The Sales Evangelist

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Apple’s New Call Screening Is Cold Calling’s Worst Nightmare | Donald Kelly - 1908 Jun 20, 2025

Show notes

t seems like every time you turn around, cold calling is being painted as the worst thing a seller can do. Now, Apple has created a new feature that's making this sales method even worse. Luckily, in this episode, I'm going to provide you with some ways to handle this situation and still close deals through cold calling.

iOS 26: Call Screening

If you remember from the last episode, I told you what we'd be discussing today: Apple's newest feature, iOS 26: Call Screening.
It's a feature that lets you ignore unwanted calls from numbers you don't know. Call Screening essentially helps you decide if a call is actually worth answering or if it's just an annoying telemarketer.
The trick is that call screening lets you answer unknown callers in the background. Once they share their name and reason for calling, it appears on your screen. You can then decide whether to answer or ignore it.

Apple’s New Feature Is Not Going To Stop Cold Calling

You might think this new feature will prevent you from hitting your quota, but honestly, I believe it will actually help sellers.
With the rise of social media, we found a way to still reach out and connect with our prospects.
We just have to evolve and figure out how to do it with Apple’s new feature. Just like with social media, we can adapt to this, too.

How Will Most Sellers Feel About This Change?

Here’s what I believe most sellers will do because of this change:
Keep doing the same tasks they've been doing
Start feeling down because no one is picking up
Put more effort into cold calling to ensure they reach their quotaTake advantage of AI tools
I also believe that there will be a group of people who simply adjust to the changes. They might start doing parallel dialing, where they make three to four calls at the exact same time. Whenever one of them picks up, a seller will take that call.

What Should Sellers Be Doing?

Instead of taking the steps mentioned previously, try these instead:
Be relevant:
Remember, call screening will allow you to talk to an AI tool. Think outside the box on how you can connect with prospects on a personal level during this moment.
Try to be funny:
I recently played a short clip demonstrating how creative sellers used to be during the days of collect calls. My point is to be witty or make a joke that will make your prospect want to pick up the phone.
Use a point of reference:
Make the prospect feel as though they already know you. Try using LinkedIn to connect with them before you do cold outreach. But keep in mind, don't become another spammer. Look for ways to get engagement from others and be smart about your connection requests.
The keyword is relevance. Try to be as relevant as possible to prospects during cold outreach, and I promise you that you will still be able to close deals despite any new changes coming out.

"Human beings are like water. We’re going to find a way to get through or around a problem and come back another way. The way we go about Apple’s new feature has to evolve." - Donald Kelly.

Resources

If you like more guidance with improving your sales skills, join my Sales Mastermind Class. Thinking about starting a podcast yourself? Learn more about Blue Mango Studios.

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.

Cold Calling's Not Dead...It's Just Harder! | Gabe Lullo - 1907 Jun 16, 2025

Show notes

No matter what anyone says, cold calling isn’t dead. The digital world just made it harder than it used to be.

This is why I’m revisiting episode 1730 with my guest, Gabe Lullo. He shares his expertise and insights on cold calling and sales strategies in this ever-evolving landscape.

Is Cold Calling Dead?

Addressing the prevalent debate, Gabe firmly asserts that cold calling is far from dead.
Supported by data and real-life experience, he emphasizes the effectiveness of cold calling in qualification, call-to-action, and appointment setting, debunking the myths surrounding its relevance in the current sales environment.

Modern Sales Approach

Gabe stresses the importance of an omnichannel approach, integrating call, email, and social platforms to establish meaningful and relevant connections with prospects.
He emphasizes the need for high-volume activity paired with a relevant message, highlighting the power of personalization and the human touch in driving engagement.

Strategies for Relevant Messaging

Gabe delves into the nuances of crafting relevant messaging, emphasizing the importance of relevance over mere personalization.
He shares insights on identifying and leveraging data providers to tailor messages according to the prospects’ specific verticals and ICPs, and the significance of using technology for optimizing communication channels.

The Role of Human Touch and Empathy

We explore how human touch, empathy, and personalized, relevant communication set sales professionals apart in the current market.
Gabe emphasizes the need to sound like a human, not an AI bot, illustrating how to engage prospects effectively and foster genuine connections.

