The Sales Evangelist

If we allow it to, fear can hold us back and dominate our lives, but if we focus instead on understanding and managing fear, we can identify the source of our fear and we can improve our own performance. Kristy Ellington shares today why she believes that being fearless is a myth, and how she overcame years-old fears to unlock improved performance in her own job. Fearless Being fearless is a myth because the truth is that everyone experiences fear. Fear doesn't simply infect one section of our lives, but rather every part. We get caught up in our thoughts and emotions, and fear keeps us from doing the things we want or need to do to get to the next level. Fear causes us to focus inward instead of focusing on the client, which is really detrimental in sales. As sellers, we want to focus on our clients and how we can connect with them, but fear keeps us focused on how they perceive us, and whether they are judging us, and how we look to them. Fight or flight Fear triggers our natural fight-or-flight instinct, which diverts resources from our brains into our arms, legs, heart, and lungs. It slows down our thinking so that we can't fully analyze situations and we can't think critically. We have no available judgment and we can't find creative solutions because we're afraid. Fear hinders us in a variety of ways, but realistically it's all in our heads and it's all connected back to some unidentified source of fear that we have to address. Take action For sellers, the need to overcome fear is real, and they don't have a lot of time to do it. They have quotas to meet and they have to pick up the phone. Understand your trigger. If you're afraid of picking up the phone, unpack that fear. It's often the fear of judgment or the fear of rejection or not being professional or expert enough. You fear going off-script and looking or sounding stupid. Use this five-step process before any big presentation or conversation: Notice. Recognize the problem. Admit when you're afraid. Aware. Be aware of where the problem is: tightness in your throat or butterflies in your stomach. Make. Make the connection. Where did you first feel this problem? What's the source? A bad public speaking experience? Evaluate. Is this real right now? You have no reason to believe that anyone will make fun of you, so your own thoughts are causing the fear. It isn't real. Shift. Once you understand that your fear isn't real, you can shift your focus back to your client. Worst-case scenario If you have any kind of fear, it's always valid to determine the worst-case scenario. If you fear elevators because you fear getting stuck and being claustrophobic, ask yourself if it's real. Is it true that you really won't be able to breathe in the elevator? Is it true that the elevator is going to fall while you're in it? That's likely something you saw in a scary movie once. Fear is false evidence appearing real. Imposter Syndrome Imposter Syndrome is huge for many people, and it prevents you from asking questions for fear that you'll look stupid. It can prevent you from understanding the buying decision or the challenges that your customers are facing. People also fear saying "no" to clients who aren't the best fit for fear of what might happen. They fear failure and what failure might lead to. Maybe you don't get the promotion or you don't make enough commission to pay your bills. As a result, you end up with the worst clients on earth because you bent over backward for clients that really weren't worth the effort. Eliminating fear It's probably not really realistic to think that someday you'll be fearless. No matter what level you are in life, you'll experience fear. The fears for a sales development rep will be different for that of a CRO. You'll always experience fear somehow. If you don't experience fear somehow, you're probably not moving forward. You should be feeling fear. It's a biological response. You can't crush it or eliminate it. You must learn to manage it. When you do, you can move forward and take inspired action that's thoughtful and clear instead of action that's chaotic and desperate. Fear is really just there to protect us and keep us safe. Your brain is working to protect you from bad things that happened in the past. Our fears now are social in nature, but they manifest in the same way that physical threats did generations ago. We don't have to spend so much time being afraid of fear. Leadership fears Leaders are just as afraid of looking stupid as the rest of us, just on a different level. They inadvertently create a culture of fear because they are operating from fear. The stressors are different because they have more responsibility. As you address fears, it becomes easier to manage them. "That which we consistently do becomes easier, not because the nature of the thing changes but our ability changes." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson Fear into confidence It's possible to turn fear into confidence. You have to be comfortable with emotion because it's an important part of sales. Empathy is an important part of the work sellers do. [Tweet "You can't possibly understand other people's situations and fears if you can't understand your own. #EmotionalIntelligence"] If you're running from emotion, it will make your job much tougher. Embrace emotion. Embrace fear. Start to learn what that looks like. "Understanding & Managing Fear" episode resources You can connect with Kristy on LinkedIn, Twitter, or on her website KristyEllington.com If you haven't already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won't miss a single episode. Share it with your friends who would benefit from learning more. This episode is brought to you in part by prospect.io, a powerful sales automation platform that allows you to build highly personalized, cold email campaigns. To learn more, go to prospect.io/tse. It will help you with your outbound to expand your outreach. It allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never ever be the same. Prospect.io is offering three months at half-price. Previously known as TSE Hustler's League, our TSE Certified Sales Program offers modules that you can engage on your own schedule as well as opportunities to engage with other sellers in other industries. This episode is brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It's super easy, it's helpful, and I recommend that you try it out. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. Mailtag.io will give you half-off your subscription for life when you use the Promo Code: Donald at check out. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

