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How To Create An Environment Where People Thrive At Work

 

A healthy work environment allows people to thrive and grow. But what can we do to create that environment where people thrive

Kingsley Grant is focused on helping leaders get better results by using a framework of emotional intelligence and leadership. He helps sales leaders create environments that support positive output. 

 

Reasons why salespeople don’t thrive at work 

The research group, Aussie Tanner, interviewed people who left their companies. Based on that research, it showed that people leave because they felt unacknowledged,  under-valued, and unimportant. The best way to address these problems is to create an environment that supports employees and allows them to feel they are part of the team. This engagement can be a challenge for many leaders. 

 

Another reason why salespeople fail to thrive is they don’t feel safe to share their ideas. There is a fear that sales leaders will use those ideas against them. Sales leaders need to create an environment where their team can share ideas they know will at least be considered.  When employees feel they’re in an environment that offers room to experiment and make mistakes, these salespeople grow and thrive.

 

How does thriving look like?

A salesperson who is allowed to  unleash their talents is a person who thrives. For example, L’Oreal is a huge cosmetics company that wanted their people to thrive with their company. They had some of their salespeople  trained in the area of emotional intelligence. The rest of their sales team weren’t given the training. What they found was that their trained personnel and sales staff were able to sell more. Their value increased and their net revenue rose to $2.5 million in just a month. 

 

Helping salespeople acquire emotional intelligence can greatly impact the company. Allowing your sales team to learn self-awareness is a powerful tool to build their confidence and increase revenue. 

 

Defining emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, understand, and regulate your emotions. It is the ability to have a level of awareness of how you feel and manage your relationships around you.  Every salesperson is building relationships around them, whether it’s with their team or their customers. Having emotional intelligence provides the ability to manage a variety of relationships. 

 

A sales leader plays a huge part in building their sales teams’ emotional intelligence. The leader must be sensitive to the needs of the members of their sales team. This includes an awareness of what their team is going through, what the sales reps need to learn in order to make better sales decisions, and more. When the sales leader is tuned in to the feelings of their sales team it helps them have a feeling of belonging. This helps the sales reps stay motivated, thrive, and bring in more sales. 

 

Building a safe environment for salespeople 

 

The sales team should be encouraged to share suggestions they think will help the company. Kingsley shares an experience he had at a previous company when he wasn’t supported. He wanted to help the company by sharing an idea he had and brought the idea to his coordinator. When his coordinator didn’t agree, instead of talking to Kingsley, the coordinator went to the vice president of the company. As a result, Kingsley could no longer trust his coordinator.  After his idea was received so badly, he didn’t share other ideas he wanted to offer and quit the company six months later. He could no longer work for someone who would shut down his ideas and talk to the executives behind his back. 

 

Sales leaders are often focused on the bottom line, only seeing the end results, and they fail to acknowledge the people who are delivering those results. They fail to see their most important resources, the sales team. The way teams are treated can determine whether or not goals are met. Salespeople have to feel safe. They need to know if they don’t make a sale, they won’t be reprimanded but instead, be mentored about how to be more effective next time.  It doesn’t mean a sales leader ignores a sales rep who can’t or refuses to learn but unfortunately, sales people leave a company long before the company realizes their true skill set. People don’t leave organizations. They leave bad bosses. 

 

When salespeople feel heard, and their ideas matter, they will stay at a company longer and make more money.  Win-win! #SalesWin

 

Reprimand at the right time 

Sales leaders are effective when they praise publicly and reprimand privately. A sales rep should never be embarrassed in front of the team. Tough love isn’t going to work.

 

As a mentor, build an environment where you can watch your sales team interact and help them modify any actions that aren’t working.  Help them to overcome and face a variety of situations that may be keeping them from success. You are learning with them and will see some skill sets you didn’t know they had. It’s these very skills that will prove to be useful in the sales process. You may even be able to reposition them to areas they are even more effective for the company. 

Be the thermostat and the thermometer of your organization. You are not only setting the temperature in the environment but also making note of the temperature so you can adjust your team accordingly.

 

“How To Create An Environment Where People Thrive At Work” episode resources

Kingsley Grant is also a published author of the book, The Emotilligent Leader: The Story Where Others Failed. You can check it out on Amazon. You can also check out his website, kingsleygrant.com

Do you have sales questions? Suggestions? You can also talk to Donald about it via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for any sales concerns. 

This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. 

We have a new semester beginning in January and we would love to have you and your team join us. Follow this link to apply to the program. 

We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes so tune in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to. 

You can also read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial. 

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

Direct download: TSE_1245.mp3
Category:Sales Growth -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

Best Sellers In History Series 6 - "Mary Kay Ash"

 

It’s the sixth episode for out Best Sellers in History series. We’ve talked about Jesus Christ, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, Mother Teresa, and Mahatma Gandhi. This time, we’re going to talk about someone who helped get others promoted but was overlooked for promotions herself.  She noticed how unfairly she was being treated at her job but instead of begging for a piece of the pie, she went ahead and created her own pie! Let’s talk about Mary Kay Ash and how she built her empire from the strong skill sets she developed as a salesperson.

 

Sales Spotlight - Mary Kay Ash

Mary Kay Ash is world-renowned for being the makeup and skincare queen.  Her pink Cadillac has become iconic. How did this come from someone who kept getting passed over for promotion?  Because she is considered to be one of the best sellers in history. Here are five reasons why: 

  • Had a purpose and a why
  • Created a vision or a common cause
  • Had a strong and impressive work ethic
  • Had the desire to create and give rewards
  • Willing to take action

 

Mary Kay Ash was born on May 12, 1918, in Hotwells, Texas. She took care of her sick dad for most of her childhood while her mother did the earning for the family. At 17 years old, Mary Kay married Ben Rogers and had three children with him before Ben went to war in WWII. Their marriage eventually came to an end and Mary Kay was left with three children to take care of. 

 

She needed to make money to feed her children so she started working for Stanley Home products in 1939. She’d go into someone’s home and host parties with the sole purpose of encouraging people to buy household items. Mary Kay was great at her job and she became a top seller. By 1952, Mary Kay was hired by World Gifts. After 10 years,however, she quit her job. At that time, the sales force was mostly made up of men and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get ahead because she was a woman. She saw the men she was training were getting promoted, going onto better jobs, and they were getting a much higher wage. 

 

Had a purpose and a why

 

With $5000, Mary Kay used the money to build her empire. Mary Kay had a purpose.  She was a mother who needed to take care of her kids and a woman who wanted to see other women succeed. Mary Kay also had a vision that helped her achieve her dreams. She had a why.

 

As a salesperson, a vision and purpose can propel you beyond a bad sales day. For many people, a paycheck isn’t enough.  There has to be a deeper connection, something bigger. Having a purpose is the motivation that moves you to show up even when things get hard. 

Have a purpose that pushes you to create an opportunity for the people you care about the most. 

 

Mary Kay had a purpose that was even bigger than herself. While she wanted to take care of her family, she also wanted to create something that would help other women. 

 

Created a vision and a common cause

Every great salesperson in this series had a vision and created a common cause. Mary Kay recognized that women were undervalued in the sales industry and other workplaces. Women were not considered as capable as men.  This misconception prompted Mary Kay to build an empire that would give women the opportunity to succeed and do more. Her business opened doors for women to become six-figure earners and as a result, became the breadwinners for their families and they had a community where they were valued. The company grew and by the end of its second year, it was making $1 million in product sales. 

 

A salesperson can also achieve greater success if they can communicate a common cause to their clients. Creating a brand message that solves problems and identifying a common struggle can create a unifying purpose.  

 

Had a strong and impressive work ethic

Mary Kay had an impressive work ethic and worked hard. She got up everyday at 5:00 AM. She said, “If you get up at 5 o’clock three times a week, you’ll gain an extra day. You need to try it a few times because you realize a great feeling of satisfaction at 8:00 in the morning when you’ve already finished what would have taken you six hours to do after 8 o’clock because of the interruptions.” 

 

Make it your goal to wake up early, put in the time, start working, and be productive without the distractions. Give yourself an opportunity to practice and challenge yourself as Mary Kay did. 

 

Had the desire to create and give rewards

According to the Harvard Business Review, the three reasons why people leave their job is because they don’t like their boss, they don’t see an opportunity for promotion, or they were offered a better job. Mary Kay understood this and set up a system with four levels of promotion:

  • Independent beauty consultant
  • Red jacket beauty consultant
  • Independent sales director
  • National sales director 

 

As sales people hit their numbers, they would be promoted to the next level,and get different rewards. This motivated people and gave them room to grow. The system made them very successful. The ultimate success for any employee in Mary Kay is winning the pink Cadillac. 

 

As a sales rep or sales leader with a small business, give your team a path and an opportunity to grow. Give them a goal and when they hit that mark, offer a reward. They will see that as an opportunity to earn and achieve. It helps your company because you’ll have an employee who works hard to earn the reward. 

 

Willing to take action

Mary Kay left her full-time job and decided to create her own company but she didn’t have the capital. She borrowed the $5,000 from her son and bought the rights for the makeup and skincare brand from a previous client. She could have used the money to save up and pay the bills but she didn’t. She saw an opportunity and she grabbed it. She struck while the iron was hot. 

 

Don’t talk yourself out of opportunities. Be brave and take calculated risks. Reach out and make something happen. Don’t miss an opportunity because you’re afraid. Notice when you’re in the right place at the right time and position yourself around people who can help you make things happen. 