Optimizing Sequencing

Gabe challenges the traditional sequence approach, advocating for a burst of activities across multiple channels rather than drawn-out, segmented sequences.
He highlights the significance of engagement and conversation to drive effective communication, emphasizing the need to adapt and modernize sales strategies.

Mastering the Cold Call

Gabe shares valuable insights into mastering the art of cold calling, stressing the need for extensive training and knowledge of objection handling.
Understanding and anticipating objections empowers sales professionals to navigate conversations effectively and win at cold calling.

"Relevance matters more now. That human touch is what sets individuals apart from the low-hanging fruit." - Gabe Lullo.

Resources

Connect with Gabe on LinkedIn.

If you like more guidance with improving your sales skills, join my Sales Mastermind Class.

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

How I Get Prospects to Show Up, Even When They Want to Ghost Me | Steven Schneider - 1906 Jun 13, 2025

Show notes

I hope you enjoyed my funny intro, because it would be nice if you could call on Ghostbusters when prospects decide not to follow up with you. In the last few episodes, we've focused on strategies to ensure prospects attend scheduled meetings.

I'm exploring this topic more with my guest, Steven Schneider, CEO & Co-founder of TrioSEO. He shares what he and his team are doing to keep clients from ghosting appointments.

Meet Steven Schneide

Steven Schneider collaborated with two fellow sales experts to help scale multiple businesses into 6- to 8-figure enterprises by optimizing their SEO keywords on their websites.
Even though he runs a multimillion-dollar SEO agency, he still struggles with clients who frequently fail to show up for appointments. He's sharing tactics that you can use in your sales approach.

How His Company Handles Ghosting Prospects

No matter how much you prepare for the follow-up or how many reminders you send, sometimes prospects simply don't show up for the meeting.
I asked Steven how his team is handling this common sales problem. He says that people often ghost sellers because they're actually too busy to respond, or they're shopping around to find the right product.
Steven shares that he keeps this in mind and realizes that he is low on their priority list.
So, he tackles their pain points and dives deep into them to show prospects why they need his assistance or product.
He also shares how he views each client as a unique case study if they're not following up. He goes to their website, sees why their traffic has dipped, and sends a screenshot of it.
Then, he shares his follow-up proposal with the prospect again. This is how he digs into the pain point and shows why working with him is valuable. Often, ghosting prospects will follow up with him after he sends this email.

During the Follow-Up Meeting

After he successfully gets a ghosting prospect to attend the meeting, he begins by asking questions to help them uncover what they already know.
Then, he shows them the website mistakes that are causing them to lose potential leads and money.
It's a strategy that works so well for him that he's able to close deals right then and there.

Handling First-Time Leads with No Prior Contact

Steven has a unique method to help keep first-time leads, who are in the very beginning stages of the sales funnel, from ghosting.
He shares how his website provides a contact form with questions to filter out whether prospects are a good fit for his company's services. This lets him know who is serious and who isn't.
Once they’re able to schedule a meeting, he sends an email sharing a little warning of why they must not forget to attend it.

How Individual Sellers Can Help

The first two examples focus on collaboration between the marketing and sales departments to tackle ghosting clients. But what can an individual seller do to help?
Steven suggests it's a good idea to share a case study to illustrate what success will look like if prospects attend the meeting. He recommends including this in follow-up emails to confirm appointments and demonstrate the value of the service.

“Treat every client as a unique case study to learn something new.” - Steven Schneider.

Resources

Connect with Steven on LinkedIn.

Learn more about TrioSEO here.

https://trioseo.com/b2b-seo-services/

https://trioseo.com/

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

You’re Closing Too Late, Here’s How to Fix It! | Benjamin Dennehy - 1905 Jun 09, 2025

Show notes

You have a discovery call with a prospect, and they seem interested in your product—until it's time to follow up. After three attempts, you finally get the message: you waited too long to close the deal.

What can you do differently to prevent this from happening again? Listen to my chat with Benjamin Dennehy, who explains why sellers often get stuck in a "matrix" and how it prevents them from closing deals at the right time.

Meet Benjamin Dennehy

Meet Benjamin Dennehy, known as the UK’s most hated salesperson, all thanks to his amazing marketing campaign.
He shares how sellers often make the mistake of closing when prospective buyers are expecting them to.
Don’t forget that you’re the one with all the power when it comes to choosing the right time to close a deal.

