The Sales Evangelist

In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, we discuss the immediate steps you can take to begin growing your influence.  Whether you are in sales or not, everyone, at one time or another, needs to increase their influence. I’m reminded of a coworker of mine who really knew how to connect with people. Tom had that ability to influence others. He just understood people and prospects and he knew how to speak to them. He could point out potential problems before they became problems. As such, when he spoke, his clients listened. He was respected. My guest today, Stacey Hanke, is here to talk about how we, like Tom, can grow our influence. [00:01] Stacey is the author of two books, a Certified Speaking Professional, and CEO of StaceyHanke, Inc. Stacey and her team work with directors, to C-Suite, and with sales professionals to make them more aware of the level of influence they really have versus they level of influence they believe they have. They accomplish this with keynotes, with mentoring, and through workshops. They increase awareness by giving practical how-to advice so their clients know how to use both verbal and non-verbal methods of influence every day of the week. [03:25] INFLUENCE: WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT ISN’T Stacey has worked with a lot of individuals and organizations over the past 16 years. And though she sees it happen quite often, Stacey believes that influence is not something that you should turn on and off. For example, you’ve got a high stakes phone conversation, meeting or sales pitch and you decide to ‘turn it on.’  There’s nothing authentic about that. There’s no integrity to it. [04:46] Influence is when your verbal and non-verbal communication remain consistent at all times and in all situations. It is congruent with your priorities and purposes. Influence is having the ability to move people to take action long after the interaction has occurred.   It takes discipline and hard work. It is hard because we often get caught up with worrying about how we are perceived. Will they like me? Am I going to say the right thing? Switch your thinking. What is important to my client? What is their experience with the topic? Why is this conversation happening? To really drive home the value of your product or your service – whatever you’re trying to influence the person to act on – it first has to resonate with the client. [05:36] So, be genuine. Stacey recently helped a client to realize that he was putting more time into marketing materials and PowerPoint slides than into the actual delivery of the product. It is not the experience his clients were looking for. [06:46] FEEDBACK: WHY YOU NEED IT. As a sales rep, one of the first steps to increase your influence is to ask for real feedback. You have to plan for it and ask for it. Ask someone who you can count on to tell you the truth to listen to you as you practice. Ask them to listen, pay attention and give you feedback. When you can prepare in this way, the person providing the feedback is more likely to be direct and constructive with their comments. We don’t need to be told how great we are. We have to figure out our weaknesses in order to grow. It takes discipline to handle feedback and even more discipline to act on it. Don’t sabotage yourself by asking a subordinate or someone who is likely to tell you what you want to hear, instead of what you need to hear. Put your pride aside. Strive for honest answers. [07:39] Stacey has encountered many in her workshops who are hesitant to pursue feedback. She attributes this to the stigma that surrounds feedback as meaning you’ve done something wrong. Feedback instead means that you are already doing well. You wouldn’t be in the position you are in if you didn’t know what you were doing. Feedback provides opportunity to become even better. It encourages constant growth. [09:41] LEADERSHIP In a study conducted by Joseph Folkman of over 51,000 leaders, it was realized that leaders who frequently ask for feedback rank in the top 86% for leadership effectiveness. On the other hand, leaders who rank in the bottom 15% for leadership effectiveness are in the bottom 10% when it comes to asking for feedback. [10:20] So how does this translate to working with a prospect? Stacey reaches out to her clients every three or six months to find out what has been working for them during that time. She frequently asks her clients why they continue to work with her team. What keeps them coming back? Then she flips the coin. What can her team do to make things easier? How can they provide more value on a long-term basis?  This allows the client to tell you how best to upsell them by letting you know what other services they might want or need. Your clients can disappear at any point but if you deliver the value that you promise and you truly care about your clients, then the ability to upsell based on their feedback provides a service to them. [11:31] Being influential is not the same as being manipulative. The more you practice asking for, setting up, receiving, and dealing with feedback, the more you’ll start to crave it. It sounds crazy but sometimes the feedback is completely different from how you felt during the conversation or how you thought you came across. Sometimes feedback can be harsh. But the toughest feedback often comes during periods of growth or transition. You might hate it at the time but it will help you grow. [13:42] GET COMFORTABLE WITH BECOMING UNCOMFORTABLE Feedback can be hard to embrace if it requires a change that takes us out of our comfort zone.  