The Sales Evangelist

Scoring a meeting with the decision-maker can be challenging, but creating allies within the target company can be your strategy for making progress. Sometimes all it takes to get past the gatekeeper is to build a solid relationship with them. In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, we’re going to do just that with the help of today’s guest Kevin Cummings.   Kevin has worked in many different sales spaces, from industrial to medical to tech. .Throughout all his sales interactions, Kevin feels most confident when revisiting offices.  But even if it’s the second, third, or fourth visit, he’ll sometimes end up talking to people who act like it’s his first (even if he’s spoken to them several times.) To avoid that, Kevin makes an active effort to loop those people into the conversation. Make them feel as important as possible because while they aren’t the “decision-maker,” they can make your job tremendously more difficult.   Make connections with the gatekeeper: Ask them what the best method is is to talk with them. Then, stop talking and let them identify how they want to interact with you. Many salespeople know the gatekeeper is essential, yet we treat them as if they aren’t. You can’t always determine who has the influence, so be nice to everyone. Beyonce says “hello” and “thank you” to everyone she meets. Be like Beyonce. When you’re genuine with someone, they can feel it. But, conversely, being fake won’t generate the results you want.   Don’t be afraid to interact with the gatekeeper. Especially in the tech and medical fields, the actual decision-maker might not have the time or bandwidth to go out to lunch or have drinks with the salesperson. So why not do it with the gatekeeper? When Kevin does this, it’s usually only about 15 minutes of business talk. The rest is just building a relationship and connection with the gatekeeper.  While that person can’t make the decision, they’ll remember you and want to get you in contact with the person that can. Your ultimate goal? Make everyone in the office your champion and advocate.   Help them, don’t help yourself. Since Covid, many people in companies across the country have had to and continue to wear many hats. Don’t try to sell immediately, and instead ask how you can take things off their plate. Be human, and do the thing that a good human would do. Don’t put your title first. You might be a salesperson, but humanity comes before titles.   Kevin’s major takeaway? Understand that your customers’ objective in their job is not to buy your product or service. Everything you do should be about them, not about you.    National Sales Network, a nonprofit organization for black people in sales and marketing, has 17 chapters across the country. Visit the website to find networking events, skill workshops, and hiring opportunities on their website.    To get in touch with Kevin, connect with him on LinkedIn.   This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio. Are you sick of crickets? As a salesperson, the pain of reaching out with phone calls or emails and not receiving a response is real.   But all text messaging is not created equal. 85% of people prefer text over email and phone calls because they want to engage in a conversation, not listen to bots. Be more like people and start having conversations that end in the conversions you want. Try Skipio at www.Skipio.com.   This course is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Certified Training Program, a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Help elevate your sales game and sign up now to get the first two modules free! You can visit www.thesalesevangelist.com/closemoredeals or call (561) 570-5077 for more information. 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, tune in on Apple Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings for each episode you listen to!  Read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore their huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day trial. Audio provided by Free SFX 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.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

For many salespeople, the journey to the decision maker is difficult enough that they don’t even know what to say once they get there! Do you have the strategy to move towards your desired outcome and close a deal? On today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by speaker, author, and coach Oscar Chavez to learn what to do once you’re over the guardwall. Why is this method important? Salespeople spend time with less influential people because they are easier to interact with, yet that salesperson ends up spinning wheels with they don’t make decisions. Another common problem: when they get to the executive, they hyper-focus on the pitch. The solution to these problems? Think over the guardwall. You spend time preparing what to say, but in actuality, you need to be in a position to listen. Listen as an executive explains their pain points, objectives, and KPIs. Once you understand those critical points, you then can go to non-decision makers and explain results that will directly benefit them and their organization.  This familiarity will send you to the front of the queue over other projects. Three Strategies to Get Past the Gatekeeper: Fear: People are so scared of judgement and rejection they don’t focus on targeting executives. It’s much easier to have a conversation with people downstream. Mindset: Meetings have never been easier to schedule due to the rise of virtual meetings, yet many salespeople will claim the opposite. A change in mentality could be all you need to add value. Leave the “what if” mindset behind. Focus: Oftentimes salespeople will mass contact non-decision makers rather than take the time to target the executives and people able to make decisions. People are more guarded and less willing to spend. But the salesperson’s level of fear, mindset, and focus can dramatically improve your chances. Oscar’s final takeaway? Our beliefs determines our reality. If you aren’t getting the right sales performance, it’s because of the belief you have. To change your reality, change your beliefs. Get in touch with him on his website oscar-chavez.com, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio. Are you sick of crickets? As a salesperson, the pain of reaching out with phone calls or emails and not receiving a response is real. But all text messaging is not created equal. 