The Sales Evangelist

The Accidental Seller- "Ashlee Reusch" This is the third episode for the Accidental Seller series brought to you by The Sales Evangelist.  Ashlee Reusch is a business development representative at Cognos HR. Ashlee was always on the lookout for change growing up and thus wasn’t chasing a specific career. She graduated high school a year early and proceeded to go to college. She was aiming to get her radiology technical certification at the local community college. She majored in Science and went into the medical field.  Ashlee had a change of heart and realized that science wasn’t her passion. The classes didn’t excite her and being a creative person at heart, she felt like the course didn’t foster that part of her. She didn’t want to sign up for endless classes to get certifications to advance her career in the medical field in the future. She was at a loss for what to do next and that’s how she fell into sales.  Falling into sales  She was finishing her associate’s degree at a community college and was deciding whether to proceed to her bachelor’s degree at a university. She lost her passion in science and she also didn’t want to invest in her education being unsure of what she really loved. She had lots of friends who studied at universities and paid tens of thousands of dollars but in the end, went back to square one because they were no longer interested in the career path they chose. She didn’t want to be in the same boat.  Ashlee talked to her dad about her predicament. He has been with the local Chevy dealer selling cars. He then suggested that she get a job and try out sales for a full year. She thought of it as an intersection where she wanted to experience the world and figure out what she wanted at the same time. That’s when she became an accidental seller.  The first few days were nerve-wracking, especially being there were only 2 women in the sales department. Everyone else was men with the average age of late thirties. Ashlee was 19 years old then. The experience was both exciting and nerve-wracking, especially since there was no sales training available. She shadowed other salesmen for a week and then she was put on the floor after that to sell some cars.  Since her dad had been in sales his whole life and both her parents were entrepreneurs owning a small art business in the late 90s and early 2000s, sales and business was nothing new for Ashlee. She also saw how her parents worked long hours. There was a lot of instability in sales and that made her think that sales was not her cup of tea. She wanted something stable with normal work hours. Sales was never part of her plan even until her college years. Selling for the first time  Ashlee was an introvert growing up and she likes to hang out in the background a little bit. This part of her made sales a scary avenue. It was difficult for her to talk to strangers face to face and sell them cars. Her limited training lasted only a week. She was the typical salesman but she made it her goal to be honest with her clients.  Whenever she doesn’t know anything, she tells them that she doesn’t have the answer at the moment but she’ll find it out for them. She found out that people respect honesty and humility.  She was working on a hundred percent dealership commission roll, so not selling a car means not getting a paycheck. It was a motivating factor to learn the ropes quickly. She spent almost four months before she felt like had things under control.  She moved from one salesperson’s cubicle to another to learn how to strike a deal in her downtime. She’d listen and take notes on how to handle common objections. She followed her dad’s suggestion.  A salesperson absorbs the things around him, takes what works for his style, and turns it into his own thing. #SalesPerson  A moment of doubt Being an accidental seller means that sales isn’t your first choice and when faced with difficulties, an accident seller would tend to fold. Ashlee has her moments of doubt and thinks about quitting. When it does cross her mind, she convinces herself otherwise by thinking of all the skills and opportunities of the people she met in the sales industry so far.  It’s easy to get caught up in the negativity but it’s important to not get swayed by all of it.  Her dad told her the way to get out of a rut is to sell. Whenever she feels down, she tries again.  Her first sale wasn’t that exciting. She sold to a newly married couple who were buying their first car together. It was special for them and they used a true car certificate. All she had to do was a test drive with them and make sure that they liked the car. The experience wasn’t overwhelming but the income that came with it was fun and exciting.  Moving forward, she went from selling cars to membership training for a large gym chain and made her way into the Chicago tech world. She is now working for a small outsource HR company where she helps businesses accomplish their goals every day. There’s a lot of networking and meeting other people involved. She learns about clients’ businesses and their growth goals and she helps them reach their goals.  Ashlee would do sales in a heartbeat even if she had other choices and sees no possibilities of changing anything in her sales journey. Sales gave her tons of independence and confidence. It bought her a house and gave her a great career. Sales is difficult and it’s a roller coaster ride but when you’re in it for the long haul, you’ll be surprised with the many things you learn, the people you meet, and the opportunities you meet along the way.   “The Accidental Seller" episode resources Get in touch with Ashlee Reush via LinkedIn and her personal email.  With any sales concerns and questions about sales, you can reach out to Donald via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Use these practical sales tips and let me know how it works for you.  This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. Our next semester starts on November 8 and we would love to have you.  The episode is also brought to you by Sales Live Miami. It’s an event put on by a group of friends and it’s designed to help sellers and sales leaders improve their sales game. It’s going to be this November 4-5, 2019 in Miami, Florida. Come and join us. You can find more about this event on The Sales Evangelist website.  We want you to join us for our next episodes so tune in to our podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to.  Read more about sales or listen to audiobooks at Audible as well and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial.  Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

How to 10X Your Income With Repeat and Referred Business Repeat and referred business is a sure tactic to grow your business 10x. Despite that, not many are looking into it.  A reliable tactic to increase income is to use repeat and referred business. Gia Le, a successful real estate agent in Australia, whose heritage is Chinese-Vietnamese,    uses this strategy with great success. However, before she got into real estate, her career started in finance and insurance sales through the automotive industry.  Gia wasn’t always the top salesperson she is today.  Working for Australia’s largest automotive holding company, she was almost fired in her first three months as an insurance and finance consultant.   Selling using out-dated methods  Early in her career, Gia attended several training programs offered by her company. She learned a variety of  selling techniques and rehearsed the scripts but they proved to be ineffective.. These original methods sounded rote to the more sophisticated customers and the techniques were perceived as out-dated and insincere.    The dealership was a very fast-paced environment, sometimes having to close sales within two or three hours, and she was struggling and fighting.  In Australia, a dealership makes more money on the finance and insurance than on the vehicle itself and accounts for nearly 60- 70% of the dealership’s profits.. Gia knew if she didn’t start performing her time at the company was going to come to a close.  