The Sales Evangelist

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TSE 1046: You Need to Worry More About Your Champion Than Your Decision Maker Mar 08, 2019

Show notes

Sometimes sales professionals get it backward, and they fail to understand the need to worry more about your champion than your decision maker.

Today Garrett Mehrguth talks to us about the importance of your champion in your sales deals, and why we shouldn't lose sight of his importance.

Sometimes there's great value in changing the defaults we learn as salespeople. We tend to become so obsessed with the decision makers that we overlook the champions, who are arguably the most important person in the whole scenario.

How decisions are made

Salespeople sometimes focus so greatly on getting a close that we neglect the fundamental truths involved in selling. In fact, we alienate people and we become our own worst enemy.

It isn't price; it's me. Most often, we are the reason that deals don't close. It's a direct result of who we speak to, who we don't speak to, the way we end a conversation, the way we treat people, how well we prepare.

We must have transparency and honesty to admit that often we're the reason we don't close a deal.

Salespeople are quick to take credit for successes and slow to take responsibility for failures. #SalesTruth

Garrett believes that if we would build our resources and our marketing toward decision makers, we would drastically improve our conversion rates.

How deals emerge

Once a decision-maker recognizes he has a need, he might send a subordinate to a conference to talk to vendors. He might instruct the person to get three quotes and then bring his two favorites to the decision-maker. Once that's done, the two will make a decision together.

He might suggest filling out 10 forms on the way to finding three good options. The pair will whittle those to two good options before making a decision.

The problem is that if you speak over the champion or speak through the champion or speak around the champion, you alienate your greatest ally.

Why you need the champion

The champion is your greatest asset while you're not in the room, so if you alienate that person, you're losing an important ally. You alienate the person who could potentially go to bat for you once you hang up the phone.

Good decision-makers make decisions by asking the champion whether or not he could work with that agency. So who truly puts their butt on the line?

It isn't the decision-maker, because he has a fall guy.

The champion is the one who needs the information, the emotional support, and the resources to make a good decision. If you honor the champion with amazing intro calls, lots of sales resources, and well-prepared meetings, you give him the ammo to pitch you internally.

[Tweet "Internal sales champions are far more powerful than outside reps trying to close deals. #SalesChampion"]

Why the decision-maker shouldn't be your focus

In five years of working with marketing teams, Garrett has never heard anyone mention targeting the champion. Instead, we treat decision-makers as though they have some kind of supernatural power.

The decision-maker is never the point of contact. If he isn't the point of contact, and he isn't the one who will be working with the agency you choose, he isn't the one to target.

Remember that everyone is selling to the decision-maker, including the champion. The decision-makers job is to discern the best fit for his champion. So even if he likes a certain agency better, if that agency can't work with his champion, it won't matter.

Deal retention is far more important than closing deals. Even if you manage to close a deal, if you don't treat the champion well, you won't renew it. You won't get referrals from it.

In Garrett's mind, there isn't a single aspect of the process where the decision-maker is more important than the champion.

Avoiding absolutes

He acknowledges, too, that absolutes are dangerous. It's certainly not true that the decision-maker should never, ever be considered.

Instead, let's work to change the fundamental hypothesis that we as marketers and sales reps enter relationships with.

If we spend more time building rapport with the point of contact, you will drastically improve your close rate because you are building confidence and comfort with the most important voice in the room.

You need a champion who will give you a voice during moments when you aren't in the room because that's often when deals are decided. You won't close $150,000 contracts while you're in the room. It happens behind closed doors, and you won't likely be there when it does.

Shifting focus to champions

Give your champions resources to bolster their confidence. Make that your primary goal.

Your champion is likely scared to death of going to his boss with a recommendation. His discernment and character will be judged by the referral he makes. Anytime you give a referral to someone, your own judgment is on the line.

Challenge things that other people won't do. Put your neck on the line by offering evidence and claims that protect the champion when he goes to his boss. You take the risk so your champion doesn't have to.

It will give him the confidence to recommend your agency and it will differentiate you from the competition.

In order to be successful, do the opposite of what everyone else is doing.

Building confidence

Garrett's company operates on annual contracts, and they give the point of contact room to act if he doesn't feel completely comfortable in the relationship. By backing up their claims, it gives the champion room to cover himself if he makes a bad choice in hiring them.

If you create alignment with the champion, you'll create alignment with the decision-maker. At the end of the day, the decision-makers just have to make more money than you're charging them.

The champion has to have a day-to-day relationship with you. You can't neglect that relationship.

It's why you must develop resources that speak directly to your champion.

Even when it's time to renew, the champion will get to decide whether to continue working with your agency. Regardless of the data, if the relationship isn't there, the deal won't renew.