 

Mary Kay knew how to create a vision and a common cause. #SalesWoman

 

“Best Sellers In History Series 6 - "Mary Kay Ash" episode resources

Mary Kay Ash did five things right and that made her a great businesswoman. She had a reason which enabled her to create a vision. Mary Kay adopted a strong work ethic and she used the power of rewards to motivate people. Lastly, Mary Kay was willing to take advantage of the opportunities and struck while the iron was hot. Learn more about her from this link

Do you have sales questions? Suggestions? You can also talk to Donald about it via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for any sales concerns. 

This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. 

It’s also brought to you by B2B Sales Show with a different podcast format. It has a rotating co-host and they brought in multiple sales though leaders and half a dozen other co-hosts that are either interviewing the guests or sharing quick hit tactical content themselves from their own lessons throughout their sales career. They have multiple episodes a week. 

We have a new semester beginning in January and we would love to have you and your team join us. Follow this link to apply to the program. 

 

We have a new semester beginning in January and we would love to have you and your team join us. Follow this link to apply to the program. 

We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes so tune in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to. 

You can also read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial. 

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

Direct download: TSE_1244.mp3
Category:women in sales, best sellers in history -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

5 Ways Exercise Will Help You Become A Better Sales Professional

 

Everybody wants to be better and be the best version of themselves. There are ways to help you become a better sales professional. 

Austin Rolling is the founder and CEO of a software company based in Houston, Texas called Outfield. It’s a web and mobile-based software application designed for organizations that compete for outside sales, field marketing, and field merchandising activities. 

They created a platform to help companies acquire the necessary data to be effective in rolling out and executing their field marketing strategies. 

Austin wrote an article about 5 areas we can become a better sales professional through exercise. To be better, exercise doesn't just refer to physical fitness. Mental health is just as important for someone wanting to be a great salesperson. The 5 areas we’ll be reviewing include: 

  • Mental fitness
  • Having various outlets  to relieve stress 
  • Appearance
  • Energy to make it through the day
  • Self-reflection 

 

Mental fitness

 

Sales can be mentally taxing, especially with a challenging sales cycle.  They have to be able to show up and be ready to do critical tasks month after month.  Because of this they have to be mentally tough. You need to be in the right mental state to remember even the tiniest tasks in order to remain organized. With the hormones released by the body during a physical exercise is one way a clearer mind can be achieved.

 

Have an Outlet to Relieve Stress

 

The second area that can help someone become a better sales professional is to have various outlets to relieve stress. We typically feel better after a great workout. The body releases endorphins that help reduce stress and anxiety. The hormones released by the brain due to exercise helps with mental clarity. For Austin, he relieves his stress with hard-core exercise. He suggests sales people look at a variety of outlets like golf, basketball, art, music, and more. 



Presentable appearance 

Appearance and grooming play a vital role for salespeople. In sales, it’s important to maintain a level of confidence and you only have one chance to make a first impression. When you want the value of your presentation to be heard, you need to make sure there are no distractions.  An example of a distraction may include a wrinkled shirt or dirty shoes. You want to present yourself in such a way that you appear fit, carry yourself well, and seem confident.

 

Having the right energy

Salespeople have to be excited about the value they are going to provide to their customers. You want to go into a meeting with contagious energy so your customers will also get excited about your company’s value proposition. Make them believe in what you’re selling by believing in yourself first. If you want them to believe in the value and the services you’re able to provide show the energy that conveys that. 

 

In his book, Social Intelligence by Daniel Goldman, a Harvard Ph.D. graduate, he talks about how our bodies are wired to connect with people. We have mirror neurons that allow us to synchronize with other people based on their emotions.  These emotions are also based on the emotions we exude. If we are coming off negative, the client will sense it. Make sure that what you’re sending out is positive energy. Two sales reps can share the exact same message but the one with more passion and excitement will get the deal. 

 

Exude a level of energy that’s contagious and believable! If you don’t, your competition will. #SalesMindset

 

Self-reflection 

Setting aside time for self-reflection is another way to become a better sales professional. Self-reflection allows you to see what mistakes you might have made and gives you time to think about how you can become better. It’s a time to think about your missed opportunities so you can make a note of vulnerable areas and allocate your energy to the right activities next time. Taking the time to do this will enhance and sales professional. 

 

Even more important than talent and intelligence, is attitude. Do the things that will move you toward a more positive energy and clients will see that in the work. 

 

“5 Ways Exercise Will Help You Become A Better Sales Professional” episode resources

Talk to Austin Rolling via Austine@outfieldapp.com. He is also on LinkedIn so you can just go check his LinkedIn profile. Do you have sales questions? Suggestions? You can also talk to Donald about it via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for any sales concerns. 

This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. 

We have a new semester beginning in January and we would love to have you and your team join us. Follow this link to apply to the program. 

We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes so tune in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to. 

You can also read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial. 

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

Direct download: TSE_1243.mp3
Category:Sales Effectiveness -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

The Psychology of Sales

 

Behind the sales process there’s a whole psychology of sales that is part of the interaction between sales reps and customers. What does that entail?

 

As a sales performance consultant and coach, Anita Nielsen answers this question for her clients. She works with sales leaders and salespeople to help them up their game and get them to where they want to go. As a sales coach, Anita does one-on-one training and offers sales enablement services. She is known as a fixer when sales aren’t going smoothly. 

Anita is also the author of the newly published book, Beat the Bots. 

 

In recent years, sales reps have been ringing their hands about how robots are going to take away jobs. Anita’s book was the result of hearing these same fears over and over again.  She doesn’t agree. She believes people who are great at customer service and building relationships will always have a job. The AIs won’t be able to learn empathy or trust and they can’t build that  human connection. Buyers crave that connection more than ever due to the rise of technology. Customers want to work with people who they feel have their back and want them to succeed. They want sales reps they can trust and interact with. 

 

How AIS help the sales force

Computer-based programs can do many things. AI can help with jobs that entail just dialing or deal with a template but they will never promote trust or empathy. The complex purchases won’t be handled by AI and technology. When they need specific business outcomes, customers still want a sales rep to help them figure out how to achieve those outcomes. Trust and empathy are two of the biggest factors that keep human connection in the sales force. Buyers want to work with people who can provide both. 

 

There are many things that a bot and AI can do. Some of the AIs are helping people to screen phone calls  and can determine how long a salesperson spends talking to a customer or the length of time the customers is speaking. The technology won’t take away the jobs of salespeople.  Tech is there to make sales people better by supporting their work. It’s not there to replace the valuable things salespeople do for their customers. 

 

Value is in the eye of the customer

When Anita talks with sales leaders, one of the first things they say is that their sales team doesn't know how to articulate value to the customers. She then asks what they mean by value and Anita has yet to hear the same answers. What she does is break down value in three layers:

 

There’s the basic inherent value,  the general value. The general value is the reason why customers are buying. 

 

The second one is the company’s value. This value reflects what a company does that sets it apart from its competitors. 

 

A customer looks at who you are and what you stand for, and how well you understand your customers. As a company, these need to be brought together to bring personalized value to the customer. What can you offer to make your customers feel better or more successful? 

 

For salespeople and companies, the only thing that should matter is your customers’ perception of value and being to articulate how you can support those values. 

 

Salespeople’s job

As salespeople, it is our job to tap into the emotion behind the purchase and figure out what the customers’ motivations are. This discovery, however, has to come from a place of good intent. Be a salesperson who truly wants to help your customers succeed. People can sense your intention and good intention goes a long way. 

 

It is this mindset that will guide your interaction with your customers. High performers are the ones who are instinctively tapping into these driving emotions. 

 

Anita was working with a saleswoman a few years back who was selling medical devices. The device was sold to emergency departments and it helped get quicker results with less errors when checking for blood pressure and other stats. Everytime a sale was done, training was provided to show the nurses how the device worked. 

 

After once particular sale, Sharon the sales rep was working with a nurse director named Florence ( both names changed) and she wondered why Florence wasn’t scheduling the training for her team. Florence had been living in the States for 20 years but still had a thick Philippine accent. As a result, Florence was insecure and stressed about conducting the training. Sharon understood and so she offered to do the training herself. Six months later, Sharon got a call from six different hospitals. She had gotten referrals through Florence, the nurse she’d helped. Florence was a customer for life and was pointing new customers to Sharon. Be the salesperson who is able to anticipate and address a customer’s problems and challenges.

 

Be good at discovery 

The first thing you need to learn is to be great at discovery. Learn to ask questions that are going to help evoke emotions. Use high-impact questions. For example, if you’re selling technology, you might ask:

 

  • Help me understand how you guys are using X technology today.
  • How well do you think your team is performing with that technology?
  • What are the reasons that’s happening?
  • How do you think the team feels about leveraging the technology?

 

When asking questions, consider the hows and whys. Be humble and ask questions that will help you understand what your customer’s values are. Be real and sincere about learning your customer’s needs before introducing your product or service.  You first have to know the problem you’re there to solve first.

 

Anita teaches her clients the question exercise.  In her book, Anita offers questions that can help launch these conversations and suggests picking out three that will help them master discovery. Her client gets to pick out the questions that feel most authentic them. Otherwise, methodologies don’t work if it goes against their nature.  These questions can be practiced and implemented over time. 

 

Language of the Elephant 

A social psychologist talked about the idea of change as a human rider sitting on top a six ton elephant. The rider represents the rational system of the brain and the elephant is the emotional system of the brain. The path is the change that needs to be made. 