It was then the right mentor appeared.ia recalls, “He pulled me aside and said, ‘Hey, Gia stop trying to focus on the sale. Why don't you just start focusing on the people and realize that we're selling more than just finance and insurance.’” It was in that moment that she understood she was there to solve problems and provide a service.   “I truly sold nothing.The only thing I truly sold was a promise, an opportunity and above all, a relationship. The moment I started connecting and focusing on my client's pain, empathizing with them and gaining their trust through the art of storytelling, I was basically closing nearly 70% of all the clients who walked through my door.” Sales is about selling an opportunity, and above all else, relationship. #SalesSuccess  Working at such a fast pace, she also understood the need to act quickly. “Nobody was in a dealership to waste their time because time is the most precious commodity anybody ever has.”  She knew if her client walked away they didn’t want to work with her.  It was in these moments she decided not to give away her business card.  “I would never give out a business card because any seasoned consultant should really understand that, yeah, (them taking your business card) is a consolation prize. It’s their way of saying, I'll take something off you and I'm going to go away. I'm going to leave you living in hope but hope doesn’t pay the bills.”  Knowing she needed to make a connection in those fleeting moments in order to close a sale, she became proficient in understanding the client’s needs, addressing their concerns and offering a solution.  Gia worked for the dealership for seven and a half years and at the age of thirty, decided she no longer wanted to work seventy hours a week and wanted more flexibility.  She wondered what else she could do with the sales skills she had.  By then, Gia was working with a life coach and with real estate’s flexibility and use of her sales experience, they thought it was the perfect answer.  Gia was a real estate agent for about a year when she noticed that using the emerging digital platform to market properties was being underutilized in Australia.  “The use of social media four years ago was only just starting to blossom.  I started a digital agency after I saw that opportunity. I made $500 in my first month after making big dollars in finance.  Now, my digital agency is growing across Australia. We're now in Asia.”  Growing the business through repeat and referred business  Gia credits the growth of her business to her sales background.  As her company continues to grow she is still selling and understands that referrals don’t happen by luck.  From the beginning, repeat and repeat business was her focus and she set the tone for her employees. “I kept telling everybody across the company I wasn't the best consultant or the best sales woman, but I was certainly the most disciplined and process-driven. I always played the long game with every single client. It's all about having a strategy and being disciplined. It’s making sure that system is bigger than yourself.” Gia took advantage of the downtime when It was during these early days Facebook and Google were increasing in popularity as a sales tool. While other salespeople were busy Facebooking and Googling for new clients during their downtime, Gia  was busy prospecting.  “I was busy following up with all my old clients because I understood that 90% of my sales were going to happen before they even walked in the door to see me again. The moment they walked in, I knew they were there for a reason. I’d made a conscious decision to make sure they remembered who I am, what I do, where I am, and I was truly memorable.” These clients had walked through her door, not just for the product, but for her.  One gentleman was  really happy with her service and it seemed to be a normal transaction.  However, the next day, he came back to her office with his son and asked if she could offer him the same deal. . His son then referred her  services to his circle of friends and each one asked her to duplicate the original sale. It was then that Gia understood the power of repeat referral business.  She had made business easy for her clients and they never had to reach decision fatigue. Because of Gia’s diligent preparation, her clients didn’t have to waste time doing the research for other customer relations managers. She provided the hope, opportunity, trust and relationship they were looking for. They received her promise of excellence. So how can you create a process to increase your business referrals? “You've got to have a service based ethos. If you're not customer-focused, no matter what process you put in place for repeat business, it’s going to fail you because nobody is going to refer you. Get that foundation right first. The next step  to creating that repeat business was I made sure that relationship started after we finalized the first transaction.”   When she was still at the dealership, other salespeople didn’t speak to their clients once a deal was made but Gia sets herself apart by providing touch points throughout the year.  Her clients received a gift so they knew she was sincere about winning their business. A thank you card was sent within thirty days. On their birthday, their card was hand-written and they received personal  phone calls on their anniversary. These systems were automated so the dates automatically appeared in her calendar. Discipline matters Not many salespeople would want to be in touch with their clients that thoroughly. It takes a lot of discipline to make a series of follow-up. It’s easy to be sidetracked with everything that’s going on, so it’s important to stay true to what you need to do and just do all of them.  Gia saw herself as a business within a business. She kept a strong KPI and place incentives to motivate others to reach their KPIs as well.  Not everyone has the tenacity to stay in sales. Some others would come and go. But you can make yourself as the rock and be that consistent face that every client would see in your industry, then you will have the most respect. People would come at you asking for deals and your idea because it’s you who stayed the longest and you know the ropes.  Staying connected is also the key. Their sale only begins when clients have signed the contract. Gia would assist them when they want to make a claim due to an accident, thus enabling her to influence and make an impact on the clients over what they would choose to replace the vehicle with. At the same time, she is also able to refine the contract and make more money from the dealership. It’s all because she stayed connected and earned their trust.  Along with her team, they put much effort into romancing their clients, being committed to transacting with them, and starting a relationship with them in the end. They go beyond what they offer. They also try to help clients who have poor credit ratings.  There are millions of ideas every single day but discipline and consistency do the tricks in growing your business using repeat and referred business. If you decide to make 10 phone calls a day to old clients, then, by all means, do it.  “How to 10X Your Income With Repeat and Referred Business” episode resources Give Gia Le’s digital agency website a visit to see her sales strategies, tips, and tricks that have been helpful in her career. She also has her own company site that you can check out.  For other sales concerns, you can also reach out to Donald via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Use these practical sales tips and let me know how it works for you.  This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077.  The episode is also brought to you by Sales Live Miami. It’s an event put on by a group of friends and it’s designed to help sellers and sales leaders improve their sales game. It’s going to be this November 4-5, 2019 in Miami, Florida. Come and join us. You can find more about this event on The Sales Evangelist website.  We want you to join us for our next episodes so tune in to our podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to.  Read more about sales or listen to audiobooks at Audible as well and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial.  Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

