The Sales Evangelist

oday on The Sales Evangelist, we're going to talk about the fear of prospecting, how your coworkers often contribute to it, and how you can overcome your fear of rejection. Fear of rejection often keeps salespeople from going after potential deals, but it doesn't have to be this way. Intimidation If you're a new rep and your teammates warn you to stay away from a certain account, it can cause you to fear to reach out at all. In our case, a seller named Rick found himself in this exact situation. He believed so strongly in what he had to offer that he actually went to visit the client. [3:07] He spoke to the prospect's receptionist and he left information with her that she could pass on to the VP of the company. Several days passed and he didn't hear from the receptionist or the VP. Fortunately, his confidence outweighed his fear of rejection. He called the prospect at 7:30 a.m. and was able to talk to the exec because the receptionist wasn't there yet. Eventually, he closed the deal that his coworkers said couldn't be closed. His co-workers could have solved the problem as well, but they allowed the warnings and stories to intimidate. They never reached out to him. TSE Certified Sales Training In our TSE Certified Sales Training program, the first lesson we teach is how to prospect like an evangelist. The first thing we discuss is how to overcome the fear of rejection. [4:58] Fear results when we believe that someone is going to cause us harm or pain. But how does that belief come into existence? Because we were taught or coached to be fearful of the word no. When we were kids, we didn't fear being told no. But as we got older, we became conditioned to the idea that no is bad. Knowing the problems Rick did believe that he could be rejected, but he had a greater belief that he could solve a problem for the prospect. In many cases, because we don't understand what the prospect's challenges are, we have little confidence in our ability to solve problems for him. [6:57] To overcome fear, you must develop confidence in what you have to offer. The more times you successfully solve problems for comp0anies, the more confident you'll become. [Tweet "That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not because the nature of the thing changes, but our ability to do it changes. #BuildConfidence"] If you make enough calls, speak with enough prospects, and solve enough problems, you can become more confident. Getting better If you could listen to your very first cold call, you'd probably cringe because it sounds so awful. But imagine if you gave up after that very first cold call. Imagine if you gave up the first time someone yelled at you. [8:14] You'd never be where you are right now. Instead, because you kept doing it, you became confident. If you listen to the very first episodes of this podcast,  you might think I should have gotten more training before I started. Now, 985 episodes later, we're still creating episodes. Imagine all the money we've generated, the business opportunities we've created, and the salespeople we've helped over the years. You must have a belief that is stronger than fear. [9:30] Gain that by doing things over and over again. Also, gather as much intel as you possibly can about your prospect's problem. "Fear of Prospecting" episode resources If this episode was helpful to you, share it with someone else who can benefit from it. Help them overcome their fear of rejection. The TSE Certified Sales Training program targets new and struggling salespeople working for small to midsize companies. The sales training course will help you plan your day, understand prospecting, build value, and convert more customers. You can work through the course alone or as part of a group of 25 people. Click here to learn more or to register for the next course. 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. 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 and it allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never ever be the same. We'll use prospect.io in the upcoming semester of TSE Hustler's League to focus on prospecting. We'll give you insights and tools that will help you gain new customers. In addition, we'll provide training and strategies that you can implement today to ensure constant flow in your pipeline. Check out our new semester of The Sales Evangelist Hustler's League. We're taking applications for the semester beginning in January, and we can only take a limited number of people. 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

On today's episode of The Sales Evangelist, we talk to Matt Hernandez about the changes in the marketplace, and how the ability to find local partners has helped him drive more revenue for the businesses he serves. In his work with small-to-medium businesses, Matt has worked to figure out new ways to deal with leads because people have become more resistant to cold calling. He believes that, although cold-calling can work, it must exist in the right circumstances. The key is better lead intelligence. Hire the right people Matt doesn't struggle with recruiting or interviewing salespeople.  The key, he says, is to be very upfront about the challenges of the role and hire the right type of people. Hire open-minded people who aren't super particular about their activities and who often aren't as needy. [7:15] They'll be more coachable. Also be very honest about the type of role you're hiring for, the challenges it will present, but also the benefits of the role as well. Moving away from cold leads In the past, sellers would have a name and a phone number and they could attack each cold lead with different opens or different hooks. Now, he says, people are numb to that approach. Instead, his company looked to generate inbound leads and lukewarm leads. Matt's company uses a program called "Local Partners" that pays contractors to feed them warm or hot leads from local areas. He pointed out that using pure commission models doesn't change your cost structure. [9:14] He does acknowledge that you must make sure the payment is in line with the revenue