 

When talking to the rider, you’ll talk about the data and the features.  If you’re talking to the elephant, you understand what the team’s pain is, what the initiative is to them. At the end of the day, if you want to sell, you have to sell to that elephant so the rider and the elephant can move together. If a salesperson gets this, they can change the way they interact with customers immediately and it changes the whole dynamic. 

 

Care about the customer, make them matter, and go be you. That’s how high-performers become successful. #SalesPerformers

 

“The Psychology of Sales” episode resources

Find the book on Amazon, Beat the Bots. You can also connect with Anita via her LinkedIn account

Do you have sales questions? Suggestions? You can also talk to Donald about it via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for any sales concerns. 

This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. 

We have a new semester beginning in January and we would love to have you and your team join us. Follow this link to apply to the program. 

We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes so tune in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to. 

You can also read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial. 

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

Direct download: TSE_1242.mp3
Category:Psychology of Sales, Sales Mindset -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

Best Sellers In History Series 5 - "Mahatma Gandhi"

 

Depending on who you ask, hearing the name Mahatma Gandhi may bring up the titles of leader, spiritual guide, person of nonviolence, The Father of India, and many more. You may think about the man who defied the British Empire. How did one man make it possible? How was he able to get millions of people to follow his ideals and eventually shape the rest of Western culture? 

For this episode, we will look at Mahatma Gandhi and explore the traits that made him an influential person. 

 

Sales Spotlight - Mahatma Gandhi 

Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, in Pordabander, India. He studied law in London but moved to South Africa in 1893 where he spent 20 years opposing discriminatory legislation against Indians. Gandhi was from a successful family, his father a successful merchant. Gandhi’s experience in working for a law firm in South Africa led him to focus his efforts on helping those who are disenfranchised by society.

 

One particular day, Gandhi was riding on a train in first-class.  Being a man of means, he’d the money to pay for the ticket. However, another passenger in first-class didn’t like  that an Indian was riding there as well. The conductor tried to encourage Gandhi to move to the lower class but he had paid for the ticket and had broken no laws. He defended himself and was thrown off the train. 

 

Gandhi went back to India and supported the home rule movement, where Indians could rule themselves, independent from the British Empire. The British had come into India and raked the country’s resources for 200 years. The British originally talked about how they were going to help the people and the economy, and would create jobs, but it didn’t happen in India’s favor. Most of the money went back to England and English people started to look down on the poorer Indian people. The English people were able to take the whole of India because India wasn’t united. 

 

Indian Revolution against Britain 

The largest rebellion against the British took place in 1857 and it lasted for 18 months. The British called it the Indian Mutiny and it started to spread even though the British downplayed the rebellion and by calling it a mutiny. Both sides had a difficult time but the British eventually won. Many of the Indians were conditioned to think they couldn’t fight against the British despite their huge number. Instead of fighting for their own battle, the Indian army became the backbone of the British empire. 

 

The British Viceroy, Lord Curzon said that as long as they ruled India, they would be the greatest power in the world. The Indians, however, wanted their freedom and  their own democracy. 

 

The lack of unity 

Imagine the same situation in the B2B world. Suppose a new client has a huge problem? They have tried to fix it in the past but they weren’t able to win against it.  As a result, they started to just live with the problem. Within the company there could be groups of people who have great ideas on how to solve the problem but there’s nobody who is unifying them. Every department  keeps doing the best they can and everyone just lives with the pain. They need a powerful leader who can recognize there’s a problem, bring all the groups together, and create a solution as a team. 

 

Mahatma Gandhi showed that kind of leadership. 

 

Going to the masses

Unlike other politicians and wealthy people, Mahatma Gandhi spent time with the masses. This was very similar to what Jesus Christ, Mother Teresa, Abraham Lincoln, and the other personalities in this history series did. They wanted to make a lasting impression so they spent most of their time with the masses. If you want to make a massive impact, you need to go to the people. 

The same is true for Mahatma Gandhi. He went among the people and built relationships with them. He tried to understand what was going on in their everyday lives. This allowed him to see the challenges they were facing as the oppressed people of society. He was able to articulate their problems and speak for the people. He became the unifying voice. 

 

Sales reps understand the clients’ pain 

Much like with Mahatma Gandhi, sales reps need to understand their clients’ pain and see where they’re coming from. You shouldn’t just be a salesperson who comes in trying to get the money and resources.  You are a person who should be able to identify with the pain of your clients. Being able to relate to people at that level will earn you their trust. People will respect you and have confidence in you. They don’t give you money for nothing. They give you money because they believe  you can solve their problems. Build rapport and talk to your customers regularly.

 

How can you do that? 

  • Send them birthday cards and email
  • Send them articles and information you find online
  • Keep in touch with them
  • Touch base with your current customers

 

As a sales rep, it is important to build rapport, understand where they’re coming from, learn about their challenges, and be involved with their lives. 

 

Give them a solution 

The second thing that Gandhi did was that he gave people a solution. He wasn’t focused on raising an army of who would fight the enemy on the battlefield. He didn’t have an army but he was able to suppress and bring down a British Empire without having to set foot on the battlefield. Gandhi gave them an unconventional solution to a conventional problem. If he had tried to fight the British in a physical battle, he would have faced an uphill battle. 

 

The British didn’t know that. As a salesperson, adopt a mindset different from other salespeople in your field. Instead of trying to fight a losing battle,  look for another strategy. Do the opposite of what everyone else is doing. 

For instance, Gandhi boycotted the British mill and textile industry and that hurt the British economically. Because Gandhi had built a good relationship with the people, they listened to Gandhi. 

 

Gandhi presented an unconventional solution. One of Gandhi’s significant protests wat the Salt March. The salt tax affected mostly poor people. Even though India had salt as a resource, they weren’t able to use it and instead, had to buy salt from England. Seeing the problem, Gandhi started a protest that gained momentum as it went on. 

 

Solve your clients’ problems 

As a B2B sales rep, think of the ways you can solve your clients’ problems and look at it from an unconventional standpoint. Do some research and look for unique ways to solve their problems. Always bring something to the table your competitors haven’t done before or don’t already do. Be a new resource, think outside the box, and paint outside the lines. 

If there is a bid and you’re up against  competitors who are trying to solve the same exact problem, try to look at it differently so you can provide a different and better solution. Even head to head with all things remaining constant, you can still find ways to stand out. 

 

Every problem needs a great solution. That’s where salespeople come in. #SalesSolutions

 

Translate their pain into words and feelings 

The third trait of Gandi is the ability to translate peoples’ problems into words and feelings. He was able to paint a vision for them of what life would be like in an independent India. 

 

Say a company offers sales training. Instead of saying what the training is all about, we paint a picture of what the company and profits can look like after the training. Sales reps need to dig deeper to be able to come up with specific solutions. If you want to become the top seller of your organization then you have to figure out your clients’ problems and simplify the way you present your solutions. 

 

Death of a great man 

Mahatma Gandhi was eventually assassinated and at his burial, over 1 million people came to mourn. He was known as the person who inspired nonviolent solutions. People followed Mahatma Gandhi because he helped with a sincere heart and a mind for the people.  His protests weren’t just political stunts. He loved his people, he loved his faith, and he loved his country. 

 

Best Sellers In History Series 5 - "Mahatma Gandhi" episode resources

As a recap, Mahatma Gandhi showed three traits: 

  • Going to the masses
  • Give them a solution 
  • Translate their pain into words and feelings

Do you have sales questions? Suggestions? You can also talk to Donald about it via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for any sales concerns. 

This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. 

We have a new semester beginning in January and we would love to have you and your team join us. Follow this link to apply to the program. 

We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes so tune in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to. 

You can also read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial. 

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

Direct download: TSE_1241.mp3
Category:Best Seller in History -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

The 3 Foolproof Secrets to Get Rid of Your Head Trash 

 

What does it mean to have head trash and how exactly can you get rid of it? Let’s talk about 3 foolproof secrets to get rid of your head trash

Noah St. John is known as The Power Habits Mentor because he has helped thousands of people master their inner game and outer game to help them make more and work less. 

He works with sales professionals, entrepreneurs, celebrities, CEOs, athletes, and more. Noah helps them get rid of their head trash about money, relationships, and everything else holding them back. He is the author of 15 books and his most recently published book is entitled Power Habits: The New Science for Making Success Automatic. Through his work, Noah and his team have helped entrepreneurs and sales professionals increase their sales to six, seven, and even eight figures by using his methods. 

 

Defining head trash

Noah discovered the notion of head trash many years ago. Head trash is the negative voice in your head that constantly tells you, “I can’t because … “ It’s the voice that states all the reasons why you can’t do something you want to do. People consistently approach Noah and tell him they want to reach for more and do bigger things but they can’t because they’re too busy or they don’t have money for it. They have so many reasons why they can’t do the things they want to do. When you tell yourself something your mind is going to believe it. When you say you don’t have the time, then your inner self will believe you truly do not have the time. You are going to make that belief true even when it’s a lie. We all have 24 hours a day regardless of who you are. Time is irrelevant so it’s not an excuse that many people think they have. Head trash is damaging because it’s holding people back. 

 

Identify your head trash

The first step to getting rid of head trash is identifying what it is. For most people it’s repetitive but people fail to realize that it’s the head trash telling you the same lies over and over again. Ideas such as, I’m stupid or I’m not good enough can go through your mind in a loop and you don’t even realize it.  Because these lies are repetitive and habitual, many people aren’t even considering the damage it can cause. 