Change your perspective to focus on champions, and your volume will drastically improve. There are far more champions looking for vendors than there are decision-makers.

You'll also increase your deal retention and reduce churn.

Change your prospecting and marketing to focus on the champions, you'll increase your at-bats and your close rate.

"You Need to Worry More About Your Champion Than Your Decision Maker" episode resources

You can connect with Garrett on LinkedIn @garrettmehrguth, email him at gmehrguth@directiveconsulting.com, or connect with him on Twitter @gmehrguth.

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.

Mailtag.io allows you to see around the corners. You can see when people open your email, or when they click on the link you sent. Mailtag.io will give you half-off your subscription for life when you use the Promo Code: Donald at check out.

This episode is also brought to you by the TSE Certified Sales Training Program. If 2018 wasn't the best year for you, check out TSE Certified Sales Training Program. We can help you out of your slump.

If you gave a lot of great presentations and did a lot of hard work, only to watch your prospects choose to work with your competitors, we can help you fix that. The new semester of TSE Certified Sales Training Program begins in April and it would be an absolute honor to have you join us.

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. Share it with your friends who would benefit from learning more.

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Mentioned in this episode:

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

TSE 1045: TSE Certified Sales Training Program - “David and Goliath” Mar 07, 2019

Show notes

Sometimes the logical approach doesn't make sense, just as in the story of David and Goliath it seemed impossible to believe that the shepherd boy could beat the giant.

In sales, we sometimes have to be a bit irrational. We must think outside the box.

Today we'll discuss how unorthodox thinking can help us take down some pretty significant giants. It can also help us win some pretty decent accounts.

Logical approach

When the giant Goliath demanded that the Israelites send out their best warrior, it didn't make sense for them to send David. He wasn't the fastest or the biggest.

He was a little farm guy tending sheep, and he wasn't the typical warrior type.

Too often in sales we default to the same logical approach that sales reps have been using for years. Instead of thinking outside the box, we choose the most rational solution to the problem.

Imagine you're selling TVs and you're meeting with a client that has a good idea of what they need and what they want. It's possible, though, that the client's perception of the problem may not even be the real issue. Worse yet, their solution to the problem may not be the best one.

In the case of David and Goliath, if the Israelites had sent the best warrior into battle to try to outperform the giant, the best warrior would likely have been killed.

Unorthodox approach

David used an approach that had never been used before. He used a sling and a stone to take down the giant, and the approach was unexpected.

In the situation with the client and the TV, he may assume that he needs a TV because it has always been the best solution in the past. Perhaps, though, the best solution is a projector, but the client doesn't realize it's even a possibility.

What if you forget about the TV for a minute and consider other possibilities: smartphones or tablets, or even podcasts. If the goal is for the client to find a form of entertainment, TV isn't the only option.

[Tweet "Instead of giving the client exactly what he says he wants, offer possibilities that he may not even be aware of. #SolveProblems"]

Sales reps who ask the right questions can differentiate themselves. They can challenge the status quo and help the buyer to see us in a different light.

Risky decisions

I was reading a book called Selling to the C-Suite and the author mentioned that executives will often make risky decisions if there's a clear plan for that decision. Most executives routinely get what they want.

In many cases, their team members fail to offer unique proposals because they are afraid of getting fired.

In this case, an educated seller may propose an option that's a little riskier than just selling the executive a television. The executive may be so busy running his business that he hasn't researched TVs or other options.

Your goal should be to inform yourself about the industry, the client, the type of business, and the problem. Come to the table as an expert and offer unique ways to solve the client's problem.

Memorable actions

David explained to Saul that because he had killed lions and bears in the past, he was equipped to take down a giant. If Saul was seeking a victory that would make the opponents his servants, wouldn't it be worthwhile to consider David's proposal?

David accomplished exactly what he said he would, and the result is a story that has survived for thousands of years.

Will your clients remember you and your heroic efforts or will you be just another sale rep? Will you be the one who offered them a cheaper price? Or will you be the one who offered a unique approach that turned the organization around?

Studying industries

Know your client's industry well. Study it. Understand the business left and right.

Instead of trying to sell to 10 million different industries, focus on the top three or five and master those industries. Become an expert in those niches. Then focus on those people.

That doesn't mean you won't sell to those other industries. It simply means that you won't focus on those industries. Invest your efforts into the industries that will give you the best bang for your buck.

Read industry magazines, and watch YouTube videos. Spend time on activities that will help you become more effective.

When you do, you'll stand out from the competitors. Because you'll bring different ideas, different strategies, and different tactics, you'll earn the respect of your prospects.

Bring resources, examples, and share your past experiences with your prospects. Explain to your clients why they must choose the option you're offering.