The Main Things Generating The Most Leads Right Now!    As salespeople, we often ask ourselves about the main things generating the most leads right now because we always want to be in on everything that works. Consumers’ purchasing decisions are affected by their experiences and we want to know what affects them in order to appeal to those emotions and convince them to buy our products or services. Sales professionals that we are, we love leads and we like getting new prospects.  Vlad Calus is the founder at Planable, a content collaboration plan for freelancers and marketing teams. It is the most visual platform that helps you preview your social media content before publishing it. Planable helps you check and review your content before publishing it. It makes collaboration and asking for feedback from your teammates easier as well as  asking for clients’ feedback before finalizing the content and scheduling the posts through social media.  Generating the most leads right now  There are three things that helped Vlad to get leads. The first one was writing a book. He wrote a book called Marketing Themes of the Future which gained them over 2,000 leads in just a couple of weeks. They also published the Content Academy and it generated them more than 500 people in just a couple of hours.  Publishing is one way to generate leads and that’s what Vlad and his team did. They also did a content calibration report where they reported on the state of content marketing and how content marketing teams are working. For them, their team wasn’t able to generate many people by just a sudden initiative. They did the planning on how to create their content and spent a lot of time in it. They called their content marketing as special initiatives. They worked on it for about 12 months and all of the people involved were on the same page. They then had press releases for client launches and they constantly repurposed their content.  Content calibration  Vlad’s team looked for the problem in their industry and wanted to address it. Based on their research, they found out that there have been no content calibration reports done for the last nine years. They wanted to understand the state of the market but there are only old data available. In marketing, data are key players to a business’s success. They then understood the need to generate a lot of data and started the project with their customers, connections on the net, and the people they met. They generated leads by using the data of the report they collated.  One of the data they have is on how to repurpose content for their followers. There’s also the part where you need multiple stakeholders as part of your content strategy. They also discovered in their research that broken collaboration is wasted time and communicating with your stakeholders vie spreadsheets and emails is one of the most broken workflows there is. They use all these data and share their marketing reports to their clients and potential clients to motivate them to jump on a call with them and start using their Planable.  This can be applied to other industries as well regardless of the size of the company. You can make reports using the data from the audience that you are working on. You may start by sending  your audience Facebook polls or sending them a simple type form they can fill out. You can collate the data and use it for your marketing strategies.  Publishing a book to get more leads works especially if you promote it yourself. Put your email signature in the book and see the number of people who click on it every single day.  From readers to lead generators  People who have read Vlad’s book started recommending it to other people they know. The book presented the benefits of collaborating on the content and using many different platforms to create a more collaborative market. The ebook also presented solutions that you can use for your content marketing collaboration as a marketing team.  Every email we get, we put them into an email marketing flow and we ask them to jump on a call with us for them to find out more about Planable. We send people case studies on how Planable has been helping companies.  The other thing that helped them in generating the most leads right now is their Content Academy. They interviewed over 30 experts in content marketing from different industries. These people are the front line in creating content, from the ideation, editing, writing, publishing, and generating leads. The Content Academy includes seven-step videos with topics like ideation strategy, content editing, content publishing, promoting, and so on.  Vlad’s team presents it to potential clients and we give them sneak peeks of the things they can learn in the Content Academy.  He makes snippets and minute-long videos showing how it would help businesses and publishes the videos on his LinkedIn and other social media.  In content marketing, don’t be afraid to try creating content and putting yourself on camera. Get yourself out there and just start creating content. Listen to the feedback of the community and write again until you are able to make quality content.  Success doesn’t come from just sitting around. It comes when you truly start to give creating and writing a try. #ContentMarketing  “The Main Things Generating The Most Leads Right Now! " episode resources Reach out to Vlad Calus via his LinkedIn.  Go ahead and hit me up for concerns and questions about sales. You can also reach out to me via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Use these practical sales tips and let me know how it works for you.  This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. Our next semester starts on November 8 and we would love to have you.  The episode is also brought to you by Sales Live Miami. It’s an event put on by a group of friends and it’s designed to help sellers and sales leaders improve their sales game. It’s going to be this November 4-5, 2019 in Miami, Florida. Come and join us. You can find more about this event on The Sales Evangelist website.  We want you to join us for our next episodes so tune in to our podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to.  Read more about sales or listen to audiobooks at Audible as well and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial.  Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

Impossible to Inevitable How can salespeople turn the impossible to inevitable?  Aaron Ross is the author of the book Predictable Revenue and a proud father to nine children. The book Predictable Revenue is called the sales bible of Silicon Valley. It changed how the fastest-growing sales teams are designed. The book talked about outbound prospecting which can be a very predictable way to drive appointments and if you have predictable appointments, you can create predictable revenue. It also talks about sales specialization instead of letting the sales reps do the prospecting. Managers must break the sales team into specialized groups to assess where they excel.  Impossible to inevitable  His new book called From the Impossible to Inevitable is the growth bible. It’s more for C-levels:the managers, executives, and the leaders who understand the few key reasons why a company gets stuck and won’t grow. The book answers three questions: Why aren’t you growing as fast as you can? How can you grow faster? How do you keep it up? This book touches on sales models and expands to lead generation. From Impossible to Inevitable will teach you the ways of the fastest-growing companies in the world such as SalesForce and Twilio. The first section of the book is called Nail a Niche as it addresses the hard truth that most companies are not ready to grow and that’s the reason why they don’t grow as much as they want.  You can’t paddle downstream if you’re not even in the stream.  Nailing the niche When beginning a business, there’s the tendency of selling everything to everyone. But that doesn’t work. What it does to you is that you either have no customer or you have a bunch of customers who are a little bit of this and a little bit of that. An entrepreneur may sit back and ask which of the customers are easiest to close, or who is the audience that really needs me? It is important to define who needs you.  