Salespeople need mental toughness to weather all the ups and downs of the industry, as well as the pressures and difficulties when things aren’t going well. Sometimes clients choose another seller. Sometimes a customer ends the relationship. In other cases, we do everything we’re supposed to do, and the deal still won’t close. Today Ian Wendt talks with us about one of the most difficult moments in his career and how he got through it and continued his journey. TEACHING INSTEAD OF SELLING Sales is full of challenges, and it requires a certain amount of self-motivation. For Ian, though, the greatest challenge was when he decided that he didn’t want to knock on doors. He realized that while he was really good at selling, he was even more valuable as a teacher. He needed to find a way to make himself valuable enough that he could teach other people how to sell and how to be mentally tough, which was what he was really passionate about. It’s sometimes tough for people to build a sales career that doesn’t involve knocking on doors. Finding a way to make the transition felt daunting to him. He was haunted by the fear of what would happen if he couldn’t make it work. Ian shared a quote from the book Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins that goes like this: “Most people don’t even start if they don’t have a guarantee.” That was Ian’s mindset at the time of the transition. PULLING THE TRIGGER Ian decided to sell for one more summer, and his regional manager used him to do some training. When Ian went to certain offices, those groups started seeing huge spikes in their performance. He was helping them close significant deals and move the needle. He started tracking his results so he could demonstrate his value. Ian asked for the opportunity to run a training program, but his leadership told him there was no such position available in the company. If, however, Ian could prove the value in his training, the company would consider creating one. Ian is a big believer that you don’t negotiate until you bring value, so that’s what he set out to do. He was determined to produce something he could negotiate with. TRACKING RESULTS Ian started tracking the offices, reps, and leaders that he was training. He tracked their metrics and their increases and the improvements in their completion rates for about three months. He visited about 11 offices and trained more than 60 reps. Once he had a binder full of information, the leaders called him in to ask what he was doing. They were seeing improvements and they wanted to hear how he was doing it. He got the leadership on board and he created a pitch for his proposed training. They jumped on board with his idea and moved toward getting started. UNSEEN STRUGGLES One of the biggest struggles for Ian was that he wasn’t directly selling anymore. He was investing his time and efforts into these offices and these other sellers, so he wasn’t selling a ton of accounts. He got a few sales, but he went from making a lot of money to making very little. Ian overdrafted his account at least four times, which was unheard of for him. He was battling the stress of the downward mindset. As a result, he now teaches that stress is the number one factor in negativity and negativity is the one thing that will destroy a sales career. Those reps that operate in fear can be completely debilitated. WHAT IF? What if I’m moving the needle but this doesn’t pay out? Or what if I have nothing to show for all my work? Worse yet, What if I don’t make enough to live off of? Ian lived with exactly that fear during the summer he spent training other sellers. He was plagued by the internal debate over whether to return to the regular sales or to keep trying to develop his training idea. RESULTS Ian put himself in a position to do work that he loves. Now he’s over all of the training and content creation for his entire company, and he gets paid really well for it. He’s grateful every day that he was able to create his own future. He recently spoke at a conference where he reminded the audience that sales will always be hard. But, he said, if you can master it, you can really control the outcome of your life.   If you can sell yourself or sell a product, it will allow you to create the life you want, and maybe the life you never imagined. #Selling CLICK TO TWEET   You can find a way to do work that you love and position yourself to look forward to the work week. He loves the opportunity to share what he has learned with other people, and he loves being surrounded by people who are constantly trying to develop themselves. “FEAR AND MENTAL TOUGHNESS” EPISODE RESOURCES Ian is in the process of developing a consulting and coaching program. In the meantime, he’s doing some side work with individual organizations and people.  Connect with Ian via direct message on Facebook @ian.wendt, LinkedIn @ianwendt, and Instagram @iwendtster. This episode is brought to you in part by prospect.io, a powerful sales automation platform that allows you to build highly personalized, cold email campaigns. To learn more, go to prospect.io/tse. It will help you with your outbound to expand your outreach. It allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never, ever be the same. Previously known as TSE Hustler’s League, our TSE Certified Sales Program offers modules that you can engage on your own schedule as well as opportunities to engage with other sellers in other industries. This episode is brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It’s super easy, it’s helpful, and I recommend that you try it out. You’ll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. If you haven’t already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss a single episode, and share with your friends!Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

Many of us in sales have jumped into companies without a training process or guidance; we find ourselves winging it and wondering, “Where’s my mentor?” Aaron Walker started in the business when he was 18 years old. At the age of 27, he sold to a Fortune 500 company and retired. Eighteen months later, his wife told him he was becoming fat and lazy; so he went back to work, purchased the company he first started and grew it four times in 10 years. It was all fun until the unimaginable happened in August 2001. Aaron accidentally killed a pedestrian with his car. It changed his life. He sold the business and spent the next five years learning how to deal with the tragedy. CHANGING HIS LEGACY In the process, he realized that his financial success lacked significance. He didn’t want his legacy to be “‘enough money to retire at the age of 27.” Nobody cares. He wanted to make a change. He decided to spend his life encouraging and edifying others. Aaron changed the way he did business. He started looking outward more than inward and he gathered mentors to help him. His life began to take a very different path. With the help of several mentors he has worked with for more than two decades in a Mastermind group, Aaron launched his own coaching company, View From the Top. He now leads 14 mastermind groups in eight different countries to help people live a life of success and significance. ISOLATION IS THE ENEMY TO EXCELLENCE Aaron defines a mentor as somebody who will walk alongside you for an extended period of time, as opposed to a coach who helps you get through a certain point in life. Aaron has been with some of the same mentors for more than 40 years. They help him realize where he needs to go in life. Mentors are people who have been there/done that and whose core values coincide with your own. They are the people who want what is best for you rather than what is best for themselves.   For sales, in particular, mentors are crucial. Aaron believes that it is very difficult to grow and expand alone because we each have only one filter – one life experience that guides how we view things. THE VALUE OF MENTORS Other people see us differently than we see ourselves. As such, mentors can help realize your superpowers. They also help you understand your weaknesses and to see your blind spots. Having a mentor to point out what we would otherwise miss ourselves can be the very thing that puts us over the top. We have many obstacles and upper limit challenges that we need to push through. Trusted and unbiased advisors can point us in the right direction. Aaron recalls a guy in one of his mastermind groups that was putting together a course that was, in reality, absolutely terrible. Everything about it was terrible, but the group helped him tweak it and shape it into something amazing.   