“David and Goliath” episode resources

This episode is brought to you in part by our TSE Certified Sales Training Program, which teaches you to improve your sales skills, find more customers, build stronger value, and close more deals.

The next semester begins in April.

If you're not familiar with the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, it's a program designed to help brand new sales reps, as well as those who have been selling forever. The 12-week module offers videos you can watch at your own pace, as well as the option to join a group discussion. It's broken into three sections: finding, building value, and closing. It's amazing and it's fun!

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. 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.

The episode is also brought to you by prospect.io, a sales automation platform that allows you to send cold emails in a personalized manner. To find out more about how it can help you automate your sales process, go to prospect.io/tse. Your prospecting will never be the same.

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.

Mentioned in this episode:

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

TSE 1044: Sales From The Street: "Being A Great Leader" Mar 06, 2019

Show notes

It's impossible to overstate the importance of being a great leader when you're working to build a team or an organization into something that will change the world and make things better for people.

Today's guest Andrei Mincov founded Trademark Factory in 2013 to help entrepreneurs secure the legacy of their brands and preserve their hard work.

Teams

As you grow your team, as you grow your business, as you grow your dream, as you grow your vision, there comes a time when the leader can't come up with all the ideas.

In order for the organization to grow, leaders need team members who help generate ideas and who provide initiative to improve things.

You'll likely have some team members who simply have marching orders or tasks. Others will be responsible to help you move the organization forward.

Those team members will have to have vision. They'll operate from your inspiration.

Hiring

Finding those visionary team members is different than hiring task-based team members.

Andrei uses small, unique tasks to help make hiring decisions simpler. He might, for example, offer a jpeg with a typo or error in it and ask prospective employees to find the error. The intention would be to measure the candidate's attention to detail.

He might also ask the candidate to build a video or a graphics project.

This process helps him narrow the field because not every candidate is willing to jump through the required hoops to get the job. It also helps him determine who actually has the necessary skill set to accomplish the work.

Without poring over countless resumes and applications he can narrow the field to the best candidates.

If candidates aren't excited enough, in the beginning, to show you what they can do for you, how excited will they be after they are hired?

[Tweet "It's hard to hire from a bunch of unknowns, but it's much easier to select employees from a smaller number of candidates you've already seen in action. #HiringLeaders"]

Growth

Leaders must have a compelling vision in order to grow a company. They should also likely have a track record of successfully accomplishing goals.

Conveying thoughts and messages won't be enough to lead well. Leadership demands action and results.

People will follow leaders who have vision and a successful track record. The better your business and the better your track record, the more likely you are to attract great people to surround you.

Andrei shared that animals in the zoo don't care about ticket sales. They care about food and comfort and safety.

Your team members are similar in that they care about basic things like provision and comfort. While you probably want them to have full ownership in your business, they likely never will.

Your role is to provide enough vision for them to recognize that aligning themselves with your goal will benefit them personally.

Building

Smaller companies often fail to see that they are capable of building something that matters. They may have a really cool team or a really cool business and they assume it's a fluke. They don't take themselves seriously enough to worry about protecting their businesses.

What steps would you take to protect yourself and your business if you knew that you would definitely succeed?

This issue boils down to leadership, because if you don't have a vision of growing your company into something substantial, you'll miss an opportunity.

Great leaders like Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos know that they are building something that can change the world. They are building something that will help a bunch of people do a bunch of great stuff.

When you have a vision toward the path to greatness, people will follow you. Do something that people will remember years from now.

"Being A Great Leader" episode resources

You can connect with Andrei and his team trademarkfactory.com. If you have a brand you're interested in protecting, you can schedule a free call with the team to determine the next steps in your process.

If you haven't already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won't miss a single episode. Share it with your friends who would benefit from learning more.

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Mentioned in this episode:

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

TSE Episode#1043: 5 Ways to Measure the Quality of your Leads, Pipeline and Sales Talent Mar 05, 2019

Show notes

When you're scaling an organization, it's important that you're able to measure the quality of your leads, pipeline, and sales talent. It important for business owners as well as sales reps, because simply adding people to the organization won't necessarily result in more sales.

Today Rob Kall talks about the numbers that we might not be measuring and the importance of that data in helping your organization grow and improve.

Although they aren't commonly measured, these data are the true drivers of your organization's success.

Soft things

Many sales leaders believe that the solution to any sales struggle is to throw more bodies at it. Though that option may work sometimes, it comes at a cost.

Eventually, you'll find that you aren't getting that much more out of the machine despite the added personnel.

In response to that problem, Rob and his company spent a lot of time looking at how you can move to tangible measurements instead of making decisions based upon gut feelings.

They have identified 5 metrics to improve your company's performance.