Make feedback common practice. You can apply it to everything in life. The more uncomfortable you get, the faster you grow. Once you get over the hurdles, once you stop hitting your knees every time, you will start to see improvement. Staying in our comfort zone only makes us lazy. Resting on our laurels or believing that we already know everything comes across in our performance. When you are feeling strong and landing deals, Stacey says that is the time to feel uncomfortable. Work hard even when times aren’t tough. Imagine going to the gym only when you want to lose weight. It isn’t going to last. It is too painful. Instead, be consistent to get consistent results. [17:09] Talk to your clients like you would talk to a friend. They don’t need somebody pushing a product down their throat. They want someone who is trying to meet their needs so ask how you can do that for them. What is the best way to communicate with them? How frequently do they want to hear from you? When can you call or email them next? To have more influence from a personal standpoint, try seeing yourself as your audience does. Record yourself on your phone. The level of awareness that develops from observing your own verbal and non-verbal cues can be truly eye-opening. Everything about our behavior translates into the experience that people have with us. Influence doesn’t happen during the conversation. It happens after the fact. Focus on your thoughts. [20:26] NO EYES? NO TALK. Focus your eyes on a single point and practice as if you are speaking to individuals there. When you focus your eyes, you become focused in your thoughts.  When you lose focus on the point, you will find that you also lose your train of thought. Make every interaction purposeful. When you are trying to connect with someone, only speak to them when you can see their eyes. Make it a meaningful conversation. Anytime you need to look away, stop talking. It creates trust. Without trust, nothing else matters. You save time when you stay focused and speak less. [22:30] Many of us forget that the people we are trying to influence may not be as excited about our years of experience or about our product as we are. If you only have two or five minutes with a client, think about how to provide the greatest value in the shortest time. Make it memorable for them. They don’t have to say ‘yes’ today but you can increase their interest today. Let them know how to reach you tomorrow. [24:31] CONSISTENCY If you want to use social media to increase your influence, be sure to be consistent among the platforms. Stacey cites the common problem of using cellphones to send emails, namely, that disclaimer at the bottom to ‘please forgive any grammatical errors.’ Why would you ask a potential client to do that? Influence comes through with everything we do. Be sure your messages are consistent. Don’t bash other companies. Remember that your tone of voice does not convey to the written word. Avoid the risk of coming across as unprofessional.   Think before you post. Your reputation is on everything that you do. You choose the reputation that you want people to have of you. [25:28] “IMMEDIATE STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TO BEGIN GROWING YOUR INFLUENCE” EPISODE RESOURCES Connect with Stacey and check out her available resources at staceyhankeinc.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

Sometimes small problems grow into much bigger problems, and without emotional intelligence to help you address misunderstandings, these problems can affect your relationships with prospects and clients.  Have you ever met up with a friend who suddenly became upset but, to you, the thing they were upset about wasn’t a huge problem? When you react, it becomes something bigger, and before you know it - you are arguing with each other without really knowing what you are even arguing about?! You can have similar situations with a prospect. The client loses interest, or maybe, becomes so upset they no longer want to do business with you ever again. [0:00] What happened? Why does it go wrong? The answer: Emotional intelligence. These situations affect both sellers and buyers, so our TSE Certified Sales Training Program will help you identify these problems before they escalate.  The TSE Certified Sales Training Program is designed to help sellers at every level, from new sellers to seasoned professionals. The course has three main sections of four modules each. Tackle each section on your own or participate in a group. [01:58] Surface-level problems I was running a meeting last week when one of the committee members had an issue outside the topic we were discussing. The challenge she proposed began to derail the entire meeting. What was I to do? I realized that it was a surface-level problem rather than a true issue. We decided, therefore, to have a one-on-one discussion to address it instead. Turns out, there was so much more she wanted to talk about than what was originally mentioned during the meeting. If I had entertained the issue during the meeting, it would have derailed the entire event for the entire group. [02:43] No money was involved, but imagine a similar scenario when working with a client. A client or prospect presents you with a surface-level problem. Then, because of a lack of emotional intelligence, people focus on that problem instead of the underlying issue. [03:37] Emotional intelligence Suppose your client says they will not renew their contract. They might be upset because the project was late. Perhaps they are downsizing. Or maybe they no longer have the budget for it. Those are not the true issues. [Tweet "When we lack emotional intelligence, we focus on the distractions instead of the core issue. #EmotionalIntelligence"] Emotional intelligence is the capacity to be aware of, to control, and to express one’s emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically.[04:22] Empathy In Stephen Covey’s book, The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, empathy is defined as seeking first to understand, then to be understood. Back to the client who is no longer interested, we have to dig deeper to find out the true reason for their decision. Someone with a high level of emotional intelligence is able to see things from the prospect’s perspective. Rather than take the lack of interest as something personal, they are able to investigate and realize the core issue instead. It's tempting to think about how the decision affects me: What did I do wrong? How will this affect my commission?   Instead, as the seller, we need to think about the buyer. What will happen to the buyer? Why did he change his mind? Is this the real issue?  What caused him to feel upset or frustrated? What changed? It could be that the buyer didn’t get their second round of funding and now has to do some trimming. The service you provide is still important to them but it is not mission critical to the function of their organization. That is something, as a seller, that you would want to know. [06:11] When you put yourself in the buyer’s shoes and seek to understand, you may find other ways to be of assistance. Is there something else you can do? Is there another value that you can bring? Maybe you can introduce them to someone else in the industry. Bring value When you focus on being helpful instead of on selling your product or service, you have attained a high level of emotional intelligence. Recognize that it is not about you, or your bottom line. It is about serving your client. [07:02] People sometimes lash out or seem angry. Perhaps they had a bad morning or an argument with their spouse. Maybe that team member who annoys you so badly is having trouble paying his bills. Your job is to not react to surface level issues. Your job is to understand the true source of the problem so that you help to find a solution. Your job is to bring value to the situation. Don’t simply react to the emotions. Be a problem solver instead. [08:32] Emotional intelligence is something you can build on. It will help you tremendously in the early stages of the sales process. Put yourself in your buyer’s shoes. Connect on a human level and realize that your client is not just the CEO or the marketing director. He is a human being with goals. When you recognize that, you will create a foundation of trust. Then, if something does change, he will be willing to discuss the true issues with you. It will also help you guide your buyers toward a close. Try not to react to difficult situations. Seek first to understand. Remember that there are two sides to every situation: the side they let us see and the side they don’t want us to see. Your job is to identify the real reason for the situation so that you can help provide solutions. Don’t react to surface-level problems. Dig a little deeper. [09:26] "Emotional Intelligence" episode resources 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

There’s a single characteristic that distinguishes effective sellers from the others, and it’s grit. It separates those who work hard and effectively from those who don’t. It distinguishes those who go above and beyond the call of duty from those who do not. GRIT Those of us in sales need to have grit. Grit is courage. It is resolve. It is a strength of character. To have grit is to have rock solid mental toughness. If you can be rock solid, right now – at the beginning of the year – you will be so much more effective and efficient. [01:39] Consider the new hire whose resume looked fantastic, but who shows up with no drive or passion for the work. Sometimes we pass by individuals with higher levels of grit simply because their GPA wasn’t as high or their resume was lacking. [02:34] I have a problem with that. I know some very smart people who lack the level of grit needed to take advantage of their intelligence. They end up in mediocre jobs. It seems like a waste of talent. On the other hand, we see folks without the necessary level of education who have passion and grit. They have the ability to do more and work harder than the average person. DESIRE How? Where does their level of passion and perseverance come from? [03:16] I believe it has everything to do with their level of desire. There was a low point in my life when I was faced with homelessness but I had the drive to make sure that my family was taken care of. There are certainly people who are smarter than I am or who have more experience than I do, but I had the grit to create this podcast series. I was determined to make it happen and I hustled. [04:06] I had the desire and the perseverance. There were difficult times, of course. I didn’t always know if it was going to work. But we pushed through. Can grit be taught? Can mediocre individuals on your team get it? Yes. BE POSITIVE “I can’t do it.” “I can’t make that call.” “It’s not going to work.” If you can’t, then you won’t.   But if you say you can – then it is more likely that you will. Things move for people who have the desire to make things move. Perseverance means you will do whatever it takes to make something happen because you want it to happen. You have to push through the tough spots. Use the right words. Instead of “maybe I’ll get a sale,” or “I hope I get a sale,” try “I will get a sale today!” Obviously, realistic goals are important: Is it possible? Can I do it?  