It’s the same way in our lives. Aaron admits he lacks tact but never realized that many people viewed him as arrogant and condescending until his wife pointed it out to him. It was one of his blind spots. We need people around us who can help us out. We all know the overly confident, borderline cocky salespeople. Getting them to accept advice, to realize their blind spots and to be humble is tricky. Confidence is needed in sales but people don’t buy arrogance and cockiness. There has to be a measure of humility. A mentor can help you get there. Surround yourselves in business, in marriage, in every area of your life with mentors that you trust to help you get where you want to go. WHERE’S MY MENTOR? To find a mentor, look for someone who has been married for a long time if you have questions about marriage. Find someone who has been in business for along time if you have questions about that. Look for someone who has nothing to lose, or gain, by talking to you. Family members are often biased in that regard because they want you to have what you want to have. You want someone who will give it to you straight. You have to be willing to subject yourself to scrutiny. You have to be willing to accept the truth in order to hear the truth. That is why masterminds are so profoundly helpful – you have 8-10 people with completely different life experiences at your disposal. They can take your great idea, look at it, and point out the things about it that you might not have thought of.  When you work with the same people over months or years, a pattern develops and they see it. Aaron has worked with the same counselor for decades. They talk when things are going well and when they aren’t. Over that amount of time, the counselor realized that Aaron did something completely radical about once every 36 months. This type of behavior classifies Aaron as a ‘creator developer’, rather than a ‘maintainer manager.’ A creator developer is someone who gets bored easily and who doesn’t like everything to be the same all the time. It explains why Aaron has had 12 businesses. He likes to develop and create. Because Aaron had a mentor who was able to point it out, Aaron can now plan accordingly. THE EBBS AND THE FLOWS Many young people don’t have mentors while many people with experience to share aren’t necessarily interested in reaching out. Aaron is hoping to connect the two. Mentors have changed Aaron’s life in many ways. He remembers many ebbs and flows throughout his life. One dark time several years ago was particularly difficult. Aaron relied heavily upon his mastermind group at the time and met with them every week. He just could not get motivated but the group was there to listen. It went on for months. Then, one Saturday, Aaron got a call from one of the guys in the group. It was alarming at first because the group never spoke on the weekends but Aaron knew by the tone of his voice that it was good news. “I know you’ve been in a dark spot for a long time and I’ve been praying for you … but you are wearing the hell out of everybody in the group. You just keep on and on every week. Take the chains off from around your neck and move on,” he said. And then he hung up. Aaron was so mad at the audacity of the call. But then he started thinking. Realizing that his friend loved him enough to tell him the truth was the change he needed to get over it and to move forward. A casual friendship does not give that kind of hard truth.   You can not live the adventure you were meant to live alone. #FindYourPeople CLICK TO TWEET   Put down the facade and be vulnerable. That is where true strength starts. Surround yourself with people who know your good, your bad, and your ugly but who still care about you. It is the solid foundation that will allow you to become all you were created to be. “WHERE’S MY MENTOR?” EPISODE RESOURCES You can reach out to Aaron via his website, Viewfromthetop.com. His mastermind group, Iron Sharpens Iron (ISI), meets on a regular basis via video conference all over the world. Check it out! If you haven’t already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss a single episode. Share it with your friends who would benefit from learning more. This episode is brought to you in part by prospect.io, a powerful sales automation platform that allows you to build highly personalized, cold email campaigns. To learn more, go to prospect.io/tse. It will help you with your outbound to expand your outreach. It allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never ever be the same. Prospect.io is offering three months at half-price. Previously known as TSE Hustler’s League, our TSE Certified Sales Program offers modules that you can engage on your own schedule as well as opportunities to engage with other sellers in other industries. This episode is brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It’s super easy, it’s helpful, and I recommend that you try it out. You’ll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. Mailtag.io will give you half-off your subscription for life when you use the Promo Code: Donald at check out. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

If you've been guilty of bulldozing your prospects or being rude or uncaring, today must be the day you change your mindset: Don't treat prospects like a number. Although numbers are important to those of us who work in sales, we can't let them become our primary focus. They can help us measure our success and determine our strengths and weaknesses, but we can't reduce our prospects to a number. Find the balance Some organizations focus so little on numbers that they don't have any way to replicate their successes. They have no idea how many calls it takes to get to the right customer. They have no idea of their conversion rate. On the other hand, some organizations are so focused on the numbers that it becomes the primary focus of their work. As a result, they often sacrifice quality in the name of numbers. Do not lose track of the people in the process. My wife got a call from a traditional seller in a traditional selling situation last week: he knew nothing about the company except the name and the phone number. He didn't know who he needed to speak to, and it was obvious he was calling from a call center. The caller wasn't prepared and he didn't have a cadence to his call. Dialing for dollars Some companies have a single speed. They spend each day dialing for dollars and relying on phone calls to advance their numbers. They fail to realize that today's buyers are busy. They fail to approach selling from the buyer's standpoint. It never occurs to them that they could have brought value in an email. Or that they could have used multiple emails to share client testimonials or valuable tips or irresistible messages. They overlook LinkedIn as a place to connect with prospects and they miss the opportunity to provide value. They forget that they could mail something to the prospect or research who they should contact within a company. They overlook the strength of using multiple points of entry rather than just blasting the prospect with phone calls. Control your emotion When my wife told the caller that we weren't interested in doing business with him, he got upset. He's no doubt frustrated because he's doing the same activity every single day and not having much success, but it doesn't give him a pass to get upset. Sometimes you've brought value and done everything possible for your buyer, and they still aren't ready to buy. It's ok to say, "Hey, I get this all the time. Sometimes people aren't ready. Out of curiosity, is it because you guys already have someone in place or just that you're not looking to buy right now?" Once they give me an answer, I ask if it's ok for me to send podcasts or videos in the future. If they say yes, then I've left the door open. Instead of sacrificing my connection by getting angry, I keep opportunities open. Develop processes