Aaron was part of Salesforce, where he built an internal sales program. He left the team in 2006 and did what he wanted to do. He went into adventures and went to do other things. He worked in a venture firm, then on a thing called Unique Genius, then on CEO Flow. He was exploring and then he got married. He realized that he had to start making money.  He needed to focus on a niche and figure out where his expertise lies so that he could  deliver the most value for his customers. He then thought of outbound prospecting. I wasn’t the general sales consulting. For us salespeople, this can take a lot of testing, talking, and experimentation with companies to get the right package and the right pricing programs before you nail your niche and start to grow faster. Sometimes it can take a long time because we have all these unrealistic expectations on how fast it should happen.  Do it like Twilio does it Twilio is a platform company that provides a bunch of technologies. Twilio is used by many companies that build software or iPhone apps to power their message alerts and phone calls. For example, Uber uses Twilio to make an Uber phone call and text because it’s difficult and time-consuming to build it themselves.  Simply put, Twilio is a platform that companies can use to do many things. The challenge when you are marketing something like Twilio is that it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact help it can offer to a company or a client.  A salesperson must paint a specific picture for people to get it. Twilio researched to get into the minds of their customers, to understand and build empathy with their customers.  The common corporate value which is to walk in the shoes of your customer is something that Twilio really lives by. The company put much effort into walking in their customers’ shoes to know what they want and what they are looking for.  Salespeople need to remember this value at all times, whether you’re writing an email or making a call. You need to know what they need to get your message across. Another secret of Twilio’s success is to let all their employees have a taste of what it’s like being the customer.  Specific targeting Turning the impossible to inevitable is also a result of specific targeting. You need to be more specific in choosing your audience. It’s important to talk to fewer people that are relevant to your products or services.  Having fewer people to talk to doesn’t decrease your number of opportunities. Your goal is to become the big fish in the small pond and specific targeting is the perfect way to do that. It’s harder to change your products and services but you can do the easier part: you change your targeting instead.  Types of leads Lead generation is the main driver for your growing business. There are three kinds of lead generation: seeds, nets, and spears. The seeds are relationship-driven leads, these include referrals, word of mouth, and friends/families. Since these are relationship-based leads, they are faster to close and with a higher rate. The downside is that it’s more difficult to generate. Word of mouth is hard to grow.  The second type is the nets. These are the marketing. You are casting a wide net which means you’re broadcasting one too many. These leads include a podcast, billboards, or online marketing. You get more leads in terms of quantity than in quality.  The last type is spears which are prospecting. It’s when you have typically a targeted list. It’s smaller in number but you get better opportunities out of it.  Businesses almost always start with the word of mouth but as you start to grow, you will want to venture into content marketing and prospecting. As a company, you need to know the kind of leads that bring in clients. Figure where you excel and put more effort into that first before you move on into other types of leads.  Pick the one that’s right for you at first and do more of it. Do not do all the three leads at once unless you’re a huge company with millions of funding. It might take years for you to figure out what works best, it might take years for your sales design team to come up with a plan that works, but it’s all worth it in the end.  One section in the book Impossible to Inevitable is a lesson from Mark Roberge, the CRO of HubSpot. He has hired hundreds of people and the number one thing they look for when hiring is coachability. It’s an individual’s ability and desire to learn and their ability to connect, change, and adapt.  Companies who are expanding and hiring people should look at the coachability of a person. Aside from that, as a company, you also need to know the kind of roles you need.  Small steps If you are a startup business, start with the basics. The CEO starts selling, then he hires a junior person to do prospecting and appointment setting. After a few months, you can promote that person to closing or you hire a closer. You look at your company and you see that there are now two people selling, the CEO and the newly hired close. You also have the junior person to do the lead generation.  Think of smaller steps instead of going too quickly and hiring the wrong individuals in the process.  The social media is always surrounded by stories of fast success but the reality in sales and in business is that it takes years before you get to the top.  Everyone is struggling especially entrepreneurs because it’s your job to struggle and solve problems. So the next time you are discouraged, just remember that many others are in the same boat. #Entrepreneur “Impossible to Inevitable” episode resources Connect with Aaron Ross on LinkedIn and check out his website Predictable Revenue.  You can also reach out to Donald for your sales concerns and interesting stories via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.  This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. Our next semester starts on November 8 and we would love to have you.  The episode is also brought to you by Sales Live Miami. It’s an event put on by a group of friends and it’s designed to help sellers and sales leaders improve their sales game. It’s going to be this November 4-5, 2019 in Miami, Florida. Come and join us. You can find more about this event on The Sales Evangelist website.  We want you to join us for our next episodes so tune in to our podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to.  Read more about sales or listen to audiobooks at Audible as well and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial.  Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

The Accidental Seller Series 2 - "DeJuan Brown" This is the second episode of the series The Accidental Seller. There are more accidental sellers in the sales industry than we know of. In fact, there are about 4.14 million sales professionals in the United States who fell into this career.  DeJuan Brown wanted to be a chemist when he was a kid. He also wanted to be a system analyst because he wanted to follow his uncle’s footsteps who worked as a system analyst for Guardian Life for a long time. But in college, he studied Psychology and Philosophy. The mathematics included in studying both Chemistry and System Analysis dissuaded him to push through with his childhood careers.  His view of sales and of the salespeople came about when his father started selling Insurance when he was two years old. Selling insurance then was very different compared to how it’s done today. People are able to sign up online or pay for their premium online but before, selling insurance was a door-to-door sport. His dad would spend hours going door to door collecting premiums from people. Seeing his dad selling made him think that sales was super lucrative on the back end but also super hard at the same time. DeJuan initially thought that salespeople were undesirable.  The sale stigma  The perception of salespeople then didn’t change much until today. There’s still a bad stigma and DeJuan didn’t want to be associated with it. Salespeople are seen as sleazy and manipulative and even though his Dad is not like that, he came to adapt that view as well. It’s apparent with a car salesman and the salespeople you see in infomercials and TV.  