers, the rebate should now be the basis of the next journey they have with you.  Many organizations have people now that understand all of the customer touch points so they can actually start to map them out.  Looking back and forward Think about insights and data in terms of looking backward and looking forward. Most companies look backward on a monthly or weekly basis. Jason's goal is to encourage companies to forecast so they can start to optimize as a company.  If someone comes to us with $1 million we can help them figure out what to do with it to drive sales.  Then imagine being a salesperson who has a conversation where you're talking to your customer about what's happening in his competitors' businesses. You can demonstrate the results the competitor is getting and the things they are doing. That's unbelievable data that can help your clients make better decisions.  You make money based on what you sell, so you can leverage data to sell more so your customers sell more. Everyone makes more money. #SalesData Model the masters There's plenty of material to read about leveraging data. Attend webinars and then model the masters. Find the people who are doing this the best and then model the activity they are doing.  When Jason launched his company, he discovered that there was one seller who earned more than $1 million in sales incentives from about five or six different brands over the course of a year. The person was crushing it because he saw a huge opportunity to move traditionally brick-and-mortar sales to online selling.  Look at the people who are doing things differently. Find those who are challenging the status quo. It takes tenacity to be successful as a seller.  Understand the customer journey from beginning to end. Understand the data that happens through the journey and then figure out how to leverage that.  "Leveraging Sales Incentive Data to Increase Performance and ROI" episode resources You can connect with Jason at 360Insights.com. He and his team love to talk to people and have great conversations about sales.   If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there. You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group. If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561)578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program. This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. 

You've likely heard the scenario before where an interviewer asks a seller to “Sell me this pen,” but how much value does this approach offer?? It's bad enough that you're already nervous about the interview, but if you're thrown into a situation where the director of sales asks you to sell him a pen when you really have very little information to start from, you may find yourself fumbling for something to say.  Features and benefits Sellers who don't know much about the product they are selling or the audience they are selling to usually revert to features and benefits. They sell the aspects of the product that they can see.  “It's comfortable.” “It has a good grip.” “It has a clicky thing and even a laser pointer. That's great for folks who do presentations.” “It writes smoothly and it isn't too expensive. In fact, it's cheaper than many of the pens on the market. And if you buy it today, I can throw in a notepad and a pocket protector.”  Why would people even do this test in the first place? Quick thinking People often conduct this test to see how well you think on your feet and how you perform under pressure. And though I can understand those motivations, this test won't truly work unless you're selling something that might be a consumer sale.  Typically, sellers aren't selling simple products like pens. Rather they are selling something like a software solution that is much more expensive and has a much longer sales cycle. In those cases, it won't matter as much how good you are with your words. You won't be able to persuade someone within one minute to buy your expensive product.  If you're selling inexpensive trinkets on the side of the road, it might just work. But if you're selling something with a significant price value, it won't.   Reviews  This idea might have provided a good judge of a seller's abilities in the 80s and 90s, but today's buyers rely on reviews. They are researching and asking friends and family for insights and input.  Today's buyers will prepare before they enter the arena.  So as a sales leader, what if you stopped using this unrealistic test and offered a better one? What if you gave your sellers a scenario and ask them to prepare for it?  Test your sellers to see whether they can find true problems or interesting facts, figures, or statistics that will help you win the deal. Determine whether the sellers will try to “wing it” instead of coming prepared.  Sales scenario You want a sales rep who is prepared, so use your interview opportunity to determine their ability to prepare. Ask your receptionist to send a scenario to the interviewees. Let them know they will be asked to role play a selling scenario like this.  Present a scenario in which a particular business owner has a certain set of challenges. He is already working with a particular vendor. The sellers' job is to show up prepared to understand the product and services and have a meaningful conversation selling this service to the business owner.  If the sales rep shows up with information about the company in-hand and prepared to have a meaningful discussion, you've likely found a good seller. If the seller shows up with the intention to “wing it,” you'll know what you're up against.  Selling pens The secret to successful selling lies with asking appropriate questions, even in the case of selling a pen. If you do use the pen test, expect your sellers to begin by finding out whether the buyer even needs a pen.It doesn't matter how much ink it will hold or how great the cap is if the seller doesn't need it.  Instead of spending the time pressuring the buyer to spend money on a pen, expect your sellers to begin by asking questions.  Meaningful questions about the buyer's situation will either qualify or disqualify the buyer. It will also communicate that the seller understands the buyer's actual situation. The seller will demonstrate a desire to identify the pain point and solve the problem.  Maybe the customer needs a computer more than a pen. Don't waste your time pitching a product the customer doesn't need.  Consultants Seek sellers who will serve as consultants rather than those who will try to trick the customers. Help the buyer feel like he is making a buying decision rather than being sold to.  Jeffrey Gitomer said that people love to buy but they hate to be sold to. Help your customers understand the true pain that exists and then help them solve it. If you do this, they'll evangelize about you and ultimately help you get more business.  Empower your sales reps to sell on their own. Teach them to become consultants who ask meaningful questions to identify challenges that the buyers may not even realize they have.  He'll be successful and he'll have great clients who love him.  If you create a meaningful scenario for your interviews, you'll have more meaningful discussions and dialogues and both parties will enjoy the process more.  Besides, we probably already have enough pens.      "Sell me this pen" episode resources If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there. You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group. If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561)578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program. This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. 

We're talking about key metrics this month, and today Shawn Finder talks about the key metrics to track in your outbound strategy that will help you be successful.  Shawn was a professional tennis player before he launched into entrepreneurship in the form of Autoklose, a company that automates the top of the sales funnels for sales representatives.     Cold calling Shawn divides outbound into three different categories: cold-calling, emailing, and database because your database is the engine that keeps that car moving. You must have at least two of those inside your outbound strategy.  Within those three categories, you'll have different metrics.  Cold calling will include dial-to-connection percentage, dials-to-appointment ratio, dials-to-opportunity, and dials-to-deal. When you're cold calling, if you're dialing 100 people but you're only reaching 5, that isn't very successful. Maybe you're dialing 100 and reaching 10 knowing that 3 of those will turn into prospects and one of those will close.  If you don't know those analytics, you're going to fail because the analytics keep you moving forward toward the right strategy.  Frustration Beyond simply tracking numbers, metrics can help you avoid frustration as a sales rep. Many sellers get frustrated if they send five emails but the person never responds or if they make 15 calls but never reach anyone.  If you know that every 50 calls you should be getting three opportunities, you'll benchmark your success to those numbers.  As an SDR or a sales rep, unless you know your metrics ahead of time, you're going to get frustrated if you think you're not getting results. Knowing the analytics before you start will help you approach your calls differently. Statistics Shawn has found over time that most people, to include account managers, don't look enough at the stats. As a result, they don't know what is good versus what is bad, or what is terrible versus what is great.  His company lists the weekly, monthly, and quarterly goals for each rep. They track forecast versus actual numbers. The goal is to make sure they know whether they are on par to hit quota, outperform quota, or underperform.  They use a whiteboard in addition to digital tracking because reps don't always visit the spreadsheets. When the reps see their names with their metrics on the board every time they walk into the office, it keeps them accountable. It helps them know what they have to do in order to achieve their numbers.  Important metrics  The dials-to-appointment ratio is important to Shawn because if he's paying a dialer, and he knows how much each appointment can be worth, and he knows how many appointments he has to have in order to close a deal, he can then determine the ROI on his expense.  If he's spending $4,000 on a dialer and earning $9,000, that $5,000 profit is the biggest ratio for him.  [Tweet "There's nothing wrong with trying new things, but if the concept isn't making you money, you must pivot and try something new. #pivot"] Email statistics For email statistics, consider open rates, click rates, and reply rates.  Open rates rely on your ability to convince someone to open your email. Most people spend a lot of time on the body of the email. Shawn suggests spending more time on the subject line and your first three seconds of the email. The number one reason is that 72 percent of people are opening emails on mobile phones. They only see your subject line and opening line.   Make your subject line three to five words, and do not talk about yourself in the first line of the email. If you want a high open rate, have a good subject line. Keep everything personalized. Try "Hi, first name." Another one he has used successfully is, "Hey Donald, Let's Have Coffee?"  Coffee works well because you're not selling. It's more casual.   Opening lines Consider what will make your prospects want to open the email you've sent.  If I can save your sales team five hours a day in prospecting would you give me 15 minutes? If I could fill your calendar with appointments, would you give me 15 minutes? Don't lead with information about you that the reader can find in your signature block.  Your first email should be a little longer, but the second and third emails should be shorter, no longer than four sentences. If they're longer, no one is reading them.  Keep it short and precise. Give value. Share case studies and stories and testimonials. Tell them how you'll solve their challenges.  Email success There's a difference between click rates and reply rates. When you send emails, have your CTA goal in your head. If your goal is to get a reply, make your reply rate a priority. If your goal is to get a click, then make that your priority.  Make it very simple for your end user.  Many people don't consider database part of the outbound effort but it corresponds well with your email and your phone. If you have inaccurate information in your database, you'll waste a lot of time.  For cold calling, if you have the wrong phone numbers, it will hurt your dial-to-deal ratio, as well as your dial-to-connection and your dial-to-appointment. If your data is wrong, your analytics will be wrong.   Verify database  If you want to make sure your emails aren't bouncing and they aren't catch all, have your emails verified before you actually do your campaign. Verification can be very cheap, as little as $20 for 1,000. Spend the money so you can focus on the 750 that are valid without wasting your time on the ones that aren't.  People change jobs frequently, so do your due diligence and verify the contact info.  Autoklose validates information real-time as you begin a campaign. The company offers a Chrome plugin that validates everything against LinkedIn to ensure that the person is still in the position. Having clean data is the engine to any of your outbound strategy campaigns.  Campaign tips Determine your metrics before you start your campaign so you have something to benchmark against. Identify the key metrics to track in your outbound strategy. Also, stop giving up after one to two calls. Recognize that it will take five to six touches. Integrate different strategies like social. Engage with your clients. Build relationships with them.   episode resources You can connect with Shawn via email at Shawn@autoklose.com or on the website, www.autoklose.com. If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there. You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group. The program includes 65 videos altogether, and we just completed a beta group that helped us improve the program and maximize the information in it. If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561)578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program. This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Donald C. Kelly of the Sales Evangelist podcast and I chat in front of a Linkedin Live audience about the evolution of buyers & sellers. - Check out his podcast, the Sales Evangelist https://thesalesevangelist.com/ - Connect with Donald on Linkedin https://LinkedIn.com/in/DonaldCKelly -  LIVE podcast on LinkedIn every Wed 10A & Thur 2P central Follow on Linkedin to tune in LIVE - For more info and to connect visit CatchKyle.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/dialedin/message

