The Sales Evangelist

It's The Sales Evangelist 1000th episode and Stephen A. Hart from the Trailblazers.FM Podcast is conducting the interview while Donald Kelly answers the questions. This podcast started five years ago after Donald attended sales training to try to improve his performance. He started seeing some gains, and he figured the very least he could do was tell other people what was working for him. He realized along the way that he would get to interview great guests like Jeffrey Gitomer who would share a wealth of information and he was hooked. Donald wanted to share sales content that would help himself and others at the same time. Blessings and opportunities The greatest benefit to a podcast like this is the relationships you build. There's a camaraderie and people want to help each other. [05:50] Perhaps it's because the medium is so new, but a lot of podcasters are connecting with each other to share experiences. People have become like family, and many business opportunities have emerged from it. There's a whole crew of people in the background who help create the content, and it's blessing people along the way. After Donald jumped ship from his full-time job in 2015, this lifestyle business allowed him to travel and speak in different parts of the country, and it all stemmed from the training and consulting that has developed. 10,000 hours The podcast is officially five years old, which amounts to about 10,000 work hours. According to Malcolm Gladwell's theory that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert, Donald is officially an expert podcaster now. The story started when Donald was working at a software company in Boca. His plan was that at the three-year mark, he wanted to go back to grad school for an MBA. [10:11] The other alternative was that he would launch a startup. TSE started as a hobby because Donald had done B2C in high school and college. Now, he transitioned to B2B, but he didn't know how to talk to people or set up business opportunities. His company provided training and he discovered a love of teaching and an excitement about the content he had learned. He paired his love of teaching and his desire to be the center of attention, and it was a perfect marriage. Edutainment allowed him to educate and entertain at the same time. Birth of a podcast Jared Easley introduced Donald to the world of podcasting despite the fact that Donald knew nothing about it. He started by listening to Seth Godin's Startup School, a podcast that featured Seth guiding 30 entrepreneurs through the process of launching a dream business. [11:46] He was still debating startup or college, and he realized that a startup didn't have to mean developing a product. Donald didn't see how the podcast was going to make money, but he launched it as a hobby. The platform existed six months before the podcast did, but Donald recalls that he had to get over the worry and just pull the trigger. He had to stop worrying about how it would sound and what people would say about it. He eventually decided that he had something valuable and he needed to share it. When he got out of his own way, the money started coming in. When Donald started producing content that benefited the people around him, people started to raise their hands and seek his help. [Tweet "Done is better than perfect. #TakeAction"] Lessons learned Donald calls episode 1 cringe-worthy. He says he was nervous and afraid throughout it. He was self-conscious about his voice, and he didn't own his personality. [15:29] Donald also wishes he had done video much sooner. He was afraid of the comments people would make and that fear kept him from producing video. Donald also wishes he had known that people don't know what you have to offer until they know what you have to offer. He was afraid of sounding pushy, so he was apprehensive about sharing what he knew. Take more action. Get out of your comfort zone. Get out of your own way. Despite the late start to the video world, TSE is getting into video now, so it's better late than never. Rejection Donald points to the burned-ship theory that dates to sailors who were either going to burn the ships and win the battle or die on the seashore. There was no escape. If you've burned the ship, there's no alternative, so you have to make it work. Those men are the master of their own destiny. Although Donald could still be employable in the sales realm if necessary, he doesn't want to use that as a parachute. [19:27] The "no's" can't hinder him. He either has to conquer or die. He realizes that the "no's" aren't personally directed at him. Your "why" Donald's desire to provide for his family drives his passion and his motivation. He wants to make things happen so that his family never has to be in the predicament of being homeless again. [21:50] Those dark moments such as the first lull in listenership can plague podcasters. Although numbers are great for measuring, Donald got too focused on the numbers. He started to compare too much and he neglected his own community. When the website was down for a prolonged period in 2016, he started to feel tremendous stress. For 1-2 months there was no new content. He worried about losing listeners and the huge setback that might come. He wasn't sure he would be able to continue because there were so many technical problems. Valley You can't succeed in a silo. Name any company and you can almost guarantee that they had help from some outside forces. [29:17] The term entrepreneur is deceptive because there's really no single person who creates a business. Donald avoided asking for help because he was embarrassed and he thought he was supposed to know how to solve the problem. Advice and discussion help people share their burdens and to recognize that they can benefit from other people's input. Top takeaways People who succeed do so because they partnered with others for good. There are people who are willing to partner strategically to make things work. [31:57] All of his guests who have had success did so because they found synergy in the people they worked with. Look at Henry Ford and the number of companies that spawned from his invention. Tire companies, radio companies, and other companies developed because of it. You can't be a lone wolf and you must be willing to admit that other people might be able to do things better than you can. TSE is writing for HubSpot now and has been mentioned in Entrepreneur and Inc. Magazine because Donald was willing to reach out. Don't be afraid to sell yourself. People in post-recording conversations advised Donald that he was charging too little. Customers aren't paying for one hour of guidance or coaching. They are paying for 15 years of experience. [35:23] Be aware of your worth. If you undervalue yourself, no one will willingly pay you more. Ask for more than you're comfortable asking for. Always push yourself for bigger and better things. Once you push outside of your comfort zone, you'll evolve. You'll find yourself doing things that once scared you. Emotional rollercoaster Preparation helps us avoid the emotional rollercoaster of sales. October Donald should be helping December Donald. Salespeople must plan much further out than they can comfortably do. [38:50] If you know you need 5 deals, you should put 7 or 8 in your pipeline. Never ease up off the gas. Have a systematic approach. When Donald coaches people, he helps them see beyond the now. He helps them