The Sales Evangelist: Sales Training|Speaking|Business Marketing|Donald Kelly

Will B2B Sales Be Impacted by The Elections?   The presidential election of 2020 is coming. The question is, will this impact B2B sales? Let’s talk about that in this episode.    An article published in NewNorth stated that the political season impacts B2B sales but it depends on the industry and the type of customers you’re looking for. Studies have shown that multi-million dollar organizations tend to be less shy during the election. The large organizations expand because they have more consumers, stockholders, and others that have a stake in the success of the company. They have the ability to make more solid predictions and see the bigger picture. They determine how the elected leaders will affect the organization.    The election is different for the mid-sized companies as they aren’t immediately impacted by the results. This is also true for smaller companies. For sales reps, you may have more challenges in the time of the election. Brandon Julio, a professor at the London Business School said that dur

How to Reach Decision-Makers When Selling to Enterprises   When selling, we want to talk to the decision makers but how do you reach them in order to qualify them as a prospect?  Let’s talk about that in this episode.    Erik Kostelnik is the CEO of Postal.io,  a sales marketing engagement platform that generates leads, increases sales, and improves customer retention by optimizing offline engagement and interactions.    Challenges in reaching out to decision makers There have always been obstacles in selling; however, in the last 20 years, it has gotten a lot noisier due to sales and marketing automation. As a result, it has become more difficult to grab the attention of potential clients. People are just overrun by messages and have become desensitized. You need to be different if you want to interrupt this massive flow of data to the decision-makers.     How to reach decision makers Historically we have operated on “five touches” to get to a yes or a no response. Operating within these parameters, sales re

Mistakes Salespeople Make When Prospecting   Prospecting is one of the hardest stages in the sales process. It’s where salespeople commonly make mistakes that impact the entire pitch. Learn some of the common prospecting mistakes in this episode.    Diane Helbig works with small business owners and salespeople in overcoming their struggles. She works out realistic ways for salespeople and entrepreneurs to get things done in an authentic manner.    Common prospecting mistakes Here are the top 3 common mistakes that salespeople make when prospecting.    Salespeople believe that everyone is a prospect Believing that what they seek is a sale rather than a meeting Talking more than listening   Sales is about solving the problem and connecting your product to your client’s need. This isn’t about convincing people to buy from you. Unless you have what they need, convincing someone who wasn’t ready to buy can lead to buyer’s remorse. If you approach the prospect with the closing in mind, the sales process becomes a

Discuss and Understanding Women Leadership    Understanding women leadership is becoming an important facet of sales success today. Women now play the same roles that men have but it’s not a typical subject to talk about the challenges that women face in their careers. Linda Yates helps people and organizations tap into their most positive, profitable, and professional image.    Obstacles to women leadership  Even though it’s 2020 women are still facing this challenge - the lack of pay base across the table. Males typically make more than their female counterparts, even in the same role. Leadership roles have been primarily populated by men over the course of time, women have flooded that role.    Even then, there’s still a disparity. Women often feel like an imposter when the reality is that  they are capable of doing the job well.  Women will, however, have the tendency to hold back because they still don’t have the bravado.    The critical point to being successful, however, is striving to be the best and

Knowing the Right Time to Ask for the Sale   Sales is about the timing - when to pitch, when to close, and when to ask for the sale. Sales reps need to learn how to nail down this timing to get the desired outcome. Tim Kintz is the president of the Kintz Group, a training and consulting company for the automotive industry. He’s been in the car businesses for 30 years and recently published his book, Frictionless, which talks about closing and negotiating with purpose.    Best ways to ask for the sale Customers today have choices. Every dealership is just a click away from buying the car and the failure to deliver exceptional experiences will cause sales reps their deals.  Today’s lifestyle is different than it has been. People worked and could afford to change cars every two-three years. Now, many are battling unemployment. With everything so unsure, everyone is having to navigate a variety of financial struggles.    Sales reps must focus on building the relationship because with so much competition it isn't