goals. You must make sure your customer acquisition costs aren't too high. Big revenue increases Matt's company has seen strong results from the move away from cold calling. He estimates that the effort now accounts for 5 to 15 percent of their deals. He predicts that this kind of effort would likely work in a variety of industries. Companies just have to be creative to figure out how to scale in a cost-effective way. Buying leads can be very expensive, but a pay-for-results model can work if the infrastructure is set up properly. [11:10] Partnerships model Begin by listing as on Craigslist in the cities you're interested in. State what you're offering and decide ahead of time how much you can afford to pay. Decide how much you'd be willing to pay someone if they were to generate meetings or contracts. For longer sales cycles, you might have to pay per demo. [12:09] In shorter sales cycles, you pay based upon generating contracts. In your ad, provide a range of income that interested parties could generate per month. Then you could interview over the phone or in person or over video. The effort is super cheap, super easy and really scrappy. Be willing to pivot Be creative. Sales requires consistency and training and the right effort for the right amount of time. Without it, you'll never see meaningful results or data you can measure. [14:54] Seek objective advice and make sure you're giving your new ideas time to work. If things aren't going the way you want despite your effort, don't be afraid to pivot and try new approaches. Be willing to try something different. The marketplace changes rapidly, and technology does, too. You have to be willing to adapt. Fivestars Local businesses are the best candidates to benefit from Fivestars because they are traditionally underserved in their marketing efforts. They often face huge competition from groups of businesses that pool their resources. [15:59] Think of a small coffee shop competing against Starbucks, who has millions of dollars to spend on advertising. Fivestars has created a software that costs pennies on the dollar because the cost is spread across 10,000 merchants. It's an incredible solution for anyone who owns a local business with a physical location. "Find Local Partners" episode resources Connect with Matt via email at matthew.hernandez@fivestars.com. If you need a way to get more customers in the door, Fivestars works with more than 40 million consumers who use the platform. This episode is brought to you in part by Maximizer CRM, a personalized and robust CRM with the capability to organize your company and effectively line up not only your sales but your client’s success. Go to TheSalesEvangelist.com/maximizer for a free demonstration.   We are also brought to you by prospect.io, a powerful sales automation platform that allows you to build highly personalized, cold email campaigns. It has changed the way we prospect. Take advantage of the risk-free trial they offer specifically for the TSE community. First three months at half-price? You can’t beat that! To learn more, go to prospect.io/tse. Your prospecting will never ever be the same.  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 enjoy fine podcasts. And be sure to subscribe to the podcast 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

n today's episode of The Sales Evangelist, I talk to Todd Earwood about the adage that we need not reinvent the wheel, but Todd is doing just that. Todd famously cold-called the CEO of a billion dollar company for 43 straight days until he finally got the interview, and then the job. He began his career in software. It wasn’t until he was making the rounds to thank investors for the success of his latest software endeavor that he realized that marketing was his real niche.   As Todd explains it, one of the investors simply asked Todd what his future plans were, which seemed like such a silly question at the question. Software was all he had ever done. But the investor went on to say that marketing and sales were really the special skills he saw in Todd. Todd reluctantly agreed and MoneyPath began.  [00:54] Clear the path to purchases through quality marketing AtMoneyPath, Todd and his group of marketers ‘clear the path to purchases.’ It is their tagline because they are dedicated to helping sales. In the marketing world of pretty pictures and shiny objects, the reality is that without the lifeblood of qualified leads coming into the sales team, good things are not going to happen. Budgets will be cut and people will lose their jobs. But if you can master the marketing side of things, then the company grows. Everybody is happy and everybody wins. In the software environment, Todd was willing to experiment and fail. He looked beyond the traditional social channels, the paid media and the heavy use of emails. To begin, Todd and his team did an email research project where they opted into the funnels of the top 300 SAS software companies to see what those companies would do with a cold lead. The number one email topic returned to Todd’s team was about content. The second topic was webinars and that is when things really began to change. Now instead of writing six blog posts a week, Todd and his team create one great webinar every 15 days. Before long, they had created a massive educational series with more and more content. Reinventing the webinar to keep listeners engaged The old model is clearly broken because nobody really gets excited about ‘this week’s webinar’. People sign up but they don’t attend. Todd and his team wanted to change that. [03:38] There is a poor functionality with the current webinar system. It fails to keep the listeners engaged. Even when the topic sounds interesting, we never get around to actually listening to it, or to listening to it wholeheartedly. Todd realized that the engagement model needed to change. It needed to become interesting and engaging. There is just too much information and too many ways to deliver it. As a marketer, you are vying for the attention of the clients so you have to do something different. As Todd explains, unless you hire