85% of people prefer text over email and phone calls because they want to engage in a conversation, not listen to bots. Be more like people and start having conversations that end in the conversions you want. Try Skipio at www.Skipio.com. This course is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Certified Training Program, a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Help elevate your sales game and sign up now to get the first two modules free! You can visit www.thesalesevangelist.com/closemoredeals or call (561) 570-5077 for more information. 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, tune in on Apple Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings for each episode you listen to!  Read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore their huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day trial. Audio provided by Free SFX 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.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

Every salesperson is familiar with the frustration that comes with being blocked by a gatekeeper, which could be a physical person or even just a system or automation that prevents you from interacting with the decision-maker of your target organization. Imagine if you had five strategies (and maybe even a bonus strategy) to get past those gatekeepers and land sales. In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is going to do just that.  Connect on LinkedIn  LinkedIn gives you a direct line to a purchaser and an opportunity to build a relationship with that person before you ever meet them face-to-face.  Don’t just spam someone with offers and messages and instead build a relationship. Congratulate the prospect on a promotion, a recent accolade, or whatever has recently happened.  Bring Intelligence Let’s say two people reach out to a prospect. One person gives a standard auto-message that could be sent to anyone, and the other person comes prepared with critical data relevant to the industry or organization. Who would you rather have a conversation with?   Use direct mail Think about ways you can stand out to a prospect. Even if it’s just a $5 gift card to Starbucks, that person will be more willing to talk with you. Consider even providing a small gift for the gatekeeper to thank them for letting you through to the decision-maker; that might be all the difference between a sale and an unanswered email. Utilize referrals If you and the gatekeeper or prospect have a mutual connection, especially if that person is the one introducing you, you’ll quickly get in touch with the people you want. Connect with other people within the company More and more enterprise deals are requiring more people to be in the purchasing conversation. If that’s the case, connecting with other influencers within that team will give you a better chance for success. Tools like LucidChart help diagram and build out your organizational process to make the process easier. Bonus Strategy:  Start a podcast No podcast? Write a blog. Ask gatekeepers for the prospect to share ideas and thoughts on a topic or subject for a content piece.  In this case, you’re bringing something to the table and offering the prospect a chance to collaborate on a piece of content that will help them, making it easier to get through the gatekeeper. This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio. Are you sick of crickets? As a salesperson, the pain of reaching out with phone calls or emails and not receiving a response is real. But all text messaging is not created equal. 85% of people prefer text over email and phone calls because they want to engage in a conversation, not listen to bots. Be more like people and start having conversations that end in the conversions you want. Try Skipio at www.Skipio.com. This course is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Certified Training Program, a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Help elevate your sales game and sign up now to get the first two modules free! You can visit www.thesalesevangelist.com/closemoredeals or call (561) 570-5077 for more information. 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, tune in on Apple Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings for each episode you listen to!  Read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore their huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day trial. Audio provided by Free SFX 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.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

The tactics, strategies, and practices of sales are constantly changing, and understanding how and where to adopt those changes into your sales strategy is critical to see success. So, on today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by LinkedIn Senior Content Manager Sean Callahan to go over the seven sales trends identified in the 2021 LinkedIn Sales Report. Trend One: Virtual Selling is good for sellers and even better for buyers Buyers find it easier to buy remotely because they don’t have to worry about finding meeting times or organizing physical logistics; it can all happen from the comfort of home. Trend Two: Remote Working is now a part of everyday life. While some companies are going back to the physical office, sales organizations and managers must adjust to remote working - it is now a fact of life. Trend Three: Sales organizations prevent sellers from putting buyers first. While 65% of sellers say they put their buyers first, only 23% of buyers say sellers put them first. There are a certain number of things that you can do to be buyer-first, like offering free content, training, and being transparent about pricing and other product details.  