I'm a big proponent of making sure you have processes in place as you reach out to prospects. If you're treating them like a number and calling without doing any research, please stop. You're treating them like a number and they're going to respond accordingly. Offer personal touches. Take 2 to 5 minutes to go on LinkedIn and find out what the company does. Don't eat up too much of your time, just find out the key players and the company mission so you can have an intelligent conversation. Do work If you're trying to reach people the same way everyone else is, you're probably not going to have a lot of success. You're going to have to do a little bit of work to grab our attention in a busy setting. I recently got a video from someone as a form of outreach, and I complimented the person on the video. Then, I invited the person to be a guest on the podcast, and the show is going live soon. It's more work for you, but your job as the seller is to make the buyer's job easier. Don't add unnecessary complication. [Tweet "Treat people like people. Try something unique. People aren't robots and they aren't just numbers. #EffectiveSelling"] "Don't Treat Prospects Like a Number" episode resources This episode is brought to you in part by prospect.io, a powerful sales automation platform that allows you to build highly personalized, cold email campaigns. To learn more, go to prospect.io/tse. It will help you with your outbound to expand your outreach. It allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never, ever be the same. Previously known as TSE Hustler's League, our TSE Certified Sales Program offers modules that you can engage on your own schedule as well as opportunities to engage with other sellers in other industries. This episode is brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It's super easy, it's helpful, and I recommend that you try it out. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. If you haven't already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won't miss a single episode, and share with your friends!Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

We’ve all experienced that sinking feeling in sales as we near the end of another month … so how do you deal with the pressure of hitting your quarterly number? It’s not easy, especially without the proper guidance. Brian Manning, SVP & Head of Growth at PatientPing, works to help startups grow their ideas and he is here today to share insight on how to deal with the pressure of hitting your quarterly numbers. PatientPing is a care coordination platform that helps healthcare providers collaborate with one another on shared platforms. Brian has been with PatientPing for three years now. He oversees their sales, marketing, government affairs, and partnerships. From a sales leader standpoint, Brian thinks of quarterly numbers in terms of the Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) for each layer of the business: the overall company ARR, the sales team ARR and the individual sales rep ARR. WILL, SHOULD, COULD Sales reps often feel the pressure to perform and, as a leader, Brian likes to have his reps 3x their pipeline as they enter the quarter. As the quarter goes on, however, and things become more sophisticated, Brian moves on to the ‘Will, Should, Could’ method. This method involves marking each deal throughout the quarter as Will Close, Should Close and Could Close.  Wills usually equal about 95%, while Should is at 70% and Could is closer to 50%. The Sales Operation Team does this for each week for each rep to provide a projection for the quarter. In this way, at any given week, the reps have a pretty good sense of where they stand in relation to their targets. Brian has found that the projections are smart and reliable. THE DETECTIVE MINDSET When sales reps feel pressure to hit their quarterly numbers, it is usually a result of a failure somewhere in the sales funnel. There might not be enough leads, the presentations may not convert into proposals, or the deals may be stuck in contract too long. It is usually one specific thing that slows them down. It almost takes a detective mindset to figure it out sometimes, but it can be done. A key factor in reducing the pressure of hitting your quarterly numbers begins with the numbers that are expected of the sales rep. The rep needs to be comfortable with those numbers. If they do not see a path toward achieving the goal set in front of them, they need to alert their manager right away – before the quarter even starts. It should not be viewed as a sign of weakness, nor should a rep fail to come forward because of pride.   As a manager, Brian knows it is important to listen to his team. The territory could be bad, the ramp might be too quick, or the training may need to be improved. He does, however, require an intelligent and well-thought-out conversation rather than simple excuses. You never want to send a rep out to achieve a quota he doesn’t feel he can meet. It’s not healthy for anyone. With their detective hats on, the manager and the rep can then work together to specifically analyze the territory, the opportunity, and the various stages that the deals are in. It has the benefit of making the sales rep more effective which, in turn, increases the likelihood of hitting the numbers in subsequent quarters. EMPATHY   Understanding and having empathy for the seller is important. They may be going through something personal or may just need help with the fundamentals. #Energy Management CLICK TO TWEET   When the pressure is high or the number is high, it is especially important to take care of your health. Brian believes that nothing is insurmountable when you are feeling healthy and well. A seller under too much pressure – one with any type of resentment towards the product or the company  – will not be a seller who gives his best. It will translate into his performance and affect the clients and the sales. When a salesperson puts his energy into dealing with the things that he can’t control – an imperfect product or lack of marketing team support, for example – the salesperson will always lose. In Brian’s experience, the number one difference between a great seller and a not-so-great seller is that the energy of the great seller goes to the areas where he has control. Don’t waste energy on things that will not help you reach your numbers, or succeed. Your energy, as a salesperson, needs to go into selling under the conditions you are in. This does not mean, however, that you should hesitate to flag issues. If there is something wrong with the product or the process, it should certainly be brought to the attention of management. There will always be that one guy who wants to complain regardless of the situation. But those reps that can focus and channel their energy into doing what is best for their client are the reps that will succeed. TRANSPARENCY There is a seesaw to transparency. When a rep is doing really well and is on track to reach his quota, his manager will see it and will know the rep is doing fine. There is no reason to stress. But if the rep isn’t doing well or the numbers are low, transparency needs to increase. Brian suggests something as simple as a weekly email to management to address what is working and what is not working. Being really honest and vulnerable in this way provides management with the information, and the opportunity, to improve the system. It helps everyone in the long run. Many of us don’t like to admit when we are having trouble but it is always easier to address a problem when it is small rather than waiting until it is too big to handle. Brian has found that, generally speaking, most sales reps that want to work for a start-up are