It seems counterintuitive in sales, but leading with your flaws can shorten the sales cycle and disarm your customers, ultimately leading you to better metrics. Todd Caponi was the chief revenue officer for a company called Power Reviews which helps retailers and brands collect and display ratings and reviews on their website. His time there caused him to rethink the way he leads sales organizations because he discovered that consumers were more likely to buy a product that had a 4.2 to 4.5 rating than a 5-star rating. Statistics show that 95 percent of consumers in the B2C world are looking at reviews before they buy. Of those, 82 percent are looking for negative reviews before buying. Todd wondered what might happen if the same notion could be applied to the B2B world. Pros and cons Todd embraced the idea of embracing the pros and cons and leading with them. He discovered that his first deal, which previously had a sales cycle of 6 months, closed within 4 weeks. They discovered that when you lead with your flaws, your sales cycle speeds up dramatically. You'll qualify deals faster and eliminate those deals that you probably weren't going to win anyway. Todd was in New York when his VP of sales called him to say the company had an inbound lead from an apparel brand that wanted to initiate an evaluation. The brand happened to be headquartered in NY, so Todd scheduled coffee with the senior vice president of e-commerce. The coffee meeting became a presentation instead, and the SVP got right to the point. Competitor is better He said that his company had been talking to Todd's competitor, and he wanted to know why Todd's company was better than the competitor. Todd figured he had nothing to lose, so he asked an unexpected question. “Do you mind if I tell you why the competitor is better?” He explained that the competitor had offerings that his own company didn't, so if he wasn't going to be able to meet their needs, he wanted to determine that quickly so both parties could move on. The room deflated. The guy clearly thought Todd was crazy, but he agreed to the idea. Todd talked about an add-on that the other company had but explained that his own company was focused on certain core beliefs. The SVP acknowledged that the add-on the competitor was offering wasn't a necessity for his company, so they moved on. Transparency Within 20 minutes, the SVP kicked everyone else out of the meeting and grabbed a folder that includes the company's budget for ratings and review software. He pointed to a number inside and asked Todd if he could hit that figure. The two engaged in a collaborative process that culminated in a deal a few weeks later. The company didn't initiate an evaluation. It simply chose Todd's company. He recounted that he had called Todd's competitor, who quickly went on a rant about the add-on that distinguished the two companies. Every time they led with their flaws, it completely disarmed their prospects. The company built its sales cycle on a foundation of trust and all of its metrics moved in a dramatically positive direction. Wired to resist Todd said that we're all wired to resist being sold to. As a buyer, he simply wants to be able to predict what his experience with a certain product will be like, and then to get the best deal he can. He said that a salesperson will demonstrate within the first five minutes whether he will be a great resource or push toward a sale even if it isn't what the buyer wants. People believe in authenticity and honesty. Many of them believe that there's a trade-off required so that in order to have authenticity and honesty, you will sacrifice results. But the data suggests otherwise. The data says that when you provide authenticity and honesty to your customers, you'll maximize your sales results. Truthfully, the era of hiding your flaws from your prospects is over. The proliferation of ratings and reviews has moved into the B2B area and it has become the way of the world. B2B buying behavior A company called Trust Radius just published a study of B2B buying behavior. The data demonstrated that B2B buyers are using reviews 56 percent of the time and analyst ratings only 24 percent of the time. Every year, reviews are climbing and independent studies are going down. Marketing is becoming less trustworthy and reviews are becoming the core that brings buyers to the table. Sellers must embrace that. It's counter-intuitive to most people to show weakness. Many sellers will listen to this and wonder why this works. Todd dug into the neuroscience of this and discovered that buyers make decisions using feeling and then back them up with logic. Logic is the justifying mechanism to emotional decisions. We are also wired to disbelieve anything that looks perfect. We are taught to seek the negative. A recent study reported that buyers in a typical purchase cycle spend 39 percent of their time talking to sellers and 61 percent of their time doing other homework. This includes research, reviews, and back-channel information. Utilizing levers In his book, Transparency Sale, Todd tells the story of a rep who was selling something to an oil company. He explained the concept of levers, which he has become famous for. If you search Google for tips on negotiating, you'll find countless pointers that destroy trust. It's like a Texas Hold ‘Em tournament. But if you want to build trust through the goal line, you lead with what is important to you as an organization. You create buyers who are actually able to negotiate their own deals. In the case of the oil company, Todd was pulled into a last-minute negotiation with a group of procurement people. Before they even started, he asked for permission to write four things on the board. He listed four levers on the whiteboard. Volume, or how much they buy Timing of cash, or how fast they pay Length of commitment, or how long they commit Timing of deal, or when they signed Discount The people in the meeting immediately asked for 30 percent off. Instead of offering to do 15 percent and initiating that song and dance, he acknowledged that it might be doable and then suggested using the four concepts on the board. These concepts represent four things Todd's company was willing to pay for in the form of a discount. The notion immediately disarmed the people in the meeting. “Commit to more technology and because that's valuable to us, we'll pay you in the form of a discount.” “Since we have a three-year commitment, pay us for years two and three and we'll pay you in the form of a discount.” “Extend your deal to five years and we'll discount an extra 5 percent for years four and five.” Todd's company got something in return for every dollar they gave away, and the oil company loved Todd's company at the end. Remember that you aren't negotiating hostages. You're negotiating agreements with products. Be upfront Commit to being as transparent as possible. Every person simply wants to feel that they've been heard and that they've gotten a good deal. Get rid of one-sidedness. You'll bring humanity back to the conversation. You'll have the confidence of interacting with people as human beings. So few companies have a framework for the way they negotiate. You could implement this concept right now. It doesn't require a three-day class. [Tweet "Transparency sells better than perfection. With the proliferation of feedback and reviews, transparency is a requirement. #SellerTransparency"] "Leading With Your Flaws" episode resources You can connect with Todd on LinkedIn or at his website, transparencysale.com. Grab a copy of his book, Transparency Sale. If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there. You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group. If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561)578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program. This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Sellers who want to succeed must ask themselves a vitally important question: Are you ready and prepared to have a value-rich conversation? I recently took a camping trip with my buddies to St. Louis, and though many of us were excited about the trip, we realized that being prepared was something completely different. Being ready for it suggests that you believe in your ability to get it done. Being prepared means having the proper equipment and gear to succeed.     Sales pitch    My friend Doug shared recently that many different sellers pitch his company, and though many of them are ready, most are not prepared. Sellers often feel excited about the sales pitch and the possibility that it could lead to great opportunities for their company.  If, however, they arrive unprepared, they'll be unable to identify the problem their prospects are facing. They won't have any idea about how to solve the problem for the client.  If our crew didn't prepare for our camping trip, we wouldn't have enough food and water to sustain our group. If we can't communicate with the folks who are scheduled to pick us up, we could quickly find ourselves in the midst of a disaster.  Understanding problems Imagine I sell office furniture and I'm excited to pitch our new sofas and standing desks to my prospects. I must be ready and prepared to address the person's business, how it operates, how it makes money, and the changes that exist within the industry.  If my client is facing higher prices because of the trade war with China, I have to understand that business problem and then offer ways to solve it. It's the same as going camping without enough drinking water. You're going to land yourself in a tough situation, and ultimately, you'll sound like every other sales rep.  Be prepared The same friend was working with a prospect when he discovered that he didn't understand enough about the prospect's industry. He started by researching the people who were going to attend his upcoming meeting. He researched each person on LinkedIn so he was prepared to have good conversations.  Next, he Googled the company's history so the prospect wouldn't have to educate him on it. And when the prospect asked him what he knew about the company, he was able to share the history. He also observed that many of the company's employees changed position from one department or role to another. That helped him have more meaningful conversations about the changes the company was facing.  His preparation set him apart from his competitors, many of whom show up expecting the prospect to provide this information for them. Buying cycle  "Research repeatedly shows that buyers are 50 to 60 percent through the buying cycle before they ever meet with you. The buyers are more prepared than ever, which means that sellers must do the same. These buyers come to the table with more understanding. They want to have meaningful conversations with companies that can solve their problems and offer great deals.  If you find yourself being dismissed often, it's likely that you didn't provide a value-rich conversation. If your prospects frequently offer to "follow up with you," you didn't provide compelling reasons for the prospect to engage with your company.  Competition Go a step further and research your main competition. Who is your prospect working with now? Who have they done business with in the past?  Uncover your competition's shortcomings and leverage that information to show how you can be the ideal solution.  Sometimes companies are in contracts with vendors but if you can create reasonable doubt, you can help the prospect realize that the current partner isn't the greatest fit.  "Ready and Prepared" episode resources   If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there. You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group.  If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561)578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program. This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