Kevin Hart or Adele, it is too hard for one person to carry 30-60-90 minutes of content. So at Webinar Works, they always have at least two speakers: a host and a thought leader. Bringing in leads The host facilitates all the basics and keeps it moving. The host will almost immediately facilitate a poll to grab people’s attention and get them actively participating with the webinar. Todd has seen up to 60% of the attendees join in because their webinars break the expectation of ‘another crappy webinar’ from the very start. The thought leader for each webinar is the expert on the subject. They aren’t there to read their own bio or tell the listeners how great they are. The thought leaders are there to educate and to share their wisdom. [06:44] The ultimate purpose of the webinar, aside from providing information to the listeners, is to obtain information from those listeners at the end in the form of a segmentation poll which generates qualified, high intent leads. This could be something as simple as asking the listeners to select the one issue addressed in the webinar that best fits their organization. With that information, the sales rep now has a tracking mechanism that tells him which listeners actually listened to the entire webinar, as well as which listeners requested assistance. That is way better than cold calling 2,000 people. [10:21] Leads delivered by the webinar The Webinar was interesting but I want to do more research. This is not a hot lead. It is a cool lead that needs some nurturing before it goes to the sales team. I really enjoyed the webinar but I need to refer any decision to my colleague. With this response, the sales rep knows the problem is there and the interest is there but that more research is needed to move into the right part of the organization. I want to learn more! This is the hot lead button that should be flagged as a real person with interest. [11:11] Beginning of the sales process The live webinar event may be over but the sales work is not done. As a marketer, Todd can help you divide that 42-minute webinar into three or five smaller clips so when a listener has a problem or a question, you will be able to easily find and deliver the information they need. [14:43] There is certainly a lot of preparation that goes into creating a webinar. Decide where you want to insert the polls. If you are creating content that educates the prospects and making statements that they haven’t heard before, you should expect and plan for questions. Your content should drive the questions, and those questions will increase engagement. [17:10] People will register for a webinar with a good hook. Choose three to five points and dedicate 10-12 minutes to present each point. Know what problem you want to solve and walk the listener through that scenario. Present listeners with the options they need to solve that problem. If you do it right, the listener will naturally determine, for themselves, that you have the answer he needs. [18:54] Webinar trends and tactics As far as the words people use - webinar vs masterclass, Todd has seen a trend in that most blog posts titles tie directly to a webinar.  For example, ‘Top Five Ways to Do X’ or ‘Old Method vs New Method’. Todd believes that the content should appeal to a narrow persona so that it draws only those people that will benefit from the content of your webinar. Webinars can break through all the noise and the clutter that other marketing is trying to do. Speak to your listeners as individuals and tailor your tactics to their needs. "Webinar Model" episode resources Check out WebinarWorks.io/salesevangelist for free resources, to grade yourself against great webinars and to find out if Webinar Works is a good fit for you. 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 and it allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never ever be the same. We'll use prospect.io in the upcoming semester of TSE Hustler's League to focus on prospecting. We'll give you insights and tools that will help you gain new customers. In addition, we'll provide training and strategies that you can implement today to ensure constant flow in your pipeline. TSE Hustler's League Check out our new semester of The Sales Evangelist Hustler's League. We're taking applications for the semester beginning in January, and we can only take a limited number of people. This episode is also 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. 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

Today on The Sales Evangelist we’ll talk about planning and setting effective goals. It’s that time of year again where we find ourselves contemplating our achievements over the past 12 months. Some of us reached our sales goals and some of us did not, but we can all benefit from reflecting on what worked well, and what did not work at all. HAVE A PLAN There’s a difference between setting goals by ‘throwing a dart at the goal wall’ versus setting goals based on the experiences that we are guided towards by the people we meet. It is the difference between having hope and having a plan. [03:27] A ‘throw a dart’ goal is as simple as choosing a random number – say $80,000 for example – and then setting that as your commission goal. But why that number? Are you simply hoping to make $80K, or do you have an actual plan in place to achieve it? I hope I lose 10lbs next year, I hope I win the lottery, I hope we get out of work early… Those are all just hopes because there is no plan in place to accomplish any of it. You have no control over the outcome. Goals, however, are fact-based. Let’s consider again the idea of earning $80K in commissions. If you made $40K last year and you know you want to push yourself more next year, does doubling your income seem realistic? Or is a goal of $60-65K more reasonable? [04:16] UNREALISTIC GOALS The problem with repeatedly setting goals that are not based on fact is the likelihood of failing to meet them. It becomes a vicious cycle. We fall short of our goal, we feel deflated as a result, and we stop trying. This contradicts Grant Cardone’s 10x Concept but hear me out. Let’s say I went to my manager and told him that I am going to try to get a million dollars in revenue for the year. We put that idea in motion and plan around it despite that, in reality, my highest revenue ever was $50K. It’s just not going to happen because it is an unrealistic goal from the start. [05:10] So what steps can you take to ensure that your goal is both realistic but also pushes you to achieve more? I have five that I want you to consider. [06:50] REASONABLE AND ACHIEVABLE GOALS Learn from the experience of others. Talk with your teammates that have done well or talk with your manager. Find out what goals they set when they were new to the business.  