develop a system that prevents lulls. Healthy competition Donald remembers wanting to be included on a list of top sales podcasts. [44:01] He refers to the power of "coopertition," where people become allies. As a track athlete, he learned that when you're turning back to see where other people are, you aren't aerodynamic anymore. You lose your focus and you slow down. Instead of looking to see where other people are, look toward the finish line. Compete against your own yesterday instead of competing against others. Future of TSE The Sales Podcast Network will continue to grow and offer a community of salespeople who will encourage one another. [50:57] If TSE ever gets boring, maybe the day would come when it would be "sunset." TSE will continue to grow. The goal on sponsorship side will eventually separate so that the training organization will separate from the media company side. TSE will seek to double its revenue, and ultimately the platform will be bigger than just a podcast. TSE has been a huge influence in the podcasting space by encouraging those people who are in the community. The Sales Evangelist 1000th Episode resources Connect with Stephen A. Hart and check out his  Trailblazer.FM Podcast. 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! Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

Your morning routine has the power to start the day off right, which makes it crucial for you to make sure yours is effective. Whether you’re listening to music, educating yourself with podcasts, exercising, or engaging in spiritual activity, you’ll find that you accomplish more when you engage in a regular routine. BRAINPOWER Scientific research suggests that our brains work best in late morning. If we lay in bed scrolling through social media, we’re missing crucial time in our day. [04:29] We should take advantage of that time to engage in productive activity.   Even if you don’t consider yourself a morning person, make sure that when you do get out of bed, you win the morning. #DailyRoutine CLICK TO TWEET   TAKE CHARGE Instead of starting your day focused on the negatives in the day, take charge of your perspective. Because you know what will happen in the first hour of the day, you’re in charge of your day. [05:23] By acting instead of being acted upon, you’re taking charge. If you get an email from your boss who suddenly wants a report by noon, you may find yourself stressed and short-tempered. On the other hand, when you’re in control, you’ll respond better and be less likely to get stressed out. You won’t do anything in your day until you’re ready to do it. OWN YOUR MORNING There’s no limit to the ways you can take control of your morning. Besides reading, journaling, and exercising, you can also work on a side hustle. When I was still working for a software company, I did my podcasting in the morning. [06:23] It was something I enjoyed, so I didn’t mind doing the work. Now that podcasting is my work, I use my mornings to write my book. I’ve discovered that by taking control of my morning, I find clarity on things I’ve been thinking about and answers to problems I’ve been trying to solve. ACCOUNTABILITY Test the idea for a week. Begin by adding tasks to your calendar. [08:43] If you’re planning to exercise or read, write those activities on your daily calendar. Then, find an accountability partner who will follow up with you. Ask your mentors and others to follow up with you. At the end of the week, you can measure your results to see how effective they are. If a week isn’t long enough, test it for a month. “START THE DAY OFF RIGHT” EPISODE RESOURCES This episode is brought to you in part by Maximizer CRM, personalized CRM that gives you the confidence to improve your business and increase profits. To get a demonstration of maximizer, go to the sales evangelists.com/maximizer. Click on the link to get a free demo of what Maximizer CRM can do for you. It integrates your marketing campaign as well as your CRM, and it works whether you’re a small organization or a large one. 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. They are offering a 14-day free trial, and half off your subscription when you use the code Donald at checkout. 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. 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! Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

Where there is no vision the people perish, and that’s especially true in sales. Because we aren’t constructing physical structures like houses or sidewalks, the game of sales is largely mental, and it requires a visionary mindset. The book Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, now available as a free download,  addresses the importance of vision and what can happen when you don’t have an eye on the future. VISION FOR SALESPEOPLE Vision demands that we look beyond the work that we’re doing today. It demands that we look into the future, perhaps to the end of the quarter or the end of the year. In some cases, we’ll look to the end of five or 10 years. Without vision, you won’t progress and you won’t grow. We may imagine the worst-case scenario, and then we find ourselves in a loop, playing it over and over in our heads. Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps shared his strategy of playing a “tape” of a perfect race in his head. His coach encouraged him to imagine how it would feel to win, the accomplishment he’d experience, and then think about that over and over. POSITIVE LOOP Michael had a positive loop playing in his head, so even when he found himself making bad decisions, he was able to get back on track quickly. He had a tenacious drive to succeed. I worked with a guy once who always saw life through a negative lens. He could turn the very best outcomes into negative scenarios. If he won the lottery, he’d likely complain about driving to Tallahassee to claim his prize, or about the fact that he had to pay taxes on his winnings. You may work with people like this. Avoid getting pulled into their negative mindset. When you spend large amounts of time around these people, you may allow their negativity to creep into your thinking. CHANGE YOUR FOCUS Emerson said that whatever we persist in doing becomes easier. I refer to this quote all the time because it’s true that our mindset affects our outcome. If you are focused on negativity, you’ll more readily see negative outcomes. If you focus on the fact that you’re going to set an appointment, you’re going to capitalize on an opportunity. You’re going to reach your commission and create power to accomplish those things. When I spent too much time around my negative coworker, I spent less time on the phone and less time doing email outreach. When I changed my focus to positive things, prospects were more willing to listen to me because I was the catalyst. I still had negative experiences, of course, but there were fewer of them. GET RID OF NEGATIVE When I was a young seller, I didn’t speak up to my negative coworker because I didn’t want to cause a rift between us. If I could go back, I would push back against the negative thinking. I would share positive thoughts and read encouraging books. I would either seek to change my coworker’s attitude or repel him because he knew I wasn’t going to listen. Be honest about the fact that you’re trying to focus on positive things. IMAGINE THE WINS When you achieve your daily goals, what will it feel like? What will you say to