The Sales Matrix: Closing At The Wrong Place

When first starting in the industry, Benjamin discovered that most sellers live in a system they don’t realize they’re part of. This is another reason why sellers tend to close deals at the wrong time.
There are also two systems when sellers are out in the field: the buyer's system and the seller’s system. The problem arises when these two systems intertwine, making the buyer appear as the winner.
Due to conditioning, buyers are aware that if they say no to a seller, the seller won't stop. So, they think of other ways to try to keep sellers from continuing without actually saying no.
Benjamin delves into the list of reasons why prospective buyers give objections or deceive sellers to prevent a deal from moving forward. I'm sure you’ve heard plenty of these!
He also explains how the matrix is designed to prevent sellers from exerting control in closing deals, and how their buying habits lead them to sympathize with prospective buyers when they express their objections.

How to Get Out of the Sales Matrix

To get out of the sales matrix, Benjamin shares that sellers must start closing at the beginning of the first meeting. When you try to close at the end, you give the buyer complete control over what happens next.
At the start of the meeting, Benjamin does three things to get a prospect to say no:
Get permission from them to say no. If they believe the product is of no use, then there's no point in continuing the conversation. This will also let you know if the person you're speaking to is the decision-maker.
When speaking with the CEO, he asks a series of questions to determine if he can actually assist their company with their problem. If there's no "no" in these answers, then he moves on to the third step.
This is when he'll discuss how they can move forward together to close a deal.
The method works because if prospects aren't logically saying no, then they have to agree to move forward.

“We've been told a lie that the person with all the money has the power. But in reality, money only has power when someone wants it.” - Benjamin Dennehy.

Resources

Follow Benjamin on LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram. Don't forget to DM the code TSE for a link to his two free courses. You can also learn more about him on his website.

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

From Cold to Connected: Why Great Sellers Build Audiences First | Benjamin Douablin - 1904 Jun 06, 2025

Show notes

Did you know that having an engaged audience on LinkedIn can help you build your pipeline? Of course, you probably have no clue how to do this, but that's why I invited my guest, Benjamin Douablin, to the podcast. He's going to show you why this technique works for sellers and how to get started with building an audience on LinkedIn.

Meet Benjamin Douablin

Benjamin Douablin is the Co-Founder and CEO of FullEnrich, a company dedicated to enriching professional emails and mobile phone numbers for diverse teams.
With a rich background in business development, sales management, and entrepreneurship, Benjamin has cultivated a strong expertise in sales and digital transformation.
He previously founded Salesramp and served as a Sales and Partnership Manager at Jellyfish, where he honed his skills in driving growth and building strategic alliances.
Benjamin's academic journey includes studies at the London School of Business and Finance (LSBF), and his earlier career in the military reflects his resilience, leadership, and adaptability.

Leaders Helping Sellers Build LinkedIn Presence

Benjamin shares how his company helps their sellers build a social media presence on LinkedIn. The leaders identify different individuals within the company, beginning with those who actively use the product, and encourage them to discuss it on LinkedIn. This strategy helped them capture the attention of their ideal customer profile (ICP).
Subsequently, they work with their top sellers, assisting them in developing content creation skills. This empowers the sellers to share their daily lives and experiences with the product on social media.

Tracking Seller Success on LinkedIn

It's relatively straightforward to track the success rates of cold calls for a sales team. However, measuring the effectiveness of video content on LinkedIn for each individual can be more challenging.
Benjamin suggests that sales leaders should ensure their sellers are publishing content at least three times a week. This frequency is sufficient to guarantee content is being pushed out for engagement.
It also allows you to identify what content is resonating and what isn't. The marketing director can then provide feedback to the sales team on their content creation efforts and offer support if they are struggling.

Small Engagement Is Better Than Millions of Followers

When you're starting out, you might feel discouraged by only having one or two people engaging with your posts. Remember, not everyone can be Joe Rogan.
Benjamin agrees that it's more valuable to have a smaller number of followers who actively engage with and appreciate your content than to have a million followers who simply ignore you.
Give yourself grace and time; eventually, you'll be able to build a significant following on LinkedIn.

“You need to go slow to start feeling comfortable to publish content.” - Benjamin Douablin.

Resources

Reach out to Benjamin on LinkedIn. Visit FullEnrich to learn more about his company.

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

Why Your Prospects Ghost You - And How to Fix It | Alisha Conlin-Hurd - 1903 Jun 02, 2025

Show notes

Every time the marketing team sends you a new lead, they end up not showing up. Why do they keep sending prospects who won't even come to a meeting? When will they ever do their job right?