1. Lead quality

Leads are not created equal. If I have 1,000 leads and a 2 percent conversion to close, that's a super easy way to measure.

But if I get a referral from my rich uncle, that's probably a much easier sale than calling someone who has never heard of my business or product.

We fail to pay attention to these factors, but they are important. Unfortunately, they can also be difficult to determine.

Begin by creating a baseline.

If you find that of 1,000 leads you generated in the last period, you were able to generate 20 sales, you can measure a 2 percent conversion.

[Tweet "Figure out where your leads come from. Once you've identified that, you may determine that the conversion rate for a particular lead source is higher than the others. #LeadSource"]

You can also evaluate your leads by industry and location.

Once you understand those conversions, you can identify the leads that are not likely to close and stop wasting your time on them.

2. Prospecting effectiveness

Prospecting results in a lot of "no" responses.

The only thing that really matters is engagement. As a rep, you must get a certain amount of engagement every day.

Some people do it with sheer numbers. Others send fewer contacts but they personalize the ones they do send.

Whichever approach you use, make notes every single time an activity results in something. When you do, you'll begin to recognize patterns.

Your numbers might look great, but if the outcomes aren't there, those numbers don't mean as much.

3. True pipeline

Rob points to a concept he calls a critical deal.

Some companies do pipeline reviews on a weekly basis but others do it on a daily basis. It's a chance to see how well deals are progressing.

Consider the following three factors:

Is it a big deal that matters? If it's a $500 deal when typically your deals average $10,000, you probably shouldn't even look at it. Is the significance there?
Is it a deal that is unlikely to close? Consider the probability.
Has something happened that would make you think it's less likely to close? If you've had no communication with the customer or other indications that the deal may stall, consider those.

If these three factors aren't there, you probably should focus on other deals. Move the critical deals forward and think about your deals in a structured way.

4. Product knowledge

On the rep side of the issue, reps must have product and industry knowledge. When you're just starting out, you won't have as much knowledge as those who have been there for years.

How well does this rep know the industry and the product? How does he compare to other reps?

Those with the best product knowledge won't necessarily be the best performers. You can't possibly know every single factor of the industry.

You simply must know enough to be credible. Those who haven't reached that minimum threshold will struggle until they do.

Consider also closing ability or the ability to look at the last part of the deal.

When you get to the last stage of a deal, what happens? How often do you win? You'll see patterns if you track this rate.

Does one rep have more of a killer instinct?

5. Engagement ability

If you are able to generate a lot of engagement, you're probably a good communicator. You're probably good at providing valuable information to the prospect.

Instead of measuring how the prospect responds to it, measure how much engagement the rep is able to generate.

Technology

The reality is that your sales team probably includes a few people who don't have the right product knowledge and a few people that don't have valuable leads.

You may have a few areas where your marketing team is spinning its wheels.

When you start addressing some of these shortcomings, you start to see amazing results.

By fixing the one thing that's screwing you up, you unlock the potential for your sales organization.

Team mood

As a sales leader, you probably have a gut feeling about your team's morale. You know whether they are optimistic or not.

When negativity is present, it will affect your team's ability to sell. It will also affect your retention and your on-boarding.

Though no product is perfect, there are frequently just one or two things that are causing grief.

How do they feel about the materials they have?
How do they feel about coaching?
What kind of competitive pressures are they feeling?

You'll likely identify multiple areas of improvement that will help your team perform better.

Limiting factors

Many limiting factors don't simply add up. They multiply.

If you can improve it a little bit, even if you can't perfect it, you'll get results from that thing. If the rep doesn't know the product, train him. If the team doesn't feel good about the commission plan, explain it.

If your product isn't ready for market, figure out what you can do to improve it.

"Measure the Quality of your Leads, Pipeline and Sales Talent" episode resources

Connect with Rob at cien.ai. It's a reference to doing things 100 times. You can also connect with him personally on LinkedIn @RobertKall.

This episode is brought to you in part by our TSE Certified Sales Training Program, which teaches you to improve your sales skills, find more customers, build stronger value, and close more deals.

The next semester begins in April.

You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link.

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.

Mentioned in this episode:

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

TSE 1042: 3 Mistakes Small Company Sales Leaders Make Mar 04, 2019

Show notes

Very often, sales reps find themselves frustrated and hemmed in by the mistakes small company sales leaders make.

I had a conversation last week with a sales rep who was frustrated because his company had no real plan or guidance for how it would achieve the owner’s vision. The owner expected Herculean efforts by the rep, but eventually the rep stopped performing and left the company to escape the pressure.

In many cases, unless the owner corrects the mistakes, the cycle starts all over again when a new rep joins the team.

HONEYMOON

Many of us in small organizations understand the excitement of entering a new role only to discover that the reality was different than the idea you bought into. The sales rep I mentioned was never good enough to accomplish what the boss was hoping for, because there was no plan in place to help him succeed.