Identifying your head trash is fairly easy. Write down the negative beliefs you’re carrying about yourself. Most of the negative things we say to ourselves aren’t true. Writing down your negative thoughts will help you become aware of them. 

 

Noah has a client who was a sales professional. She was making about $5,000 a month in sales but she knew she was capable of making more. This salesperson spent time and money to train with gurus but for several years was still stuck at $5,000 a month. She attended Noah’s event called Freedom Lifestyle Experience and hired Noah as a coach. Within a year of using Noah’s Power Habit System, her revenue jumped from $5,000/month to $75,000/month! This is proof that understanding your own head trash and being able to overcome the negative noise will lead to good results. 

You need to look at your inner game in all the different aspects of your life. 

 

Knowing your outer game

The outer game includes the systems and strategies, the blocking and tackling. These would be all the sales tactics invested in and studied.  By working with salespeople for the last two decades, Noah found that success is attained only when someone has mastered both the inner and outer game.  

 

Understand that you can change your beliefs

The first step to transformation is awareness. It’s only when you are aware of something that you’re able to change. If you want to change your life, you need to change your beliefs - these are your thoughts. The human brain automatically searches to answer the questions you ask it. Noah thought about that and realized can’t just make statements the way we do in affirmations.  We don’t believe it. Instead, we need to start asking ourselves questions to put the brain to work. Start asking empowering questions that will lead to phenomenal answers. 

 

AfFORmations 

An affirmation is a statement of something you want to be true. One of the things Noah loves doing during keynote speeches is using the old-school affirmation method. He instructs people to stand up and say, “I am rich.”  Immediately after, the attendees start laughing. When Noah asks why, they say, “I’m not actually rich.” This is why affirmations don’t work. You have to believe in the statements for them to work. Noah, realizing affirmations were ineffective, created The Afformation Method. It is the most direct and powerful yet simple method you can use to change your beliefs. This method uses the act of asking the questions that will lead you to look for the answers. Using the Afformation method, you can change the question to change your beliefs, habits, and eventually your life.                                        

 

Getting the correct mindset

It’s important to talk about your goals. In regards to goals, Noah has been telling his clients, “We don’t rise to the level of our goals, we fall to the level of our systems.”  

 

We all have big dreams and that’s all good. You won’t, however, be able to reach these goals if you haven’t mastered your inner and outer game. Use the power habits system to improve your inner game and use the marketing and digital sales systems to improve your outer game. Focus on the system, not just the goals, to be able to achieve mastery of both inner and outer games. 

 

When to use the system 

The inner game has to do with The Power Habits System. More often than not, successful people don’t realize what they’re doing to cause their success because many things they’re doing are subconscious. Napoleon Hill’s book, Think and Grow Rich talked about what successful people did to attain success. Many salespeople have read the book and tried to replicate what these successful people did, but most didn’t become successful. Why? Because what was shared in the book was what people were consciously doing, and what they were doing subconsciously wasn’t discussed. 

Napoleon talked about the conscious ways that people became successful and Noah tackles how people became successful by focusing on the subconscious.

 

The 3 Foolproof Secrets to Get Rid of Your Head Trash” episode resources

Identify your head trash, understand that you can change your beliefs and throw your head trash away, and then use the afformation method. 

Order the book PowerHabits on Amazon or from the website, Powerhabits.com. Noah will send out a gift package worth $299. If you’re listening to this podcast, Noah will give our two tickets for his Freedom Lifestyle Experience event. 

Do you have sales questions? Suggestions? You can also talk to Donald about it via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for any sales concerns. 

This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. 

We have a new semester beginning in January and we would love to have you and your team join us. Follow this link to apply to the program. 

We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes so tune in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to. 

You can also read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial. 

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

Direct download: TSE_1240.mp3
Category:Sales Training -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

What Is The DISC Assessment Profile And How Can It Help My Sales Team?

 

The DISC Assessment profile is an important training opportunity for any sales team. It is one of the tools many sales reps have started to utilize as its reputation for personality assessment has grown among sales leaders and their companies. So what is the DISC Assessment and how can it help your sales team?

Mads Singers is a management coach.  He has been in the management field for 15 years and has worked with industry giants such as Xerox, IBM, and more. For more than seven years, Mads has been running his own business. 

 

What is DISC?

DISC is a behavioral framework similar to Myers-Briggs. It’s a framework to help people understand themselves and other people. The acronym DISC stands for:

  • D: Dominance
  • I: Influence
  • S: Steadiness
  • C: Conscientious 

Everyone is born unique; however, there are traits that certain groups of people share. If you look at a sales team, for example, you can see that many members have similar personalities.  Salespeople, as a whole, tend to be assertive and focused. Typically, they are also comfortable around other people. These are traits that most successful people have so sales managers tend to be drawn to these types of personalities when hiring sales reps. 

DISC is immensely effective when looking to hire the right people for the right jobs. Many assume that people are motivated by money but the truth is that people are motivated by goals and having the ability to achieve their goals. 

 

Facing the challenge

There is a challenge when you are selling to someone who is not like you. Salespeople need to understand the different ways other people think. Sales don’t just happen from a meeting.  Rapport has to be built and it’s not as easy when the seller and the buyer don’t connect to people in the same way. For instance, people from software and technology companies aren’t your typical salespeople.  They don’t talk as much and they want to cut straight to the point. This can be a very abrupt style of communicating for buyers who need more of a relational approach. For such different personality types, it’s harder to build rapport because the style of communication is so different.  The salesperson has to be mindful that they will not always get to sell to a client the way they themselves want to be sold to.  It’s up to the salesperson to uncover what style is needed for each unique client. 

 

Different Personality types 

There are four personality types reflected in the DISC Assessment:

 

  1. D - Dominance 

The high D personalities are very driven people. These are the people who don’t usually smile a lot because they’re constantly thinking. They are focused, law-oriented, money-oriented, and power-oriented. They are the people who will do whatever it takes to get whatever they want to get. You will find a lot of these people at the highest level in big organizations because they are willing to do whatever it takes to meet their goals.  These personalities push people to the extreme but they are willing to work just as hard or harder. 

 

  1. I - Influence

High I personalities are typically salespeople. They tend to be loud and talk a lot. They are the storytellers. Sales managers hire these personality types because of their ability to network and talk to strangers. Because of this they usually know a large pool of people.  In sales, referrals are essential and high I’s know how to call in favors. They have a very positive mindset and know-how to inspire people to follow them toward their goals. 

 

  1. S - Steadiness

The high S groups are the moms and uncles of the team. They are the ones who are more focused on others than on themselves. Their happiness comes from drawing out other peoples’ joy and they don’t adapt well to change.  High S’s are people-focused but aren’t the ones who are going to start a conversation. They’re in the corner wanting someone to initiate the discussion first

 

  1. C - Conscientious 

Lastly, the high C personalities are the accountants and financial people. They love learning every minute detail and will ask a lot of technical questions. They are generally shy, however, and prefer not to have verbal communication. They are very detailed and want to know everything about everything. Salespeople who don’t know their product well fail to make a sale with Cs. 

 

Hiring the right sales reps

Most salespeople are high Ds and high Is. These are the people who have a mix of high drive and are also excellent networkers. One challenge with having an assessment test for salespeople before hiring them is that most people will tell you what they think you want to hear. Some can tweak their tests to have a result similar to what you’re looking for. The other challenge is that people don’t know themselves well enough to give accurate answers. 

Just realize that natural behaviors do not change. Even when your personality changes, your natural behaviors stay the same.  There is hope for people who are hiring. People can learn coping traits. Someone who is naturally loud, for example, can train themselves to be quieter around quiet people. 

 

Identifying the person you’re talking to

There is an easy way to connect with someone who has a different personality trait or communication style. Watch them and mirror their speech and/or body language. Try to adopt some of what you observe as you’re talking.

 

When you meet a person with a different personality  and you want to sell to them, adjust more to their behavior to build a significantly stronger rapport with them. If you are a high D and talking to a high S is a challenge, mirror them and they will likely warm up to you. 

 

From a management point-of-view, you can hire people even when they don’t share the same personality as long as they help you build value for your business. If you want to be more effective with people around you, try and behave more like them. It doesn’t mean you turn into them but you’re going to have a much better relationship if you can match the behavior. 

 

If you are selling to someone different than you, you can mirror behavior to help build rapport. #SalesTips



“What Is The DISC Assessment Profile And How Can It Help My Sales Team?” episode resources

Reach out to Mads Singers via his website. He also has a training course called Management Mastery that’s designed for business owners. If you have more sales concerns, you can also talk to Donald about it via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for any sales concerns. 

This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. 

We have a new semester beginning in January and we would love to have you and your team join us. Follow this link to apply to the program. 

We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes so tune in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to. 

You can also read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial. 

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

Direct download: TSE_1239.mp3
Category:DISC Assessment Profile -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

Best Sellers In History Series 4 - "Benjamin Franklin"

 

This is the fourth episode for the Best Seller in History series. This time around, the sales spotlight is on Benjamin Franklin. 

Despite Benjamin Franklin only having two years of formal education, his inventions are used to this day. He was a phenomenal writer when he was a teenager and was an inventor throughout his life. Franklin was a statesman, designed a musical instrument used by Mozart and Beethoven, and was an abolitionist in his later years. It’s worth noting he was also a writer, painter, political philosopher,  politician, Freemason, diplomat, and so much more, including a phenomenal seller. We will explore five reasons why.