How to Reach Executive Decision Makers, and Why They are Listening Right Now In previous episodes, we’ve covered that sales reps have to touch base with several people within their industry, especially the executive decision-makers. This may seem a  daunting task in today’s climate but it’s necessary.    In this episode, we talk to Jeremy Miller, the founder of Sticky Branding. His experience in moving through recessions with the family business, and with his own brand, prepared him for the economic downturn that resulted from covid. With the knowledge he’s accumulated, he’s helping other businesses turn it around and in many cases, launch even better.    Reach out executives The pandemic leveled the playing field for all - every sales rep and even the executives are going through the same experiences together. Almost all businesses are in a state of change as they push the threshold of what they’ve known as common business practices.  They’re having to relearn where to listen. Sales reps who are equipped wit

Will Sales Make Me More Confident and Improve My Social Skills? Sales is a career where people develop their social skills and deepen relationship building. What happens, however, if you’re starting from a place of anxiety and it’s hard for you to talk to people?  Is it still possible to have a successful career in sales? Unfortunately, sales isn’t the solution to these issues and in this episode, we’ll talk about the reasons why.    The wrong idea of getting into sales Sales is a career that deals with interacting with people and the point of it is not to boost your confidence. Being a salesperson who is looking for ways the customer can benefit you means that you’re thinking more about fulfilling your needs rather than helping the buyers solve their problems.    Nobody should get into sales exclusively thinking about what they’re going to get out of it. This mentality makes sales reps people pleasers. They’re afraid of offending their prospects so it keeps the sales rep from asking the important questions.

A Simple Exercise to Understand Your Customers' Values Solving customer needs are core to any business. For your organization to achieve success, you need to understand what’s valuable to your customer. Let’s talk about that in this episode.    David Priemer had the opportunity to work with Salesforce and saw how sales machines were built operationally and culturally. His time in sales made him realize that people naturally love to buy things but they don’t like speaking with salespeople. David aims to combine his experience as a salesperson and research scientist with the curiosity-based approach to help make sales better for all.     Sell the way you buy Modern selling and buying have changed dramatically over the past 5-10 years. With the advent of social media, people no longer have the mental bandwidth to care about everything equally. Unfortunately, many salespeople are stuck using the same tactics that worked 10-20 years ago and that can be disastrous. Salespeople must step up and use modern approaches

How to Be Indispensable to Your Customers How can you become indispensable to your customers? Let’s learn the important facets of our clients’ businesses in this episode.    Nick Casale is the director of Sales at Sendoso, a company that makes it easy to send anything everywhere so you can ship gifts to your clients and prospects. Their services can help you engage, acquire, and retain customers.             Becoming indispensable to your clients The challenge is understanding the difference between what your buyer can get exclusively from you versus what they can get from Google or other sources. There are two ways to become indispensable to your clients. The first is by being helpful and approachable and the other is recognizing that both you and your clients are human beings. You should  be able to maintain a business relationship while delivering business value.    Salespeople can make the mistake of forgetting that clients and prospects are more than that. They are also people with families and at the en

What To Do When Co-Workers Try To Steal Your Deals Most salespeople respect boundaries and defined territories but human nature can get the best of people and lines are crossed.  Sometimes areas have not been well-assigned. When that happens, what should you do? How should you handle it in a civilized manner? In this episode, we provide the answers to these questions.    Be indispensable  When you are working with a client or a potential client, make your presence known. Don’t reach out to just one individual in the organization, reach out to multiple individuals who are at multiple levels. Talk to their director of sales, their HR rep, the VP of sales, and if you’re able, talk to their executive. As much as possible, have three conversations or interactions with these people so the company identifies you as the rep for the products you represent. Make sure that you are indispensable to the client and provide value.    To maximize your interactions use the technology that’s available to you and omnichannel to