convince those people to close? Practice seeing how that will look. Take charge of your life. Read encouraging books. Refuse to let other people affect your personal vision. You’re listening to this podcast, and that’s a great start. COMMAND YOUR DESTINY Take charge of your future. For the team at The Sales Evangelist, 2018 was our best year ever. My 2019 vision is to double the numbers we had in 2018 and c continue to increase our customers and grow our podcast. I had a vision last year of writing for Hubspot and we’re doing that. I envisioned being mentioned by Inc. magazine, and TSE was just mentioned as one of the top podcasts to fuel company growth. My vision helped me connect with the right people so that I found positive opportunities. Create positive vision for yourself. “NO VISION” EPISODE RESOURCES This episode is brought to you in part by Maximizer CRM, personalized CRM that gives you the confidence to improve your business and increase profits. To get a demonstration of maximizer, go to the sales evangelists.com/maximizer. Click on the link to get a free demo of what Maximizer CRM can do for you. It integrates your marketing campaign as well as your CRM, and it works whether you’re a small organization or a large one. 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. They are offering a 14-day free trial, and half off your subscription when you use the code Donald at checkout. 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. 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! Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Audio Player   Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

Failures can be crippling if we allow them to be, but when we have the proper guidance, we can learn how to turn failure into success. Airica Kraehmer of Gracious Care Recovery shares her own story here and reminds us that we can turn our weaknesses into our strengths. MENTAL TOUGHNESS Airica’s story doesn’t directly involve sales, but it does involve difficulty and mental toughness. She started working as a model in the fashion industry and she had a dream to succeed there. She realized that the fashion industry demands that you be your own product and that you bring your A-game all the time. She called it cut-throat. As a result, there’s room for exploitation. Airica found herself the victim of human trafficking because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She wrote down her story, and when she finished her book, she looked for outlets that would help her share it. She figured telling her story would help her move beyond the struggle. She became an international best-selling author, and it taught her that she could rise above the low points in life. SEEKING A CHALLENGE After she moved to Florida, Airica realized that the state was number two in the country in terms of human trafficking, tied with Houston. After the upcoming Super Bowl, Florida is projected to move into the number one spot due to the large influx of people. Hearing stories of other victims made her realize that she was part of something bigger. She realized that the process would repeat if she didn’t do something to help. She reminded herself that there were as many good people in the world as there were bad people. REJECTION Nobody wanted to talk about trafficking, so she kept encountering closed doors. She compares it to cold calling for sellers. [07:23] Though people cared about it, they didn’t feel like they could speak out about it. She kept knocking on doors, and eventually, she found Gracious Care Recovery. There were survivors there who recognized the need for people to speak out. Her message to sellers, then, is to keep knocking on doors. Despite the fact that she was addressing an impossibly hard topic, she found people who would engage. Get in the other person’s mindset. We each have different experiences, and we’re each traveling a different journey. That means we each have different ideas. That can be a powerful tool as long as we remember that the effort isn’t all about us. It’s about who we can help and who we can serve. Keep in mind that the prospect isn’t rejecting you. It simply isn’t the right time for your prospect. PERSISTENCE If you’re a sales manager who is motivating a team to overcome rejection, teach your team members to practice persistence. Be persistent, but be kind. Be willing to invest the time to build trust. Sales is a numbers game to some degree, and you have to keep reaching out in order to achieve results. Especially now that we find ourselves at the beginning of a new year, you have to keep knocking in order to hit your targets. OVERCOMING FAILURE Airica compares her personal experience to bankruptcy. It was the ultimate low. She had nothing left. And she knew it would take years to recover. She learned that you have to leave behind the things that don’t serve you well and that you shouldn’t focus too much on the why. It’s ok, for example, to ask why something happened, but refuse to stay focused on it. Instead, look to the future and ask yourself what you can do to address what happened. Ask yourself the following questions: Who am I serving? What is my purpose? What’s my goal? Once you’ve identified those things, align your morals and values with your goals. Tackle one goal at a time. Small goals will accumulate quickly and result in large accomplishments. “HOW TO TURN FAILURE INTO SUCCESS” EPISODE RESOURCES You can connect with Airica at airica@graciouscarerecovery.com and grab a copy of her book, Models Stop Traffic: How to Dodge Enslavement in Pursuit of Your Dream to Become the Next Top Model. 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! Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

Behind the scenes at The Sales Evangelist, we're working to increase organic engagement and interact with our audience, and we've discovered a powerful way to develop new leads through Instagram. According to Jaeden Schafer, Instagram typically accounts for about 10 percent more organic engagement than Facebook, so it's a great place to gain a new audience and develop new leads. Who can benefit? [Tweet "Every business, whether it's B2B or B2C, can benefit from Instagram as long as they know how to use it. #Prospecting"] When Instagram initially launched, its goal was to share nice looking pictures. If you're following that original idea, your company will likely benefit from it. [02:16] But what if you're a refrigeration repair company? How do you post compelling pictures of refrigerators? Posting photos of refrigerators all day won't really prompt much growth. So if, for example, you own a refrigeration company in Miami, post pictures of the area you serve with information about the services you provide. Target people who are the customer persona you're trying to attract. It basically just needs to be pretty. Mistakes on Instagram Many people will offer the same tips for setting up an Instagram account: Choose good photos Find out what your customers want Then they expect people to just show up. If the engagement doesn't happen, they just let the page die, which is the worst possible thing you can do on social media. Since social media is about social proof, outdated accounts are worthless. [05:13] When people want to buy something online, they often check online to make sure that the social media accounts are updated. If they aren't, they might assume you'll be unresponsive. Plan to post at least once a week