 

Sales Spotlight - Benjamin Franklin

 

One of the founding fathers of the United States, Benjamin Franklin grew up in Boston, Massachusetts. Due to financial constraints, he wasn’t able to finish his formal education so he worked as an apprentice for his brother who was in the printing industry.  When Benjamin was 15 years old, his brother founded a newspaper called The New England Courant. His experience in his brother’s company helped in shaping his skills as a phenomenal seller. 

There are five reasons why Benjamin Franklin was so effective:  

1.Problem-solving skills

  1. Curiosity 
  2. Ability to seek knowledge

4 .Learning from smarter people and masterminding 

  1. Ability to build a strong rapport

 

Ability to solve problems  

 

Benjamin Franklin had extraordinary skills in problem-solving and used this talent throughout his life. James Franklin, his brother, was running a newspaper but he wouldn’t allow Benjamin to write for the publication. He realized the solution was to ghostwrite through anonymous letters, under the guise of being a middle-aged widow. The anonymous letters focused on what was going on in the community so it naturally piqued the interest of the readers. 

Benjamin would slip the letters under the door of James’ newspaper each night. Each morning, James and his friends would discuss and debate the content of the letter. The letters got published and Benjamin’s alter ego became a popular contributor to the paper. His brother wasn’t happy when he found out that it was Benjamin who was writing the anonymous letters but had no choice but to continue publishing for the readers who loved the anonymous letters. 

Sometime later, James was thrown in jail after writing something that wasn’t favorable to the government. During his absence, Ben ran the newspaper without major issues. When his brother came back, Ben presented the idea of partnership. When James didn’t agree with Ben’s proposal, Ben decided to leave and went to Philadelphia.

 

Problem-Solving skills as a sales rep

 

There are times when buyers don’t even recognize they have a problem. They are so focused on the status quo and happy with their current system that it doesn’t occur to them to change things. They refuse to learn more or don’t realize there is more to learn. 

 

The prospect may even have problems they’re not aware of.  Others have identified their problems but they just have a band-aid solution to ease the discomfort. As a sales rep, you need to find a way to actually solve the problem. That’s what Benjamin did. Even when he asked his brother, James said No repeatedly. Ben thought outside the box and he thought of ways to address a problem regardless of the decisions made by James. Your job is to help your clients recognize the problem and present them with a solution, even if they may have objections. 

 

Be Curious 

 

Benjamin Franklin was curious and was a voracious reader, consuming books and literature.  He was always learning.

This love of learning led him to create an almanac where he included tips and advice that could be applied to everyday life. As a result, his almanac stood out from the rest of the competition. 

 

Benjamin’s curiosity was ever present, even after his retirement in the publishing industry. He made many inventions and even received recognition from the King of France due to his skills as a scientist. Money wasn’t his motivation for inventing things.  It was more for satisfying curiosity and creating a better society.

 

Curiosity as a sales rep

 

Sales reps who are curious are the ones who are able to dig deeper and as a result, offer true value. Take for example a sales rep selling a SAS software solution. It is a service that allows you to send mass messages to clients and interact with them. If the sales rep presenting the product jumps directly into the proposal and price offering, he will likely lose the deal. 

Consider another sales rep who is very curious and wants to figure out why they need the text messaging service. She wants to find out how the client can take advantage of the software. It will be easier for the second sales rep to actually make the sale because she’s gathered more information. She’s able to build more value by asking effective questions. Your curiosity will help you land deals because you’re willing to put in the extra effort.  When meeting with clients, always go deeper. It all comes down to providing value to your client. 

 

Keep on learning

Benjamin Franklin had an affinity for learning and that is what made him stand out from his contemporaries. He always knew a little more. When he was left in Europe with no money, he took it upon himself to learn the printing industry of England. When he came back to the US two years after, he had an arsenal of knowledge ready to use.  He was able to successfully turn his business into a success and take advantage of opportunities that allowed him to learn more about the daily operations.

 

As a sales rep, you can fuel your mind by reading books and listening to podcasts related to your industry. Keep on learning more about your clients. Read more newspapers and know the trends. Read up on current events and research how these trends affect your industry. Take part in trainings and workshops that will help you improve, not only as a sales rep but also as an individual. Provide value as a consultant within your space. There’s nothing new under the sun but you can always learn something new from other people.  We can never know enough.

 

Learn from smarter people 

When Benjamin Franklin first came to Philadelphia, he was a boy who was broke, dirty, and dingy. He realized that in order for him to excel, he had to learn more. He didn’t have much but he had nice clothing. He hung out with the right people, the high society. He spent so much time with these individuals, the people around him just assumed he was already successful and belonged.

 

This inclusion allowed him to network and make relevant connections. It was a smart strategy and he thrived. Benjamin Franklin even organized a group that would be able to benefit from one another. There were 12 members initially and all the members were from different backgrounds. What they had in common was they shared an inquisitive spirit, a desire to improve, and they wanted to help others in their community. Among them were painters, surveyors, clerks, bartenders, and more. The members were older than Benjamin Franklin but he was clearly the group’s leader. 

 

Make it a point to learn from smarter people and associate with them. Being in a group will help you thrive but the moment you become the smartest person in the room, you need to find a new group. The people within your group will challenge you, push you, and help you grow in your career.  In a mastermind group, there’s a lot of accountability in place because you’re there with a purpose. Be dedicated to your group and its goals.

 

It’s important to look the part you want to become. Come to the group looking  put together and be professional.  

 

Ability to build rapport 

Benjamin Franklin knew the ability to build rapport helped him solidify his biggest deal and he understood it’s one of the most important facets of sales. 

 

The TSE Certified Sales Training Program is designed to help salespeople learn how to build value and build rapport. It helps salespeople land deals by training on what to say and asking effective questions. 

 

Andrew Rosebrough is the owner and president of Portable Medical Diagnostics, a mobile x-ray and ultrasound company servicing various parts of Florida. His company has taken on some of these principles Benjamin Franklin taught over the years and it has helped his company to thrive.

 

Some salespeople think to be a great seller, one also needs to become a great orator. Contrary to that belief, Benjamin Franklin wasn’t much of a speaker. He was more of a listener than a speaker. He felt like he didn’t know what to say all the time. An author pointed out that the best-sellers are not the extroverts or introverts, they’re the ambiverts - the ones who fall right in the middle. 

 

The Scenario 

In Benjamin Franklin’s time, the United States was in trouble. They were fighting the British and the situation was bad. The American soldiers were underfunded and undersupplied.  Their circumstances were dire. The French, however, were secretly assisting the U.S. armies but they weren’t fully committed to helping the soldiers just yet. Luckily, Benjamin was already famous in Europe.. He was an inventor, a scientist, and the French people knew him. He learned French and the French people appreciated that. He was charismatic and he used that to his advantage. He socialized and networked and made sure to play their game. He just didn’t ask for what he needed right away. He first played the long game. He learned the way of the French and it softened them to his requests. His counterpart was John Adams but John was the typical American and the French didn’t like him. He made no effort to level with the French. 

 

Understand your clients

As a salesperson, you need to understand your clients and what they like to do.  Try to be part of that. Discover what makes them tick. Spend time with them and get to know them on a personal level. 

 

This can be difficult because you may have other things you like to do more. This is, however, an investment to land that big deal. John Adams didn’t take the time to understand the French and because he was forcing business, he was kicked back to the U.S. 

 

Employ the platinum rule like Benjamin Franklin did. The platinum rule says, treat others the way they would like to be treated. 

 

Best Sellers In History Series 4 - "Benjamin Franklin" episode resources

Benjamin Franklin was an amazing seller. Here are the five reasons why: 

  • Problem-solving skills
  • Curiosity 
  • Ability to seek knowledge
  • Learning from smarter people and masterminding 
  • Ability to build a strong rapport

Connect with Andrew Rosebrough via his LinkedIn account or visit their website.  

If you have more sales concerns, you can also talk to Donald about it via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for any sales concerns. 

This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077.  

It’s also brought to you by B2B Sales Show with a different podcast format. It has a rotating co-host and they brought in multiple sales though leaders and half a dozen other co-hosts that are either interviewing the guests or sharing quick hit tactical content themselves from their own lessons throughout their sales career. They have multiple episodes a week. 

We have a new semester beginning in January and we would love to have you and your team join us. Follow this link to apply to the program. 

We have a new semester beginning in January and we would love to have you and your team join us. Follow this link to apply to the program. 

We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes so tune in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to. 

You can also read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial. 

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

Direct download: TSE_1238.mp3
Category:Best Seller in History Series -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

10 High-Performance Habits That Lead To Success 

 

An article entitled 10 High-Performance Habits that Lead to Success by Justin Su’a is noteworthy. This isn’t a normal article.  It talks about 10 specific principles that, if practiced carefully, will help increase one’s performance and mental toughness. 

Justin Su’a is a former competitive baseball player and despite not having the physical prowess and physical ability like some other players, he was still able to gain success. His family trained him to face any adversity with a positive mindset. Their team also had a sports psychologist who spoke to the players about tools and strategies that were taught to Olympians. 