Only around 40% of organizations support these practices. And some of the suggested reasons organizations aren’t allowing these practices are limited budgets, not having the proper skills, and a focus on short-term results rather than long-term sustainability. Trend Four: Six sales behaviors kill deals Delivering misleading information about a product (pricing or otherwise) Not understanding the company and its needs Not understand their own product or service Not understanding their competitor’s products and services Affiliated with an untrustworthy brand  Repeated cold calling or emailing Trend Five: Sales technology is a key pathway to building trust Only 40% of buyers describe sales as trustworthy, yet 89% consider their specific salespeople as a trusted advisors The takeaway? The sales industry is seen as untrustworthy, but the individuals who work with buyers are seen differently. Trend Six: Data is more crucial than ever While partly because of Covid, salespeople might find it more challenging to get in front of people and ask questions. Instead, you have to use aggregated data to learn what you need. Trend Seven: Both buyers and sellers are ramping up their use of LinkedIn 74% of sellers are committed to expanding their LinkedIn network 51% of sellers plan to write more articles 40% share much more third-party content 36% share more of their own company’s content How can people find and download the full report? By visiting lnkd.in/stateofsales2021. To get in contact with Sean, connect with him on LinkedIn or email him at scallahan@linkedin.com.   This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio. Are you sick of crickets? As a salesperson, the pain of reaching out with phone calls or emails and not receiving a response is real. But all text messaging is not created equal. 85% of people prefer text over email and phone calls because they want to engage in a conversation, not listen to bots. Be more like people and start having conversations that end in the conversions you want. Try Skipio at www.Skipio.com. This course is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Certified Training Program, a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Help elevate your sales game and sign up now to get the first two modules free! You can visit www.thesalesevangelist.com/closemoredeals or call (561) 570-5077 for more information. 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, tune in on Apple Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings for each episode you listen to!  Read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore their huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day trial. Audio provided by Free SFX 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.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

At the end of the day, sales leaders should be able to do what they have their team to do. Because sometimes you’re telling them to do one thing when you do something entirely different. Today on The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by Ruben Alvarez to discuss why team leaders should lead by example, not just through talking. Ruben learned to lead by example while leading a team. If you want somebody to do what you want them to, you're going to see resistance unless they see you do it as well.  Sales leaders might be setting unrealistic expectations for their team and not know it because they’re no longer selling. Some people have been selling for 30 years, but with only one year of experience. Because they’re drawing their management from only one year of actual selling, they might not be leading as effectively as they could be if they were up-to-date on the best sales practices. If you’re not willing to get on the phone with your team and teach them how to close, you’ll never see sales come in. The process isn’t always how you want it to be, but how it needs to be. What should team leaders do to practice leading by example?  Hone your skills. Just like in any other industry, you encourage and motivate through showing. If you do something effectively and can either demonstrate or communicate how you did it effectively, people will want to follow you. Many sales leaders are afraid to demonstrate because it makes them seem vulnerable,  which leads to the team not viewing you as a leader. But leaders inspire hope. You can be vulnerable and have people chew you out, but closing the deal is all that matters and all that the sales team wants to see. Finally, don’t compromise the values you know your team has. You know what each person is capable of, and you know what’s best for them. Company owners have an idea of what sales should look like. But their experiences might not align with what the sales team needs to do to be successful. If that is the case, stick up for what you know will work, or you might lose the respect of your team. Ruben’s final takeaway: If you’re afraid to pick up the phone, just admit it and pick up the phone. See what happens. Regardless of what ends up happening, you’ll feel better about it. Connect with Ruben Alvarez on LinkedIn or check out his website rubenalvarez.com. This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio. Are you sick of crickets? As a salesperson, the pain of reaching out with phone calls or emails and not receiving a response is real. But all text messaging is not created equal. 85% of people prefer text over email and phone calls because they want to engage in a conversation, not listen to bots. Be more like people and start having conversations that end in the conversions you want. Try Skipio at www.Skipio.com. This course is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Certified Training Program, a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Help elevate your sales game and sign up now to get the first two modules free! You can visit www.thesalesevangelist.com/closemoredeals or call (561) 570-5077 for more information. 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, tune in on Apple Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings for each episode you listen to!  Read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore their huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day trial. Audio provided by Free SFX 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.  Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