During our time at the Florida State Minority Supplier Development Council's expo, we've met a number of people who understand the secrets behind growing your business and creating value. Felix Bratslavsky works at Tampa General Hospital, a very large level-one trauma center that is number one in Florida for transplants. The organization has more than 8,000 employees but they still contract out much of their workload. Gilda Rosenberg started a vending machine company 35 years ago in Miami and she slowly grew it to include major clients like universities, schools, and hospitals. She calls her relationship with  the NMSDC a love affair that resulted in referrals, connections, and mentorship that helped her to grow her business. Partnerships Tampa General has a minority business program that breaks out the four procurement categories from construction and professional services to general goods and services, and medical services and supplies. The hospital has a lot of contracting opportunities and a lot of partners within the state of Florida and even nationwide. The Minority Business Enterprise program administered by the NMSDC recognizes for-profit businesses in the U.S. that are 51 percent owned, operated, capitalized, and controlled by minorities. Felix says that MBEs that want to stand out should strive to be a partner. Add value, be cost-efficient, and know about the customer. Understand the customers' goals, their missions, and where they're headed. Bring the solution to wherever your prospective customer is going. In the case of Tampa General, the hospital recently got a new CEO that is leading the organization down a different path. MBEs that want to engage should recognize that the business has changed paths and they should offer solutions that relate to the path the company is on. Be an expert in your own business. Instead of coming to the prospect with a variety of items, they should know the situation well enough to narrow the solution down the best possible option and lead with that one. Homework MBEs must do their homework and focus on preparation if they that want to get noticed. Organizations receive hundreds of emails every day, so generic outreach will generally get deleted. Learn the process to get on the vendor application and then build a relationship. Finally, come with solutions. Understand your business and their business well enough that you can have meaningful conversations about each. If you want to be the next partner, you should already know who your competitors are, and who your prospect is currently using and why they are using that company. You should know whether a contract exists, and whether it's up for renewal. Companies that do those things win opportunities. Differentiate Differentiate yourself by being prepared. When there are so many companies doing the same thing and offering the same service, you have to stand out. Maybe you stand out on price or on value or even additional services. Whatever it is, make sure that the corporations you're pursuing know what sets you apart. Finding the right people Gilda recalls asking a bank for a $5 million loan for vending machines and being treated as though she was crazy. She said that her connections through NMSDC helped her learn how to negotiate the loan process as she interacted with banking people and how to create bids from connecting with hospital CEOs. Her biggest challenge in the vending industry has been the labor force. Her first route driver stole from her, so she learned that she had to control inventories differently. As the industry grew into a technological one, she had to bring in geek squads. She also learned how to find the human resources that support your mission and your vision. She said that finding the right manpower still poses one of her greatest challenges even today. The company struggles to find loyal employees who stick around because small companies struggle to sustain high turnover. The cost of training is simply too high. NMSDC She experienced a huge lift when she was introduced to the minority certification program. Then, she slowly grew her network and interacted with larger organizations where she landed contracts. You must prove yourself to the client. She says the most incredible satisfaction comes from helping minorities nationwide. Her suppliers and equipment originate from minorities. And now newer companies want her to introduce them to other contacts. Gilda calls her mission a mission to help other minorities. She also calls NMSDC the best college she ever went to. Although she studied economics in college, she grew professionally among the members of the NMSDC. She learned to nurture others. [Tweet "The product and service aren't so important anymore. It's your personality and how you take care of your clients that matter most. #Differentiate"] Don't think twice about joining the council because there's nowhere better to network. The council's handholding helps businesses by taking extra steps to get you to the right people. And knowing the right people can be the key to growing your business and creating value. "Growing Your Business and Creating Value" episode resources You can connect with Felix at (813) 844-3474 or at fbratslavsky@tgh.org or go to the hospital website. You can connect with Gilda at gilda@gillyvending.com. Learn more about the National Minority Supplier Development Council and its offerings at the website, nmsdc.org. If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there. You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group. The program includes 65 videos altogether, and we just completed a beta group that helped us improve the program and maximize the information in it. If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561)578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program. This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Your brand tells your story when you're not in the room, and today Lindsay Pedersen shares tips for forging an ironclad brand with sales reps, entrepreneurs, and other business professionals.  Lindsay is a brand strategist who helps professionals identify the single idea that their business stands for. She's passionate about working with leaders to harness the power of brand every day.  Branding Brand is what you stand for in the mind of your audience. If your audience is a group of customers, it's the thing you mean to your customers. If it's future employers, it's what you mean to them. It's a crystallized meaning of what you uniquely bring to your audience.  [Tweet "When you stand for one idea, it's easier for your audience to grasp it than if you stand for multiple ideas. It's easier for a person to let one idea in. #branding"] When you spray a bunch of ideas out, it's harder for your audience to understand. It's in our interest for our audience to be able to understand because they'll be more like to remember us, like us, and talk about us.  It's up to us to make it easy by distilling it for them. Empathy We want to empathize and understand what it's like to be our customer. You and your company are not the center of the universe for that customer. They have many other things going on besides your value proposition.  When you crystallize it into something specific, it uses their worldview rather than their worldview. It makes it easier for them to buy what you're selling. Sometimes as businesses, we forget that we're not selling to a machine or an inanimate object. We're selling to humans with joys, sorrows, scarcities, worries, and pride. When they feel seen they are more likely to bond with you and want to do business with you.  Deconstructing brand One of Lindsay's motives for writing her book was people's widely varying definitions of brand. For some people, it's the name of the business. For others, it's the logo. Others assume it's related to marketing budget or television advertising.  She concluded that the concept was becoming problematic, and she wanted to demystify it.  There's some merit to all of those ideas, but she needed to bust the myths about what brand isn't. Otherwise, we'll keep having puzzling conversations where people aren't speaking the same language.  9 Criteria of ironclad brand Not all brand is created equally. You have a brand whether you deliberately created it or allowed it to be passively created.  If you aren't actively choosing the meaning, you won't have the brand position you want to have. A brand needs to be big enough to matter to your customer. A brand must be narrow enough that you own it.  Your brand must be asymmetrical so it uses your lopsided advantage to position you with your customer.   Your brand must be empathetic enough to address a deeply relevant human need.  It must be optimally distinct so it strikes a balance between being a familiar promise while also being novel.  It's a balance between functional and emotional so that it's rationally meaningful to your customer but also emotionally resonant.  Your brand must be a sharp-edged promise that is simple and singular.  It must have teeth and be demonstrably true.  Your brand must deliver on time, consistently, every time.  Vision When you think of sharp objects as they relate to your vision, those things are easier to see. Your eyes have to do less work.  Ease is good because when you ask less of your audience they are more likely to learn and remember. An example of this is the fact that people around the world associate the Volvo brand with safety. Same thing with Prius, because people think of fuel-efficient cars.  Buick doesn't have this sharp edge in its branding. If you're the CEO of Buick, how do you feel when your audience doesn't know what your brand means? Who even is the audience? The Buick salespeople have to do much more work than the Volvo or Prius salespeople.  Wide net We assume that if we can keep the door open without narrowing our message to a target customer that we'll appeal to everyone. The reality is that it's an illusion of an opportunity.  The more an entity puts a stake in the ground, the more authentic they are perceived to be. Customers won't trust companies who won't take a stand on anything.  People respect you more when you demonstrate what you're optimizing for.  The other thing is that developing a specific message might turn away the people you shouldn't be serving anyway, but that's ok because it's time and money you could devote to the people who are your target customers.  Mystique Remove the mystique of branding. You don't have to have a good handle on branding in order to intentionally craft your own brand.  Choose with crystal clarity who your target customer is, but don't just rely on demographic observations. What are they like? What keeps them up at night? What do they value in life?  This doesn't mean you don't sell to other people. It just means that you optimize with humility on your way to forging an ironclad brand.  "Forging An Ironclad Brand" episode resources Grab a copy of Lindsay's book Forging An Ironclad Brand. She also has a free giveaway on www.ironcladbrandstrategy.com. You can grab the workbook that Lindsay adapted from her book. It's a supplement that provides a step-by-step workbook-style guide to building your own brand strategy.  If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there. You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group. The program includes 65 videos altogether, and we just completed a beta group that helped us improve the program and maximize the information in it. If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561)578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program. This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Business owners and sales reps who try to sell to everyone will struggle to succeed until they decide to focus their efforts on the ideal customer. Today, Dr. Frances Richards, whose company helps people reclaim their wealth by transforming their health, talks about the journey of finding her ideal customer. Sales From The Street allows us to connect with a sales professional and hear about the biggest professional struggles that person faced. Dr. Frances is the host of a podcast called Black Entrepreneur Experience, where she interviews CEOs, innovative thinkers, thought leaders, and black entrepreneurs across the globe. Finding a tribe Her biggest struggle was finding her ideal customer, and connecting with the people that her message would resonate with. When you're building an internet business, there are so many different ways to connect with people that it can sometimes be overwhelming for businesses that are trying to find their tribe. She points to the fact that there are plenty of people telling you what you should do to connect with your ideal client, so it's tough to know what to do. She said that people told her, "It's all in the email list," or "It's all in social media," or "It's all in Facebook advertising," or "It's all in the messaging." Changing landscape The hardest part, she said, is trying to determine what's really relevant. And with the internet constantly changing things, the way you build a company in 2019 is different than the steps you might have taken in 2014. The steps to find your ideal customer have changed. And when you talk about sales, certain steps are appropriate whether you're online or offline. Building rapport, and building quality relationships, matters in every situation. Authenticity Dr. Frances said that in order to find her ideal customer, she had to block out all the noise and focus on authenticity. She started by deprogramming herself from the idea of working for someone else. She said she had to adjust to the idea of working for herself and to lose all of the things she was accustomed to, like listening to the bosses tell her what she needed to do. Because she had done many different kinds of sales, she was able to change her mindset from employee mode to employer mode. Then she had to be true to who she really wanted to serve. When she was an employee, she had to serve anyone. Once she started to define who to serve, then she started to attract her ideal customer as opposed to just doing cold calling. To-do lists She had an extensive to-do list of doing 10 posts a day, doing a Facebook live, doing a Periscope, posting on LinkedIn, and all of those other things. She was busy working on the business instead of in the business, which actually brings in income. Once she prioritized how she would get sales and how she would bring value, she got out of the mode of being desperate. She was listening to her clients' pain points and she set out to serve them. She went into the mode of serving and helping her clients, her fan base, her tribe. Dr. Frances has turned down consulting contracts because she wanted to make it a win-win for all parties involved. She operates from a position of making sure both parties are a good fit. Qualified clients The shift to serving her clients resulted in more qualified clients. Previously she connected with clients who really couldn't afford her service so it would have been a disservice to try to work together. She started asking her prospects what they hoped to accomplish and if someone said, "I want to lose 50 pounds in 5 days," she wouldn't even try to convince the person to work with her since the goals were unrealistic. She has found that when she gets qualified, bonafide clients, the two enjoy working together. The clients are getting results and she is building testimonies. [Tweet "Avoid the temptation to work with everyone because everyone is not your ideal client. #IdealCustomer"] Ideal client Just serve the people who really need what you have to offer. Be who you authentically are. There will be plenty of voices telling you what you should do. Instead of following them, dig deep into yourself and discover what you're really passionate about. What makes you sing? What makes you get out of bed every morning? That's half the battle because your attitude dictates your altitude. If you love what you do, you'll do what you love. Dr. Frances uses the acronym DANCE to remind her to be authentic: Determine Action Now Creates Energy. Dancers dance because they want to, not because someone forces them to. Instead of doing things you don't like, do the things you authentically enjoy. Find your passion. "Ideal Customer" episode resources You can connect with Frances at drfrancesrichards.com and you can find her on Facebook and Instagram as Dr. Frances Richards. You can also find her podcast at Black Entrepreneur Experience. If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there. You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group. The program includes 65 videos altogether, and we just completed a beta group that helped us improve the program and maximize the information in it. If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561)578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program. This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