self-starters. They are the ones who read sales books and listen to podcasts to further their own learning. HORIZONTAL LEARNING Over time, as a company grows, Brian will bring in sales trainers to coach and shadow. Until a solid infrastructure is up and running, however, Brian has created a system where his sales team sends out a weekly ‘Wins and Learning’ email to each other. He also stresses that a good learning experience is more valuable than a big win. His team has become competitive to send out the best learning which scales across the team. Be analytical If you are doing well, document how you do it. If you are not doing well, document why not. Be honest and lead the charge into fixing it. “HITTING YOUR QUARTERLY NUMBERS” EPISODE RESOURCES Brian has maintained a blog for the past ten years at Briancmanning.com. He is also on Twitter. If you haven’t already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss a single episode. Share it with your friends who would benefit from learning more. This episode is brought to you in part by prospect.io, a powerful sales automation platform that allows you to build highly personalized, cold email campaigns. To learn more, go to prospect.io/tse. It will help you with your outbound to expand your outreach. It allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never ever be the same. Prospect.io is offering three months at half-price. Previously known as TSE Hustler’s League, our TSE Certified Sales Program offers modules that you can engage on your own schedule as well as opportunities to engage with other sellers in other industries. This episode is brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It’s super easy, it’s helpful, and I recommend that you try it out. You’ll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. Mailtag.io will give you half-off your subscription for life when you use the Promo Code: Donald at check out. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

One of my favorite topics to talk about is lack of confidence and the challenges and fear that come along with it; and, more specifically, how we can overcome it. Paul Carswell was the salaried manager of a Sherwin-Williams storefront for many years before transitioning in 2018 to become an independent Medicare Insurance Specialist. He works with clients ages 65+ to help them and to bring value to their community.   Surviving on a 100% commission-based income took some getting used to. Instead of clients walking into the store, Paul had to learn how to make calls and set appointments. In order to educate potential clients on the complexities of the Medicare system, Paul also hosts educational events in the community. He uses podcasts like this one to reach out to as many people as possible. Such events help people to realize that his primary goal is to help the community rather than to simply earn a paycheck. LACK OF CONFIDENCE Moving from a salaried position to a commission-based position certainly caused some fear and trepidation. The transition of receiving a paycheck every two weeks, regardless of performance, to selling private insurance came with a steep learning curve. Paul knew he had to get out in front of people. Nobody was simply “walking into the store anymore.” Previously, his whole day had been planned out for him. Now he had an empty schedule that only he could fill. It seemed nice and relaxing for the first two weeks but then reality set in. With no paycheck coming in and no prospects on the calendar, Paul admits to feeling defeated. A lack of confidence was setting in. REGAINING CONFIDENCE Paul had to put his pride aside and get busy. Drawing from his experience as a basketball player, he knew he had to take shots if he was ever going to score. He started contacting old friends and networking – anything to populate his schedule. It didn’t matter if it was Medicare-related or not. Paul found that the more he put on his calendar, the more he was able to begin to weed out the events that would not benefit his business. Eventually, after about eight weeks of making calls and networking – still without a paycheck – he finally had a full schedule of Medicare-related events to look forward to. As a result of the changes he implemented, Paul improved his relationships with his friends by talking with them more. On the business side of things, he has increased his bookings from zero to 50 and is earning a decent income because of the work he put into it. It didn’t all come at once, however, as it did before at Sherwin-Williams. In his current role, sales is a lengthy process instead of a quick sale with an immediate exchange of goods. Learning to understand the long-term payout was his biggest struggle. As such, Paul advises everyone to stay focused on long-term goals.   Keep putting up the shots. You don’t have to make every shot but you have to keep aiming. #KeepWorking CLICK TO TWEET   The more people you get yourself in front of, the more you will realize how many people truly care about you and want your business to succeed. “LACK OF CONFIDENCE” EPISODE RESOURCES You can contact Paul on his cellphone at 703-342-9087 or via email at paul@carswell.io.  Paul is on Instagram  @paulcarswell. He can also be found on Twitter and Facebook. His website will be up and running soon! This episode is brought to you in part by prospect.io, a powerful sales automation platform that allows you to build highly personalized, cold email campaigns. To learn more, go to prospect.io/tse. It will help you with your outbound to expand your outreach. It allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never, ever be the same. Previously known as TSE Hustler’s League, our TSE Certified Sales Program offers modules that you can engage on your own schedule as well as opportunities to engage with other sellers in other industries. This episode is brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It’s super easy, it’s helpful, and I recommend that you try it out. You’ll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. If you haven’t already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss a single episode, and share with your friends!  Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

As salespeople, we’ve all faced new rejection. It feels like a punch in the gut every time. It can sometimes make you question if you should even stay in the business.   Kevin Yee knows what I’m talking about. Rejection is especially hard to handle when you are new to it as Kevin was. Kevin left the pharmacy industry and now runs a high ticket closing agency of about ten team members working with B2B and B2C clients. It was risky move but after attending a sales training course, Kevin was highly motivated. He was excited to start making calls but terrified at the same time. He knew he lacked experience and that affected his confidence. Kevin wanted clients but he wasn’t sure if he was really going to be able to help them. Intellectually, he knew he could work hard and figure things out but he remained insecure. THE WRONG FOCUS He was so focused on those insecurities, that within moments, his first client had control of the call. Looking back, Kevin realizes he was trying to be someone that he wasn’t. He is naturally inclined to be helpful but he was trying to be authoritative in his delivery. He knew all the right things to say but he lacked conviction and it came across in his voice. It didn’t help that the client was also not interested in the services of a high- ticket closer. Kevin had worked so hard to put everything in his training so the rejection really hit him hard. His confidence in sales was shaken. He didn’t want to go back to pharmacy, however, so he decided to try again. TRYING AGAIN At the time, he