What steps did they take? What is a reasonable goal in their opinion? Put your goal in writing. Once you have decided on a reasonable goal, write it down and put it where you can see it. Studies have proven that goals that are written down are more likely to be achieved because there is a confidence that comes from taking that first step. Focus on fewer goals. This may sound counterproductive but do you really have the time and energy to reach your sales goals, be the top seller, get 10 new clients every week, go to the gym every day, travel the world and achieve those lofty 10x goals? Wouldn’t it make more sense to break it down into fewer achievable goals instead? Your goal needs to be measurable and specific. Suppose, after talking with your teammates, you’ve set a realistic goal of $50K.  The next step in achieving that goal is to decide how, specifically, you will achieve it. Break it down. How many new clients, for example, would you need to achieve the $50K? If gaining eight new clients is possible based on previous experience, then a goal of 10 new clients is not so far-fetched. [09:06] [12:21] Divide the goal into manageable pieces. The beauty of the book The Twelve Week Year is that it breaks the entire year down into 12-week increments so that you can take your goal and divide it into quarterly goals. How many appointments, how many new clients, how many presentations etc. do you need, on a quarterly basis, to stay on track? Put those calculations into your calendar and work toward them on a regular basis.   It really helped me to achieve my goals because it is so manageable. I can focus on what I need to do each day or each week to achieve my end goal instead of just hoping that it magically comes together at that end. A quarterly focus on a realistic goal enables you to turn the process into a habit. Once you have the system down, you can replicate it over and over again. You are going to see measurable and amazing results. [09:57] We’ve had our best year yet at The Sales Evangelist and I want to make sure you can do the same. I’ve been in your shoes and I really enjoy helping new sellers however I can. We are already planning for next year by taking a look at what we’ve accomplished this year and what we hope to accomplish moving forward. I hope that today’s podcast will help you do the same. “GOALS” EPISODE RESOURCES Get a free download of the Twelve Week Year, as well as a 30-day free trial of the audible version, at audible trial.com/TSE. Check out our Facebook group, The Sales Evangelizers. It is for sellers all over the world to share insights, ideas, ask questions, and so forth. If you are not pleased with your CRM or think it could be functioning better, check out Maximizer CRM. Maximizer is a personalized CRM that will give you the confidence to improve your business and increase profits. Go to TheSalesEvangelist.com/maximizer for a free demonstration. [00:43] [14:45] We are also brought to you by prospect.io/tse.  Do yourself a favor and check them out. Prospect.io is a powerful sales automation platform that allows you to build highly personalized, cold email campaigns. It has changed the way we prospect. [00:43] [13:57] 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 enjoy fine podcasts. And be sure to subscribe to the podcast 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

On today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, we’re going to hear from David DeRam, CEO and co-founder of Greenlight Guru, about the “it” factor, and how it can change the culture in any organization. CULTURE At Greenlight Guru, David and his team spend a lot of time focusing on culture. He calls the company culture unique, but he says that culture doesn’t fall down on you like rain. You don’t experience culture; you participate in it. Leaders can think about culture and work to create culture, but leaders can’t execute culture. It’s like a plant that will grow the way that it grows, and if everyone isn’t on board with the culture, the culture won’t grow the way leaders want it to. [4:51] As a result, David’s team looks to everyone on the team to get involved and participate in the culture.   Culture drives results. It impacts every single nook and cranny of your business. #WorkCulture CLICK TO TWEET   People will work how they feel, and if they feel great, they’ll bring an entirely different energy to their efforts. PROFESSION David’s team intentionally calls work your profession. He points to the fact that the leaders in every industry, (think Tiger Woods, Warren Buffet, Jimi Hendrix) have devoted themselves to their work. Their work is their profession. [6:35] Listeners of this podcast have devoted their lives to sales and it’s their profession. Your profession isn’t just what you do; it’s what you believe. David’s team has worked to bring all of those aspects into the culture. Companies tend to focus on results, and by focusing on results you can miss the one thing you desire the most, which is the people, culture, and execution. “IT” FACTOR David became immediately aware of the “it” factor when he subbed as a coach for a little league baseball team. As soon as he encountered the players on the team, he could tell who the natural athletes were. They moved naturally. They were confident. The true players were like fish in water. David took the lessons he learned from that sports experience and moved them into his business. He prioritizes where