Because the rep wasn’t as successful as the boss expected, he was moved into a different role. The rep continued in a sales support role, but his demeanor changed. His excitement disappeared. He wasn’t giving as much of himself to the company because he was discouraged by all that had happened.

Eventually he left the role and moved into a much better position.

MISSING PLAN

Entrepreneurs certainly have the freedom to set their own vision for their companies. It’s their responsibility to establish where the organization will go, but they must also determine how it will get there.

Imagine an owner who sets a goal to make $1 million. He wants the best sales reps to come into his organization and help him carry out that plan.

He hires a successful sales rep from another company where there is already a proven sales process and proven guidance to help him succeed. The owner expects the sales rep to execute at the new company the same way he did at the previous one, except there’s no structure in place.

If the rep didn’t take the sales job expecting to have to reinvent the wheel, he’ll likely be frustrated by the lack of any kind of process. If he’s a new seller, he may not have the resources or the experience to help build a sales process from nothing.

As a result, he’ll be frustrated and burned out quickly because he doesn’t have the necessary tools to be successful.

Without a change in the owner’s approach, every sales rep who walks into this same situation will likely end up leaving.

MISTAKE 1: FAILING TO FIND THE BEST CUSTOMER

If you don’t identify the best potential customer for your business, the sales rep will constantly have to switch gears in an effort to pursue different prospects. He’ll struggle to gain traction because he’ll be chasing too many possibilities.

He likely won’t have any idea what works and what doesn’t, because he’ll be spread too thin.

Have a clear definition of the customers you’ll pursue, and how you’ll connect with them. If you haven’t already determined who your ideal customers are, give your sales reps additional time to figure out which customers are worth pursuing.

MISTAKE 2: FAILING TO UNDERSTAND BASIC METRICS

If you aren’t tracking certain metrics within your company, you’ll have no way to determine which efforts are working and which ones are not.

Begin by determining which KPIs you’ll use to evaluate the effectiveness of your sales reps.

How many deals do they close?
The number of appointments they set?
How many demonstrations do they schedule?
How many contacts do they locate?

I recommend you focus on outcome-based KPIs. It’s ok to track the day-to-day activities that produce important outcomes like demonstrations scheduled or deals closed, but I wouldn’t judge your employees on those metrics.

Avoid measuring vanity numbers like the number of calls made and instead evaluate meaningful numbers like the number of appointments that resulted from those calls.

Determine what kind of realistic result your rep should be accomplishing. Should he be closing $6,000 worth of deals each month? Once you know that, you can help your reps ramp up.

Once you have a trajectory, plan, or path to follow, your sales reps will be able to duplicate their results over time and eventually hit even bigger goals. #SalesGoals

CLICK TO TWEET

MISTAKE 3: FAILING TO GUIDE YOUR TEAM

Once your team has an understanding of the ideal customers and how to find them, you must give your team a clear expectation of what to say.

Prepare your team for the questions they must be prepared to answer and the objections they’ll likely hear. Develop resources like downloads or podcasts or articles that will help your sales reps educate themselves. Accumulate resources that your reps can share with your prospects.

If you don’t help your sales reps succeed, they will move on to another company. Then, you’ll find yourself in the same mess again.

Don’t make these same mistakes. Develop a plan to help your team succeed.

Check out the TSE Certified Sales Training Program for help building a successful team and an effective process.

“MISTAKES SMALL COMPANY SALES LEADERS MAKE” EPISODE RESOURCES

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.

This episode is also brought to you by the TSE Certified Sales Training Program. If 2018 wasn’t the best year for you, check out TSE Certified Sales Training Program. We can help you out of your slump.

If you haven’t already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss a single episode. Share it with your friends who would benefit from learning more.

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Audio Player

Mentioned in this episode:

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

TSE 1041: Just Go For No! Mar 01, 2019

Show notes

Salespeople don’t like to hear the word “no” but Andrea Waltz is going to help you change the way you look at that response so that you’ll find yourself trying to go for no.

Andrea and her husband struck out on their own about 19 years ago. They did sales workshops and trainings for big companies, and they found that their rejection piece was the thing everyone loved.

This was a problem and a solution that affected everyone no matter what business they were in.

In this replay of a 2017 episode of The Sales Evangelist, Andrea offers the following advice to those dealing with rejection.

IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU.

Although it’s true that the rejection isn’t personal, it’s hard to avoid internalizing that rejection. It’s normal to respond emotionally when someone tells you no.

If, however, you allow rejection to take control of your sales process, you end up with mediocre results because you’re little more than an order-taker.

GO FOR THE NO.