If you find that your deals are falling through the cracks or you're losing your prospects to your competition, perhaps the problem is that you're not leaving anything behind.  You might be thinking of brochures and other leave-behinds, but that's not what we're talking about here. Instead, we're talking about the things you should be leaving behind any why these things are so critical to moving your deal forward.  Research phase Unless you're dealing with a referral, when you're dealing with a prospect, that person is probably considering other people as well. Even if the prospect reached out to you and seems completely interested, that person is ultimately looking for the best deal.  You must stay top of mind. Ensure that you stay relevant and always present without being annoying. You must give the prospect something valuable.  Content Consider leaving content behind that ties directly to what you've already discussed. Or leave content that helps the prospect prepare for the next scheduled meeting.  Once you've done this a time or two, you'll understand why it's so important.  Imagine IT companies in this situation that are evaluating service companies. You won't be the only company they are considering, but you want them to forget those other companies and focus on yours.  One option is to determine which other companies the prospect is considering. Create landmines Create landmines for the competitor.  For instance, when I sold document management services, I had a competitor whose services were only good for one department. The competitor served that department very well, but the other departments hated their services.  I planted the idea in our prospects' minds that a tool that only benefits one department isn't really a valuable tool for the entire company. My leave-behind was the idea that the competitor would only benefit a small portion of the company. If it wasn't a good fit, certain departments wouldn't use it, which would result in wasted money because no one used the software.  I suggested to the prospect that a solution that benefits everyone would be a better fit. Format In the past, that kind of content might have appeared in the form of a white paper. Now, however, your prospects are busy and many things are grabbing at their attention. Instead, consider a LinkedIn post or article, or a podcast, or a video addressing the issue. Identify the top things that make your company a favorable choice. Highlight the challenges that your company can solve better than the competition.  Educate your buyer before you return for the next meeting or demonstration. That way, when the prospect meets with the competition, they'll know what issues to ask questions about.  If you're not leaving anything behind, the prospect may simply respond to the flashy, cool presentation.  Notifications Make this tool even more powerful by using tools that notify you when the prospect opens the message or clicks on the video.  Consider, for example, that you send a video for your prospect to watch prior to the next meeting. Maybe it answers questions that frequently occur during the second meeting.  If you send it with BombBomb, you'll know when the prospect watched it, and whether they watched the entire video. It helps you know when and how the prospect is engaging with your content.  Do something different Everyone is leaving a business card, so you must do something that helps you stand out from the crowd. Make your company the obvious choice. Position yourself as the trusted advisor and the one who is helping the prospect understand all the important considerations before making a decision.  If you're not leaving anything behind, your promising deal may disappear.  "You're Not Leaving Anything Behind" episode resources If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there. You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group. The program includes 65 videos altogether, and we just completed a beta group that helped us improve the program and maximize the information in it. If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561)578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program. This episode is also brought to you in part by Mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Jordan Ray has endured more challenge in her 21 years than most people experience in a lifetime, so when she goes into a large hospital to share the product she has developed, many people believe that she is too young and they fail to understand that she is making a difference and helping others. It's a common challenge that many people face, and I faced it in the early days of The Sales Evangelist when I was 30 years old and advising people who were twice my age. Generations When Jordan's health failed at 17, she discovered a need for patients with chronic health conditions to accurately track their pain and symptoms. The log helps patients track their own experiences as a way to improve their treatment plans. Jordan isn't offended when people discount her because she's young. As a softball coach for 15- to 18-year-old girls, she recognizes that she's only three years older than her players, and she remembers what it's like to be immature. She said she doesn't get frustrated by the fact that people assume she'll waste their time because she's too young. In fact, she attributes some of it to the fact that people make assumptions about her generation. First impression Though you only get one chance at a first impression, it's possible to change the impression people have. Jordan points to the story and relationships as the keys to overcoming people's assumptions about her. She's very big on building relationships because she understands that people who aren't sold on her product won't buy it no matter how hard she pushes. If they aren't interested in her product after she shares her story and the value she offers, pushing won't change that. [Tweet "Focus on building relationships instead of selling because even if people don't buy, they might refer you to someone who will buy. #BuildingRelationships"] She considers herself good with people and she said that's key to owning a sales company. Building relationships Jordan goes to a breakfast networking event every Tuesday where she's the youngest person by about 25 years. She estimates that she has shared a sit-down with all 50 members of the group despite being too young. Many of them like her story because she only shares a 30-second brief. She tells them enough of her story to leave them intrigued so that they want to have a follow-on meeting with her. She begins the relationship by looking for ways to refer business to her prospects. Her goal is to serve them by helping them. Biggest challenge She admits that sometimes she feels like she doesn't have enough to offer in terms of referrals because she has only been doing this for seven months. Compared to people who have been working for 40 years, her connections don't feel very significant. Jordan said that her years playing sports taught her to have very high expectations for herself so she struggles when she can't match the referrals that others can. While other people are helping her and giving referrals, she finds herself wishing she could do more to return the favor. Business friends Jordan laughs about the fact that her personal friends are in their 20s and her business friends are in their 50s. She said she loves keeping up with those people. Though the sales are obviously nice, she understands that the relationships are going to last beyond one sale or one year. If she makes one sale, that can't compare to a relationship with someone at a nonprofit who knows countless people and who will support her even as she supports them. Persistence She calls herself big on persistence. She got lots of no's before she launched the company. Many people were convinced she should stay in school. She recommends staying persistent and refusing to give up on your vision. You'll get a hundred no's, but you'll get that one yes. "Too Young" episode resources You can connect with Jordan at www.limitlessmedicallogs.com. You can also email her at jordan@limitlessmedicallogs.com and share your story with her or you can find her on social media @JordanRay. If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there. You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group. The program includes 65 videos altogether, and we just completed a beta group that helped us improve the program and maximize the information in it. If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561)578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program. This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.  