people aim in order to find leaders. Setting the bar high for yourself can create a lot of stress, anxiety, and uncertainty. People with the “it” factor know how to set the bar high because they understand that the vision they create is more exciting than the fear they experience as a result of setting it there. [9:46] You can feel the “it” factor when you meet people. They have reached high levels in everything they’ve done and they have a lot of swagger. They’ve survived a lot of hardship. ALLIGATOR BLOOD One of the company’s core values is something it calls “alligator blood,” which refers to those people who are resistant to the endless psychological blows, and competitive enough to keep pounding away on others when they are ahead. Not everyone is wired that way. You can coach it and build it, but when you find the “it” factor, you’re in the right place. The people who love the struggle and who set the bar really high for themselves exude an energy that spreads to the people around them. [12:21] TEACHING CULTURE David’s team focuses on the medical device industry. It’s a tough industry with a complicated product and a complicated regulatory environment, and the rules are constantly changing. Instead of spending time talking about how hard the work is, the company focuses on true quality and being great. They take a one-game-at-a-time mentality, knowing that you can’t win the Super Bowl in week 1. [17:09] Because the team understands that there’s a long way to go, it’s able to focus on execution. David’s hiring process strives to bring people to the team who naturally fit that culture. Some personalities might work really well in other industries, but not in David’s industry. It’s not in the company’s DNA to have a bad actor in the company. The best way to destroy a company is from the inside. The same is true of building it. David’s team measures its success partly by whether the entire team is living the core values. CULTURE SHIFT If you discover that your culture isn’t exactly where you’d like it to be, begin inside the organization. [19:50] People who have had to perform in the past and really put themselves out there for the good of the team (like authors, musicians, and athletes) often make great recruits. If a person doesn’t fit your core values, no matter how talented he is, you will have to unravel a huge mess if you hire him. RAISING THE LEVEL OF PLAY People with the “it” factor have a combination of God-given ability, work ethic, fun, and what David calls bounce. [20:57] They win battles, they win games, they overcome odds, they win championships, and along the way, they raise the energy and the level of play for the people around them. The team gets better, and the players respond and get better. When that happens, you’ve got something really special. “IT FACTOR” EPISODE RESOURCES David’s team is always hiring people who want to play at the highest level. If you’re interested in figuring out whether you’re a good fit, you can connect with David’s team at www.greenlight.guru on the careers page. [21:55] You can also connect with David on his LinkedIn page. 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 and it allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never ever be the same. We’ll use prospect.io in the upcoming semester of TSE Hustler’s League to focus on prospecting. We’ll give you insights and tools that will help you gain new customers. In addition, we’ll provide training and strategies that you can implement today to ensure constant flow in your pipeline. Check out our new semester of The Sales Evangelist Hustler’s League. We’re taking applications for the semester beginning in January, and we can only take a limited number of people. This episode is also 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. 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

I received an email the other day from a sales rep that I found so annoying that I am dedicating this entire episode to the ways you can avoid making the same mistakes with your emails. This episode will give you ideas to make sure your emails grab your prospect’s attention so that he will reply instead of deleting your email. ANNOYING EMAILS The annoying email I received began, “Hello there.” Who is ‘there’? Do they not even know my name? I’ve done 1000+ episodes.  I’m on Twitter, Facebook, and my name is easy to find. The lack of effort on the part of the sender was evident from the very start. It is almost an insult. And it didn’t improve from there as the body of the email in no way addressed my type of business or my needs. It was simply an email blast. It was, quite frankly, a waste of everyone’s time. The days of sending out crappy emails are long gone. You want your emails to encourage a reply, to start the kind of engaging conversation that will lead to a sale now, or in the future. It needs to open the door for continued discussions. [01:49] ENGAGING EMAILS Using the email I received as an example, how easy would it have been for the sales rep to look me up on LinkedIn, or on my website? Or why not call and try to find out the best point of contact for the email?   Furthermore, nothing about the email had anything to do with sales. At all. It was a vague and generic email that didn’t even refer to me as a person. There was no personal connection, so why would I want to continue that conversation?   