People kept telling DeJuan that he’d be good in sales but for him, it was a choice between using his skills for the worse which is doing sales or using it for the best which is helping people through law and other things.  The accidental seller DeJuan was doing a variety of things and was moving from one job to another. He ended up waiting tables and bartending. He was good at it and made a tremendous amount of money in it. His friends kept telling him to go into sales because he’s good at selling entrees but still the stigma of salespeople stuck in his mind. The stigma prevented him from considering the possibility until his buddy got a job at Intuit.  His buddy convinced him to get into sales and he applied. He got a schedule for an interview and got a part-time job of 16 hours a week doing transactional sales. That’s when he got into sales.  He fell in love with the reward of sales and it was the first time that he felt good about serving people.  Fears in sales  He had fears and trepidation when he started sales and most of the fear revolved on the thinking that he had to push people. DeJuan wanted to help people. If they want something, he wants to help them get it and if they do not want to get the product and services, then he doesn’t want to push them and he just wants to leave them alone.  The fear went away relatively early in the process when he realized that he was helping people. He understood people and all that they have at their disposal. He gave them all their options and made sure that they made decisions based on what they have. Helping people changed his paradigm on sales audits.  DeJuan thought about quitting during his tough times but his experience helped him get through the rough times. When he isn’t at the top of the leaderboard, he thinks of quitting and starting out on another career.  Sales is a rollercoaster ride: here’s no such thing as always up and always positive. #SalesMotivation That fact kept him on and motivated him.  There’s no such thing as every time you dial, someone picks up the phone or responds to every email. Understanding that helped him control the inputs and outputs. The mindset shift helped him shift his attitude towards selling.  His first sale was unforgettable for him. He was consistent with his deals and he was able to enhance someone’s product or their order. For his first sale, he was able to sell a logo and on the same sale, he was able to add color and shadow. He also offered the self-sealing envelopes on the same order. DeJuan is now in the enterprise industry and connected with Seismic.  DeJuan was an accidental seller but if asked if he was going to choose another path, he’d say that being an accidental seller is one of the best things that happened for his career.  “The Accidental Seller Series 2" episode resources Reach out to DeJuan via his LinkedIn and he will also be in the Sales Success Summit. He is also on Twitter.  Go ahead and hit me up for concerns and questions about sales. You can also reach out to me via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Use these practical sales tips and let me know how it works for you.  This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. Our next semester starts on November 8 and we would love to have you.  The episode is also brought to you by Sales Live Miami. It’s an event put on by a group of friends and it’s designed to help sellers and sales leaders improve their sales game. It’s going to be this November 4-5, 2019 in Miami, Florida. Come and join us. You can find more about this event on The Sales Evangelist website.  We want you to join us for our next episodes so tune in to our podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to.  Read more about sales or listen to audiobooks at Audible as well and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial.  Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

One Major Closing Question You're Neglecting To Ask    There are times when the sale is almost a done deal but at the end of the day, it’s not pushing through because there’s that one major closing question you neglected to ask. This can happen to everyone, not just for the new sales reps.  That one closing question you neglected to ask Let’s take Dave as an example. Dave is a seller who is wrapping up things with Bob in a phone call. Dave gave an amazing demonstration but Bob is being wishy-washy in his response and told Dave that he is still going to analyze internally first before moving on with Dave’s deal. Now, Dave is upset, furious, and blurted out some things.  Dave could have done things differently by asking follow-up questions. Seeing it from Dave’s perspective, his outburst was understandable. He’s been working the deal for three months and he thought that he already got everything right. He already told his manager about it and he’s pretty excited for it to officially close. He needed this sale to achieve his quota.  The result could have been different had he remembered to ask the closing question that many neglect to ask.  “Would I make  this purchase based on the same information I know if I were the buyer?”  Based on the things you’ve shared with the buyer, would you have made the decision to make the investment? Many take this for granted because oftentimes, salespeople are shortsighted.  Focusing on your pipeline  Having focus is a great characteristic, however, focusing on the wrong thing isn’t. As salespeople, we need to shift the focus from ourselves and our pipeline, rather, we need to focus on our clients and our prospective clients.  Going back on Dave, he was too focused on himself and the need for impressing his manager. He is a rising star in the company and the deal would be 25% of his quota. Everything was about Dave. Sometimes, a similar thing happens to us.  We tend to focus on ourselves and fail to show empathy toward the clients. Stephen Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People states that the fifth habit of becoming effective is to seek first to understand then to be understood.  The outcome would have been different if Dave asked himself the closing question mentioned above. Dave was in a difficult situation. He just got promoted and he’s now in the big boy’s league, this means that he’s afraid. The thing is that all these situations that Dave is facing don’t help his potential client solve his problems. Bob has nothing in him to consider shifting to Dave’s offer. If you were Dave, you would have gone a different path. Instead of looking at your fears, you instead looked at what Bob’s company needs.  Perhaps you’d look at some studies and do some homework about Bob’s industry in relation to the software that you’re selling.  A great salesperson focuses not on himself but on what the buyer is going through and the challenges that they’re facing. #SalesTruth Reality in sales  Not every deal is going to close, that’s a universal fact in sales. But when you try to ask the closing question mentioned earlier, you won’t get in an awkward situation. Take for example the close rates, it’s the sales rep’s number of prospects to the number of deals converted. A 25% close rate means closing 10 deals out of your 40 prospects. The average close rate is between 15%-23%. Some people have higher close rates and others have a lower close rate.  The close rate would increase if we work a little more in asking the tough questions. Salespeople must analyze  the situation from the buyer’s standpoint. You can start the conversion process after every call, ask the buyer the same closing question, “Based on what you know, do you feel comfortable moving forward with us to a demonstration?” “Based on what you know, do you feel comfortable moving forward with us toa proposal?” Do this in every step of the process.  The closing question you neglect to ask should be given priority now. Ask yourself and the buyer that question. Find more of your ideal customers and have more meaningful conversations with them. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.  “One Major Closing Question You're Neglecting To Ask” episode resources Go ahead and hit me up for concerns and questions about sales. You can also reach out to me via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Use these  practical sales tips and let me know how it works for you.  This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new  and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077.  The episode is also brought to you by Sales Live Miami. It’s an event put on by a group of friends and it’s designed to help sellers and sales leaders improve their sales game. It’s going to be this November 4-5, 2019 in Miami, Florida. Come and join us. You can find more about this event on The Sales Evangelist website.  We want you to join us for our next episodes so tune in to our podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to.  Read more about sales or listen to audiobooks at Audible as well and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial.  Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