Maybe we just need to help them out a bit. Join me in this episode with Alisha Conlin-Hurd, marketing and sales expert, where she shows us how to work with the marketing team to get the right leads to book appointments.

Meet Alisha Conlin-Hurd

Alisha Conlin-Hurd is the Founder of Persuasion Experience, a 7-figure marketing agency helping 7- and 8-figure businesses turn paid ads into predictable lead machines.
She’s launched over 600+ funnels across 120 niches, generating tens of millions in client revenue.
Her proprietary frameworks—DNA Blueprint Method™ and Endless Leads Framework™—have helped countless businesses double their revenue in under 90 days. Alisha now runs her business remotely while traveling the world full-time.

Why Do No Shows Happen?

I've listed several reasons why prospects often ghost us:
Not showing enough value
Creating bad content
Forgetting to remind them
And you know what? Alisha agrees with me. She shares that if prospects don't see the value in showing up, they simply won't. If we show them "what's in it for them" from the beginning, they'll be ready for the call. People show up for what they care about.

Prepping The Call Before Prospects Come

To get prospects excited about the sales call, Alisha says it starts with the marketing department doing these three steps:
Building A Strong Landing Page: This is where you get lead magnets, and it must show authority, strong messaging, and uniqueness. She provides an example of how to establish authority through social proof.
Touch Points During Becoming A Lead: This is when a lead clicks on the lead magnet to book an appointment. Alisha says there should be a series of questions that qualify and disqualify prospects. If they qualify, that's when they should be able to see the calendar; however, there's a stipulation.
Making Sure They Show Up: Following up should happen between one and three days after a prospect books an appointment. Alisha says that marketing and sales should work together to ensure they attend the meeting.

“The best time to get somebody to do an action is when they just did one.” - Alisha Conlin-Hurd.

Resources

Follow Alisha on these social media platforms: YouTube, Instagram, and 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.

Our Inbound Leads Are Causing More Work Than Good Sales | Donald Kelly - 1902 May 30, 2025

Show notes

Thank you, Martin, for going back in time with The Sales Evangelist podcast. Thanks to him, we're going back to episode 1177 where I deep-dived into why leads are creating more work for us.

In this episode, I share why many small organizations struggle with their inbound sales and how to fix it. The challenge is always deciding who should follow up on them and how to do it effectively.

The Sales Team

Assume that a sales team is composed of three people: the marketing person who does almost everything, the junior assistant who helps with content creation, and the outsourced person who does the marketing strategies. Among the three, who should follow-up the lead?
Not all leads are created equal. This means that before deciding who will follow up the lead, the lead should be evaluated first.
You don’t want your salesperson pitching to a lead that in the end would go to another competitor.

Do a Pre-Qualification

Do a pre-qualification in your organization to know if the people you are going to have the conversation with are ready to consider the deal. Set a benchmark and rules for what you consider a marketing quantifiable lead. Consider the following questions:
What is considered a sales qualified lead?
What is the KPI of your organization?
How many new inbound leads do you want to get per quarter/per month?
How much money do you want to generate from those leads?
The answers to those questions will lead you to your ideal customer. It would also help you identify the triggers that qualify them to be a marketing quantifiable lead and a sales qualified lead.
The work is far more efficient because when a lead comes in, your salespeople can vet them and follow the pre-qualification factors you’ve set to see if the lead can generate new business for the organization. This is also helpful in maintaining your current customers.

Create a System

Create a system to efficiently manage the workload. The marketing team can do the pre-qualification to increase the odds of the lead being converted into something real. Whenever a lead comes in, let marketing take a look at it and check the website and the title of the person.
Then let the intern or junior marketing rep take over the other tasks like looking into LinkedIn, HubSpot, Marketo, or other platforms you have to find the data that you can transfer into your CRM.
Marketing can help fix the problem of having to go back to the beginning of the funnel and pre-qualify the leads again because they’re not yet ready at the moment.

Website Leads Matter

The sales team sometimes takes for granted the leads that they didn’t hunt for. A good example is leads coming in from the websites.
It is disheartening when a sales rep doesn’t take that into consideration when a lead comes in via the website.
Whenever an inbound lead comes in, it is best to use your flow process to follow-up particular prospects. It should be written and put in your company’s playbook so that everyone can read it and use it with every inbound lead that comes in.