Eventually you’re going to have a conversation with someone, so rejection is always a possibility.

Andrea’s husband had an experience once selling menswear, and his manager asked him what the customer said no to. Her husband pointed out that the customer bought everything he recommended and didn’t say no to anything.

The manager then asked, “Well then how did you know he was done?”

As sellers, we tend to sell to our own wallets, but if we could get comfortable being told no, it’s possible that we’d be even more successful.

We must get used to hearing “no.”

HELP STRUGGLING SELLERS.

“No” doesn’t mean never; it means not yet.

“No” is the beginning of a negotiation. If you call on someone who is happy with the current supplier, that won’t necessarily be true forever.

You must stay in touch and follow up even when people tell you “no.”

Encourage your sellers to continue the follow up. It’s easy to lose track if you don’t use your CRM.

There’s also an interesting phenomenon around getting a “yes.” Everyone celebrates that “yes.” Contrast that with the person who makes 20 phone calls and gets nothing but “no.”

Consider that a lot of those “no” answers can turn into “yes.”

Don’t just reward results; reward activity. #GetUsedToNo

CLICK TO TWEET

Track your “no” answers. Set a “no” goal.

If you get permission to follow up, you absolutely must do it.

MANAGE “NO.”

Sellers must learn to distinguish the different kinds of “no” answer. When you avoid hearing “no” you don’t get good at handling rejection emotionally.

When you get used to hearing “no” you learn to distinguish the “no” answers that could potentially turn into a “yes.”

Get permission to follow up with that qualified prospect. At worst, ask if you can check back in a few months to see if anything has changed.

You can also try to figure out what the “no” is by figuring out how you got to “no.”

You have nothing to lose at this point, so try to figure out why it wasn’t a good fit. Figure out why people are saying “no” and figure out how you can mitigate that in the future.

TALK TO THE RIGHT PEOPLE.

If you’re getting a large number of “no” answers, determine whether you’re talking to the right people. Consider that maybe you aren’t contacting qualified leads.

Maybe your presentation needs a few tweaks.

If you’re only being proactive, you’re only dealing with the “yes” answers.

People usually have to be contacted multiple times before they say “yes.” They are often hesitant to change, so if you’re changing a service but the prospect doesn’t want to make a change, that’s why multiple contacts are necessary.

Add value. Get them accustomed to the idea.

CHANGE YOUR MINDSET.

Understand that you don’t just have to focus on “yes.” That mindset shift forces you to let go of being perfect.

People have been conditioned to believe that “no” and failure go together.

When you avoid “no,” you miss opportunities for some big “yes” answers. We want to give people permission to believe that it’s ok to get a “no.”

Create a “no” awareness.

“JUST GO FOR NO!” EPISODE RESOURCES

Learn more about these concepts by visiting GoForNo.com. You can also grab a copy of their book Go For No!: Yes Is the Destination, No Is How You Get There.

This episode is brought to you in part by our TSE Certified Sales Training Program, which teaches you to improve your sales skills, find more customers, build stronger value, and close more deals.

The next semester begins in April.

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. It’s super easy, it’s helpful, and I recommend that you try it out.

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Mentioned in this episode:

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

TSE 1040: TSE Certified Sales Training Program - "Why and How To Follow Up" Feb 28, 2019

Show notes

Following up means reconnecting with the prospect, and it's crucial that you understand why and how to follow up.

Many of us dread the follow-up portion of our job because we fear being a nuisance. When we do it effectively, though, it can be the key to more deals and more success.

Follow up

Follow up builds trust with your prospects. When you tell them that you're going to follow up with them, they expect to hear from you. Failure to follow up suggests that you're not dependable or perhaps you found another prospect that is more valuable.

You must keep your promises because trust leads to success. People do business with people they know, like, and trust.

[Tweet "At the end of every single interaction with your prospect, you should have some form of follow-up in mind. #FollowUp"]

Next steps

Create a meaningful process that will help move your prospects forward.

Decide what you need to do next and establish a clear next step for every single appointment. When you meet for the first time, schedule a next step that will allow a deeper dive with that prospect.

Let your prospects know that there will always be a clear next step as long as you two are a good fit for one another.

Ask your prospects what they would like to do next. Based upon their answer, you can schedule your next step.

Be prepared to offer some options for meeting days and times. Do NOT leave the meeting with a general statement that the prospect will follow up with you.

Better to have a specific sense of whether the relationship is moving forward than to be left wondering.

Effective strategies

For most sellers, none of this is new material. We KNOW that we need to follow up.

Once you've created the next step, use Google Calendar to create a notifications that will remind each of you about the meeting.

Even if your prospect indicates that the time isn't right for your product or service, have a follow-up in mind that will allow you to reconnect with him after the fact.