The Secret Weapon for Selling Anything Learn the secret weapons for selling in this episode and apply these selling tips to your sales journey as a salesperson. Flynn Blackie dropped his education and pursued his thirst for success.  He started creating websites for friends and as word of mouth grew his reputation, he was able to build his website development business.    Secrets of successful selling Learn their names A person’s name is the first and easiest information to obtain. Knowing someone’s name is important and it immediately sparks their interest. Using a name means you are giving an individual importance and you value them. That sparks the clients’ interests.    Understand what’s important to them The next thing you need to know someone’s interests. Genuinely learn what they need and how your services can help them. Personalize your approach and choose businesses and clients’ causes that you are passionate about. Salespeople need to go the extra mile if we want to grab the attention of our prospec

Why Sales Executives Should Look to the Midwest When Hiring After COVID-19   Sales executives need to plan with optimism. We may not know when the pandemic will be over but when the health crisis ends, will companies be ready to launch well?   Matt Hunckler is the CEO of Powderkeg. His company works with people in the tech industry to reach their full potential by helping them to get established in a career in tech, regardless of their location. Due to the pandemic, there’s been a shift in the unemployment rate from 2% to almost 20%. All industries have been affected, including technology. However, many companies that are well-capitalized and those with a good business model are now getting back to hiring talent.    Hiring in the Midwest   Start-up companies are not for everyone, but if you can get on the front end of a rising star, there are incredible opportunities and potential for growth. For example, businesses in the midwest are raising considerable money. They are investing in talent and they are growi

Secret Ninja Hack For CRM Updates and Meeting Recaps The task that many salespeople find cumbersome is updating and maintaining the CRM. If you have CRM hacks, however, the task can be faster and less tedious.    CRM hacks you need to know Updating CRM isn’t an easy job. When you meet a prospect, and you have a great conversation, ideally the relationship will continue to progress. Although the relationship building is gratifying, most salespeople don’t enjoy spending time recording the details, updating the information on the CRM, and organizing the details as the relationship moves toward a closing. Working on CRM is not the most exciting aspect of the sales process, but it is necessary.   The importance of CRM An organized CRM helps salespeople understand their customers more, and this knowledge offers a better idea about how to help the customer. A salesperson can only be as effective, however, inasmuch as the data in the CRM is useful. One of the CRM hacks you can use is utilizing Google Doc for its acce

Using Video To Improve Lead Generation   There have been huge improvements in lead generation tools that salespeople can use with much more efficiency. In this episode, Sean Gordon will discuss the video technology he and his team created called vidREACH and how it can be used to improve contact with prospects.   Ideas to improve lead generation With  technology available today, people are seeing video as an effective tool to improve lead generation. Forbes projects that 80% - 85% of all content by 2022 will be sent through videos as people are turning to mobile-based apps. A 30 second video easily replaces 500-word content.    Salespeople want a platform that allows them to stand out in their industry so they need a personalized approach to make a human connection, especially when the pandemic has made it difficult for people to gather. This human connection leads to more conversation, then appointments, and eventually, closing more deals. Regardless of the channel you use to connect with other people, wheth

Discover Your Strengths, Sell Authentically, Increase Sales   We all have strengths that will help us become great salespeople. The problem is, we don’t always know what these strengths are or how to use them to sell authentically. Eddie Villa is both a life and a sales coach and in this episode, he’ll speak about using our strengths to help us sell authentically.   Strengths of a Salesperson  There are 34 different strengths that fall under 4 themes: Relationship building, strategic thinking, influencing, and executing. Everyone has different motivations and strengths when it comes to selling. Are you someone who wants to deepen relationships?  Are you driven by checking off a list?  Do you like to learn new skills?  Are you motivated by the process? Once you realize what your strengths are, and you lean into your motivators, selling becomes easy! Balancing your strengths Company culture may not align with your strengths. In that case, focus on the required activities to get the job done. Once you know the