was a one-man sales team. He had a marketing background so he set up a sales funnel for himself where he was the closer at the end. With help from his YouTube channel, the leads started to come in. It was a good problem to have. Kevin signed on a few friends to help out. Having confidence in the team’s ability to get results made it easier to reach out to more and more clients. Certainly, the best time to close a sale is right after closing a previous sale because that is when confidence is high. It has been six months since the sales funnel took off. The team has been getting better and better and Kevin has focused on getting more and more clients. He learned how to really connect with people and to be a good friend to his clients. Kevin takes the time to really learn about their businesses so that he can tackle any problems his clients may have. He knows that the most important part of any new business is marketing and sales. WORKING WITH OTHERS He and his team are currently in the process of onboarding a B2B client with six-figure packages as they continue to reach out to new clients. They strive to authentically reach out to people to help solve the closing and sales problems of their business. He believes there is a lot of opportunity on the table and is excited for the future.   Kevin knows he could not have done it alone. He encourages you to reach out to others, especially if you are struggling. He believes that you have to have a giving mentality to succeed; nobody wants to work with a selfish person. Sometimes we just get so focused on our own lane that we fail to realize there are cars next to us. Kevin hopes his story will inspire others who may be ‘in the slumps’ to keep putting themselves out there, and to rely on others for help as you continue to do the same for others. “NEW REJECTION” EPISODE RESOURCES Check out Kevin’s YouTube channel at Kevin Yee PharmD, or contact him at refugeehustle.com. If you haven’t already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss a single episode. Share it with your friends who would benefit from learning more. This episode is brought to you in part by prospect.io, a powerful sales automation platform that allows you to build highly personalized, cold email campaigns. To learn more, go to prospect.io/tse. It will help you with your outbound to expand your outreach. It allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never ever be the same. Prospect.io is offering three months at half-price. Previously known as TSE Hustler’s League, our TSE Certified Sales Program offers modules that you can engage on your own schedule as well as opportunities to engage with other sellers in other industries. This episode is brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It’s super easy, it’s helpful, and I recommend that you try it out. You’ll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. Mailtag.io will give you half-off your subscription for life when you use the Promo Code: Donald at check out. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

ow do you deal with uncertainty as a salesperson? It’s definitely a tough thing that can wipe some people out. Tom Libelt has been a salesman for almost 20 years; inside sales, outside sales, retail, large corporations – you name it. He has a couple of his own companies as well and is currently focused on the marketing of online courses. Tom credits just getting up every morning and going to work as the secret to his success. And, he never leaves anything half-finished. You don’t have to accomplish ten million things in one day – aim for two or three. It is amazing how much you can achieve in a year if you just check two or three items off each day. You could record an album, get a degree, open a store … In this way, Tom has been able to 5x his company in just three months. PLAN AHEAD He says the trick is to plan ahead the night before so as not to lose your focus, momentum, and energy trying to figure it all out the next morning. When Tom is in the middle of a really fun project, he sometimes will let it set overnight just so he can enjoy it again for another day. Leaving something overnight, however, also just bugs him the whole night; he can’t stop thinking about it. He wakes up looking forward to finishing it. In his experience, completing a great project first thing in the morning establishes the work flow for the rest of the day. You will already be in the mindset to get things done. DEALING WITH UNCERTAINTY Dealing with uncertainty is especially difficult as a salesperson. We hear ‘No’ more than anyone else in any profession. It can be a real roller coaster ride: Got a sale! … No sale…. Almost got a sale …hot lead! … nothing. It is especially hard when there is a target to hit. The ride can last two or three weeks before it lands on a sale. It’s a grind sometimes and it can chip away at your confidence – and increase your uncertainty – if you don’t have the experience to handle it. As a salesperson, Tom defines uncertainty as a feeling that nothing is working. It is that moment when the negative thoughts start to take over and you begin to worry. It is when the confidence and experience you need to know you will be okay are not there. Those moments are fueled by fear and the worst decisions are often made as a result. Imagine trying to close a deal and being terrified of what might happen if you fail. The client can sense that fear and you will not close that deal despite all your abilities. The wrong value and emotions are transferred to the client. Clients don’t buy when they are scared. You wouldn’t want a hesitant doctor – you want a confident doctor.  It is the same with sales. PROJECT CONFIDENCE We have to project competence, confidence, and professionalism. Tom isn’t concerned whether or not his clients like him but he does want them to trust and respect him. Tom is of the belief that although having a strong opinion may not always earn you friends, it will earn you respect. Clients don’t want someone who is trying to cater to everyone; they want someone who is confident and able to fix their problem. Tom and his no-nonsense approach have closed many sales. He doesn’t tell his clients what they want to hear. He tells them what they need to hear. Respect comes from being honest. Trust comes from delivering. #Deliver CLICK TO TWEET Sometimes the respect comes automatically because you are working for a well-established brand name but only you, as a salesperson, can earn trust and confidence. If you are dealing with uncertainty, if you had a poor showing in 2018 for example, Tom believes that 99% of the time it stems from a lack of prospecting. You have to prospect to fill the sales funnel. Sitting around waiting for the phone to ring is a recipe for uncertainty. THE FUNDAMENTALS If you follow the fundamentals, you can succeed. You have to make a start and you have to put in the work. Just because someone hung up on you one time doesn’t mean it will happen every time. Don’t let uncertainty keep you from continuing to try. I especially like working with novices because they aren’t afraid. It is the flip side of experience – they haven’t failed enough times to be afraid to try again. Tom also believes that, as a whole, we have become soft. Instead of cold calling or going door-to-door, we now have technology that allows us to stay at our desk. We no longer have to deal with brutal weather or slamming doors. Stop asking for permission. Instead of asking your manager how to best handle a call, or what you should do next, Tom says to just do it! The worst thing that could happen is that the client will say ‘No.’ If that happens, and it will sometimes, just move on and try again. You never know what will happen unless you do it, unless you keep trying. You can’t score unless you step up to the plate and swing the bat. Sales needs momentum. Tom realizes that, in the past, he wasn’t always the most successful salesperson. He knows there were times when he slacked off on prospecting, especially after a having a good week. He was forced to restart the process over and over again as a result. As long as you do what it takes, good things will happen. Do prospect. Do fill that sales funnel. Stop the amateur nonsense. Leave the outrage and softness at the door. “UNCERTAINTY AS A SALESPERSON” EPISODE RESOURCES Tom can be reached via smartbrandmarketing.com. This episode is brought to you in part by prospect.io, a powerful sales automation platform that allows you to build highly personalized, cold email campaigns. To learn more, go to prospect.io/tse. It will help you with your outbound to expand your outreach. It allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never ever be the same. Previously known as TSE Hustler’s League, our TSE Certified Sales Program offers modules that you can engage on your own schedule as well as opportunities to engage with other sellers in other industries. This episode is brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It’s super easy, it’s helpful, and I recommend that you try it out. You’ll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. If you haven’t already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss a single episode, and share with your friends!Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

If you find yourself hesitant to tell people that you work in sales because you think anyone can do it, today we’re discussing the fact that You are Important as Well!! The year was 2011. I was a recent college graduate working for the first company in my professional career. I was attending a fine dining networking event when I ran into an old friend. The old friend, it turns out, had decided to take on Wall Street after graduation and was now the head of finance for a multinational company in Miami. It sounded like he was doing great. “Hey! Donald! It’s great to see you! What are you doing these days?!” I clammed up because I didn’t want to tell him that I was in sales for a medical company. I was ashamed of saying I was a sales rep because, early on, it felt to me like anyone could do sales. [0:00] Change your mindset It took me a while to realize that not just anyone can do well in sales. And I want to help you change your mindset, too. I want you to understand that you are important as well! Many professional careers - medical, law, finance - require college degrees. They are critical jobs with important tasks. Sales, however, doesn’t carry the glamour it once did. Many of us don’t even wear a suit to work anymore. Rather, it is believed that anyone who can “sell” can get a job in sales. We sit behind a computer and make phone calls … we are pushy people, bottom feeders, and we lack the ability to do anything else. [03:19] That is how I used to feel. Now I know better. Money In sales, we have an unlimited level of income. After executives, sellers earn the highest incomes. As a salesperson, it is your job to bring money into the organization. Money is the lifeblood of any company, even for non-profits. Finance, HR, tech, even the CEO - none of them can do their job without money. The company cannot grow without money. Every department needs money but only sales can deliver it. [04:38] Certain jobs, like sales, are an asset to any company. Other positions - ones that earn a paycheck every week without bringing money into the firm - are liabilities. [06:21] Salespeople are so important to the bottom line. The information we have is needed in board meetings because everyone wants to know what the sales pipeline looks like.  They need to know. [06:52] Education Sales can be an easier field to get started in because it doesn't require a lot of technical training. [Tweet "It is also true that your capacity to perform well as a salesperson will increase significantly with education. #SalesEducation"] It is why I do this podcast. It is why I offer training and how I am able to help companies, and their sales teams, do better. Understanding individuals, understanding the industry, and understanding the sales process is all part of training. It increases our education. Schools are now spending time and effort to offer sales training as a degree because they recognize the power of the sales role. They recognize how critical sales is to any organization.   The prestigious capabilities of sales is returning and it is exciting. [07:33] Believe in yourself I am ashamed sometimes for ever doubting myself but I learned from it. I learned and I improved and I was able to perform better as a result. Now I understand what I am truly capable of bringing to an organization and I understand how valuable I am. Have the strong and firm knowledge and belief that you are important. Listening to this podcast, for example, shows that you have taken an interest in learning something new. Improving yourself improves the entire profession. [09:19] I was fortunate enough the other day to be thanked by a regular listener who credits this podcast with helping him succeed. He took some of the things he has learned from our guests and from the books we’ve recommended and is currently enjoying a sales incentive trip for doing so well in 2018. [10:00] Recognize that you are important. You are a professional sales rep with a skill that many people do not have. Work for a company that validates your contributions and offers a product or service that you feel strongly about. Keep learning and keep growing. Earn that unlimited income. I want you to be successful and to find more ideal customers. Build stronger value, close more deals. Do more each and every day. [10:56] “You are Important as Well!!” episode resources If you haven't already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won't miss a single episode. Share it with your friends who would benefit from learning more. This episode is brought to you in part by prospect.io, a powerful sales automation platform that allows you to build highly personalized, cold email campaigns. To learn more, go to prospect.io/tse. It will help you with your outbound to expand your outreach. It allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never ever be the same. Prospect.io is offering three months at half-price. Previously known as TSE Hustler's League, our TSE Certified Sales Program offers modules that you can engage on your own schedule as well as opportunities to engage with other sellers in other industries. This episode is brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It's super easy, it's helpful, and I recommend that you try it out. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link.  Mailtag.io will give you half-off your subscription for life when you use the Promo Code: Donald at check out. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