Stay in touch. Keep your prospect moving in the right direction.

"Why and How to Follow Up" episode resources

Check out the book 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management by Kevin Kruse.

This episode is brought to you by the TSE Certified Sales Training Program. If you put in a lot of hard work in 2018 but weren't able to close many of your deals, we can help you fix that. We have a new semester beginning in April and it would be an honor to have you join. Visit thesalesevangelist.com/CST.

If you haven't already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won't miss a single episode. Share it with your friends who would benefit from learning more.

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Mentioned in this episode:

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

TSE 1039: Sales From The Street - “Overcome Sales Plateaus” Feb 27, 2019

Show notes

If you struggle with sales and the challenges that go along with it, you aren’t alone, and today Ted Ryce shares how he overcame his own struggles and how you can overcome sales plateaus.

Ted has been a health and fitness professional for the past 17 years in Miami Beach. He has worked with tons of celebrities, CEOs, multi-million dollar companies and personalities like Richard Branson and Robert Downey, Jr. He now has a health, fitness, and personal development podcast called Legendary Life Podcast. Ted figured out early on that he actually is a salesperson. Sales never came easy for him and so today, he shares with us the challenges he faced and how he overcame them so you can learn from his experience.

Don’t undersell yourself

Ted poured a lot of effort and resources into the fitness industry, and though it helped, he hit a plateau where he wasn’t getting more clients. For the money he invested, he expected to have a mile-long waiting list.

He was in desperate need of new clients when a guy expressed interest in training with him. Ted saw it as a chance to grow his client list and raise his prices.

Looking back, he realizes that because he didn’t have confidence in his business or his cost, he didn’t justify the cost to his prospect.

Determine your value, and stick to it.

Differentiate yourself

Once you play the price game, everyone loses, including other people in your industry. You have to differentiate yourself and have a reason for charging as much as you do. You must explain it so that the prospect can understand the cost.

Have a reason for charging more, not coming from a place of being awesome but in a way the prospect can understand.

In Ted’s case, he realized there would always be people who would work for less money, so he started to highlight how his training was different.

He offered a holistic approach that included sleep and other physical and health challenges, and he specialized in injuries. He also had a background of working with CEOs, so he marketed himself accordingly.

Sell what the client wants

Don’t sell yourself or what you want to sell. Sell exactly what the client wants.

Ted worked to determine exactly what his clients needed, and then he sold them exactly that instead of selling what he wanted to sell.

He also made peace with the idea that some customers would need something different than what he was selling, so he would be willing to refer them out.

Match what you do with what someone else needs.

[Tweet "When you value your product or service in the right way, price no longer becomes an issue. #Value"]

Reach more people

Once you’ve narrowed your message, find ways to reach the people who can benefit from your product or service. This is a great way of selling yourself without selling yourself.

Go out there and do more presentations. Do a podcast. Eventually, they will look at you as a leader in your industry.

People will apply the things you’re sharing, and if it helps them succeed, they will view you as a subject-matter expert. Take things step by step. Stay at it. Take lessons and courses. Listen to podcasts. Stay on course to make consistent improvements. In 3-6 months time, you’re going to see major changes.

Stay consistent, keep at it, and don’t give up.

"Sell Value" episode resources

You can connect with Ted on the Legendary Life Podcast, and check out the Be The Change group.

This episode is brought to you in part by our TSE Certified Sales Training Program, which teaches you to improve your sales skills, find more customers, build stronger value, and close more deals.

The next semester begins in April.

You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link.

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.

Mentioned in this episode:

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

TSE 1036: How To Have A Constant Flow of New Customer Feb 22, 2019

Show notes

One of the biggest challenges in business is keeping that constant flow of new customers in the pipeline. How you brand yourself and your company is imperative in producing growth and recurrent revenue.

Johanne Wilson is co-founder of a Florida-based design agency called COOL Creative. COOL stands for Create Out of Love. Their branding comes from a creative and design standpoint.

Challenges in sales

Every company experiences challenges when it comes to sales. Understanding those challenges and learning effective ways to overcome them can increase your sales. It can also clarify your target audience and reveal how to best go about reaching them.

Find effective ways to pitch so you can have a healthy flow of clients and client work. When you do, you’ll create active, recurrent clients that return again and again.

From a fashion standpoint, offer enough product and keep it updated and fresh. The customer will keep coming in to purchase product and will create recurrent revenue.

Change product release times and inform the customer of new releases to keep him engaged..

Strive for constant communication with the customer in order to drive sales.

Solutions to challenges

Maintain consistent growth within your business.

On the agency side, COOL Creative developed a growth plan that would move the sales needle.

For example, making an investment in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program provides tools for creating an effective growth plan.