How Salespeople Can Use Abraham Lincoln's War Strategy To Close More Deals   Abraham Lincoln is one of the most iconic individuals in American history for many reasons, but specifically his strategy in winning the Civil War. The Civil War was one of the darkest times for the American people, a pivotal time, and it caused the bloodiest wars fought on American soil. Abraham Lincoln brought the nation together and unified the two opposing beliefs of the North and the South people. Why bring this up on a sales podcast? Believe it or not, salespeople can use Lincoln’s strategy in closing more deals.   Going out there It was Lincoln’s idea to visit the troops and see their issues and difficulties first-hand. That experience helped him understand what they were fighting for and he was able to communicate his observation to key leaders and generals. Lincoln listened and gathered information to know what was going on in the field.  As a result, The Situation Room was created in order to discuss the intel that was gath

Becoming the Best Storyteller Possible   Jim Benton is the CEO of Chorus AI, a leader in conversation intelligence, who helps people understand the conversation that their sales teams are having with their customers.    Technology is more important than ever as it can be used to tell stories that help your clients understand what it is you offer. However, with the pandemic, it is all the more challenging to know these stories within your sales team and what their activities might include.   Becoming the best storyteller Three ways to become great storytellers:    Authenticity  A sales rep can be authentic and relaxed when he’s prepared. He has to understand what’s required of him to be present in the conversation and not be distracted.   Experience Experience is tied to authenticity. The  most authentic stories come from those that you have personally experienced. New sales reps who don’t have stories of their own can share what they observe. This means paying attention to the details of what is going on arou

How Sellers Can Build Trust With Buyers in Remote Settings   Virtual and remote settings are now part of the sales process due to the ongoing pandemic. As a result, it can be hard for a salesperson to build trust with your buyers you can’t meet face to face. In this episode, we’ll look at ways trust can be built regardless of proximity. Russell Wurth is the global VP of Sales Enablement at Showpad and has had an expanding range of experience over the last 20 years.     One of Russell’s favorite books, The Trusted Advisor, has a great formula for trust: Trust is credibility plus reliability plus intimacy divided by self-orientation. Trust is about developing credibility and reliability with a bit of intimacy. The thing about intimacy is that it’s hard to develop virtually. This is something that you build by personal interaction through dinners, lunch meetings, and other events. With the lack of personal meetings, however, sales reps now need to rely heavily on their credibility and reliability.  Developing pe

The One Thing Holding You Back From Massive Success   Regardless of the industry we are in, success is the goal, but it isn’t easy to achieve. It takes time and effort and oftentimes, we have to overcome mental blocks that keep us from attaining that success. In this episode, we’re talking about breaking through that upper limit to achieve sales success.    Limiting your sales success Gay Hendricks wrote the book, The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level. It is a powerful book that talks about how we set limitations and don’t take big leaps because of fear. As a salesperson, we set limits on ourselves about what we do on a day-to-day basis. This may include calling clients or setting appointments. We  have these upper limits, the proverbial glass ceiling,  we impose on ourselves. These are the limits we don’t go beyond.    For example, one salesperson may limit himself to three appointments a day and when they try to go beyond that, they somehow find ways to sabotage themselves.

Use virtual tools to do more, in less time, with better outcomes   Out of necessity, we are moving into a digital world in which almost every step of the sales process involves the use of virtual tools. The challenge is, not all salespeople know how to use these virtual tools and it’s inhibiting sales growth.    Jeb Blount has been doing virtual sales since 2015. As he recognized the increasing need for sellers to be tech-savvy, he wrote  Virtual Selling and realized that there is so much more than integrating videos in the sales process. Virtual sales include integrating all the virtual communication tools, both the synchronous and asynchronous. The question was how to utilize all these virtual tools for sales and blend these into a viable way to sell and prospect. We say “blend” because face-to-face selling isn’t always available, especially in this season of people’s social distancing. Being able to use virtual tools makes the sales process more efficient and productive.    Virtual calls, for example, is