The Accidental Seller Series 1 - "Ludovic Vuillier"    Hubspot’s stats showed that 46% of salespeople did not intend to go into sales. That means a massive 4.14 million individuals are now accidental sellers. Perhaps they were working different jobs and suddenly they decided to go into sales or the circumstances prompted them to go into sales. This series will be about the people who have become accidental sellers by hook or by choice.  Ludovic Vuillier is an entrepreneur who runs the Good Life Manifesto. It is a tool to help you live a good life. It is a guide that’s related to health, business, finance, and relationship.  Ludovic started his career in sales 20 years ago. He sold for myriads of companies and consulting organizations. He also helped these organizations to find success in their sales.  But before he went into sales, he wanted to become a doctor because of his interest in the human body. The downside to that is one has to spend over 12 years in school before becoming a doctor, which is something he cannot do. That made him ditch the college path.  The deciding path  His father died when he was young and he inherited some money but didn’t have a clue what to do with it. The amount wasn’t big but it was enough to offer comfort. He spent a year and a half traveling. He saw places and learned about many cultures. The experience taught him to be comfortable outside his comfort zone. After that, he fell into sales.  He started selling mobile phones door to door. His lack of social skills became an advantage because he was able to absorb and pick up the things that work and that don’t. Ludovic also ventured into telemarketing and sold cosmetics over the phone.  It takes many things to become a salesperson. One has to have a strong will and desire, persistence, and a greater purpose.  Ludovic started to take on different types of sales jobs including doing sales over the phone, face-to-face sales, one-on-one, one-to-many, and others. He learned how he can influence peoples’ thoughts, emotions, and actions to be effective in the sales industry.  The challenge that was the sale  It wasn’t just the money and the people that prompted him to go into sales, it was the challenge in sales. He was hooked with the idea that people have patterns and salespeople can study what makes them tick and influence that. Unlike other new sales reps who are afraid of rejection, Ludovic was just fearless and kept pushing head-on.  One of the challenges in the sale is the need of doing it repeatedly, like a cycle. He gets bored easily and the thought of doing the same thing over and over again for a long period of time was a huge challenge.  He was able to fight against the boredom by just keeping on. He made the decision of not quitting.  He was one of the sales reps who didn’t make sales consistently but his perseverance reaped good results as he started to make a sale after another.  Closing a deal Closing a deal is exciting, elating, and motivating. He closed his first deal and kept closing deals. His career began to expand and his sales experience continued to grow. Ludovic started to use his talent to help call center companies.  This, again, came by accident.  His friend opened up a sales office and he tapped him for help to train his friend’s salespeople. The gig wasn’t going to last for more than a few months and Ludovic knew that. He went there and helped. Within three months, he was able to help the team grow their average revenue to five times more, totaling to $500,000 a month. After leaving his friend’s company, with his friend’s encouragement, he decided to make it a business.  He then cold-called a few telemarketing companies and set up appointments. He observed sales offices and based his price on the noise he hears in the company. A telemarketing company that makes a lot of noise earns well while a company that doesn’t make a lot of noise means something bad is going on. When it’s quiet, it means he is needed.  Looking back  In Tim Ferris’ podcast, he always has this question to ask his guest: “If you could give your younger self a piece of advice, what would it be?” Ludovic said that he would do nothing. Where he is right now was because of the decisions he made along the way. Being the accidental seller that he was, he was able to use all the things he’s learned and picked up while being a seller.  Learn as much as you can. Life doesn’t happen based on what things are supposed to be.  As salespeople, we are to learn from the people before us. If you do this long enough, success will happen. #SalesMotivation “The Accidental Seller Series 1 - "Ludovic Vuillier" episode resources Find Ludovic Vuillier in any social media. He’s also got two websites, one is a personal travel blog and the other one is the goodlifemanifesto.com.  Take some of the principles shared here and remember to not give up. Instead, make things happen. Reach out to Donald for any sales concerns on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. We want you to join us for our next episodes so tune in to our podcast on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to. The Sales Evangelist wants every salesperson to be able to build stronger value and close more deals. Our TSE Certified Sales Training Program will help you be that.  Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077.  Read more about sales or listen to audiobooks at Audible as well and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial.  Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

What Is Social Dynamic Selling & Why Does This Work So Well? Many sellers appreciate how social dynamic selling works well. It’s effective and has connected more than 2 million consumers to their clients.  Rylee Meek grew up in a small town in South Dakota but is now residing in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He lived in a town with very few opportunities but at the age of 15, he already had that drive to start earning money. He got a job at a pizza joint and made a minimum wage of $5.15 an hour. He dove into the entrepreneurial world at that young age. His family made a significant amount of money from network marketing and that impacted his path. He met many like-minded people who directed him to the right books to read. It was his initial step of taking that entrepreneurship role.  He then started working with a network marketing company instead of proceeding to college. At 19 years of age, he was able to get his   BMW but then he realized that his income came solely from the effort and from working up to 17 hours a day. So he started to do things differently. He worked for Prudential but then he wanted to work and sell to more people and not just family members and friends. He proceeded to take another job selling home remodeling. Rylee clearly remembered what the manager told him on that interview, that the job is 85% negative but he needs to focus on the 15% that’s positive to make it through. Until now, Rylee still believes in focusing on the 15% because that’s what matters. Getting 85 Nos to get 15 Yeses was all it took.  Network marketing journey  Rylee invested in several network marketing ventures and met many challenges along the way. At one time he became homeless after putting much of his money into a business in Mexico. Their company was shut down by the government and he needed to come back to the states. He spent some time thinking of the things he could do next. He was invited to a pitch presentation and that helped his wheels spinning. His first presentation was done a few months after and he made $2.1 million in sales. They then started recruiting, hiring, and training. When everything worked out well, Rylee stepped back from presenting and started doing coaching, training, and teaching their sales reps.  