On today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, we talk to Alex Quin about how to step up our game, get back up when we get knocked down, and what to do when everyone tells you no. Alex is an investor who focuses on projects that he is passionate about, whether they be in entertainment, media, or fashion. His current projects include a globally-distributed clothing company based in Miami and several content creation projects bound for Netflix and Amazon. As a public figure, Alex has had the opportunity to work with many brands that use his image and likeness for promotions and commercials. As an entrepreneur with several successful projects that garnered a lot of media attention, Alex became an influencer despite initially wanting to remain behind the scenes. [01:28] HARD WORK AND CONSISTENCY Some view his achievements as an overnight success. Alex doesn’t agree. He knows it took many years of hard work and consistency. Yet people tend to focus on the finished product. Consider social media for example. We want to portray ourselves positively and in the best light, which can come across to others as a perfect life. But social media is just the highlight reel. It doesn’t show the downfalls, the difficult times, or the moments of self-doubt. When all the hard work is glossed over, it is easy to be fooled into thinking that you are the only one not succeeding. In reality, everyone makes mistakes. But those mistakes can become opportunities to learn. [03:16] Alex cites money, or rather the lack of it, as his biggest challenge. He started an advertising company using money he earned working in the fast food industry. No job was too small. If he needed to clean bathrooms in order to afford computers or camera equipment or to pay the rent on a small office, he did it. It was a difficult journey and he worked with a lot of people who let him down. [04:46] HOW TO HANDLE ‘NO’ As sellers, many of us enter the industry assuming everyone will be nice, or at least polite. So rejection really hurts. It takes a while to understand that they aren’t necessarily being mean to us but that maybe we are just not offering a good fit for what they need. So how do we handle ‘no?’ We need to be realistic. We can get so involved in our project that we lose the outsider’s perspective and fail to see our own shortcomings. Maybe the prospects are saying ‘no’ because there is a flaw in our presentation. Maybe we aren’t doing something right. We need to re-evaluate ourselves and keep an open mind. Is the feedback coming from a negative perspective or from a constructive criticism perspective? If you are continually hearing ‘no’ – what is the common denominator? Find out why you were rejected. It is the least you can do for yourself. Find out what part of your pitch caught their attention and what part turned them off. [05:38] Study your project. What do you need to do – what might you need to change – to get a ‘yes’? The founder of Starbucks had hundreds of rejections, as did Walt Disney. They both learned so much throughout the process that when the ‘yes’ finally came – they were ready. A ‘no’ is an opportunity to learn because it points you in the direction of improvement. [07:33] MENTAL HEALTH Learning to handle rejection is also extremely important from a mental health perspective. Depression is real. It is often overlooked but it happens. As entrepreneurs, we deal with a lot of negatives and the only way to keep a positive outlook is to turn those negatives into positives. Maybe things are falling apart so that you can build them back up in a better way. Maybe the structure was wrong or the foundation was crumbling; this is your chance to fix it. Entrepreneurs are not successful simply because their one crazy idea took off. They are successful because they worked consistently at that idea. [08:56] It can be confusing when you see all the young kids on social media making so much money. You have to realize that most entrepreneurs aren’t successful until their mid-30’s or mid-40’s. You are not in competition with other people. As an entrepreneur, you are in competition with yourself. Your success depends upon your abilities:  your ability to be organized, to be focused, and to care for your mental state. It is your achievement when it works and it is your fault when it doesn’t. Think of it as a race. Don’t focus on the competition, or the people behind you, or next to you. Focus on what you can do this time to make it better than last time. Focus only on the finish line and go for your personal best. [10:04] Think about your outreach. Can you improve your email? Is your offering good? Maybe it is all great but the timing just doesn’t work for your client. LEAVE AN OPEN DOOR Alex recalls working on a huge proposal for a global brand a few years ago. He spent three months researching and building strategy but didn’t get the deal through no fault of his own. He and his team had done everything they could have possibly done. The client loved it but they were simply not ready. No amount of sweet talking would have changed a thing. Fast forward to the present, and that same company now endorses Alex. You never know where something might lead. Leave an open door and don’t burn bridges. Do good business with good morals. [12:34] Don’t be upset when faced with a ‘no.’ It could become a ‘yes’ in the future. It is understandable that several rejections can eat away at your confidence. We all have our insecurities. You have to love what you are doing so much that it doesn’t matter what other people think about you. Don’t listen to negative comments. Understand and have faith in your talent. Listen only to those people who want the best for you personally and professionally. CONFIDENCE IS KEY You will meet setbacks and failures because nothing is perfect. But you were brave enough to come up with and pursue your idea, so the negative opinions of others should not stop you. If others don’t see that confidence in you, however, they will move on. You must have confidence and project confidence. There are ways to build confidence. Books you can read, classes you can take – the more you learn about something, the more confident you will be when speaking about it. Use frustration as fuel to improve yourself. Educate yourself. Be informed. Hustle inspires hustle. Surround yourself with uplifting people and rise together. [15:13] You will face rejection. It is not the end of the world. Get yourself back in the game. When Alex is having a bad day at work, he reads about the struggles that Elon Musk is going through with his business, or reads about the daily struggles facing people without clean water. It puts a renewed perspective on things. If you are listening to this podcast, you are already in a better position than most. You have access to a computer and a desire to learn. If you don’t know how to use what you already have to do well, then do your research. Learn how. There is an alternative to everything. ENERGY ATTRACTS ENERGY Don’t let the game change you. Don’t allow other people to bring you down with their negativity.  Radiate positivity. Don’t give your energy to people whose loyalty is controlled by opportunity. Weed out the people in your life. Why are they trying to help you? Why are they doing what they are doing? You can’t give from an empty cup so take care of yourself first. [17:01] “PLAN, PREPARE AND REFUSE TO GIVE UP” EPISODE RESOURCES Alex loves to connect with people and to give marketing advice. Reach out to him at www.Alexquin.com. This episode is brought to you in part by prospect.io, a powerful sales automation platform that allows you to build highly personalized, cold email campaigns. To learn more, go to prospect.io/tse. It will help you with your outbound to expand your outreach. It allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never ever be the same. Previously known as TSE Hustler’s League, our TSE Certified Sales Program offers modules that you can engage on your own schedule as well as opportunities to engage with other sellers in other industries. This episode is brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It’s super easy, it’s helpful, and I recommend that you try it out. You’ll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility. If you haven’t already done so, subscribe to the podcastso you won’t miss a single episode, and share with your friends!Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com