Even if we have the right process or the best mindset, every seller is going to encounter difficulties, so we must figure out how we'll stick to our mission and achieve greatness in the face of adversity. Weldon Long has plenty of personal experience dealing with adversity in the form of 13 years in the penitentiary, homelessness, and dropping out of high school. He had what he calls a dysfunctional life, but he learned the ability to thrive in the face of difficulty. Difficulties are coming The truth is that difficulties are coming. It's easy in personal life or in sales life to feel overwhelmed and tempted to wave the white flag of surrender. Weldon was in federal prison when his dad died. He got a note to call home from one of the prison guards. He remembers realizing that his dad died with him in prison again. He had a three-year-old son that he fathered while he was out on parole. He realized that he wasn't being a very good father or son. He made the decision to change the course of his life but he had no idea where to start. He still had seven years left in prison, so he started reading. Copy successful people His master plan was to figure out what successful people were doing and copy that. Seven years later, he walked out of prison and lived in a homeless shelter at 39 years old. He learned how to sell reading books and he started knocking on doors looking for a sales job. It took about six months to find a job because he was a convicted felon living in a homeless shelter. He got a job selling air conditioners and had a great first year. The next year, he used his earnings to open his own air conditioning company. Though he knew nothing about air conditioning, he knew how to sell air conditioners. He hired the operations people and grew the company to $20 million in five years. In 2009, his company was selected as one of America's fastest growing privately held companies. His life has been a study in overcoming adversity, and the lessons are useful for anyone because everyone will eventually face challenges. Learning to face them is the key to achieving greatness in the face of adversity. Sales process Weldon points to the sales process as the secret to building a successful business. The prospects are 100 percent in control of the result. They get to decide whether they will write us a check or not. The sellers are 100 percent in control of the process. Far too many sales professionals focus on the outcome rather than focusing on what they actually control, which is the process. Weldon quickly learned all the difficulties of selling and he said he was amazed by the number of honest people who would promise to call him to follow up but who never did. Buyers will say one thing and do something else, perhaps largely because they fear getting ripped off or misled. They put a lot of protective mechanisms in place. Sales hallway In his book Consistency Selling, Weldon introduces a concept he calls the sales hallway. He and the prospect are at the beginning of the hallway together. At the other end of the hallway is the door he's hoping to get the prospect through. As they walk together, the prospects have a lot of questions about products, services, and guarantees. Most importantly, prospects have questions about price. When they have all the information, they tend to want to postpone the decision. They try to leave little trap doors or escape routes along the hallway. "I'll think about it."  "I'll call you next Tuesday." "You're too expensive." When Weldon learned to address those obstacles before they came up, it was the turning point in his sales career. Influence and persuasion Weldon read an article by Robert Cialdini, author of the book Influence. It was all about the consistency principle, which says that public declarations dictate future actions. The idea is that if you can get someone to make a public declaration, he becomes more likely to take actions that are consistent with that statement. He determined which objections he was facing most often, and he structured his conversation so that the prospect didn't struggle with those fears. When he did that, he found way less resistance at the end of the sales process. When he started selling, it was "kitchen-table selling." It was residential air conditioning to families who were mad that they were having to spend the money. He was on their turf and they had other bids that were half his price. Weldon learned to prosper in that situation. Price objection How do I deal with price objection? The problem is that most people don't bring up price until the prospect does at the end of the process. Once the prospect brings it up, he's in a super defensive posture. They know you're going to try to sell them on why you're worth the extra price. The heartbeat of his whole process is addressing those concerns. When he helped Farmer's Insurance address the price objection, he recommended looking on the Internet for considerations when purchasing insurance. He found a thousand different articles that all said that price isn't the most important consideration. Now when he's sitting with a prospect, he'll address the fact that price is a valuable consideration when purchasing insurance. But then he'll ask the prospect whether he agrees or disagrees with the fact that there are other considerations that are equally as important as price. Public declaration Weldon shared the example of a company that canvassed a neighborhood by telephone to find out whether residents believed it was important to fund research for childhood disabilities. The following week, when the canvassers came to actually collect money, the donations doubled because the people had previously made a public declaration that it was important. Weldon realized that if he could get his customers to acknowledge that price isn't the most important, and if he could get his customers to declare publicly that they would call him tonight with an answer, he was less likely to struggle against those objections. Sellers tend to focus on the door at the end of the hallway and they try to close. The key is to prepare yourself as you're moving through the hallway. [Tweet "The three most powerful words in sales are "Earlier you said..." When your prospect rec0gnizes a difference between what he said earlier and what he's doing now, it creates cognitive dissonance, which produces anxiety. #HandlingObjections"] The way to help the prospect get back into resonance is to take action consistent with the words you said earlier. Improving numbers There are those who will point out that this approach won't work every time, and that's true. But if you're closing four out of 10, my job is to show you how to get one or two out of the six you're losing. You're already getting the four. I'm going to help you get better margins. Everyone loves the idea of making twice as much money but no one wants to work twice as many hours. The key is to increase your productivity with your raw materials. Your raw materials are time and leads. How do you produce more output with the materials you have? Anticipate the objections If you're selling air conditioners, it shouldn't surprise you to hear that your price is too high. You should anticipate that objection. Lay the groundwork so you can have the right conversation. By the time you get to close, the time for debate and argument is over. Your only hope is to remind them what they said earlier about price. If I say the price isn't the most important consideration, I'm a salesman. If they say it, it must be true. [Tweet "Lead with your weakness. If you're a premium company with a premium price, hit that straight on. #PriceObjections"] Create the prosperity mindset to prosper before you face adversity. Get clear on what you want so you can achieve greatness in the face of adversity. Remember the FEAR acronym. Focus Emotional commitment Action Responsibility Build a plan that anticipates objections and create a sales process that addresses those objections. "Greatness In the Face of Adversity" episode resources If you text the word "Videos" to 96000, you'll receive free content about how to create the prosperity mindset and how to deal with objections in the sales hallway. Grab copies of Weldon's books: The Upside of Fear Consistency Selling The Power of Consistency If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there. You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group. The program includes 65 videos altogether, and we just completed a beta group that helped us improve the program and maximize the information in it. If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561)578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program. This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

I get a lot of requests to appear on The Sales Evangelist, but Jason Bay set himself apart from the crowd by sending a video email and changing the email game. Jason started his sales career while he was in college, and he and his wife now run a company called Blissful Prospecting, where they remove the stress of prospecting by doing it for their clients. He quickly discovered that the smaller midsize business was overlooked in the existing offerings, and he wanted to provide a less robust service that still produced the same type of results. Mom and pop Jason discovered there weren't a whole lot of companies that were willing to work with smaller organizations. Those companies that don't really have any SDRs and maybe they don't even know the lingo. Jason wanted to help those business owners who are already multitasking with some of their business development. They don't have time to list build and personalize emails. We've discovered the same dynamic at The Sales Evangelist. Many of the companies that need help are smaller companies whose sales reps have no training and no real process. The company expects the rep to thrive but they have no basis for it. It becomes a vicious cycle of reps who wash out or leave to go to another company. The business hires another rep with no real training or process, and the cycle begins again. Video prospecting Jason's company prospects for itself, too, so the company does what it sells. Part of prospecting and selling is explaining to people what you do. People assume when he refers to video that it's YouTube and other content creation. Video prospecting is similar to writing an email. It's common knowledge now that your emails must be personalized beyond a first name. You must actually include something in the email that's personal to the reader. Many people take this approach: Hey Donald,  I listened to one of your recent podcasts about this topic and I discovered... (fill in the blank.) While it's personalized, it's a little redundant. We have to work to empathize with the prospect, and they may prove to be a little more difficult for men. Video allows you to put a face to an email. It allows the recipient to see a human being instead of reading an email, so you're changing the email game. You can still send an email or a LinkedIn message. You can't fake video. Everything in prospecting demands that you do it the right way if you want to succeed. Think about the type and quality of clients you want to attract. Changing the email game If you're engaging in the "murder by numbers approach" of sending 1,000 emails in order to land 5 appointments, think about the quality of customer you're attracting. It won't be really good. If you want to work with a specific group of customers, you must show them that you're their peer. You aren't a guy sending tons of spam and praying that it succeeds. Video takes a little more work, but if it produces more responses, it's worth the investment of time. I'd rather my sales team spend a few minutes researching and sending out 10 to 15 videos if I'll get responses from eight of them. They'll be much richer opportunities. Your numbers may not be as high with video, but the return will be better. It's the account-based approach. Instead of getting a big list of people, do research to come up with a list of companies that will be a good fit. Think of it as going to the gym. If you go to the gym with a plan for the session, you'll be much more efficient than if you go in and just wing it. Without a plan, you'll take twice as long and be half as effective. Do all the prospecting preparation on the front end so that you aren't spending your time with prospects who aren't a good fit. Focus your prospecting attention on companies you can actually help and serve. Video tips Many people avoid video because they worry about how they'll appear. You must work around that fear because there isn't a single scenario where video isn't a good option. Make sure to look directly into the camera so the person on the other end feels as though he is actually talking to a person instead of a screen. Use quality equipment. Most laptops and phones now have quality cameras. Video where you have good light. Smile. Don't be so serious. Create the sense that working with you is enjoyable. If you're at a small company, you're likely the person that the prospect will be working with. You're a reflection of the business. Limit your video to 30 seconds or less. Prepare bullet points of what you'd like to say. Don't be too scripted but plan for what you'd like to say. Your pitch shouldn't be more than 1-2 sentences. Connecting with video Video is easier to consume and it stands out in a crowded email inbox. [Tweet "Don't prospect to make a sale. Prospect to start a conversation. #Prospecting"] You're not going to sell a prospect over the phone or through email or LinkedIn. Your job is to simply sell them on the appointment. Your call to action isn't, "We can help you." It's "We help businesses like yours and if you're having a specific challenge, we might be able to help you too." Don't pretend like you know more than you actually do. And don't leave your prospect feeling like he has been insulted. Video options So many platforms have launched their own video capabilities that it's difficult to choose one over another. Be conscious of a couple of things, though. Consider tools that flow with the tools you're already using. If you're using Hubspot for CRM and they launch a video capability, it makes sense to use that one because they are built to go together. Make sure you can record the screen through video as well as the video of yourself. Make sure you have the flexibility you need. Don't spend too much money on video capability. Jason likes Loom and Soapbox right now. Loom is a Google Chrome extension that's a little clunky but effective. Soapbox has a free version that is very capable and good quality, and its pro version has useful features as well. AB test everything. Test your specific situation. Before you invest time and energy into video, try sending videos. Measure to see what happens. Test different areas of the email sequence. Try it at the beginning of the message or maybe at the end to see what works best in terms of changing the email game. Prioritize your prospecting based on who is the most engaged with the actual outreach. Use the software that shows you who is actually opening your messages and invest your extra effort into those people. "Changing The Email Game" episode resources You can connect with Jason at blissfulprospecting.com/Donald where he has put together some basic tools to help you get started in video prospecting. You'll find a PDF, a script, and the flow for recording that will move you toward changing the email game. You'll find lots of good resources on the website as well. Check out Loom, Soapbox, BombBomb, or Hubspot for video capability that meshes with your existing workflow. If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there. You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group. The program includes 65 videos altogether, and we just completed a beta group that helped us improve the program and maximize the information in it. If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561)578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program. This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Sellers who interact with and provide value to prospects using social media must understand the characteristics that turn this into the kind of social selling your customers want. We're tackling this topic all month, and even if you aren't a big social media person, we're providing an actionable plan to help you get in front of your prospects. It isn't enough to "set it and forget it" or generate large amounts of content in hopes that people will click through to find you. It's thoughtful preparation that gives buyers what they want and need right now. Trying to close I discovered the idea of using social media to sell when I was in college. I was seeking an internship with people who were in Chicago and our college professor told us that we needed a LinkedIn profile. He told us that we had to maintain that profile because that's where business professionals interacted. I thought it was a great idea because I was suddenly connected to millions of other professionals. I also thought it was great that I could pitch to all of those people. My professor knew a woman in Chicago so he introduced us with the intention that I would seek insights from her. In my mind, though, she was going to provide me with an internship or connect me with someone who had one. Instead of approaching it as an information-gathering phase, I was trying to close the deal. I think many of us make that mistake with social media. Instant access Sellers are often like kids in a candy store because social media gives them instant access to millions of potential customers. Why in the heck wouldn't we go ahead and pitch them all? Let's tell every single person what we're doing. And then social media turns into a pitch-fest. Because we can copy and share messages with groups of people quickly, we have access to millions of new prospects at our fingertips. Very quickly, though, prospects recognize that every seller is engaging in the same kind of social selling. Prospects are overwhelmed with the same messages from multiple sellers, so we have quickly realized that we can't continue using the same methods. Liking content In response, we settled on thoughtful interactions with people. We settled on the idea of liking everything they posted on social media and commenting on their content, sometimes arbitrarily. We didn't necessarily have a growth plan or a strategy. We just assumed that if we liked a bunch of their stuff now, when we eventually sent them a message, they would instantly want to work with us. The idea might have worked well initially, but again, sellers adopted the same strategy across the board and failed to stand out from one another. Curating content Next, we moved to curating content. That meant sharing content that others were sharing, so if I found a good blog post about technology, I would share it with my prospects who were interested in that industry. Our strategy was to be top-of-mind because of our content. We engaged with different platforms and pumped content everywhere, which ultimately became a bunch of junk floating around on the Internet. Again, every competitor was doing the same. The platforms realized that the content was taking their users away to other sites and they took steps to prevent people from being diverted away. Algorithms Social media platforms don't want you to send their users to other sites. As a result, you must adjust your social selling efforts so that you're linking to content on that same platform. LinkedIn wants its users to see the ads that its customers are paying to promote. If its users leave LinkedIn, they won't see the ads. The algorithm will penalize you for sharing content outside of LinkedIn. Sellers responded with LinkedIn articles, long-form posts, and videos. We moved to original content in our next iteration of social selling, and within the next year, we'll likely move to something different. Human interaction Despite all this change, there is one takeaway. Be a person. Be human and care about other people. The definition we shared from Hubspot is this: Social selling is when salespeople use social media to interact directly with their prospects. Salespeople will provide value by answering the prospect's questions and offering thoughtful content until the prospect is ready to buy. Do things in moderation. Use direct messages. Set a goal to connect with five new prospects each day on LinkedIn. Try something like this: Donald,  It's always great to learn from sales leaders in the industry. Permission to connect? Once we're connected, they'll see the content I've curated over time. Aligned content An article on PostFunnel reported that marketers who align their content with specific points in the buyer's journey yielded 73 percent higher conversion rates. Think about that. If you're able to produce content based on where your buyers are in that particular phase, it will be relevant to them. Your buyers want posts that showcase your new products or services and they want to learn something along the way. Use social selling your customers want in order to help them throughout their journey. Speak to the three stages of the buyer's journey: Awareness: when buyers don't know about you and you want to raise their awareness. Consideration: when buyers are evaluating and going deeper in their research. Conversion: when buyers finalize decisions and make a purchase. Sprout Social suggests weaving awareness- and consideration-stage content together. Those two stages are usually where people rely on social media. [Tweet "With social selling, open the door with entertainment and inspiration. Use memes or videos to grab attention. Then carry them the rest of the way with educational content. #SocialSelling"] Multiple approaches This is one of the most effective ways to prospect. When you combine this with your other techniques like cold calling or emails or regular mail, you'll see great success. Apply this today. Identify five people to connect with in your industry. If you do that every day for a week, you'll have 25 new connections by the end of the week. Strive to create the social selling your customers want to increase your effectiveness and improve your outcomes. "Social Selling Your Customers Want" episode resources If you haven't connected with me on LinkedIn already, do that at Donald C. Kelly and watch the things I'm sharing there. You've heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we're offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester. You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group. The program includes 65 videos altogether, and we just completed a beta group that helped us improve the program and maximize the information in it. If you and your team are interested in learning more, we'd love to have you join us. Call (561)578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program. This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