The principles taught by the sports psychologist resonated with Justin and ignited a desire for him to follow the same career path. These principles not only work for sports but can be applied by people of all walks to every aspect of life.  Here are the 10 high-performance habits that lead to success: 

 

  • Win the morning
  • Do hard things
  • Embrace feedback
  • Learn from failure
  • Choose your attitude
  • Do one more
  • Have a purpose
  • Recommit every single day
  •  Be patient
  • Fear no one

 

Win the morning

Winning the morning is all about starting strong. People complain they don’t have enough time in the day but the truth is, there’s not enough time because they’re not using the time they have. Instead, they’re wasting it.  All you need to do is to start the morning strong by getting up with purpose. Successful people and high-performers are able to do hard things. Sometimes one of these is to wake up early when nobody else does. 

 

Move towards your goal by telling your body to get up, even when it wants to sleep. This is you practicing to dominate your body. If you do that over and over again, you are going to be able to train yourself to do difficult things. When you don’t want to pick up the phone to make a sales call, train yourself by telling yourself to pick up the phone anyway. Make that first decision ad it will get easier. Winning the morning is important because it starts your day off with taking control. Tell yourself to do one thing and attack it. 

 

Regardless of whether you’re a night person or a morning person, your morning begins when you wake up. Wake up strong by doing it on purpose and with passion. Set up a routine, workout, eat right, fill your mind, and fill your heart. 

 

There are two things that people often underestimate when trying to achieve greatness: How long it’s going to take and how hard it’s going to be. Whether you set a personal goal or a professional goal, don’t underestimate how difficult it’s going to be or how long it’s going to take for you to achieve the goals. The danger in doing so is that you’re mentally unprepared when adversity comes. When problems strike, many would-be performers pull the plug and give up. High-performers, on the other hand, have the ability to do hard things because they have acknowledged beforehand that achieving their goals may be hard. They’ve prepared themselves mentally and physically for the hard things. 

 

Successful people didn’t realize their achievements overnight. Many hours, days, months, and sometimes years are spent working towards their goals. They win the morning and keep going.

Whatever time you wake up, win the morning. Wake up with purpose and attack the day! #SalesTalk

 

Little things matter

People tend to seek out the hard actions and don’t realize the tedious detail-oriented things matter just as much. Examples are reading for on-going education and taking notes during training.  Great performers don’t take these details for granted. The details that need to be executed will be different from one person to the next. The key is to find the details that apply to your success and whatever they are, do them. 

 

Learn from failures

The inability to learn from failure is the number one factor that destroys would-be performers. Many professionals from various careers and industries are afraid of failure.  It’s not necessarily even the failure in itself, but their interpretation of failure. They perceive that failure means they’re not good enough. These negative phrases that play over and over in someone’s mind lead to feelings of failure but you can train yourself to understand these feelings don’t reflect the truth of the situation. Instead of viewing failure negatively, It can be looked at as an opportunity to learn. Every successful entrepreneur has seen failure and fought against it. They overcome these adversities by using failures as a means to learn from their mistakes and get better. 

 

Sarah Blakely, the CEO of Spanx, was asked why she’s so good at her job. She attributed her success to the training that got from her father. Sarah’s father would ask her, “How did you fail today and what did you learn from it?”  She grew up learning from failure. Those who are willing to learn from failure will fear it less and those who fear it less are more dangerous because they know how to use it.

When you can wake up every morning, not being afraid of failure, you take the pressure off yourself.  You’re able to go after your goals and take chances you might not have otherwise. You will experience failure but when you do, you’ll know how to face it, learn from it, and overcome. 

 

A laundry list of failures 

Prepare yourself mentally for failure by listing all the ways you could fail. List them all no matter how simple, unlikely, or outrageous these failures could be. Once you have identified them, think of ways to respond to each of these scenarios and have a plan of action. Having a bounce-back plan gives you the confidence to take care of these potential adversities because now you know you have a course of action. This will save you from reacting emotionally and negatively when failure strikes and you will be less likely to give up. 

 

Keeping the momentum

We can start a new venture well but it takes the right traits and qualities to keep the momentum going. Typically, the problem isn’t about the lack of motivation or the lack of competence.  Oftentimes, the problem lies in the size of the list. 

Sometimes we have too many actions on the list and we become overwhelmed. It’s important to start small. Start with one high-performance habit and when you achieve it, motivation will naturally fall into place.

 

There are many elements to having mental toughness. The most important thing is to identify the one thing that keeps you from excelling right now and take on a new habit to defeat that mindset or situation. Hone in and develop the behaviors around that. Once you’ve automated that one habit, go onto the next one. It’s a continuous learning process. It’s continual growth and development until you become the successful person you want to become. 

 

Do one more

You can also develop mental toughness by doing something even if it’s difficult to do. Your body will go where your mind takes you. The ‘do one more’ principle means telling your body what you want it to do. If a typical salesperson has a goal of talking to 10 prospects in one day, then don’t be typical. Do one more. By making this decision, you’ve taken control.  Doing this over and over again will increase your motivation as you achieve your goals. This is one of the most powerful principles that you can develop.  

 

High performers don’t settle for average. They go up and beyond. They hit one more call, they read one more book, and they write one more email. That is the separating factor. 

 

Fear no one

Fear no one but be respectful to everyone. Treat everyone the same regardless of their social status and carry this mindset everywhere you go, regardless of who you’re talking to.  Everyone is important.  

Stop trying to read other people’s minds because that will plant seeds of doubts in your own brain and you defeat yourself.  You’re allowing other people to intimidate you because of the script you’ve created in your own mind. You may have a little trepidation but that’s normal. Everyone feels some fear but you still have the opportunity to be courageous by acting despite the fear. Remember, anyone can be beaten. 

 

“10 High-Performance Habits That Lead To Success” episode resources

Success is a choice. As a salesperson, always make the right choice. Contact Justin Su’a via Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. 

If you have more sales concerns, you can also talk to Donald about it via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for any sales concerns. 

This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. 

We have a new semester beginning in January and we would love to have you and your team join us. Follow this link to apply to the program. 

We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes so tune in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to. 

You can also read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial. 

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

Direct download: TSE_1237.mp3
Category:Sales Success -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

The Next Wave: Customer-Facing Solutions

 

With the new year, we are all looking towards the next wave in customer-facing solutions available for us. This is important as it helps improve our business and sales strategies. 

Nicolas Venderberghe is a CEO and entrepreneur. Nicolas is originally from France but has now lived in the U.S. for a good part of his career. He’s been working for tech companies, working at Chilli Piper since 2016. The company’s biggest vision is to improve sales and completely transform the industry by using digital tools. 

Big companies like SalesForce specialize in back end algorithms and can miss the opportunities on the front end.  This is where Nicolas’ company helps its clients thrive.

Salespeople used to be technophobes and hated the idea of using technology in their sales process. As new technologies have become available, salespeople now adapt to a variety of tools and have become savvier. 

Next wave in customer-facing solutions

The sales industry tends to move in waves. First, it was about automating internal processes, and that’s why we have CRM. It ensures that everything is recorded so, in any situation, much of the sales cycle happens in the backend. 

The next generation helps with the interaction and is referred to as customer-facing tools. This is the next wave in customer-facing solutions. 

An opportunity that Nicolas’ team addresses is in the booking, or scheduling a meeting. In sales, even before the first meeting, an opportunity has to be created to book a time and engage with a prospect. The easiest example would include inbound products, called the concierge.  In earlier days, the concierge occurred when prospects visited your site, and let you know they were interested in learning more by filling out a form that provided contact information for the follow-up. Upon clicking the submit button, they’d be brought to a thank you page and told that someone would be in touch.  The prospect was left wondering who would get in touch and when. In some cases, there would be no follow up so retention was lost. Many companies are losing more than half their pipeline due to a broken process. Businesses can lose up to 80% of their leads because they don’t act fast enough. 

Qualifying the prospects

Nicolas and his team built an intelligence solution to address this problem. In their version, once the prospect fills out the form for submission, Nicolas’ company uses the information from the form to qualify the prospect right away. They look at the prospect’s company size and the criteria set by their client to qualify. They’re able to do this, and reach out to a salesperson, in real-time. They call the prospect’s number and when they pick up, the prospect is connected immediately to a salesperson. If the sales rep isn’t available, a calendar is made available so the prospect can book a time that works for them, all with one click. 

Streamlining the front of the sales cycle allows for more direct revenues. Companies that work with Nicolas’ team have seen an increase in revenue and conversation rates between 50-100%. They’ve even seen many companies double their conversion rates.  Some companies have even started to work with them with as little as 30-40% conversion, losing 60-70% of their leads. 

Business to small businesses

When a prospect wants to purchase a product or service, the quickest company to reply is typically the one that will get the account. This concept is called business to small businesses, where a bigger company is sending to small businesses. They don’t have an army of people to go through a procurement process.  Instead, they’re going to look for a variety of vendors. These are the types of prospects that bigger companies are losing. It’s because they fail to act quickly and respond to their prospects’ needs. 

For a larger enterprise, the buyer has more time but they’re also going to look at how they are going to be served. The solution to this is called the red carpet. This means showing up, taking the form, and immediately offering the option to talk to somebody. This strategy of being direct is another boost to your conversion rate.

As a salesperson, you need to remember that the very beginning of the sales process is to make sure that things end on a very good note. 

Things don’t go as fast for B2B because of the different teams involved in the sales process. The marketing team is in charge of bringing in traffic to the website. The sales team is in charge of managing the resulting. Each of these teams follows their own processes. The problems can begin when there’s nothing that brings these two teams together. The greater the number of people involved, the more inefficient the process becomes. 