Can sales make the world a better place? The principles we learn in sales can be used almost anywhere. And yes, that includes making the world around us a better place. Today’s guest, Scott Roy, joins us in the studio to share how he uses his sales skills to do good and help those around him. Scott has worked in the sales industry for over twenty years. He and his business partner Roy Whitten created Whitten and Roy Partnership, a sales consultancy called when teams aren’t reaching their sales goals. Their main selling point (pun intended)? The DQ selling methodology. With the DQ methodology, Roy and Whitten can sell life-changing and life-saving goods and services to developing countries.  How do they apply selling principles to do good? About 20 years ago, there was a sudden interest in applying business principles to address areas that typically used aid and philanthropy. When done well and ethically, the sales conversation convinces people unfamiliar with concepts to buy into these materials and supplies that will give them a better way of life. Scott’s primary example is selling water filtration systems. In areas where people use the same water source for drinking, bathing, and using the restroom, the people there are afflicted with diarrhea and other diseases. Scott’s team works to convince these people why they should use a water filtration system by explaining both the cost benefit and health benefit the people will receive. Using DQ to make a change: DQ is short for business intelligence, the fundamental component for Scott’s selling process. If you’re going to change behavior, you have to penetrate deeper than simply finding a problem and then selling directly to that problem. DQ selling starts with the problem and stays on the issue so the prospect can realize it is a problem worth solving. Scott’s major takeaway:  Determine your purpose as a salesperson. If it’s just to pitch, persuade, and convince, that’s not necessarily wrong. But it would be so much better if you figure out how to use your skills to serve others and find passion in the people you’re serving. To get in contact with Scott and learn more about his work, visit his company website. Check out Scott and Roy’s books Decision Intelligence Selling and Sell Well, Do Good. This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio. Are you sick of crickets? As a salesperson, the pain of reaching out with phone calls or emails and not receiving a response is real. But all text messaging is not created equal. 85% of people prefer text over email and phone calls because they want to engage in a conversation, not listen to bots. Be more like people and start having conversations that end in the conversions you want. Try Skipio at www.Skipio.com. This course is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Certified Training Program, a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Help elevate your sales game and sign up now to get the first two modules free! You can visit www.thesalesevangelist.com/closemoredeals or call (561) 570-5077 for more information. 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, tune in on Apple Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings for each episode you listen to!  Read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore their huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day trial. Audio provided by Free SFX 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.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

Salespeople have heard the mantra thousands of times: talk less, listen more. But why? And more importantly, how? In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by leadership advisor Victoria Song to learn how salespeople (and anyone else) can balance listening and talking. Why do people talk so much? While there are many reasons, Victoria suggests that people who felt unheard as a child might overshare in an attempt to bridge understanding. In general, when we want things to go our way, we think that if we can get the other person to see it our way, they’ll agree. That leads to talking too much. In actuality, people mirror one another. So, listening rather than talking will lead someone to reciprocate and hear you. Victoria’s top components for a golden ratio: The talking-to-listening ratio is not a one-size-fits-all. But in general, a 50/50 split is a great place to start. However, the more escalated a conversation is, the more Victoria recommends you back off and give the other person more time to speak. It also comes down to personality - if you tend to speak first and jump into conversations, listen 70-80% of the time and vice versa. What to do in a disagreement: Rather than sit on opposite sides of a board room table, sit on the same side. Look at the problem from the same perspective, and by working on the same side, you’ll feel more like a team. Think about the story attached to identity. When in disagreement, we sometimes realize we aren't talking about the topic anymore. We're making up a story around our identity, making it personal. The more we can be transparent with ourselves and the other party, the more likely we are to get to a place where we can hear each other better. Contraction vs. Expansion Victoria’s new book Bending Reality defines two clear states a person can be in: contraction or expansion. Contraction is the state where your nervous system is activated (think fight-or-flight response.) On the other hand, expansion is a relaxed state conducive to creativity and problem-solving.  When in a work environment, putting yourself in an environment that encourages expansion will lead to success. How to be in a state of expansion: One way to improve our access to expansion is to notice when our nervous system is activated.  Notice your fuel for motivation, and use that to keep yourself in the proper headspace (both mentally and physically.) Part of accessing expansion is to start to get clear on what are your clean, sustainable fuels. Discover your purpose, uncover your values, and figure out what brings you joy. The more we can cultivate doing things we enjoy, the more we train our nervous system to be conditioned to a state of expansion. Applying this framework to sales: Ask yourself if you are in a state of contracting or expanding, especially when talking to prospects. Are you confident enough to ask effective questions? You want to get out of your head. It's not just about mental preparation; it’s cultivating the physical state. If you felt unprepared for a meeting, one way to cultivate the state of expansion would be to establish a sense of trust. This can come from practice and repetition.  