Johanne realized that she was spending too much time on client work and not enough on the sales side of her business. As the business leader, she realized she was spending a lot of time on design because she was comfortable with it. She was not investing enough time in the sales side.

She learned that in order to be a good business person, you have to become a good sales person as well. You must familiarize yourself with the aspects of business that you aren’t comfortable or familiar with.

Prioritizing sales

On the fashion side, pushing more on advertising, marketing, social, communication, and partnerships with influential people like celebrities can all help drive sales. Right partnerships can lead to other agencies funneling clients your way.

Work smarter, not harder. Identify the areas that need more attention and push toward making those a priority.

As an entrepreneur, Donald neglected the sales facet. But once he made sales a priority, everything else fell into place.

As a business leader, sales is a necessity.

Nobody knows your business better than you. Nobody can sell it better than you.

It can be hard to let go of the things that got you into business in the first place. Identify the areas of business that aren’t as strong. Invest more time and energy into those areas.

Business will become healthier and you will be able to serve clients better.

Understand your clients’ issues and the strategies you will use in solving them. Then attach a price tag to those solutions.

When you and the client see amazing results from something you helped him with, it’s rewarding. Bringing a client’s idea to life or bringing a business objective to life makes it all worthwhile. Create Out of Love (COOL) speaks for itself when these instances occur.

Results of changes

Growth is always a good indicator for having made positive changes.

You don’t have to do anything drastic: small changes can have big rewards.

What are you focusing on? If your head is always down working on the deliverables, which is important, you must make sure there is a strong person on the sales side to keep the engine moving.

Speaking to the creative entrepreneur, don’t forget why you are in business. While it is the creative piece that got you started, you have to get good at the business side, too. This includes sales, accurate bookkeeping, and meeting with other professionals to make sure that the business stays in good standing.

"Constant Flow of New Customers" episode resources

You can reach Johanne Wilson online at www.coolcreativeinc.com. Here you can link to the online shop, Instagram @CoolCreativeinc, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

If you haven't already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won't miss a single episode. Share it with your friends who would benefit from learning more.

Mailtag.io will give you half-off your subscription for life when you use the Promo Code: Donald at check out.

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Mentioned in this episode:

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

TSE 1035: TSE Certified Sales Training Program - "Story Selling" Feb 21, 2019

Show notes

Stories provide a powerful opportunity to connect with your prospects, and story selling can push you across the line and even make you more successful than the competition.

They can even help you overcome a less superior product because people respond to good stories.

Stories as a lifeline

Good stories can separate you from your competition.

I'm putting together a workshop right designed to help business owners understand the power of stories in the selling process. Many of them are trying to land big contracts without great stories.

I call this process edutaining, and it differentiates those who do it well. After all, anyone can talk about their product or service. Not everyone can explain how it solve problems for clients. Not everyone can give specific examples of the difference their product or service made.

Your prospect wants to hear why it matters. He doesn't care about your software or widget; he cares about what it can do for him.

[Tweet "When you share the story of your widget and the problems it has solved for other people, your buyers will engage. You'll build a connection with your buyer that will make him want to hear more. #StorySelling"]

Focus on "why"

I'm helping a client build a huge presentation for a corporation her company has done business with in the past. She'll be educating these buyers about her company and its offerings. As she prepares, she's trying to determine what exactly she should say.

We're working to provide the "whys" of her company instead of focusing on the "what." Rather than address what they do, what they offer, and what they can create, she'll focus on why they've done those things.

Why did you start the company?
What makes you passionate about solving this issue?
Why do clients seek your products?

When she told me the story of why she started the company, she came to life and her excitement pulled me in. She told me about her first client and the series of events that launched the whole company, and she pulled me in.

It didn't matter to me that she had been in business for 15 years.

The buyers

Think about your buyers.

Spend time thinking of examples of the ways you help your customers solve problems. Ask yourself what your buyers are most concerned about.

Think back to an experience when you helped a client solve an important problem or prevent a crisis for their own customers. Then, weave that into your presentation.

In the case of this client, her company had suffered a bad experience because of a product delay, and she was concerned about how to handle the situation. To take the fear out of the incident, she decided to tell a story that directly addressed it.

She acknowledged that her organization isn't perfect, and then she addressed how they had fixed the mistakes that happened in the past. She emphasized her company's desire to never make the same mistake twice.

"Story Selling" episode resources

The TSE Certified Sales Training Program addresses how to provide value to your buyers. We discuss the importance of teaching and educating them using stories, and you can be part of it.

This episode is brought to you in part by our TSE Certified Sales Training Program, which teaches you to improve your sales skills, find more customers, build stronger value, and close more deals.

The next semester begins in April.

You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link.

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.

Mentioned in this episode:

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com