It takes a long time for people to adapt to the changes.  Different teams can have their own incentives and may not be completely aligned with the company’s goals. 

The breakdown of the decision-making power between the marketing team and the sales team is the reason why B2B may not be as effective as B2C. 

Increased conversion rates

There have been many companies that have sought Nicolas’ company’s services and some have doubled their conversion rates. Every customer with Chilli Piper increased their conversion rates by at least 50% or more. The company called Grow.com and its marketing operation were very keen on optimization, especially after they plateaued at a 40% conversion rate. The company went to Chilli Piper. Upon implementation, they went up to 68% in their first month and 72% in the second month. That is a drastic jump from 40%-72%. More revenues mean more pipelines, and more pipelines mean more profits. 

It can take time to get everybody on board to adapt and accept the changes. However, when that’s done and the solution has been deployed, it becomes a beautiful success story. 

Re-educating the market 

There are people working for a company whose sole job is to make calls and set an appointment. When they are able to set a schedule, they get a commission. These middlemen aren’t needed under the new system. This can understandably lead to resistance. 

This process needs more education so people know how to use the resources available. This knowledge ensures that everyone is aligned.  Everyone using this system will be better off. 

What can you do?

Collaboration between sales and marketing is a recipe for success. When you meet your prospects, you need to be prepared. Have prior meetings so you can make the most of your time with the client. The marketing team prepared the presentation and the sales team meets with the customers. There must be something that connects the marketing team and the sales team. 

To address this, Chilli Piper created the events workspace where it becomes easier for both teams to schedule. The marketing team will be able to explore the sales team’s calendar. They then schedule meetings ahead of time. The sales and marketing teams need to collaborate with each other to ensure an increase in revenue. 

Salespeople need to understand these new customer-facing tools and their massive impact on their business. This a hyper-competitive market. Companies who are struggling should rethink their sales process and look for ways to optimize the opportunities that are currently available. Companies that ensure the buyer has the best and fastest experience all the way through the entire deal will have a much better chance at closing. Map out your journey and look at the places where your processes are optimal. 

Make sure your buyer has the fastest and best experience before and after the deal. #SalesSuccess

“The Next Wave: Customer-Facing Solutions”  episode resources

Reach out to Nicolas Venderberghe via their website. You can also call out to Donald if has some time. 

Reach out to Dave Mattson via his LinkedIn profile. You can also email him directly at Dmattson@sandlercut.com

If you have more sales concerns, you can also talk to Donald about it via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for any sales concerns. 

This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. 

We have a new semester beginning in January and we would love to have you and your team join us. Follow this link to apply to the program. 

We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes so tune in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to. 

You can also read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial. 

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

Direct download: TSE_1236.mp3
Category:sales 2020 -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

Disclaimer: This episode is in no way trying to influence listeners on their religious beliefs. 

 

Best Sellers In History Series 3 -"Mother Teresa"

 

The Best Sellers in History series is focused on people who were influential in helping others recognize what was best for their future and motivated them to take action.The first episode focused on the impact of Jesus Christ and the second episode was about the persuasiveness of Abraham Lincoln. In this episode, the spotlight is on Mother Teresa. 

Mother Teresa wasn’t viewed as a sales rep but she shared a vision and a cause with everyone she spoke to.  Her ability to influence and lead others gained such momentum that her impact reaches well beyond her lifetime and the borders of India where she served.

The Missionaries of Charity, established by Mother Teresa in 1950 began as a small order of 12 nuns and has now grown to more than 4,500 nuns who are actively working in over 600 missions across 133 countries. Through her efforts, Mother Teresa went on to receive a Nobel Peace Prize.  After her death, she was honored as Saint Teresa of Calcutta. Mother Teresa set out to serve others and modeled to others how they could join her. 

Let’s take a look at the reasons she was so influential and how we can use the same principles in your B2B sales efforts. In this article, we will discuss 5 main points that made Mother Teresa an historical figure of great impact but first, what were her roots? 

Humble beginnings

Mother Teresa was born on August 26, 1910, in Scopia, the capital city of North Macedonia. She eventually left to serve in Ireland and then went on to India where she spent the majority of her life. There, in 1950, Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation. The nuns took the traditional vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience but in addition, they professed to wholeheartedly give their service and strength to the poorest of the poor. 

Because of her tireless efforts and huge impact around the world, Mother Teresa’s lifetime was filled with awards and recognition, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. How did she go from such humble beginnings to gaining international recognition and worldwide impact? Five reasons:

  • Deep conviction
  • Ability to take action without hesitation
  • Ability to build a strong rapport
  • Ability to teach
  • Drive to push against the status quo

Let’s take a look at how these principles can be applied in B2B selling. 

 

Deep Conviction 

A nun is a member of a religious community of women living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. They typically live in a convent or monastery under a life-long calling. Nuns can focus their efforts on various causes such as education and healthcare.  Unmarried, they focus on a higher calling. Unlike many missionaries who may commit to a finite amount of time in the mission field, most nuns commit their entire lives to service, like Mother Teresa. She dedicated her entire adult life to serving and helping others, usually the poorest of the poor. She was the epitome of selflessness, committing to what she believed in until she died in 1997. Millions of people around the world believe in God but not everyone has the same conviction to serve others the way Mother Teresa did. 

Conviction should be important to you as a B2B sales rep because you need to believe in what you do, what you sell, and how you can serve others through your business. If you want to help others by asking them to take action toward change, there has to be a belief in you that will translate to your prospect. Sales reps often jump from one job to another looking for a company that will earn them more money or they go from one industry to another.

If this is you, understand that frequent changes can keep you from the commitment to the product or service you’re selling. For buyers, a sales rep who doesn’t stick with a company can translate as someone not dedicated to sticking to what they represent. Buyers can see a salesperson who isn’t willing to be there long-term. 

OB Smith shared that confidence and enthusiasm are the greatest sales producers in any kind of economy. A sales rep without much confidence and conviction in what he’s selling usually doesn’t get many sales. 

Sales reps must have conviction and passion. Confidence is contagious and that’s how people perceived Mother Teresa. They saw her confidence and passion and were convinced to work with her and support her cause. 

When you keep hopping from company to company, you don’t give yourself time to believe in what you’re selling. #SalesFacts

Build your confidence 

You can build your confidence by sticking with a company and product you believe in. If you love CRMs than look for a company that makes you feel confident in their mission and what they’re doing. If you believe in the product you’re selling, and you’re a consumer yourself, you’ll be able to share the value of your product even better. Do your research.  Learn about how other customers are finding success with these same products, read success stories, and get personally involved with your own clients. Talking to people about their successes will bolster your confidence, conviction, and passion as well. Potential clients will see this in you and through that connection, you’ll make sales with a higher retention rate. 

Ability to take action without hesitation

Having conviction is great but you also need to check your commitment level. Mother Teresa took her commitment another level on September 10, 1946. She was on a train ride when she was struck by inspiration. Mother Teresa decided to leave the protective walls of her convent to help the poorest of the poor and be among the people who needed her the most.  It was her new calling and her mission to go into the streets to help the sick and afflicted. 

It was during this time that India was gaining its independence recognize what was best for their future and motivated them to take action.

The tension was high. Despite the chaos, the nuns were protected against all the violence. They had food, funding, and an education system. They were provided with everything they needed. While others prayed for the poor, she left the safety of her gated home to take food to people living on the streets. People saw her and told her she ought to get back to the convent where she was protected.  Locals looked up to her and people cared for her. The inspiration she had in the train was far more powerful, however, and she wouldn’t be deterred. She knew she needed to leave her position in the convent to serve the poor. Because of this, Mother Teresa sought exclaustration, an option given to members of the Catholic church who are religiously bound that allows time to live outside their religious institute. Mother Teresa had to get permission from the local leaders and hire ecclesiastical leaders from the Vatican to be granted permission to go outside and help the poor. She was given permission to have three years and upon completion, she filed to create her own congregation, the Missionaries of Charity. 

Mother Teresa saw a problem, she wanted to fix it, and she took action. She didn’t wait to be asked.  She took the initiative and moved forward. 

Taking action as a B2B sales rep 

As a B2B sales rep, consider creating content that’s going to be relevant to your ideal customer. Most reps don’t take advantage of providing solutions for their clients. A member of  LinkedIn posts every single day. His followers know he will answer their questions or he shares insight to help his potential customers. This gives him a lot of connections and has led to more conversations. His efforts result in natural engagement because his posts make people curious about his services as they come to trust his expertise and level of commitment. It’s a simple concept but it takes a lot of work. What keeps him going is a commitment to do something for his potential customers every day. 

Be dedicated to your cause and take action. Start by writing thank you notes or sending cards to your clients. Don’t wait for the HR department to do it. Have the initiative to take action. Do it because you care for them as individuals and as human beings. What separates the greatest salesperson from an average salesperson is their dedication and commitment to their job and their clients.

Ability to build a strong rapport

Mother Teresa built long-lasting relationships with people. She could have stayed in the convent but she needed to do something more. She left to live among the poor and her conviction was so strong that it pushed her toward action. She spent months with people from all walks of life after coming out of the convent. She built rapport and relationships with them. The people who once hated her eventually became her protectors. 

You need to build rapport as a sales rep. Get to know people and your ideal customer. Listen to them when you have a conversation and be genuine. Follow people and businesses, read news that would be relevant to them, and stay updated. 