Reaching the masses Rylee was earning well and could take his products to the masses but he didn’t have any passion for his products. While there are many businesses who have so much passion for their products but do not have the vehicle to take their products to the masses.  He thought hard and brainstormed on all of the things that they’ve been doing right with their company from the coaching to selling their products and services. Rylee wrote everything down and that gave birth to what is now the social dynamic selling system. Social dynamic selling works well The core of social dynamic selling is dinner seminars. Invite people and give them a nice steak dinner. You then establish the presenter as the authoritative figure in that industry to gain the trust of the guests. After giving the pitch, you can ask them for an appointment and meet with them the following day to close the deal.  It is important to create a message. It is an atmosphere where you’re sending an invitation directly to your potential clients to come over to listen to your presentation and craft that into multiple different verticals.  It takes a little bit of money to make this happen and your product has to have a decent enough margin for this to work.  Rylee’s team uses direct mail. Many may say that this method is archaic but they had a higher return on investment using direct mail. It beat all the other kinds of marketing including Facebook, Google, and SEO. The response they get from direct mail is crucial in any campaign. Regardless of the method that you’re using, you need to know and track your numbers to be able to see if you’re allocating your funds properly.  Direct mails The competition in using direct mail has dwindled today because of the massive amount of junk mail that people get. Companies tend to forget that they are many ways for you to not make your mails appear like junk such as addressing people by their first and last name.  Social dynamic selling works well if sales reps learn their numbers and not just the art of selling. As a salesperson, you need to know how effective you are and you will see this with your appointment rate, closing rate, and stick rate.  There are so many components involved in any successful campaign and the first step is knowing your ideal clients. Use the tools available today to figure out your true customers. After that, you can demographically and geographically identify the best area to target those people. Choose the venue according to the result of that targeting. The next step is to craft the message and to create an invitation that’s compelling enough for the potential clients to take action. Everything must be consistent from the crafting of the message down to the day of the event and the actual sale.  The whole process has a flow and you can’t rush it.  Always think of your target audience and create the event with their convenience in mind. Do an early dinner for potential clients aging 50 years old. For retirees, you can do breakfast. The rule of thumb is to offer something up the moment they come to the venue because that’s when the law of reciprocity kicks in.  The goal in every event is not just to sell but to get to know the potential clients and earn their trust. You can do that by creating a fun and laid back environment. People want to buy but you need to create that environment that allows them to make the buying decisions instead of pressuring them just to make a sale.  Nobody wants to feel like they’re sold to so ensure that you’re giving the clients the freedom to make the purchasing decision. Do not pressure them. #SalesSuccess Social dynamic selling works well, there is no question about that but you need to follow the process.  Remember, the first step is knowing who your clients are and it all goes from there.  “What Is Social Dynamic Selling & Why Does This Work So Well?” episode resources Reach out to Rylee by visiting his website, socialdynamicselling.com. You can also visit his other site, workwithrylee.com. You can schedule a strategy call with him or with one of his team members.  If you any sales concerns, you can also shoot Donald a message on his LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.  This episode is brought to you in-part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a training program designed to help sales reps improve their skills in making sales and closing deals.  Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077.  Read more about sales or listen to audiobooks at Audible as well and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial.  If you like this episode, do give us a thumbs up and rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. We produce high-quality podcasts weekly so make sure to subscribe to get more of these sales talks that matter! Share this with your friends and teach them how to subscribe as well.  Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

How To Elevate Your Sales Game  As a salesperson, you might have asked yourself the ways to elevate your sales game.  Dug McGuirk is a national trainer with Tony Robbins. He is a peak performance strategist to help people get a clearer picture of where they are right now in their sales organization including the results they’re experiencing as an individual salesperson or as a team leader.  He and Tony help individuals see their role in the organization.  Salespeople can’t change the market, the economy, the way the organization works, and the standard of practice. Tony and Dug want salespeople to see the clear picture and help them realize their true potential.  Elevate your sales game  Salespeople are always looking for ways to elevate their sales. The first step to do that is to analyze the things that might be holding back the sales. Sales reps must look at the pattern when they’re stuck. Do not have the tendency of beating yourself up and taking the fall when things go wrong or when you’re stuck.  Assess the activities that have been holding you back as a salesperson and be aware of them. Look at the pattern of thought, the pattern of activity, and the pattern of focus. These may be small things that you’ve stopped doing like making your bed in the morning, praying, meditating, exercising, and whatnot.  Most of us are running away from the pain but in order to succeed, we need to go through the pain.   The best time to get a sale is right after you just made a sale. Listen to the power of momentum. You sell one and own it. Do not doubt your ability to sell, just get on with the selling and be carried by the momentum.  Believe in yourself That belief in yourself is so vital in sales. It doesn’t matter that you’re shut down several times or that your presentation is put to a stop. You just have to keep going.  Sell yourself first and have that confidence before you go off selling to other people. Salespeople have a moral obligation to help others even when they’ve said no for the first few times. You need to get over that objection in order to deliver the message.  A great salesperson needs to get into that state of gratitude before going into the next steps in sales. You need to be truly present and get clear visualizations of your goals. You also need to believe in your product and the services you sell.  In sales, your network is your net worth.  Nothing replaces a full-on immersion and meeting people. The prospects are everywhere so you need to be always selling and offering. Look for strategic partners and find the opportunities and the people who are willing to invest their finances and their energy. Salespeople have skills and it's up to having the right training to be able to unleash those skills.  