It's The Sales Evangelist 1000th episode and Stephen A. Hart from the Trailblazers.FM Podcast is conducting the interview while Donald Kelly answers the questions. This podcast started five years ago after Donald attended sales training to try to improve his performance. He started seeing some gains, and he figured the very least he could do was tell other people what was working for him. He realized along the way that he would get to interview great guests like Jeffrey Gitomer who would share a wealth of information and he was hooked. Donald wanted to share sales content that would help himself and others at the same time. Blessings and opportunities The greatest benefit to a podcast like this is the relationships you build. There's a camaraderie and people want to help each other. [05:50] Perhaps it's because the medium is so new, but a lot of podcasters are connecting with each other to share experiences. People have become like family, and many business opportunities have emerged from it. There's a whole crew of people in the background who help create the content, and it's blessing people along the way. After Donald jumped ship from his full-time job in 2015, this lifestyle business allowed him to travel and speak in different parts of the country, and it all stemmed from the training and consulting that has developed. 10,000 hours The podcast is officially five years old, which amounts to about 10,000 work hours. According to Malcolm Gladwell's theory that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert, Donald is officially an expert podcaster now. The story started when Donald was working at a software company in Boca. His plan was that at the three-year mark, he wanted to go back to grad school for an MBA. [10:11] The other alternative was that he would launch a startup. TSE started as a hobby because Donald had done B2C in high school and college. Now, he transitioned to B2B, but he didn't know how to talk to people or set up business opportunities. His company provided training and he discovered a love of teaching and an excitement about the content he had learned. He paired his love of teaching and his desire to be the center of attention, and it was a perfect marriage. Edutainment allowed him to educate and entertain at the same time. Birth of a podcast Jared Easley introduced Donald to the world of podcasting despite the fact that Donald knew nothing about it. He started by listening to Seth Godin's Startup School, a podcast that featured Seth guiding 30 entrepreneurs through the process of launching a dream business. [11:46] He was still debating startup or college, and he realized that a startup didn't have to mean developing a product. Donald didn't see how the podcast was going to make money, but he launched it as a hobby. The platform existed six months before the podcast did, but Donald recalls that he had to get over the worry and just pull the trigger. He had to stop worrying about how it would sound and what people would say about it. He eventually decided that he had something valuable and he needed to share it. When he got out of his own way, the money started coming in. When Donald started producing content that benefited the people around him, people started to raise their hands and seek his help. [Tweet "Done is better than perfect. #TakeAction"] Lessons learned Donald calls episode 1 cringe-worthy. He says he was nervous and afraid throughout it. He was self-conscious about his voice, and he didn't own his personality. [15:29] Donald also wishes he had done video much sooner. He was afraid of the comments people would make and that fear kept him from producing video. Donald also wishes he had known that people don't know what you have to offer until they know what you have to offer. He was afraid of sounding pushy, so he was apprehensive about sharing what he knew. Take more action. Get out of your comfort zone. Get out of your own way. Despite the late start to the video world, TSE is getting into video now, so it's better late than never. Rejection Donald points to the burned-ship theory that dates to sailors who were either going to burn the ships and win the battle or die on the seashore. There was no escape. If you've burned the ship, there's no alternative, so you have to make it work. Those men are the master of their own destiny. Although Donald could still be employable in the sales realm if necessary, he doesn't want to use that as a parachute. [19:27] The "no's" can't hinder him. He either has to conquer or die. He realizes that the "no's" aren't personally directed at him. Your "why" Donald's desire to provide for his family drives his passion and his motivation. He wants to make things happen so that his family never has to be in the predicament of being homeless again. [21:50] Those dark moments such as the first lull in listenership can plague podcasters. Although numbers are great for measuring, Donald got too focused on the numbers. He started to compare too much and he neglected his own community. When the website was down for a prolonged period in 2016, he started to feel tremendous stress. For 1-2 months there was no new content. He worried about losing listeners and the huge setback that might come. He wasn't sure he would be able to continue because there were so many technical problems. Valley You can't succeed in a silo. Name any company and you can almost guarantee that they had help from some outside forces. [29:17] The term entrepreneur is deceptive because there's really no single person who creates a business. Donald avoided asking for help because he was embarrassed and he thought he was supposed to know how to solve the problem. Advice and discussion help people share their burdens and to recognize that they can benefit from other people's input. Top takeaways People who succeed do so because they partnered with others for good. There are people who are willing to partner strategically to make things work. [31:57] All of his guests who have had success did so because they found synergy in the people they worked with. Look at Henry Ford and the number of companies that spawned from his invention. Tire companies, radio companies, and other companies developed because of it. You can't be a lone wolf and you must be willing to admit that other people might be able to do things better than you can. TSE is writing for HubSpot now and has been mentioned in Entrepreneur and Inc. Magazine because Donald was willing to reach out. Don't be afraid to sell yourself. People in post-recording conversations advised Donald that he was charging too little. Customers aren't paying for one hour of guidance or coaching. They are paying for 15 years of experience. [35:23] Be aware of your worth. If you undervalue yourself, no one will willingly pay you more. Ask for more than you're comfortable asking for. Always push yourself for bigger and better things. Once you push outside of your comfort zone, you'll evolve. You'll find yourself doing things that once scared you. Emotional rollercoaster Preparation helps us avoid the emotional rollercoaster of sales. October Donald should be helping December Donald. Salespeople must plan much further out than they can comfortably do. [38:50] If you know you need 5 deals, you should put 7 or 8 in your pipeline. Never ease up off the gas. Have a systematic approach. When Donald coaches people, he helps them see beyond the now. He helps them develop a system that prevents lulls. Healthy competition Donald remembers wanting to be included on a list of top sales podcasts. [44:01] He refers to the power of "coopertition," where people become allies. As a track athlete, he learned that when you're turning back to see where other people are, you aren't aerodynamic anymore. You lose your focus and you slow down. Instead of looking to see where other people are, look toward the finish line. Compete against your own yesterday instead of competing against others. Future of TSE The Sales Podcast Network will continue to grow and offer a community of salespeople who will encourage one another. [50:57] If TSE ever gets boring, maybe the day would come when it would be "sunset." TSE will continue to grow. The goal on sponsorship side will eventually separate so that the training organization will separate from the media company side. TSE will seek to double its revenue, and ultimately the platform will be bigger than just a podcast. TSE has been a huge influence in the podcasting space by encouraging those people who are in the community. The Sales Evangelist 1000th Episode resources Connect with Stephen A. Hart and check out his  Trailblazer.FM Podcast. This episode is brought to you in part by prospect.io, a powerful sales automation platform that allows you to build highly personalized, cold email campaigns. To learn more, go to prospect.io/tse. It will help you with your outbound to expand your outreach. It allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never ever be the same. Previously known as TSE Hustler's League, our TSE Certified Sales Program offers modules that you can engage on your own schedule as well as opportunities to engage with other sellers in other industries. This episode is brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It's super easy, it's helpful, and I recommend that you try it out. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. If you haven't already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won't miss a single episode, and share with your friends! Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Today is the last Monday of the year.    I am grateful you’re choosing to lend a few precious minutes in this final day of 2018.    As we exit one year and get set to begin another, I reflect on all the blessings I’ve received by way of this podcast.    Just in 2018 alone, we were blessed to be a blessing, by sharing the journey of dozens of amazing black professionals with almost 100,000 people in 112 countries around the globe. We were also blessed to have a feature on the home page of Apple Podcasts, and in several other media outlets.  For some of you, that sounds like a lot and for others it sounds like a little. And that’s fine either way.    But I’m especially reminded that none of this happens, if I hadn’t gotten out of my own fears just 3 Christmas’ ago and conducted my very first interview of Donald C. Kelly on Dec 28 2015. I was nervous. I didn’t know if I could be a podcast host. I didn’t know if people would like my idea, or my approach and definitely was concerned about people embracing my voice. To this day, I still don’t like to listen to the sound of my own voice, but I’m thankful you feel differently lol.     I wanted to wish you and your family a happy new year and encourage you as this new year begins, to rise above go way beyond and be ready to blaze your trail. Next week we begin our 2nd annual Wealth Series. Kicking off that series is Mr. Chris Hogan of the Dave Ramsey  Network. You do not want to miss out on what Chris will have to share. And this series is 6 weeks long and packed with gems. So get set to start 2019 off right. Tell some of your friends and fam about Trailblazers and help them get onboard with the right kinda mission fuel they’ll need for 2019   So instead of blabbing on myself, I thought we could do something fun to take us from 2018 and into 2019. So Mike Slavish, our podcast editor helped us put together this amazing compilation of maybe 20 of the guests we’ve featured in 2018, sharing their response to the question we ask all our guests at the end of each show:    And so here’s their response to the question that I know many of you probably have memorized now:    What’s one action our Blazer Nation should take this week, that will help them to blaze their trail …   