Here’s what I recommend instead: Make sure the subject line is catchy. It is the first thing they will read and frankly, it might be the last thing they bother to read, so make it good. “Donald, I saw this on your website and thought it might help” is a fine example. They know my name, they know I have a website, they looked at my website … I am going to open that email. [05:11] Next, begin your email by immediately referencing the thought contained in the subject line. Don’t tell them your name, or your company name because they don’t need it right now. It can all be found later in the signature block at the end. Don’t even worry about saying hello – just dive into the issue. BE DIRECT “Donald, I noticed on your sales page that it wasn’t loading properly at the end. This could be caused by X or Y. I would love to talk with you about how we’ve helped other podcasters fix it….” That difference makes all the difference! It is simple and easy to read. It provides insight and ideas, informs me of a potential problem and offers a clear step to solve it. Instead of the overused and generic “We can help you save money/get more leads,” the email is specific and offers value to the targeted business. [06:41] Another example of a good email: “I notice you have regular postings for new sales reps and we recently conducted a study with software companies like yours and found three critical reasons that prevent sales reps from succeeding… bullet point 1, 2, 3… Would you care to take a look at the full report?” [07:40] The goal of that email is to grab the reader’s attention, to focus on their problem of high turnover and to speak specifically to that need. Now compare that email to one that simply reads “Hey, are you hiring? Check out our new program.” One email is clearly tailored to the reader and provides relative and pertinent information, while the other certainly does not. FOCUS ON IDEAL CLIENTS To be able to personalize your emails, I recommend the age-old principle of creating a list of 50 or 100 dream clients to focus on for a week or two at a time depending on your cadence process. That focus will allow you the time to do a little research, to learn about their specific industry and to understand typical problems they might have. [09:13] You might try to connect with them on LinkedIn, engage with them there and later send an email that ties directly to that LinkedIn conversation. “It was great connecting with you on LinkedIn…” You are now someone the reader is already acquainted with so you’ll increase the likelihood of a favorable response to your email. THE TSE CERTIFIED SALES TRAINING PROGRAM These are all core fundamental principles of effective emails that we cover in greater detail in the three main courses of our new TSE Certified Sales Training Program. [10:24] The first course, Prospect Like an Evangelist, teaches sales reps how to find, attract and engage the ideal customer for their company. We talk about how to use the phone and emails. We also address how to create a flow process and how to utilize social media and mailings to grab their attention. The second semester focuses on Creating Irresistible Value – the middle of the sales process. How can we master the fundamentals of discovering what matters most to our buyers and how can we turn their interest into an appointment? We will discuss ways to have deeper discussions with our clients so they can make effective and informed decisions. The third semester is the Closing Course. We teach sellers how to understand and implement the core principles of closing. These three courses can be taken as a series or ala carte. We’d love to have you in the next course that begins in January. To learn more and to apply for the program, please visit The Sales Evangelist.com/cstp. [11:41] I want you to build stronger value. I want you to close more deals. More importantly, I want to challenge you each and every day to do big things. We need to be confident and we need to be determined. We need to be professionals that educate the buyer to save them money, to save their business and to save our bottom line as well. “LAZY OUTREACH” EPISODE RESOURCES This episode is brought to you in part by Maximizer CRM, a personalized and robust CRM with the capability to organize your company and effectively line up not only your sales but your client’s success. Go to TheSalesEvangelist.com/maximizer for a free demonstration.  [12:24] We are also brought to you by prospect.io, a powerful sales automation platform that allows you to build highly personalized, cold email campaigns. It has changed the way we prospect. Take advantage of the risk-free trial they offer specifically for the TSE community. First three months at half-price? You can’t beat that! To learn more, go to prospect.io/tse. Your prospecting will never ever be the same.  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 enjoy fine podcasts. And be sure to subscribe to the podcast 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

Sales constantly evolves. As technology and tools change, we have new processes and strategies available to us. On today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, we hear from Alex Glenn about the new world for CRM and mirroring pipeline and how it can help us be more effective in our sales processes. Alex runs automateddata.af, a place where customers can grab working automations for their businesses. The platform crowdsources solutions and wraps them up into a usable format for those in sales, marketing, and customer success. DEVELOPING CRM CRM has seen a bit of a shift over the last few years. Instead of being software that costs thousands of dollars and requires a great deal of training, your CRM must be more agile now. [3:51] CRM must work with your existing tools as well as the dashboards you regularly use for work. It must be easily accessible and easily connectable. Most founders are also coming around to the idea that CRM should serve as all-in-one solutions. It’s very convenient for people to access the information they need without having to lead the dashboard they already work in. BEST SOFTWARE POSSIBLE The first issue must be finding the best possible software for each process. [7:46] You want to conduct outreach — either cold emailing, cold calling or LinkedIn prospecting. Then you want to manage that person or that prospect using CRM. You’ll need post-conversion like signup, demos, and other options, and you’ll need nurturing touchpoints like email, and phone calls. Then you’ll need post-sale drips and one-to-one messaging. The problem is that all of that can’t exist in one tool, but several tools are trying to accomplish all or 75 percent of it. The “all-in-ones” represent themselves that way because they cover most of these activities, though many of the components will be somewhat bare bones. [9:20] There