I’m sure you can make a million dollars in sales in a day – but is it likely? Maybe not. But it is certainly likely that you will find the right client today or close a deal today. [06:22] VISUALIZE SUCCESS Think about what you need to do to make it happen. If you tell yourself that it isn’t possible from the very start, it’ll never happen. When you feed yourself failure, your whole subconscious and whole body react. You will only get back what you put in. [07:02] Think about how to reach your goal. What will you do? What will you say? And what are the steps necessary to succeed? Set the entire process up in your mind; from what you will say, to what the email will say, to when you are going to call. Tell yourself that the clients will be interested, they will want to set up an appointment, and you are going to get the demonstration. Visualize it all. If you can’t see it, you can’t achieve it. [08:24] ACT You need to practice. Perfection doesn’t come by accident. It has to be deliberate. Be specific. [09:01] You will get the appointment or that meeting with the CEO when you decide the steps to take and then practice those steps. Before you get on the phone, for example, think about what you need to talk about and what questions you need to ask. Know why they would want to talk to you! What challenge can you solve for them? [09:52] In this way, if you get thrown an objection, you will automatically know how to handle it.  You’ve already visualized the entire conversation. You can’t wing it. Winging it only gets you winging-it results. [10:32] People with grit have a vision. They know what they want and they are determined to get it. They practice achieving it and set a plan to do it. Then they do it, and do it, and do it again until it happens. SUCCEED Will you have perseverance this year? Will you push through the tough times, or will you just give up? I encourage you to look past any shortcomings you’ve had. Make 2019 the year that we accomplish greatness. The theme for the year is Empire Building, whether that be your sales empire, business empire, or family empire. Let’s build it! You are the only person who can stop you. [11:19] “GRIT” EPISODE RESOURCES Check out Grit by Angela Duckworth.   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 our work with sales reps, sales teams, and sales managers, we encounter many people who believe that sales coaching doesn’t work, but many of them fail to realize that there are 5 common mistakes sales managers make when coaching. Steve Richard, founder of ExecVision, shares how to avoid those mistakes, and he suggests you start by recognizing that there’s a difference between coaching and training. COACHING Training is teaching someone to do something new that the person doesn’t know how to do. Coaching is helping someone do something that they do know to the point of mastery. If we expect a rep to embrace a certain behavior, we have to train him. If we don’t, that failure is on us. [04:37] Then, after we’ve trained him, we have to overcome the “forgetting curve” which is a function of our brain’s tendency to purge information. Coaching is the act of training iteratively, focusing on the person, and repeating that behavior until it becomes second nature, like tying a shoe. Consider whether your organization is struggling with any of these mistakes. 1. FAILING TO DEFINE WHAT GOOD LOOKS LIKE. We must give our teams a definition of what a call should look like. Include the key things you want them to say, the behaviors you want them to exhibit, and give them a target. Give your team members total clarity on what you want them to do. [06:11] Develop consistency among your team members so you can hit bigger numbers. Also, build a team of people who will identify these steps. Include managers, senior executives, and representatives from operations, enablement, and sales. A varied team can ensure that these decisions aren’t being made by people who haven’t made calls in a while. Check out the book Cracking the Sales Management Code: The Secrets to Measuring and Managing Sales Performance for clarification about metrics. Learn the difference between activity metrics that you can control — things like making phone calls and sending LinkedIn connection requests — and objectives like having conversations with people which you have less control over. Aside from simply giving your team members goals, give them a roadmap to achieve them. [08:32] How many activities should they achieve in a week to achieve their goals? Many organizations have salespeople who are “unconsciously competent,” which means they don’t know why they are successful. Though it’s not bad, it’s impossible to scale. You can’t pair a new employee with someone who is “unconsciously competent” and expect her to learn the right way to do things. 2. NEGLECTING TO TRAIN BECAUSE OF TIME. Most every sales leader intends to coach his team. [10:26] Managers typically know they have to be more consistent as a team, and they know that the way to do that is through coaching. But they also universally say that time is the thing that prohibits them from doing it. They have the greatest of intentions, but something always gets in the way. 3. MISUNDERSTANDING HOW TO TRAIN CORRECTLY. It’s shocking to think of the amount of money that is spent on sales rep training. Sales managers, however, typically receive very little training. Many of them have never been taught to coach the right way. Think, for example, of a sales manager who observes a call and then immediately launches into constructive feedback. Basically, he tells you all the things you did wrong. When the sales rep hears it, his system sends a hit of the stress hormone cortisol, which triggers the “fight or flight” response. [11:46] The sales rep either defends himself by digging in his heels or he puts up a wall and stops listening. In either case, it’s not good.   