Victoria’s parting advice: Listening happens with your whole body.  When we tune in and listen to our entire body, we understand insights and cues that we wouldn't be picking up otherwise. To get in contact with Victoria, check out her website, www.victoriasong.me.  Victoria’s book Bending Reality is available for preorder! Preorder now to get free bonus access to powerful coaching techniques Victoria uses for her clients. This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio. Are you sick of crickets? As a salesperson, the pain of reaching out with phone calls or emails and not receiving a response is real. But all text messaging is not created equal. 85% of people prefer text over email and phone calls because they want to engage in a conversation, not listen to bots. Be more like people and start having conversations that end in the conversions you want. Try Skipio at www.Skipio.com. This course is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Certified Training Program, a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Help elevate your sales game and sign up now to get the first two modules free! You can visit www.thesalesevangelist.com/closemoredeals or call (561) 570-5077 for more information. 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, tune in on Apple Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings for each episode you listen to!  Read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore their huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day trial. Audio provided by Free SFX 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.  Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

Sales is all about solving problems. But are you going about solving problems the right way? In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by guest Bryan Kelly to discuss how we can ask more beautiful questions, using the book A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger as a framework.   Phase One: Why? When we ask ‘why,’ it requires you to adjust the way you look at the world. There are three different ways to get into this mentality. First, step back and disengage. Taking a break will break up your routine and help inspiration strike. Next, challenge your assumptions. Whether they’re your assumptions or the assumptions of others, asking questions about your current process will help you find new avenues to explore. Finally, question the questions. Reframe a question to challenge the expected answer.  Remember the five why’s. (Literally ask the question “why” five times in a row to get to the root understanding of the situation.)   Phase Two: Wondering “What If?” Get everybody (including yourself) to avoid thinking about specifics. Similar to phase one, there are a few practices you can implement: Combinatorial thinking is one method where you look at combining existing practices and how that combination can lead to new possibilities. Next, you can live with the question. We often try to answer questions in the moment, but that’s not usually necessary. Instead, take time to relax and distance yourself from a problem to view the situation with a fresh perspective.  Finally, think of wrong ideas. It might seem counterproductive, but this process can help lead to the concept you need.   Phase Three: Determining How We want to jump to the “how” of a solution, but there’s a reason it’s the last stage. If you start there, you’re missing the critical time to go deeper into the question itself. Converge the ideas you’ve explored into one idea worth pursuing and share it for feedback. Give form to the ideas you’ve worked through. Before you go and ask others for feedback, bring the idea to life.  In other industries, it might look like a prototype. In the sales space, write a summary, proposal, chart, or whatever would help people give the best feedback. Rapidly test and learn. If you have several potential solutions, run a quick test to see how the change affects your problem.    Bryan’s final takeaway: Instead of jumping to the “how,” first think about the “why.” To get in touch with Bryan, visit his website getstrokeofgenius.com or connect with him on LinkedIn.   This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio. Are you sick of crickets? As a salesperson, the pain of reaching out with phone calls or emails and not receiving a response is real.   But all text messaging is not created equal. 85% of people prefer text over email and phone calls because they want to engage in a conversation, not listen to bots. Be more like people and start having conversations that end in the conversions you want. Try Skipio at www.Skipio.com.   This course is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Certified Training Program, a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Help elevate your sales game and sign up now to get the first two modules free! You can visit www.thesalesevangelist.com/closemoredeals or call (561) 570-5077 for more information. 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, tune in on Apple Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings for each episode you listen to!  Read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore their huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day trial. Audio provided by Free SFX 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.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