are issues with each of them that limit your capabilities. AUTOMATION Customers need to have timely messages that are appropriate for their specific situations. All-in-ones won’t ever be the best solution because they won’t be able to give you everything you need at every step. Google Apps is global now, and many people in the tech and startup scenes are using it because there’s so much collaboration possible. [11:55] But if your cold outreach system isn’t talking to your CRM and talking to your website, then you can cause a lot of confusion because you might be messaging someone in LinkedIn while you’re sending emails at the same time. It can make your efforts seem disorganized. You need a tool that syncs your pipeline stages. (Click here to access the video of Alex navigating some of these tools.) [17:47] BENEFITS This capability allows small organizations to do really effective cold outreach. You may have gotten slapped for cold outreach before because you were sending too many emails or you got blacklisted. That doesn’t mean cold outreach doesn’t work. That may result because you weren’t using the right platform or because your setup was wrong. The second possibility is that you weren’t doing it well. Perhaps you weren’t nurturing them effectively. [33:18] If your pipeline stages aren’t in sync through the different outreach systems or the different tools that you’re using, you could create a poor customer experience. Whether you use a system like this or an all-in-one system together with a cold outreach system, make sure your pipeline stages are clearly outlined. Know what’s going on at each stage. Make sure each tool is being updated based upon where the customer is and how he interacted with your tools. “NEW WORLD FOR CRM AND MIRRORING PIPELINE” EPISODE RESOURCES You can connect with Alex at automated.af and email him at team@automated.af. Automated hopes to build out so that it will offer something for everyone. Check out the tools Alex mentioned in the episode: persistiq.com for sales engagement with a clean interface user.com for automation software to track customer engagement useorca.com to find and engage new customers. You can also view the screenshare here. 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 and it allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never ever be the same. We’ll use prospect.io in the upcoming semester of TSE Hustler’s League to focus on prospecting. We’ll give you insights and tools that will help you gain new customers. In addition, we’ll provide training and strategies that you can implement today to ensure constant flow in your pipeline. Check out our new semester of The Sales Evangelist Hustler’s League. We’re taking applications for the semester beginning in January, and we can only take a limited number of people. This episode is also 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. 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

On today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, we’ll talk to serial entrepreneur Justin Hartzman about how we can grow a business and why we should do it with the possibility of an acquisition in mind. Justin is the CEO and co-founder of Needls.com, the Internet’s first RoboAgency. It is the easiest and most effective way for small businesses to advertise online and bring in more sales. By answering just six questions, Needls.com knows who you are, who you want to sell to, and what you want to sell. It can create 50-500 ads in real time, deliver them to the network, and show them to your ideal customer.  THE BOTTOM LINE OF ANY BUSINESS Some of us seek the independence that comes from being our own boss while others desire flexibility and creative freedom or want to achieve a sense of personal fulfillment. [1:59] The bottom line of starting any business though, as Justin explains, is to earn the financial freedom to live our lives the way we want. A successful business puts more money in our pockets and allows us the time to enjoy it. Trying to start a new business, however, is tricky. While there are more people now looking for opportunities to fund, there are also more people competing for those funds. The common approach is to build the product first. Then you find the money to produce the product next and then sell the product. Justin recommends the complete opposite approach. IF YOU SELL IT, THEY WILL COME. Sales are always first. Find out if people want your product and if they do – sell it to them.   With the sales lined up and letters of intent in your hand, it becomes much easier to find people to fund your product. [3:19] For example, Justin’s fiance’ told him that a friend on Facebook was looking for someone to build an iOS app. When that need for an app turned into an immediate $60,000 contract, the light bulb turned on and Needls.com was born. People always have questions and they will always ask other for answers. Justin and his team created a software program to scan their Facebook feeds for specific words that could lead to other sales. [4:32] They soon realized a 300% increase in their business. Those sales gave them the funds they needed to takeNeedls.com where it is today. PLANNING FOR ACQUISITION Ignore those instances when a fledgling business did well and was acquired without planning for it because those are few and far between. Instead, Justin firmly believes that you need to be organized and to plan for an eventual acquisition from Day One. [8:02] Have your data in order from the start because trying to organize it later is not only time-consuming but expensive. Instead, be sure you are incorporated correctly and have a handle on your finances. Build the processes you need and scale your business at the proper cadence. Make sure your books and contracts are in order, your IP is buttoned up and all the proper NDAs are in place. Simply put: Expect to be successful and plan accordingly.   