Follow-up Right Away

A stat from insidesales.com said that a lead that’s contacted within five minutes is 100 times more likely to convert than leads that are followed-up 90 minutes later.
When a lead comes in, follow up right away. You’re more likely to convert than if you wait.
The sales team can take a quick visit to the person’s website, check their LinkedIn profile, and the pages they’ve visited on your site.

Focus On The People That Matter

Include in your flow process the phone call and email for the first time then do the same things a day later. Connect with them on LinkedIn and share some of their content for seven full business days.
With the right system and by focusing on the people that matter, your work is going to be minimized but the return is going to be much higher.
Filter your inbound leads and let the marketing do the review. Recognize the good ones and toss them over to the sales reps to reach out and convert.

"Evaluate the effectiveness of each lead, because not all leads are created equally." - Donald Kelly.

Resources

Connect with me on LinkedIn and send me a message for more help with cold outreach, or send me an email: donald@thesalesevangelist.com

If you need more help elevating your sales game, join my Sales Mastermind Class.

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

Stop Your Voodoo Selling…It Does Not Work! | Robert Harper - 1901 May 26, 2025

Show notes

Are you relying on crystal balls, bones and feathers, and teabags to know whether you will hit this month’s goals or not?

Well, been there and done that and I’m telling you, “voodoo selling” just doesn’t work because you can’t quantify it.

In today’s episode, I am talking with Robert Harper and together we will shed light on the repercussions of voodoo selling and what you can do to ultimately be HIGHLY effective in sales. I have talked about this over and over, and again, PROCESS is key. Rather, GREAT PROCESS is key.

More About My Special Guest

Robert is a serial entrepreneur who currently owns five companies, four of them are in the midwest that do B2B integration, like access controls and CCTV, making buildings safe and comfortable.
His other business endeavor is a virtual company that provides virtual solutions to business owners.

What Is “Voodoo Selling?”

Voodoo selling is based on guessing and hope rather than on planning, implementing strategies, or using metrics.
Salespeople forget that they’re creative thinkers which makes it harder to do proper planning when prospecting.
It makes us less interested in the process of selling and thinking of sales as a science since we tend to think of it as more of an art.
Robert shares how voodoo selling is a waste of time because you’re trying to sell to people who CAN’T say no to you.

How to Better Gain Scientific Concepts in Your Sales Presentations

Sell to somebody who can say no. If they say no, do it as quickly as possible so you stop wasting time. Break the theory and move on to the next.
Determine your budget on how much you’re going to sell. Instead of targeting “X” amount of dollars a quarter, target how many phone calls or meetings it would take you to make that dollar amount.
Start today. Start keeping track honestly of:
How many phone calls you make?
How many of those phone calls will get you a meeting?
How many of those meetings will get you a proposal?
How many of those proposals will get you a sale?
Tracking your information allows you to introduce a change into your process and see how it affects those numbers.
Have the process for the actual sale itself.
Analytics and a great process are keys.
Know your customer’s pain points
Bring out the numbers and give precise information
Look at the metrics
Provide real data to the customer

A Special Tips for Sales Managers

Don’t talk about the numbers. Don’t judge people based on how many phone calls they’re making. Otherwise, your people will lie on those forms. The numbers are for them and not for you to judge them.
Don’t ever be afraid to ask every prospect if they have the ability and if they are willing to say no if this isn’t a good fit for their company. But, if it is a good fit, are they able to say yes?
For every sales meeting, have an agenda and send it to your prospect at least 24 hours before the meeting. In the agenda, go over what you want to cover and leave room for them to edit it for what they want to cover. During the meeting, follow the agenda. Ex: budget, decision process, the decision maker.

“There’s no way to improve if you’re using your crystal ball.” – Robert Harper.

Resources

Connect with me on LinkedIn and send me a message for more help with cold outreach, or send me an email: donald@thesalesevangelist.com

If you need more help elevating your sales game, join my Sales Mastermind Class.

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

9 Major Sales Lessons from 1,900 Episodes of The Sales Evangelist | Donald Kelly - 1900 May 23, 2025

Show notes

I’ve made it 1,900 episodes of The Sales Evangelist podcast. Not quite at 2,000 yet, but I’m close.