if you want to appear actively engaged. If you're trying to grow, you should post every day. If you find yourself thinking that you don't have the team or the resources to post every single day, remember that there are tools available to help you. Later.com is a scheduling tool that will let you schedule 30 posts for free. You can schedule a new post every day that will keep you active and growing. Instagram tactics Though Instagram is a great place to find new leads, sellers will also want to move those leads from interested to purchasing. Avoid letting your account just sit. Instead, use your account to find new leads. You can do that with targeted Instagram ads or automation. Better yet, use your account to like and comment on people's posts that are in your target audience. [07:53] Consider the food truck business that launched an Instagram page and then shared images of the food it would serve. On launch day, the owners went to its main competitors' page and they liked and followed 1,000 of their followers. They repeated that activity every two days for a different food truck. It grabbed attention because those people would see the business name on their phone as someone who liked their photos and followed their accounts. It's a phenomenal strategy, especially for companies that are just starting. Transition For B2B companies, it's important to understand how the transition will look after you follow new prospects on Instagram. How do you move them to your website or prompt them to download something? When a user sees that you liked some of his photos and followed him, then he'll likely click on your account name to check out your Instagram account. Your account bio will act a little like a splash page or a sales pitch. [10:34] Make sure your bio includes your website, and make sure it really clearly outlines what you do and what your call-to-action is. Direct them to your website or your podcast. Image quality For sales reps who might be wondering what kind of content to post, let's use an example of The Sales Evangelist to talk about what that might look like. For a service-based business, people tend to limit their thinking about the kind of images to post. Choose high-quality images that look really good. [11:53] If you don't have a high-quality camera, it's ok. Start with websites that offer free, copyright-free images, like unsplash.com. Type in your keyword and find hundreds of high-quality photos related to your niche. High-quality photos will make your account look very professional. Include your own "flavor" that meshes with the way you pitch, but make sure that the people who follow your account feel like they are getting some kind of value out of it. Some organizations use inspirational quotes or even tips such as how to care for your a/c unit. Choose information that will give something back to your audience. [13:45] You can use entire blog posts as an Instagram caption. In short, be there, post information your customers want, and do it consistently. Videos Videos have a much higher likelihood of going viral. Jaeden reports that an account he manages might get 400-700 likes, while a video on the same account might get 1,000-14,000 views. [15:31] As a result, videos are a really good way to grow your business because videos are more engaging. Also, though, if the video includes you talking and sharing information, it builds a relationship with your customers because they get to experience your personality in a way that they wouldn't in a photo. It creates trust. Stories Many people go to Instagram just for the stories. If you can create a story that captures people's attention, it's a huge new piece of real estate. When you have a new promotion or a new post, consider using your story to encourage followers to check out your new post. You can promote a podcast, a sale, a deal, or whatever you want people to know. Once you have 10,000 followers on Instagram, you can put links in your story so people can just swipe up on the story to access your links. [17:44] That's when stories become super powerful because it's a free ad that you can push to everyone who follows you. Hashtags Hashtags can be incredibly beneficial or they can be useless, depending on how you use them. Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per photo, and users should take advantage of all 30 of them to be super specific about the content in the photo. The platform's artificial intelligence scans photos to see what are in them, and if you use a big list of random hashtags, your photo won't perform well. The value of hashtags is that if someone clicks on one, they go to a hashtag page that shows all the images that used that hashtag. For smaller businesses, use longer hashtags that have fewer people using them, ideally 20,000 to 100,000 uses. [20:04] Be super specific in your hashtags and use those that fit the size of your business. Success story Jaeden had great success with a luxury travel company. He set up unique accounts for different geographic locations: one for Maldives resorts, Bora Bora resorts, Greek resorts, and so on. Each bio directed users back to the main page. He said it was an easy way to tap into a saturated market that is often expensive to advertise in. [22:00] Within a month, they were getting about 20 percent of their traffic from Instagram. If you don't have time to go and follow 1,000 users on a single day, consider using tools like Ninjagram or Jarvee to automate your Instagram efforts. You put your account into it and then select your competitors, and the tool does the work for you. "New Leads Through Instagram" episode resources Connect with Jaeden at Fiund.com with any questions you may have or to get additional advice or tips. 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! Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

Strategic planning isn’t only for entrepreneurs: Shane Spiers says sales reps must know where they are headed and what the team’s common purpose is. Strategic planning helps sales reps work better as part of a team and achieve more. Originally from New Zealand, Shane now calls the UK home. It is where his career has grown to what it is today. His record is dominated by leading and scaling 7, 8 and 9-figure rapid growth companies, mostly in real estate, construction, and service-based businesses. Shane created Summit Leader to help 7-figure entrepreneurs scale with an 8-figure growth model. His focus is helping businesses scale from entrepreneurial to managed growth. [00:29] Approximately 96% of businesses earn less than $1 million in revenue. Of the 4% that make it past a million, only 10% make it to $10 million. With only .4% of businesses reaching the $10 million mark, Shane hopes to have an impact by producing more 8-figure businesses. [01:20] A COMMON GOAL As a business moves from entrepreneurial to managed growth, the management, leadership, and logistical challenges become quite different. The startup ways of working can hinder a business rather than advance it. Shane has been down the path many times before. He understands the importance of including sales reps in the process of strategic planning to grow a company. Whether you are a business owner, team leader, or part of a team, it is important to understand what the company stands for and what it believes in. It is important to know the common goal and your purpose in achieving it. A team without priorities, or with different