Challenges in sales  We live in a fast-paced society and everyone wants to speed up the process. Many are caught up in technique hopping when things go wrong. There are three pillars of extraordinary results to address this issue. The first is the strategies and the second is the action plan such as making phone calls, using technology and digging into LinkedIn, Instagram, and other social platforms. All these strategies are not going to work if they’re not implemented and acted upon.  What most people do is they take action but they do it half-heartedly. This compromises the third pillar which is the mindset. They spend thousands on a strategy and then they move on to the next strategy. They move from one strategy to another and then if it still doesn’t work, they blame the system.  Don’t do it with the belief that the strategy isn’t going to work in the first place.  When you do your pitch, don’t do it half-heartedly. When you mail prospects, don’t send a blanketed e-mail because they’ll know that you didn’t put any effort into it. Make a personal email that shows them you care.  Be willing to get vulnerable  Salespeople who are crushing it on their sales are the ones who are willing to be vulnerable. They are the ones who are willing to be authentic and putting themselves at risk on a personal level. This is how they connect with potential clients.  As a salesperson, you need to understand the value that you offer and come from a place of service rather than expecting.  People will only do business with you and trust you when they see that you’re being authentic and honest. #SalesHacks You learn things as a sales rep when you push through the pain. Look at challenges in new perspectives and work your way around them. Master your ability to perceive what’s going on and change your relationship with the situation at hand. Push yourself ahead with every No you get. When you’re facing a slump and you’re wondering how to elevate your sales game, you need to evaluate your mindset and be present. Realize how valuable you are and use that to connect with clients on a deeper level.  There will be more on this at the “Unleash the Power Within” event that’s going to happen at the American Airlines Arena on November 7-10.  Day 1: Turn fear into power. What stops people from referrals? FEAR.  What stops people from prospecting? FEAR.  What stops people from door-knocking? FEAR.  Turn fear into power and work the muscle of state management. Day 1 is about building your confidence as a salesperson.  Day 2: The power of influence  Day 3: The conversation “How To Elevate Your Sales Game” episode resources If you’re interested in going, reach out to Dug via his email dug.mcguirk@tonyrobbbins.com or call him on his phone number (646)523-8230. You can also send the word D-U-G to 64600, and you’ll get a link to all his contact information.  For other sales concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to Donald via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.  This episode is brought to you in-part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a program designed to help sales reps get from where you are now to where you can be in the future. This course is an aid for salespeople to become better in asking the right questions, presenting solutions, and closing deals.  Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077.  Read more about sales or listen to audiobooks at Audible as well and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial.  If you like this episode, do give us a thumbs up and rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. We produce high-quality podcasts weekly so make sure to subscribe to get more of these sales talks that matter! Share this with your friends and teach them how to subscribe as well.  Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

Sales From the Street: “I Almost Quit” We all face challenges and sometimes, the sense of defeat is so strong that the phrase, “I almost quit,” is so relatable.  Luigi Prestinenzi struggled in his sales journey as well. His mom was great in sales and worked for Mary Kay, a global cosmetics empire. His mother won awards and was an icon within the company.  All the success, however, came to halt when she suffered complete burnout. Luigi was seven then and he didn’t understand what was truly happening except that he saw his mom hustling and reaching her goals.  Fast forward to 23 years later, Luigi also fell on the same path. Everything was working well for him but all of a sudden, deals fell apart and they just kept falling through. It was the first time that he found himself in a challenging situation.  His manager talked to him one Christmas and he couldn’t focus on anything, not the festivities, his family, or the food. He questioned his life and his decisions and he started drafting his resume and looking for jobs. Despite that, he still went back to sales because it was his only option.  Like other salespeople who got disappointed and might have said the words, “I almost quit,” Luigi also quit - almost.  Changing the actions and mindset  Luigi made a decision to triple his sales activity to make up for the last quarter. He realized that the best way to work through it is to change his actions and his mindset.  He listened to Paul J. Meyer, the founder of the Success Motivation Institute. It was a 50-minute combination of different talks and he listened to it every day in his car. All the talks he listened to prompted him to start his pipes running again. Six months later, he closed the biggest deal in his company’s history. He also won the global sales leader award across 60 countries for that organization.  Keep Going  Luigi’s father was a migrant and he’d always tell him, ‘first in, last out.’ People would argue about that saying that it doesn’t foster a smart working mentality. He did not question his work ethic, but he questioned his mindset on things. He needed to change it because he’d still face the same problems at some point.  There are a lot of salespeople these days who jump from one job to another every 12-18 months. They’re good in the interview process but the moment they hit a bump, they go to the next role. He didn’t want to be that person so he kept going.    The imposter syndrome kicks in at your lowest points but that feeling shouldn’t let you down. Even when you close a deal, you somehow still feel like you just got lucky.  No matter how successful you get in the sales industry, no matter how well you execute the sales process and help the buyer through the buying process, you can never control the buyers’ decision. #SalesTalk You can only control your mindset and the way you approach the situation.  Break it down to image and pipeline. Image: How are you showing up? How are you getting up? How are you preparing yourself? What is your mindset to achieve success?  Pipeline: Do the activity and get the hard work done. Don’t cut corners in what you do.  Get these two done and the magic will happen. Do not focus too much on the scoreboard without getting the right mindset. If you’re not getting the target and you’re struggling, just go back to the foundation of success.  “I almost quit,” is fine but never say, “I quit.”  Sales From the Street: “I Almost Quit” episode resources Reach out to Luigi Prestinenzi on his LinkedIn account and check out his podcast, Sales IQ. He also talks about sales and does interviews with sales leaders.  Do you have sales concerns and questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to Donald via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.  This episode is brought to you in-part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a program designed to help sales reps get from where you are now to where you can be in the future. This course is an aid for salespeople to become better in asking the right questions, presenting solutions, and closing deals.  Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077.  Read more about sales or listen to audiobooks at Audible as well and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial.  If you like this episode, do give us a thumbs up and rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. We produce high-quality podcasts weekly so make sure to subscribe to get more of these sales talks that matter! Share this with your friends and teach them how to subscribe as well.  Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com