ATTRACT ACQUISITION OFFERS Justin’s success has come from partnering with other businesses who can help him as he helps them. [9:01]  It all comes back to sales. Sell yourself first. Make yourself useful. Find partners who will benefit from what you have to offer and take advantage of the networking opportunities, learning experiences, and industry insight they provide in return. Then when an acquisition situation arises, you are in place and you are ready. “GROW A BUSINESS RIPE FOR ACQUISITION” EPISODE RESOURCES Justin truly believes that making oneself useful to others is the key to success and, as such, he is always happy to chat or answer your questions. He can be reached at JH@needls.comor you can find him on LinkedIn.    He is also offering 35% off his entire platform for a year via needls.com/salesevan and his team is on standby to answer questions and to help you make the most of it. Check out our previous episode about why buying your competition might be a good option for your company. 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 salesevangelists.com/maximizer. Click on the link to get a free demo of what Maximizer CRM can do for you. Maximizer is intuitive, simple, and personable. Maximizer integrates your marketing campaign as well as your CRM. It works whether you’re a small organization or a large one. It works throughout the whole organization and it’s customizable to the way you sell. 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 and it allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never ever be the same. TSE HUSTLER’S LEAGUE We’ll use prospect.io in the upcoming semester of TSE Hustler’s League to focus on prospecting. We’ll give you insights and tools that will help you gain new customers. You can implement our training and strategies today to ensure constant flow in your pipeline. Check out TSE Hustler’s League and apply to see if it’s a good fit. Leave us a review 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 it with someone else you think might benefit. Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

Many of the activities in our day don’t actually help us close more deals. We’re busy doing things, but they aren’t moving our deals forward. Today we’ll talk about the things that distract us as sales reps, and how we can stop unnecessary distractions that are actually hindering our efforts. DISTRACTIONS Email is a necessary part of our sales efforts but spending time cleaning up our email isn’t an effective use of our time. If this were a football game, you wouldn’t be in the locker room trying to learn plays. Once the game starts, you’ll spend your time trying to advance the ball and score. So why do we spend our time at work doing things that aren’t conducive to closing deals? [4:30] Very often, we are hesitant to do the things that we really need to do. We don’t want to make cold calls or try to upsell our existing customers.   Sellers often want to do things that are easy, so we do things that make us feel accomplished like cleaning our email instead of tackling hard tasks like cold calling and prospecting. #Productivity CLICK TO TWEET   RECORD YOUR ACTIVITY Spend an entire week writing down all your activity and the amount of time you spend on it. [5:14] If you go to the kitchen to get a drink, write it down. If you talk with other team members, write that down and record how long it takes. Record all of your activities: email, updating CRM, creating proposals and attending meetings. Write down how long you spend on planning and social media. If you get sidetracked by your cell phone, write it down, and write the time next to it. As you do this over the course of a week, you’ll begin to see trends in your daily activity. ANALYZE YOUR ACTIVITY Now look at your activity and figure out which steps actually contribute to your closing deals. [6:46] Be honest about your activity and look for places that you can use your time better. Could you take a shorter lunch break a couple of days a week to create more time for sales activity? Score every activity on a scale of 1 to 3: 1’s are things that don’t help you close deals, while 3’s are things that contribute greatly to your closings. You can even use a 1 to 5 scale if that works better for you. Find the activities that aren’t helping you close deals and pay attention to the amount of time you spend on those activities. REDIRECT YOUR TIME Once you’ve identified the things that aren’t helping your efforts, figure out how that time spent cleaning out your email can be better used. Over time, these small amounts of time add up to hours that we could be using to focus on something productive. [9:13] Instead of checking ESPN, I could reach out to a prospect on LinkedIn. Eliminate tasks that you don’t need to do. Ask for accountability from your manager or your coworkers. Use apps that prevent you from accessing distracting websites. Intentionally focus on those activities that scored higher on your list. Outsource those activities that bog you down. UNCOMPLICATE THINGS Eliminate things that keep you from being the very best seller you can be. [11:41] Audit your time to see how you’re spending it. Rate your activities and eliminate unnecessary tasks. Hyperfocus on the important activities. This will change your business and your personal life when you implement it. “UNNECESSARY DISTRACTIONS” 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 and it allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never ever be the same. We’ll use prospect.io in the upcoming semester of TSE Hustler’s League to focus on prospecting. We’ll give you insights and tools that will help you gain new customers. In addition, we’ll provide training and strategies that you can implement today to ensure constant flow in your pipeline. Check out our new semester of The Sales Evangelist Hustler’s League. We’re taking applications for the semester beginning in January, and we can only take a limited number of people. This episode is also 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. 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

The last thing you want is to have your sales process abandon by your sellers. We will share with you how to prevent this. Listen to how. Mentioned in this episode:HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com