views, cannot work well together. [02:23] STRATEGIC THINKING AND EXECUTION Before you can plan where you will be in the long term, you must make decisions about who you are and what you stand for. Decide how you will differentiate yourself from the competition. In the sales world, particularly, be very clear about who comprises your target market. Know who your ideal customers are, where they are, and what is important to them. It starts with upfront thinking. Know where you want to go and make a plan to get there. Establish your guiding principles first. Build your core. When businesses fail to clearly define their values, it trickles down into the sales force. [03:35] Think about your core as the provider of stability, power, and control that will support growth. Without a strong core, you risk instability from cultural challenges, loss of focus, disengagement, and a lack of heart. An organization or team that is weak will struggle. The core values are what you will do – and won’t do – to get what you want. They are the timeless, fundamental principles that define a company’s culture. It is the first step in strategic planning because it sets your purpose. It is the root of your business. Once you are clear about the Why of your company, you can work on the How. Where do you want to be in two, three or even ten years? What you do want to achieve? [05:50] A PART OF THE WHOLE No matter how large or small your role, you are contributing to the larger story. Consider the time when President Kennedy visited NASA and struck up a conversation with one of the janitors. When asked what he was doing, the janitor replied that he was helping to put a man on the moon. And he certainly was.   When your entire team embraces the attitude and belief system of the organization, incredible things can happen. #belief CLICK TO TWEET   [08:26] Strategy follows when you direct your attention and decisions to how you will differentiate yourself from the competition. Shane believes that decisions about how to best plan and strategize come easier to companies that establish their core principles first. It is easier to make a decision when you know what you stand for. [09:41] One common problem among fast-growing organizations is that they simply have too many priorities. In an attempt to cover all their bases, they lose focus. A long list of objectives combined with a scarcity of time, energy, and resources results in mediocre accomplishments. There is a failure to accomplish what matters most. If everything is important then nothing is. Growth and scaling are about taking one significant step at a time, checking the data and adjusting accordingly. [10:40] ESTABLISH A RHYTHM Once your core is established and you are clear about your long-term focus, it is time to prioritize. Break the ten-year plan out into a three-year plan, into a one-year plan, a 90-day plan, etc. Create routine, focus, and discipline. Don’t become overwhelmed by the monumental task of the long-term goal. Set bite-sized goals instead. Focus on the 3-5 things that will move you forward as a team. Get into the habit of celebrating success every 90 days. To build and maintain momentum, plan for more meetings or a daily check-in. Discuss administrative and tactical issues, provide updates, and take advantage of unforeseen opportunities. Review progress on a weekly basis. Use the collective brainpower of your teams to tackle issues before they become problems. Routines can set you free. Revolve your business around 90-day goals and life becomes more manageable. Take the time to do it properly. [12:41] When the fundamental beliefs of your company are clear, they will drive your company forward. The right people will be attracted to your teams. “STRATEGIC PLANNING” EPISODE RESOURCES You can reach Shane and check out his many free resources at www.summitleader.com. He also hosts a live webinar every month at www.summitwebinar.com. This episode is brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It’s super easy, it’s helpful, and I recommend that you try it out. You’ll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. This episode is 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. 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! Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

Eric Graf, CEO of Flockgen, explains how mid-market businesses can trade relationships with one another to expand service offerings and lower customer acquisition. As sales reps, we need to make appointments and we need to make sales but often times, we don’t know how to find the best people. Typically, we develop a prospect list and a sales pitch and bring on a marketing team. It becomes the core business. Eric cites this as a common problem that negatively affects business with regard to customer acquisition. At Flockgen, clients are able to increase their bottom line because the cost of customer acquisition is spread among the partners. Expanding beyond the core Mid-market companies can expand the conversation with their customers beyond just the core aspects. When they do, they will realize that the prospect of monetizing exists in multiple areas which are often overlooked. At Flockgen, the cost of customer acquisition is spread across multiple services far beyond what mid-market companies might do in the core. As an example: There are already a number of partners with great businesses that sell telecom products. Some have had the same product for the past ten years, but their sales reps can’t talk to the customers beyond the core even if they wanted to. They don’t have anything else to present to those customers. [00:53] Flockgen offers an alternative solution. They can drive revenue with those relationships around completely different products and services. Ones that have nothing to do with telecom. They leverage those relationships to introduce new products and services in a way that doesn’t require a lot of cost because they already have hundreds of partners that offer many different things. [02:46] Such a partnership allows you to do more in one place instead of finding a partner with many companies on your own. By focusing on the ways mid-market companies work together to become stronger and build revenue, everybody wins. Creating a well-oiled referral process Referrals are a natural part of sales. They drive revenue and create business. Flockgen partners with people they know and trust. Using the telecom example again, suppose you have a salesperson selling phone systems all day long. As a partner with Flockgen, the salesperson could also talk with customers about sustainability, controlling costs, or operations. He has a credible way to have that conversation because Eric and his team have provided him with content and talking points. He doesn't have to be an expert in the field. Instead, he just has to be able to access the interest in the client. [04:16] The Flockgen Difference The Flockgen concept developed organically. Eric spent the last ten years working in the energy industry where he saw a lot of disruption. There were many new companies with new services and new products, and declining costs all around. Previously, Eric was in the telecom world, which he views as a more mature industry in terms of sales and marketing. Everyone knows each other and works with a collaborative spirit despite competition. Actual channels exist that allow people to team up and co-market. Eric hoped to build similar