People don’t change their behavior when cortisol is present. They change when dopamine is present. Sales managers must coach in a way that motivates sellers to learn and change. #SalesTraining CLICK TO TWEET   Instead, try the model that Jim Kennan recommends: observe, describe, prescribe. Leave the judgment on the shelf. Listen to the call. Recount what the rep did during the call. Then ask a question that prompts the seller to figure out what he could have done differently to improve the call. People value more what they can conclude for themselves than what they’re told.  4. LACKING OBSERVABLE MOMENTS. If sales reps can’t listen to recordings of their calls, they’ll have no way to improve their performance. [18:45] They will only have vague ideas of what they think they did during the call. During the 80s, the Japanese beat us in the auto industry because they were continually improving their operational efficiency. Adopt the continuous improvement mindset that served the Japanese so well. 5. MAKING TRAINING AD HOC. Your organization’s training must be habitual. It must be part of the rhythm of the company. Make your training such a part of the process that it becomes the gospel. It can be as simple as listening to 5 minutes of a call with a rep and asking for reflections. It will do good things for your company. Instead of feeling like sales managers have to do all the work, involve the sales reps in their own development. [21:15] Run call-of-the-month competitions where reps submit their best call every month with written commentary. Give people an environment in which it’s fun to learn and improve. “5 COMMON MISTAKES SALES MANAGERS MAKE WHEN COACHING” EPISODE RESOURCES Connect with Steve via email or call him on his cell phone at (202) 302-3193. Check out ExecVision’s Call Camp that breaks down real sales calls like game tape to evaluate what works and what doesn’t. It’s a free webinar that shares practical advice with sales reps, managers, and leaders to improve their effectiveness. 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

Many leaders avoid adequately training their team members because of a single looming question: What if I train them and they leave? They structure their businesses so that multiple people work on a single project while other projects sit undone. It costs them money and productivity. If you're one of those managers, I'll offer you a different consideration: what if you don't train them and they stay? We're devoting the month of January to the topic of mental toughness, and today's topic is directed at business and sales leaders as well as sellers. Leaders When team members aren't trained well, they won't be effective at their jobs. When team members aren't effective at their jobs, the manager will have to help them do their jobs in addition to doing his own. Leaders who fear employee departure often choose not to provide the necessary training, but the reality is that many of those untrained employees end up staying in their jobs. [3:37] What if they stay with you and they don't know what they are doing? Financial considerations Imagine your employee makes $40,000 a year. Are you willing to pay him $40,000 despite the fact that he doesn't know what he's doing, and then require someone who is making $60,000 a year to help him do his job? Maybe you'll eventually fire the person because he isn't performing. [04:23] When you let someone go, you may end up paying unemployment benefits, and then you'll incur the cost of hiring someone new. Whether you use an agency or review the resumes yourself, you'll have to invest time trying to find someone who already has training. Cyclical Even if your new hire does have sales training, she won't know your process. She won't be able to perfectly understand your organization, so she won't immediately be effective. If you choose not to provide training, you'll be back in the same cycle three months after you hire her. [05:04] You will have spent countless amounts of money to avoid spending money on training. You'll suffer from lost opportunity and lost revenue. Long-term benefits Imagine you have three employees. After you train them, one of them leaves your organization. First of all, consider why the person is leaving. Is it possible that you're not paying enough? Does your organization lack direction for its employees? Don't miss a chance to evaluate why people are leaving. [06:36] Even if you have a great situation, people may still leave. They may have to move out of state for family reasons or something else. People don't stay in one place forever. If one leaves, you still have two great employees who are giving you money back. If you don't train them, you'll likely lose thousands in sales because they aren't good at their jobs. Do the math When I was a young seller, I worked for a company that spent probably $7,000 training me to be an effective seller, and I'm thankful for it. After my training, I landed a $30,000 deal as one of my first big successes. [07:52] You don't have to be a scientist to understand that $30,000 is a good return on $7,000. If you invest in your people, they'll love you, they'll stay with your company, and they'll earn you more money. For sellers When you're considering your next organization, find out what kind of sales training they provide. Even if you're a seller with a 10-year track record, it's ok to consider training programs at prospective companies. [08:58] If they don't offer coaching or continuing education, that might be a red flag. If they aren't willing to invest in you, consider other organizations that will. Do it yourself Sales leaders might consider providing the training themselves as a way to save money, and it might be true that they're able to do it. For me, though I'm able to change my own oil and cut my own hair, I don't do it. [10:21] Just because we're capable of something doesn't mean we're the best person for the job. Consider the opportunity costs and the cost for you to stop your own work in order to train other people. If sales is the most important unit in your organization, if it's the lifeblood of the company, why not continue to educate your team. Give them podcasts to listen to or books to read. Don't hurt your company by trying to save a dime. "What If I Train Them And They Leave?" 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