Nadal ciężko pracuję, wiec dzis Marcin zaprosił do audycji Donalda Kelly, ktory podzieli sie z nami jednym mykiem, który robi, aby budować zaufanie u klientow.

Qualifying Leads with Donald C. Kelly | Coffee is for Closers My friend and colleague Donald C. Kelly had a moment a while back where he was SURE that a deal was in the bag. The prospect had a need. Donald’s company had the solution. He knew that the client had the money, and that they were more than ready to sign on the dotted line with someone. But when his proposal went out, the “radio silence” kicked in. What happened next? The prospect went with a bigger and more expensive service, leaving Donald in the dust. It was a tough lesson, but a clear one. When you’re qualifying prospects, there’s more to it than measuring them by a painstakingly detailed “Ideal Client” avatar. It even goes beyond readiness to buy and ability to invest. It’s ALSO about going through ALL of the steps of the sales process. And not jumping the gun just because you THINK it’s a done deal. It’s about qualifying your leads not only by determining if they are the right fit for you, but also by ensuring that THEY fully understand your value. Believe it or not, this simple step is one of the quickest ways to determine if a lead is a GO or a NO. And oddly enough, this is a qualifying step that many of us completely overlook! On this episode of Coffee Is For Closers, Donald C. Kelly, host of The Sales Evangelist podcast and founder of the TSE Hustler’s League, adds this unique and crucial piece to the client-qualifying process. Join us as we show you how to cover your bases, show your true value, and determine as quickly as possible if it’s time to move forward...or save the full-court press for another day. **** “Theoretically, we all know what to do in sales conversations,” says Donald. “It’s in the implementation that we fall short.” How can you start using this often overlooked but hugely effective qualification step and help you zero in on ideal clients with laser-sharp efficiency? But putting together a simple sales process that shows your value as well as connects with your client’s needs!Get my new checklist here to help you show them what YOU stand for and understand what THEY are looking for. And help guide you to the prospects who need JUST what you have. *** Join me every Saturday Morning with your morning cup of joe or tea for your special Success Unfiltered bonus episodes of Coffee Is For Closers. Each week I’ll share my best sales tips, secrets, and tricks for entrepreneurs to learn sales without the sleaze, so that you can close more deals and serve more people with your product or service! To share your thoughts: Email The Pitch Queen @ hello@thepitchqueen.com Ask a question over at www.ThePitchQueen.com Share Success Unfiltered on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, & LinkedIn To help the show out: Please leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one. Subscribe to the show on iTunes. Connect with The Pitch Queen & Join the others in the Royal Family: Website: http://www.thepitchqueen.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepitchqueen/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thepitchqueen/   Twitter: https://twitter.com/thepitchqueen LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleweinstein/   **** “Theoretically, we all know what to do in sales conversations,” says Donald. “It’s in the implementation that we fall short.” How can you start using this often overlooked but hugely effective qualification step and help you zero in on ideal clients with laser-sharp efficiency? But putting together a simple sales process that shows your value as well as connects with your client’s needs!Get my new checklist here to help you show them what YOU stand for and understand what THEY are looking for. And help guide you to the prospects who need JUST what you have. Here’s to brewing YOUR Sales Success! Music produced by Deejay-O    www.iamdeejayo.com  

Donald C. Kelly, The Sales Evangelist

Donald C. Kelly, The Sales Evangelist The post Chris Voss Podcast 219 Donald C. Kelly, The Sales Evangelist appeared first on Chris Voss Official Website.

We have 6 months left in this year to figure out what the rest of this year will look like for us. How far are you willing to go to get your goals accomplished? What can you do to knock off a couple of things that you wanted to get done by the end of this year? It’s time to take control and get to your desired state! We’ve got a really short but powerful episode for you today. My sista from anotha mista, Ms. Minda Harts is on today. Minda is the host of the and co-founder of . Minda has been a guest of the podcast before on  and I asked her to give us something really dope for this new content approach I started last week with Donald C. Kelly. So you’re about to hear Minda speak her truth and pour some mission fuel all over ya’ll. So take it all in. It’s 10 minutes of greatness! I know you can sit still for 10 minutes. Believe me, it’ll be worth it.

Our very first guest ever on the Trailblazers.FM podcast, Mr. Donald C. Kelly is back and here for yet another first on the podcast.   Today, we are trying something brand new. I've asked Donald to do our very first masterclass style episode, where he's dropping some mission fuel directly with you.     For those of you that aren't familiar, Donald C. Kelly is the host of , which has over 800 published podcast episodes and has featured some amazing folks in sales and business.  Donald is also a sales trainer, coach, and speaker.  And beyond the podcast and business, Donald is a fellow Jamaican and an amazing husband to his wife Cristina.    And so thinking about the need we all have to sell ourselves, whether you're in sales, the corporate world or you're a business owner, you've got to know how to effectively sell yourself. So Donald is going to share some tips with you on how you do just that.    Hope you enjoy today's episode with our returning guest and featured trailblazer, Mr. Donald C. Kelly. 

We're recapping an amazing month of April podcasts that focused on reach and reputation and ushering in May's theme: execution.  It is the perfect time for this theme because this is the part of the year where your planning and preparation starts to pay dividends and it's up to you to execute and start making sales.  It's time to pick up the phone, hit the pavement and take all of our businesses to the next level. We're here to help this month with amazing interviews that will help you prospect, form relationships and close more deals.  On today's podcast 1:00 - Celebrating an amazing April lineup that included Donald C. Kelly, Jack Kosakowski, Bob Waltenspiel, Phill Keene, Tony Rhine and Keenan 5:00 - The key to a large reach and stellar reputation 7:00 - Christie's biggest takeaway from April 13:00 - It doesn't take a thousand fans to make a living 15:15 - This is the perfect time for our May theme, execution. 18:00 - Execution is essential for small business breakthrough 21:00 - What we're focusing on during our execution month 25:30 - A one time offer to our listeners for our first Small Business Breakthrough program Have you heard about our Small Business Breakthrough program? If you own or want to own a small business but are struggling in certain areas, we want to help you. Email breakthrough@thewhyandthebuy.com for more information. Sign up for our book club! Don't forget to subscribe rate and review our podcast. It only takes a second and helps us make more podcasts for you. Want more from Jeff and Christie? We have a newsletter!

Our guest this week is, Donald C. Kelly, Founder and Chief Sales Evangelist at The Sales Evangelist. He's spreading the good news that it's great to be in sales and creating a community of people to help support each other in this business. He's the perfect guest to kick off Reach and Reputation month because his goal is to reach out and help every type of sales person from the newbie who needs the basics to the savvy veteran who needs some new tricks. Today we discuss his interesting backstory and what helped to shape the core tenants of his gospel. Subscribe to Donald's podcast! On today's podcast 3:00 - Why are salespeople reluctant to learn more about their craft? 7:17 -  How Donald's first manager flips the script on what it means to be a salesperson and changed his life forever. 12:30 - Vanity numbers and "The Chick-fil-a Principle" 24:44 - Does "building a culture" actually lead to quantifiable results? 30:00 - Donald's Hustler League is building a community and keeping salespeople accountable Sign up for our book club! Don't forget to subscribe rate and review our podcast. It only takes a second and helps us make more podcasts for you. Want more from Jeff and Christie? We have a newsletter!