On today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by founder and CEO of Whale Boss, Ryan Staley. As a sales consultant who helps sales executives double their income, he’s learned from and watched many different organizations, thus knowing how you can hire top sellers with little experience at your company.  Why did Ryan start a consultancy firm? Ryan noticed there are many things he took for granted working for a large organization that small business owners, startups, and SaaS companies weren’t doing. That was part of the reason he founded his consultancy firm, because he wanted to coach CEOs on those things. Small businesses, startups, and SaaS companies do an amazing job building products or services, but they don’t talk to thier customers after they sell them the deal. Maintaining a structured value process will exponentially increase referrals and revenue. Ryan’s corporate job showed him the power of a good team: Working over sixty hours a week got Ryan to a point where all his relationships started to melt down. The constant travel and excessive hours meant he didn’t have time for family, friends, or himself. What did he do about it? He rebuilt himself and his mentality about work, and his job performance soared to new heights. He was given the opportunity to build a team to support his work. However, that meant he had to figure out what looked for in a new person. He determined 5 components he looked for in a new hire: Did they have a hunger to be a top performer? What was the biggest takeaway from that job and why did they leave? He would ask for people to articulate their contributions and results - if they couldn’t, their claims are BS What do they do to develop outside of work? What’s the most important thing they spend time on outside of work? People might default to family, but finding people with a passion and interest and what lights them up shows how coachable they are. This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio. Are you sick of crickets? As a salesperson, the pain of reaching out with phone calls or emails and not receiving a response is real. But all text messaging is not created equal. 85% of people prefer text over email and phone calls because they want to engage in a conversation, not listen to bots. Be more like people and start having conversations that end in the conversions you want. Try Skipio at www.Skipio.com. This course is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Certified Training Program, a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Help elevate your sales game and sign up now to get the first two modules free! You can visit www.thesalesevangelist.com/closemoredeals or call (561) 570-5077 for more information. 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, tune in on Apple Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings for each episode you listen to!  Read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore their huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day trial. Audio provided by Free SFX 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.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

The life of a sales manager is tough, and juggling your own obligations often means you don’t have time to coach your team as often as you’d like. Microcoaching might just be the solution for you. In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by President and CEO of Salesfuel C. Lee Smith to explain his process and platform for microcoaching to improve his salespeople. Three problems with coaching today:  Coaches aren’t being held accountable. Sales managers get busy meeting a short-term quota and don’t have time for long-term staff development. Some sales managers are uncomfortable coaching. They think they don’t know how to do it or get pushback from team members. Finally, there are managers who want to put time into coaching, but there are only so many hours in the day and find it challenging to maintain momentum. Microcoaching is the solution. Short, frequent bursts of 2-6 minute coaching give sales managers the flexibility to maintain coaching momentum between one-on-one meetings through tweeting, text, or slack.  The same principles of coaching apply. Ask questions, don’t just give advice, and supply encouragement and motivation.  But instead of focusing on one big issue, focus on small tactics to provide clear questions for the team member. These “reflect and respond” questions are a significant part of microcoaching.  How do you know if your microcoaching is effective? There will still be the same issues in regular coaching: both parties must have a positive attitude about the coaching process for it to be successful. However, microcoaching through a platform like Coachfeed removes some awkward conversations that arise throughout the process. Lead by example and show them how coaching is supposed to be done. AI drives effective microcoaching With Coachfeed’s microcoaching platform, they offer different assessments to help shape the team member’s best results through microcoaching. These assessments reveal infromation about the salesperson, help dictate the coaching structure, and drive the AI engine to identify who needs coaching, what they need coaching on, and how they respond to different communication tactics. Using these creates a personalized coaching playbook for managers to use for follow-up conversations.  Everybody's journey is different because every salesperson is different. And that's a defining part of the Coachfeed mentality.  Lee’s final piece of advice? Coaching is a long-term play. You might not see the benefits initially, but you’ll be improving your salespeople and your sales process. To get in contact with C.Lee, visit his company website salesfuel.com, coaching platform coachfeed.com, or his personal website cleesmith.com This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio. Are you sick of crickets? As a salesperson, the pain of reaching out with phone calls or emails and not receiving a response is real. But all text messaging is not created equal. 85% of people prefer text over email and phone calls because they want to engage in a conversation, not listen to bots. Be more like people and start having conversations that end in the conversions you want. Try Skipio at www.Skipio.com. This course is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Certified Training Program, a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Help elevate your sales game and sign up now to get the first two modules free! You can visit www.thesalesevangelist.com/closemoredeals or call (561) 570-5077 for more information. 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, tune in on Apple Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings for each episode you listen to!  Read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore their huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day trial. Audio provided by Free SFX 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.  Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com