channels in the energy industry by borrowing the ideas that worked for telecom. Educating their partners is a key. How does referral marketing work? What are the pros and cons? [05:32] Rightsizing the program and menu for each of their individual partners is what sets Eric and his team apart. No two businesses are the same, even if they do the same thing. What works for one might not work for the other, or for their sales team. Matching capabilities Flockgen matches capabilities in an intelligent way with their partner sales team so that everyone feels comfortable and credible when having conversations. It allows them to drive relationships further. [06:31] Establishing bilateral relationships with their partners is crucial to the success of every party. Each can refer business to the other by promoting services up and down their respective networks. One partner could be driving revenue one day and receiving referrals the next day from others in the network who are doing the same thing. Getting started is easy. It is just a matter of understanding what you do, what a new customer base would mean to you, and what services you offer. Flockgen makes sure everyone in your organization is on the same page. [Tweet "You can’t grow a company alone. Sharing a pool of clients is essential. It saves money and time to partner and share opportunities. #ClientAcquisition"] If you are a large company, then you already have the business development teams and the corporate development teams in place to establish relationships. But it can be difficult to keep those relationships fresh. [09:29] Eric’s approach is for everyone to meet in the middle to allow collaboration and to set clear terms with one another. He believes that despite doing well at the start, many businesses that focus on partnering and collaborating will fail because they are not structured correctly. One partner gets the shorter end of the stick, perhaps. [11:37] Flockgen focuses on healthy partnerships. They maintain the relationships so that you can concentrate on talking to clients and building value. Transparency = Trust Providing transparency is critical to the success of the partnerships they create. When both parties understand the terms, it protects the credibility of the relationship. What happens when I refer to you? What happens when you refer to me? It becomes a matter of trust. It drives behavior. [13:39] When everyone brings the right attitude, a real willingness to focus on the customer, and is respectful of the initial relationship with the client, value is added to all of the relationships. [15:03] Flockgen partners only with those who stand by their work. Those they can trust to do good work and who do not hesitate when asked for customer references. It’s not who you know, it is who you know that you can trust. The partners utilizing the networks at Flockgen are driving their revenues and driving their commissions. It works because everyone is focused on creating the best customer experience. There are lots of folks who represent or promote similar services but they don’t backstop and track and monitor, or intervene when necessary, as relationships mature and transactions come together the way Flockgen does. [17:45] Flockgen levels the playing field. Mid-market businesses in the US generate 26% of the revenue in the US despite comprising only 1% of the commercial active firms. A large portion of the market is generally overlooked and underserved. Eric encourages everyone to take those businesses seriously when thinking about who you are selling to and how you are positioning your services and products. [18:26] Think about how to reach those customers. "Lower Customer Acquisition Costs" episode resources The front door is always open at Flockgen. Visit them at www.flockgen.com This episode is brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It's super easy, it's helpful, and I recommend that you try it out. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. This episode is 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. 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! Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

Josh Cunningham, founder and CEO of rokrbox,  fast-tracked his entrepreneurial career by helping to solve a recurring problem for real estate clients and learning an important lesson along the way: Don’t trick them. Josh first stumbled upon the ISA, or Inside Sales Agent, role in real estate while attending seminars with Vyral Marketing founder and CEO Frank Klesitz. Vyral Marketing works with top agents to create content and to get referrals and repeat business. THE ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT Many top professional teams buy real estates leads online, but their agents don’t always do a good job of following up on them. Like any good entrepreneur, when Josh heard a lot of people complaining about a common frustration, he decided to solve the problem. [00:39] He started rokrbox. A rocker box is a gold mining tool used in the 19th century to separate the sand and gravel from the gold. Likewise, rokrbox takes your real estate leads and separates the tire-kickers and time wasters from the motivated buyers and sellers. [01:26] TAPPING INTO THE STUDENT MARKET Rokrbox is strategically located directly across from the Texas A&M University campus in College Station, Texas. Many sharp and enthusiastic young professionals go there looking to grow their skills. Josh provides them with the opportunity to develop real-world sales skills, CRM skills, and pipeline management skills. All of his student-employees typically graduate with multiple job offers from some type of sales professional career. [02:21] Since starting in 2013, rokrbox has worked over a million internet leads, hired over 250 ISAs, and trained them to move forward in their careers. Looking back, Josh believes that scalability was his biggest sales-related struggle. He knew he could do the job but wasn’t sure if he could train others to do it. When he first started hiring college students, he realized a lot of the same struggles that most people run into when building any sales team. SET CLEAR EXPECTATIONS His first mistake was in not clearly setting expectations for the new hires. The job posting on the Texas A&M website was too vague. It wasn’t clear that a new hire could expect to make a ton of phone calls a day, could expect to be rejected all day, etc. It was just too ambiguous. As a result, a new hire might go through the entire interview process and personality assessment only to quit almost immediately after starting the job. One young man, in particular, spent over 15 minutes learning the types of calls to make, the technology/scripts/dialogue used and the likelihood of repeated rejection. He excused himself to use the restroom and never came back. [04:28] Josh blames himself. He had failed to set expectations and to make clear to potential hires what they were getting into.  He felt as if he had tricked people into taking the job which is not how to start a sales organization on the right foot. OBSERVATION As a result, rokrbox implemented observation into the business. Now, they invite promising applicants back to pair up with a senior rep as part of the interview process. They spend a full hour learning what to expect on a shift – from the technology to the daily team huddle, to the reports and the metrics. They are encouraged to ask questions. It is their chance to interview the business. At the conclusion of their observation session, applicants are asked to send an email to explain how they would fit into the rokrbox culture. It has been amazing to see the persuasive essays they receive.  [05:43] ESSAYS Josh enjoys hearing people explain why they want to be a part of the organization more than having them sneak away on a bathroom break, never to return. He highly recommends showing potential hires exactly what they can expect. Show them what it is like to be on the phone or knocking on doors. Be totally straightforward from the very beginning.   The people who realize the opportunity in what you offer are the people you want to hire. #NewHire CLICK TO TWEET   Josh believes that when building a culture worthy of your organization, it is likely that you will strongly attract the right people and strongly repel the wrong ones.  And certainly, not everyone who attends an observation responds. The work and the pace intimidate some people. [07:30] But he wouldn’t change a thing. Rockrbox invests a lot of one-on-one training in every new employee before they are ready to do the job. Twenty hours on the new hire combined with 20 hours of the trainer’s time: Forty hours is a huge investment if someone might either bomb or quit. TRANSPARENCY It is definitely better to be transparent and upfront. Anything less is simply a waste of everyone’s time. Have a collection of people that are all driven and motivated, in a cohesive unit, and headed in the same direction. A team that supports and enjoys each other becomes a better team because of it. It’s the most harmonious thing you can do with any business. Know the culture you want to create and then protect it. Invite others to observe whether or not it is right for them. [09:16] Once you become a leader of others, give them your expectations and the tools to succeed. Clearly communicate all of it – the good, the bad and the ugly. [11:22] “DON’T TRICK THEM” EPISODE RESOURCES To learn more about how rokrbox converts the online leads of top sales professionals in the real estate industry, visit www.rokrbox.com or contact Josh directly at josh@rokrbox.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! Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

Tracking your performance and setting measurable goals will help you perform better as a sales rep. We can optimize our performance if we calculate our daily output to help us fine-tune our work. Sales professionals are competitive creatures by nature, whether we're competing against others or against ourselves. When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported, the rate of performance accelerates.   Potential I participated in a leadership retreat in college and the speaker asked me to participate in a demonstration by jumping as far as I could. She then measured the distance and asked me to jump again to see if I could beat my original effort. Turns out I did, because I had a measurable goal. If I hadn't measured my first attempt, I wouldn't have known whether my second attempt was better. As a sales professional, you'll benefit if you measure your activity on a daily basis. [03:42] Optimization You're probably already planning some of your work: prospecting, phone calls, LinkedIn contacts, and those efforts are all great. But in order to optimize, now you must measure those efforts. If you're making phone calls, what are you measuring? Are you measuring the number of calls? Are you measuring the number of appointments you're setting based upon phone calls? Start writing down and measuring your key indicators. [04:14] If you're measuring LinkedIn activity, what are you measuring? Are you measuring the number of connections you can make? Are you measuring the people who replay to your conversations? Develop key indicators or key performance metrics that you can measure on a daily basis. Trends When you measure those numbers, you'll begin to notice trends. You might notice that you set more appointments on Wednesday and Thursday than on Monday and Friday. You may discover that you successfully connect with more people on LinkedIn on Tuesdays. [04:51] This effort may sound like a lot of work, and some of you may think you can't possibly find the time. Realize that top performers in every industry are measuring and optimizing their efforts. That's how they improve. Coaching That's also where coaching comes into play. Now imagine you're measuring these numbers and your performances while you're being coached. You're going to quickly discover that you're improving quickly. The problem is that we often get comfortable with our performance level. We settle for an acceptable amount of production and we accept it as our best. You may recognize this mindset as, "This is how I've prospected for years, so I'm going to stick with this format." [05:57] Challenge that thinking. Perhaps you'll work with a manager or a sales leader or even the CEO. Accountability will make you even more effective. Strategy When I'm collaborating or sharing with someone else, I may discover different strategies that are working for other sellers. The danger is in thinking that you can't learn from others or believing that you already have all the answers. You won't increase or improve or progress. When I started writing down day-to-day performance, I wasn't competing against my team. I was competing against my previous performance. I started closing more deals because I listened to my podcast guests and got beyond my weaknesses. Then, I read books and got better insights. Really, though, I improved simply because I was conscious of my efforts. [08:36] This year was our best ever, and we haven't even fully optimized our tracking and measuring. Tracking your performance makes a huge difference. Planning Send me an email if you'd like to see what I'm doing and how I'm scheduling my day. I use a planner and a Gmail calendar. I list tasks and color code them to differentiate different activities. If you're wondering, I use green for money-generating activities. I use a different color for admin tasks so I can visually see how my day looks. At the end of the day I ask myself four questions: Did I meet my goals today? What could I have done differently? What was my biggest win today? How will tomorrow look? I'm no genius, but it's working for me, and I want to challenge you to do it as well. "Tracking Your Performance" 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! Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