We all have some kind of fear, but when we discover what causes fear and how to overcome it, we can discover new opportunities and success. Fear can prevent us from experiencing amazing things in life, or pursuing new business opportunities. We suffer through anxiety and difficulty when dealing with these fears. But no more! James Moffat, CEO and Founder of Visibility Impact guides new entrepreneurs and people wanting to start businesses by providing them with the tools and information they need to grow their business with proper exposure. He accomplishes this through a number of programs to drive results. His clients achieve bigger goals in a shorter amount of time and gain visibility. [02:00] Self-limiting I used to have a fear of talking to important people. I felt like I wasn’t worthy of their time or attention. It was a fear I quickly had to learn how to overcome in order to succeed in sales. When I finally understood that I was speaking with other human beings, people who were maybe just as nervous about talking to me as I was about talking to them, it made all the difference. I was the only limiting factor to my success. [10:37] James and I will talk about fear. What is it? How can we overcome it? What can we do on a daily basis to conquer fear instead of allowing it to conquer us? The Effects of Fear Many of us in sales have fears that hold us back and cause inaction. James defines fear as a worry about the unknown. It has a physiological effect not only on your mind but on your body as well... cold sweats, stress, etc. [05:10] Common fears among salespeople include worrying about what to say during a cold call, worrying about having enough product knowledge, and worrying about how prospects may react. Many of us also fear giving our first presentation to a real audience. Is my content relevant? Will people even listen to me? [05:48] Overcoming fear Overcoming these fears - or at least accepting them and learning how to cope with them - is necessary for success. You don’t have to suddenly like what it was you once feared; you may always dislike cold calling for example, but you must learn how to deal with it. We often find ourselves assuming the worst before we even begin. We have negative thoughts instead of positive ones. Controlling Fear Using cold calls again as an example, James still doesn’t particularly enjoy making them but he found a way to make himself feel more comfortable about it. He took the time to learn more about the person prior to the making the call. James spent time on their website, learned about their business, and visited their LinkedIn profile. James would also coordinate the time of the call via email. This allowed for a more relaxed introduction and eradicated the fear James had about interrupting a prospect with an unexpected phone call. [08:37] Using these techniques, James was able to turn a cold call into a warm call. Reducing negative outcomes Once the negative possible outcomes are reduced - once the number of unknowns is reduced by planning ahead - the level of fear is reduced. We may not conquer the fear, but we will have it under control. James recalls a situation, outside of sales, when he was atop a tall building with a friend and found himself convinced that he had a very real fear of heights. His friend disagreed because James has no such fear when traveling by airplane. It is not a fear of heights but a fear of falling. When James feels safe, he is not afraid. This lesson applies to sales. When we change the paradigm and view our fear from a different perspective, we gain control over it. [11:48] Moving Beyond your Comfort Zone James introduced a new concept to his Facebook group in order to help people overcome their fears. He didn’t want people to join without being known, so he required a short introduction from all new members via a 40-second video. The videos are posted to the group for comment which in turn stimulates discussion and comments. It creates immediate visibility among the group members. The video requirement was beyond the comfort zone of many participants, but to James, that is the whole point. We have to embrace change and technology. Do it once and it becomes easier each time thereafter. [16:27] You can not find success by remaining in your comfort zone. Learning to move beyond is when remarkable change can begin to occur.   Training wheels Think back to when you first learned to ride a bike. You were certainly afraid to fall and probably did fall several times. But the more you tried and the more you trusted the person who was teaching you, the better you became. You overcame the fear. Use the resources around you. Ask the senior sales reps how they overcame the fear of cold calling or the fear of rejection. How do they introduce themselves? What steps do they take to make themselves comfortable? Think of them as the training wheels on your bicycle. [20:32] “What Causes Fear and How to Overcome It” Episode Resources Please check out VisibilityImpact.com and the Facebook group by the same name. James can also be found on LinkedIn.com. 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

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