Donald C. Kelly is better known in podcasting circles and the business world as "The Sales Evangelist." He has devoted his life to "helping new and struggling sellers close more deals." He's used his journey in hustling, dating all the way back to his childhood peddling mangoes in Jamaica, to build a platform based on a simple premise: Everyone can learn to sell and DO BIG THINGS. Anyone can take control of their life and create a meaningful lifestyle they deserve. Today Donald lives in South Florida but travels the country speaking, teaching, and, yes, evanglelizing about building a better life through sales. His podcast, also called "The Sales Evangelist," had about 500 episodes worth of content published by the time I caught up with him in Season 1. Now, that number is over 700. This guy is putting out ridiculous value on his show and it continues to be my favorite in this space. Enjoy! WRITE ME! hello@todareishuman.com CHECK OUT THE OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA: Instagram Facebook Website: https://www.todareishuman.com/. Feel free to get in touch with me through any of those platforms to let me know what you're thinking, or if you have a great idea for someone who you can put me in touch with for an interview. Enjoy! Music: "Yesterday" -- Jahzzar (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0) This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

This is To Dare is Human! Today I'll be featuring Donald C. Kelly, The Sales Evangelist. His top business podcasts gives crucial tips and tricks towards building a personal or professional brand (or both). He's produced over 500 episodes discussing this topic providing both incredible advice and insightful interviews. Go check him out! In the interview (towards the end), you'll hear that Donald is releasing some special video training and content for all listeners of the show. Just head over to thesalesevangelist.com/adam to access it! Also, check out The Sales Evangelist wherever you get your podcasts, and you can also connect with Donald over Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, all @donaldckelly. Tell him Adam Conner sent you! Thanks for tuning in! Be sure to check out the show's website where you can find all my content: https://www.todareishuman.com. Additionally, I'm on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, all @todareishuman, and by email at hello@todareishuman.com. If you know of a Daring individual or story which should be shared, reach out and let me know about it! Enjoy! Music: Jahzzar - "Dirt" from the album "1UP" Shared Under CC Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Find out more on the To Dare is Human website. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

So many people do not know what they want out of life. Do you know what you want? Are you one of those who so far have gone through or is going through life without any direction or compass to guide you? What if you could know what you want? What if you were to wake up tomorrow morning knowing what you want to do with your life, what difference would that make? How would you be feeling? This is what our guest - Donald C. Kelly - talked about on this episode of Success Caribbean Style Podcast. Even though he didn't give you a step by step way to discover what you want out of life or gave you a crystal ball, which he nor I doesn't really believe in, yet you will find some key principles that will be helpful to you. Donald described his migration story as one where it came with many challenges. He bounced around in the initial stages between family and friends while his mom hustled to make a life where they would all one day be together again. He talks about the experience of having to lose their home and having to figure out how to survive, which he did. Migration, according to Donald, has it's challenges. He cited the times when he was picked on because of his accent. He would do everything in his power to speak the way this new culture "demanded" so that he would not be picked on as much. In doing so, he had to in someway become someone else. This required to some extent that he gave up a part of his culture, until he later realized it was cool to have an accent. This lesson taught him a number of things and he now help others to find their uniqueness, embrace it and use it to their advantage. Here are a few things to know about Donald. Favorite Dish: Ackee and Saltfish Favorite Saying: yawdman or yawdy - someone who is considered an original from the island of Jamaica. Place(s) You Must See: Dunns River Falls Definition of Success: means the ability to be happy; to be at peace and to be comfortable. In discussing the issue of success in the light of having peace and being comfortable, Donald made these points: people not having peace is not going to be at peace strive to have peace and contentment with yourself you can have monetary goals but it has to be more than that Lessons learned: utilize the unique advantages you have as a non-native indvidual - hard work you may at times feel like an outsider, but don't allow that to stop you felt like a walk on athlete who is not taken as serious, therefore prove to yourself you can do it when it feels like others have counted you out, make that a driving force. Tweet: you were born an original don’t die a copy - Donald Kelly Greatest Accomplishment(s): married to his wife who is a support and an encouragement finding out that he's a good speaker and can use his gift to help others; inspire them use in personal life; with friends; in church . Donald’s Bio: Donald Kelly is a sales trainer, podcast host and an award winning speaker. He is the 2013 Toastmaster District 47 Humorous Speaking Champion. He recently competed in the Semifinals of the World Championship of Public Speaking, where he placed in the top 30 of thousands of speakers worldwide. Donald and his podcast, The Sales Evangelist, have been mentioned in magazines such as Entrepreneur Magazine, The Huffington Post, South Florida Business Journal and Yahoo Finance. He travels throughout the United States offering workshops, keynote speeches and educating struggling sales teams. Contact Donald: LinkedIn: Donald C. Kelly Twitter: @DonaldCKelly Facebook: The Sales Evangelist Book(s) Recommended: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles DuHigg Rating & Review: Would you take a few minutes and leave a review & rating of the show at: www.successcaribbeanstyle.com/itunes. In doing so, you will help the show be found by others who would also benefit. Please help spread the word. Also, like the Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/successcaribbeanstyle. Video demonstrating how easy it is to leave a Rating & Review on iTunes: Here’s a video that will take only a few minutes in showing how to leave a Rating & Review on iTunes.

Today's guest is Donald C. Kelly, founder and host of The Sales Evangelist podcast. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher Radio or TuneIn He has interviewed 200+ sales leaders and serves a worldwide audience of sales professionals.  He has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, Huffington Post, and Yahoo Finance to name a few. Donald is a successful sales coach and the creator of the TSE Hustler's League that has helped train and equip sales professionals and entrepreneurs with the tools and confidence needed to find more customers, close deals and earn the money they deserve. Donald is also an energetic public speaker and well known figure among podcasters, having hosted the Podcast Movement conference for the past two years. Donald has been an inspiration and podcast mentor to me, inspiring me and silently nudged me to pursue this podcast to get published. It felt absolutely right and an honor to have him be our first guest, to share a very important lesson that every future trailblazer must have the ability to do ... sell yourself!  You've got to know how to tell your story in a manner that makes you valuable to others. In this episode, I asked Donald questions like: What's behind the negative mindset toward 'sales'? Share one truth that has held constant throughout your sales journey? What are 3 effective skills we can begin to hone to become better at selling ourselves? What advice would you like to impart to those people new to business?   Tweetables of Donald C. Kelly Quotes: [Tweet "Don't look at a failure as the end, look at it as a stepping stone to something greater @donaldckelly @tbpod #trailblazersFM"] [Tweet "Selling Tip - Ask your prospect the appropriate questions and listen! @donaldckelly @tbpod #trailblazersFM"] [Tweet ".#Wisdom - Dont be afraid of trying... of failing... of doing @donaldckelly @tbpod #trailblazersFM"]   Links and resources mentioned: LIMITED TIME OFFER: Free 30-Minute Sales Strategy Session The Sales Evangelist Podcast   Thanks for Listening! We appreciate you visiting our site today and for helping to bring awareness to the Trailblazers.FM podcast. If you've listened to this episode and have feedback you'd like to share, we encourage you to share your thoughts. Leave a note in the comment section below or shoot us a quick message! Also, please leave an honest review for The Trailblazers Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show. And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates! It’s free!

"If a potential buyer says that something is too expensive, it's generally because I didn't help them see the value in the offer." It's just that type of clear-headed straight talk that has made Donald C. Kelly not only a successful salesperson in his own right, but an amazing instructor and teacher of sales. Donald walks us through the processes for completing a sale, including overcoming our own emotional or psychological barriers for making a sale. Just heard @DonaldCKelly on the @herpowerhustle #podcast. My biggest takeaway was... Click above to tweet at us and share your greatest takeaway from this interview Donald shares the steps involved with a successful sale including: breaking down barriers and connecting discovering and understanding the prospective client's pain positioning you product to address the pain ensure that you're talking with decision-makers overcoming fearing The ASK and talking about money creating Customer Evangelists and so much more  "Anyone can cook, but only the fearless can be great!" - Ratatouille  Tune in to this quick BONUS episode with the first corporate Evangelist, Guy Kawasaki  Tune in by clicking above   Resources from our conversation: Donald's website The Sales Evangelist Check out the private Facebook community of Sales Evangelizers Like the Facebook Page too!       Each week we highlight a woman-owned business or event, like yours, in YOUR own words-FOR FREE. If you would like to be featured in an upcoming episode and here on our website email [email protected] or fill in the contact form below for details.   This week we're featuring Karla Campos, creator of Florida Social Con, THE South Florida Social Media event, happening 7/18/2015 in Miami! Join us! Register for the Conference HERE & I have information for you to attend for free, shoot me an email [email protected] for details! Follow #FLSocialCon on social media: Twitter: @FLSocialCon Instagram: @FLSocialCon Below you can check out video of my interview with Karla about #FLSocialCon and my podcasting and platform building session!   The Her Power Hustle Community of Sister Power Hustlers is here to help you along your entrepreneurial journey. Join our Exclusive Facebook group or email us at [email protected] with your questions and comments. Michelle Y. Talbert is an author, recovering attorney and the curator of the Her Power Hustle Community. She’s passionate about networking and relationships and writes on business and entrepreneurship topics for a number of sites, including Black Enterprise and Killer Startups. She supports women as they build relationships and networks that take their careers and businesses beyond the next level, with her Her Power Platform™ Program. This program provides women with the tools to Create Connections that Profit™.   Fill out the form below for more information on having your business featured for FREE on an upcoming episode of the Her Power Hustle Podcast