In this episode of The Sales Evangelist, we talk about how to take advantage of the power of chat when growing your business. Many organizations have struggled to capitalize on the power of chat, but Amir and Tom share the struggles they’ve had using chat and how we can overcome them. Tom Jenkins and Amir Reiter help companies scale their workforce without having to get offices, pay insurance and taxes, or worry about hiring and training. Instead, they offer technology and strategy. At CloudTask, they provide sales development reps, they manage account executives convenient and they manage the customer success/account reps responsible for renewals and upselling to existing customers. They comprise one office. If someone wants to hire five sales reps, five account executives or five support reps, they will all be in office and managed so that the customer gets what they want – representation and results.   By specializing in sales, customer success and customer support, CloudTask is the best of the breed. [00:51] THE POWER OF CHAT One of the biggest issues is a lack of clearly defined ownership. If you look at our partners at Drift.com for instance, their ability to work as a bot or as a human can confuse whether chat is owned by marketing or by sales. Marketing is typically used to drive traffic to forms, to blogs and to sign-ups. As such, marketing tends to prefer automation. Sales, however, relies on people first, so deciding who owns chat is often a hurdle. Failure to assign ownership then creates a failure to act or a failure to implement correctly. [02:19] We manage a lot of cloud chat programs and have noticed that many people view chat as just another tool for the reps to use in addition to calling, emailing, LinkedIn, etc. Rather, with a high volume of web traffic, chat is a key tool in the generation of qualified leads. In fact, because chat allows you to respond quickly with the right answers and in the right way, it can be your number one lead generation tool. [03:17] QUALIFY LEADS People today want answers now. They expect to be able to go onto a website and to be able to chat. It has worked well in the B2C world but is really moving quickly into the B2B world as well. We are finding that an MQL (marketing qualified lead) or SQL (sales qualified lead) that chats with a member of the sales team is 2-3 times more likely to close versus one that goes through the process of filling out a form. It makes sense. A form is stationary and available to anybody. With chat, you are able to quickly let people qualify themselves with a friendly discussion. For example, suppose someone wants to hire a sales rep. Within a few moments, we can discuss salaries and budgets and determine right away if it is something to pursue, or not. [04:54] CHAT CONVERSATION Chat does not replace cold calling or emailing but it does allow the person who visits your website to have a conversation with you and determine for themselves if they want to move forward. The desire to engage is up to the visitor. As the sales rep, you increase the level of engagement with your replies. Consider “I’m here to help sales leaders every day, how can I help you?” instead of “How are you?” People want to work with companies that can fix their problems. Target the message to visitors as much as you can in order to increase engagement with them. You will receive visitors who want to know more about the topic rather than starting from scratch.   You don’t want to write too much in a chat forum, of course. Start by keeping the conversation focused on the problems you are trying to solve for your prospects. [06:48] The initial engagement is absolutely key but response time is just as essential. Buyers are conducting research and they want answers.   Failure to respond within one minute, despite having the best response in the world, exponentially decreases the likelihood of obtaining a qualified lead. #saleschat CLICK TO TWEET   It is imperative to be super sharp and to answer quickly. [08:10] PIQUE CURIOSITY When you give visitors the information they want to the questions they ask, they begin to ask the more sales-related questions themselves. Knowing how to give people the right amount of information so as to pique their curiosity without being overly aggressive is a skill. For example, the best way to answer many of the questions about a technology product is with a demo. An aggressive tactic might be “this is the best product and it will solve all your problems.” “We want you to get your eyes on this to see what you think about it” is a better approach, however. It allows the buyer to have ownership in the decision. Chat also identifies return visitors so that you don’t have to start all over from the beginning each time. [09:42] SALES OR MARKETING When Sales and Marketing are aligned as a team with the common goal of getting customers, ownership is less important. When Sales and Marketing are not aligned, better results occur when chat ownership is with the sales team.  Sales speaks to people and that brings results. It is really important that everyone involved be 100% clear on which team does what so that each can grow and build expertise. [11:27] Decide first if you will make your own chatbot or use a company like Drift or Intercom. Many such companies have partner systems that can help with deployment. They are also set up to support the user and the sales cycle. It can be a big jumpstart toward a successful launch. [13:30] COMMON MISTAKES Too much automation. We’ve seen companies who don’t get the results they want right away so they just scrap the whole thing versus A/B testing people. Everyone wants leads. It is the goal of every company but people make the chatbots and automation too much about themselves. They try to get contact details and meetings rather than making the initial interactions about web visits. They aim to fulfill their own needs rather than the needs of potential customers. [14:25] Chat gives buyers the ability to raise their hand, to tell you who they are and where they are in the sales cycle. It gives them the ability to get what they want now instead of going through the standard sales process. [15:28] SUCCESSES We have an interesting case now with a client who had used chatbot before but didn’t get the results they had hoped for. They weren’t particularly sold on the idea but were willing to give it another try.   We were able to successfully implement a program on Drift consisting of a training program, as well as the addition of five sales development reps. As a result, they realized $3.5 million in opportunity and $1 million in closed within eight months. They appreciated our complete focus and specialization. We also provided them with quality assurance teams that checked in on the chats, and we worked really well together. [16:17] We represent your company and do what needs to be done, just like employees. The main difference is that instead of getting one new employee, our client gets a whole team. We are remote to you, but not remote. It is like having multiple offices or a satellite office. We check on everything. [18:28] Don’t blind yourself with the idea that you can’t use chat for enterprises. Even if your sales process has you on flights to Hong Kong, or spending nine months working a deal, it can still start with a chat.   Don’t consider chat as a replacement but rather as an extra channel that gives people the ability to communicate with you faster. It can be such a cool tool to add to your cause, to your social network, and to your social ads. When used correctly, chat will deliver results. [19:59] “POWER OF CHAT” EPISODE RESOURCES Visit Tom and Amir at Cloudtask.com or through their partners at Drift.com.  Allison manages their chat and is always more than happy to help everyone. Experiencing their services first-hand is the best first step. This episode is brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It’s super easy, it’s helpful, and I recommend that you try it out. You’ll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link. This episode is also brought to you 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. 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! Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Creative content provided by rasmussenediting@gmail.com.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com