But since I’m still going strong, I thought it would be a good idea to share the nine biggest sales lessons I've learned from hosting this podcast. Hopefully, one of these lessons will help you grow your sales pipeline too.

1. There's No One Way of Selling

Everyone is always asking me, “What’s the number one method of selling?” If you want my honesty, there isn’t one.
From all of my interviews, I've found that it’s best to focus on who you’re going to sell to and how to break through the noise to grab their attention.
I also recommend just testing out the different sales methods we share on this podcast. If it works for you, great; if it doesn’t, then try another one.

2. Always Be Prospecting

I’m a firm believer that a seller should always be prospecting, even when you’re closing deals.
If you have options in the sales pipeline, great. But you should also always be figuring out how you can do a better job at sales prospecting to keep prospects coming to you.

3. Accountability Moves Sales Forward

I've heard this over and over again from my countless conversations: sales reps need that one-on-one time so they can stay accountable.
I share a story about how an old manager of mine stopped her one-on-one time with me. This caused me to slip up and make little mistakes from not receiving coaching.

4. Be on LinkedIn

LinkedIn will always be a powerful tool in helping you find and close deals. I've found that when sellers aren't using LinkedIn correctly, they tend to struggle with prospecting.
Connect, share, and engage on LinkedIn and see how your sales pipeline starts building.

5. Address Objections First

If you don’t handle the “nos” first, they’ll be an issue later. Going back to episode 446, Tom Gates shares how easing a customer’s objection can increase your win rate.
Don’t be afraid to bring it up; doing so will let you circle back when the prospect is ready to close a deal or prevent having unnecessary clients in your pipeline.

6. Little Things Work

Bob Berg shares details on how to get endless referrals, and he does this by just going the extra mile. Make yourself memorable by simply sending handwritten notes. The little things actually do work when trying to build your network.

7. Sales Is About Relationships

There’s so much information out there, and if you’re not making things personal, prospects aren’t going to connect with you.
Go back to episode 1898; I share how relevancy and personalization give you a higher response rate. In the world of AI, no one wants robotic messages.

8. Make Buying Easy

Transparency is everything in sales, and people want to know what they’re getting before they buy.
Marcus Sheridan shares how giving the price upfront provides a mutual action plan that helps make it easier for prospects to buy from you.

9. Understand Your ICP

When you know who you’re targeting, your message becomes clearer, and you have a higher closing rate.
In episode 1625, I share why adapting to your ICP is important and how it helps you as a seller.

“Accountability drives sales forward.” - Donald Kelly.

Resources

Connect with me on LinkedIn and send me a message for more help with cold outreach, or send me an email: donald@thesalesevangelist.com

If you need more help elevating your sales game, join my Sales Mastermind Class.

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

The 3 Types of Cold Emails That Are Landing Meetings in 2025 | Donald Kelly - 1899 May 19, 2025

Show notes

Someone recently asked me, “How can I send an email that prospects actually like and reply to?” I’m going to answer this question and share three types of emails that land appointments for sellers. Check it out and be sure to connect with me on LinkedIn.

Level 1: Probing Emails

This email shares that you’re unsure if the prospect is the exact fit for your company or if they even have a problem. You just know that they match your ICP, and asking them questions will let you know if they need your services or not.
Despite what you think, there are benefits to sending probing emails. This is how you get an idea of what a company needs help with, at least from the ones who respond. Even though it’s the weakest cold outreach level, it’s still beneficial.

Level 2: Relevant Emails

When probing emails become less effective, it’s time to switch to sending a relevant email. This is where you look for specific triggers that are causing a prospect to have issues.
For example, maybe you start reaching out to people who have HubSpot and you know people who use this tool may have issues with customer service portals. You can reach out to prospects who use HubSpot and let them know that you have a solution that can help them out.

Level 3: Referral

There are two sides of referral emails: internal and external sources. An internal email may come from the person you spoke to from the relevant email, and you can let the next person know that you spoke with them and they told you to reach out to the next person.
Try following these three levels of emails to get your next appointment.

“Prospects get an average of 100 to 200 emails per day. There are three buckets of emails you need to send to get responses from these prospects.” - Donald Kelly.

Resources

Connect with me on LinkedIn and send me a message for more help with cold outreach, or send me an email: donald@thesalesevangelist.com

If you need more help elevating your sales game, join my Sales Mastermind Class.

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

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