Taking this extra time and effort will position you to be more caring and help in building genuine rapport. If you want to have a strong influence, find a way to become a part of the community. Find a way to give back. 

Ability to Teach

Mother Teresa was a teacher for 16 years before she left the convent. Because of her experience in teaching, not only did she know how to interact with people, she knew how to ask questions and was able to break down complex ideas in a way that people could understand. When she was outside the safety of the convent, Mother Teresa didn’t have the same resources but she did what she could. She began teaching the local children the alphabet and other beginning education. She knew how to command attention, and as she taught the children, the adults began to also pay attention. 

As a sales rep, look for ways you can educate your customers even if you get nothing in return. Whether you’re going to an event or appearing as a guest on a show, look for new insights gained from these activities so more people will benefit from your experience. Offer effective guidance. 

Drive to Push Against the Status Quo

Mother Teresa told her leaders she wanted to go outside the compound and live among the poor.  At that time, it was unheard of. Some saw it as an act of defiance because it wasn’t the norm but she was determined. She went through all the proper channels and while there were people who were against her goal, there were even more who supported her. They understood she was on a mission to do God’s work. 

Abraham Lincoln pushed against the status quo and so did Jesus. They were very passionate about elevating the people who lived during their era to build a better future. It pushed them to go against the current. 

As a salesperson, you can do the same thing by veering away from the status quo. While others are just working 9 to 5, making traditional calls and appointments, and watching Netflix during breaks, you can set a higher standard for yourself and your customers. 

Consider hiring a sales coach, read more books, and listen to sales podcasts. Educate yourself by going to different events, and take the time to research your product and services so you have a better understanding of their value. Being average will gain average income. Be someone who's earning significant income by making a difference in people’s lives. If you want to be somebody that's going to have a strong influence, be someone who acts beyond the ordinary. 

Best Sellers In History Series 3 -"Mother Teresa"

As a recap, here are the five reasons why Mother Teresa became so influential: 

  • Deep conviction
  • Ability to take action without hesitation
  • Ability to build a strong rapport
  • Ability to teach
  • Drive to push against the status quo

If you have more sales concerns, you can also talk to Donald about it via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for any sales concerns. 

This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. It’s also brought to you by B2B Sales Show with a different podcast format. It has a rotating co-host and they brought in multiple sales though leaders and half a dozen other co-hosts that are either interviewing the guests or sharing quick hit tactical content themselves from their own lessons throughout their sales career. They have multiple episodes a week. 

We have a new semester beginning in January and we would love to have you and your team join us. Follow this link to apply to the program. 

We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes so tune in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to. 

You can also read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial. 

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

Direct download: TSE_1235.mp3
Category:Best Sellers in History Series -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

How To Grow Sales With Local Networking Events

All salespeople have tried to grow sales with local networking events. Many organizations utilize these events to bring awareness and drive sales. It’s a strategy that truly works. 

Sam Edwards is Chief Marketing Officer of SEO.co. It’s a content marketing and link building agency based in Seattle. He’s been in the digital and marketing space for the past 10 years and now he’s focused on hosting marketing events to get more clients on the sales side. Sam has experience working with TEDx talk and has written for Forbes, Inc, Entrepreneur, and other large publications.  Through this work he’s developed his teaching side and helps local communities build their own stories and plans. 

Sam has a meet-up group with approximately 400 members.  Another he’s affiliated with has over 300 and a third has close to a thousand members. Sam’s group has an average attendance of about 50 - 100. They have an upcoming event this February 5th that’s slated for over 120 people. Typically, the idea of going to a networking event right after work isn’t that appealing to people who work 9 to 5 jobs. Sam’s group met that challenge by creating events that are more like fun outings so people were excited to attend, even after a long day.  That’s how they were able to obtain and retain the number of people coming month after month. 

Monetizing networking events 

Their very first event was agency-sponsored. That agency believed in their idea and wanted to look further into what Sam was doing. They spent $300 for the event and it was focused on an industry-specific topic about how to use the paid SCM data to influence the organic SEO strategy for search marketing. That event cost them $300 but they made eighteen thousand dollars.

There are three main things you need to ensure when setting up a networking event. 

  • There is no selling at events
  • Focus should be on the quality of the event and the content you’re offering
  • Take the time to build up the group.

There is no selling at events

People have their guard up when listening to a presenter. It’s after the presentations that everyone lowers their guard, especially when it’s time for the after-party and everyone is going to the bar for drinks. People tend to relax in that environment and it’s then you can start a conversation. 

When talking to people, just talk, no pitching. People will see what you have to offer through talking with you. If they like what they see, they will want to work with you.  Focus on building a relationship using organic means instead of trying focusing on presenting a pitch. 

Be transparent and honest when you are talking to people coming to your events. If you see the potential client isn’t going to be a good fit early on, be upfront. Don’t take the client just because they’re available. You want to make sure you’re qualifying the people who want to work with you. 

Make your events free and organize them to grow through invitation. It takes everyone to help for these events to continue to grow, and that includes previous attendees. 

Understand this is not a one and done quick fix. Even if you only have a handful of people coming to your first event, that shouldn’t deter you from planning another one. It takes time for the actual growth to happen. You will experience growing pains before you’re finally able to identify the kind of event that will attract attendance and growth. Event planning takes time and effort to build. 

Focus should be on the quality of the event and the content you’re offering

Regardless of how long you’ve worked in your industry, your event still needs quality content to be successful.  People won’t see the value of your events if they don’t see the benefits they will gain from attending. Sam makes it a point for his events to have specific themes or content so attendees know exactly what to look forward to. 

The easy part is inviting people to their first event but the challenge is getting them to the events that follow. You do that by ensuring that attendees are presented with quality content. This doesn’t just speak to the presentations. It begins the moment they step into the hall, as you shake their hands, give them their gift bags, and prepare for raffles. A lot of effort goes into a quality event, including everything that is built around the actual presentation. Focus on the details that others may overlook. 

Whatever industry you are in, try to make your events fun. Create a catchy event title. 

Sam’s event last October had a presentation entitled, “The Spooky Tell-tale Signs You Need to Fire or Hire Your Search Marketing Agency.” Ken Shankman from bulkcandystore.com was one of their sponsors. They gave him the plugins and suggested that he dress up as Willy Wonka. The event planners made 65 gift bags for the attendees and a golden ticket was put in one of the gift bags. The recipient of the golden ticket won the opportunity to visit his candy warehouse for a tour. It was a fun giveaway and it turned out great. This event not only had great content in the presentation but the giveaway made it more exciting and fun. After the event, pictures were posted to their social media circle and meetup groups.  Seeing the fun the attendees had at the October event generated excitement in the following months. People who didn’t go in October did not want to miss out on the fun again!

No one wants to feel like they could miss out on a really fun networking opportunity and a great session. Whether it’s a window washing company or a financial institution, you can create themes, presentations, and giveaways around those industries that are creative and have a lot of energy.  If you have sponsors, a win-win opportunity comes from inviting them to offer a prize. They get marketing at the event and another prize adds to the excitement. 

People are more inclined to listen to sessions that are energetic and fun so make that a big focus in the planning.  Think about what will maintain attention and interest.  

If content is dry and boring, break it up with a raffle.  Keep people’s attention by making it fun! #SalesEvent

Take the time to build up the group.

Location is important when starting out and building an event. You can start looking within your community for businesses that will allow you to host free events at their location. Sometimes you can negotiate with owners or managers to  host events as a sponsor. Sam makes events free as an incentive to attend. Look for places who are eager to help grow the community. These could even be co-working spaces and event spaces. Local coffee shops also host events for a small cost. Some restaurants may allow an event to come in on a slower night with the promise that attendees will purchase meals. 

You also have to consider the environment in which you’re building the event. Don’t choose an off-putting location because that could affect ambiance you’re trying to create for your event. 

Sam uses LinkedIn and Meetup as his main platforms to invite people to his events. Creating a group on meetup allows you to send an invitation to a group of people that are in similar businesses and industries. 

Generally, people want to be involved especially in an event that’s similar to the industry they’re working in. This is how you can effectively build your group. 

Sam likes LinkedIn for their outreach strategy. In the search bar, type in the industry you want to focus on. Once the results show up, you will see job content and more. You can click on these people and send them the same text you use for Meetup invitations. Include information about the event and a link to register. This way, you get to build a connection. It takes time to see results but these events are about building long-term relationships with people. This is the beauty of organic personal outreach. 

What it comes down is, just be the real you, transparent and honest. 

“How To Grow Sales With Local Networking Events” episode resources

You can find Sam Edwards at sam@seo.co and via his LinkedIn account. Do you have any sales experience to share? 

If you have more sales concerns, you can also talk to Donald about it via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for any sales concerns. 

This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. 

We have a new semester beginning in January and we would love to have you and your team join us. Follow this link to apply to the program. 

We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes so tune in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to. 

You can also read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial. 

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

Direct download: TSE_1234.mp3
Category:Sales Events -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

How To Plan And Set Goals You Can Achieve In 2020

With the new year comes new goals and resolutions. This episode’s guest offers new ways and suggestions to help you plan and set goals you can achieve in 2020.

Many salespeople don’t realize that sales is easy if you follow a basic formula. Typically, however, sales reps have a habit of following the bouncing ball their prospects are throwing despite the many times it can lead to a dead end. 

Dave Mattson started out as a client at (David) Sandler Training and he’s been with the company for 30 years. He worked his way up the organization and became a partner in 1994. He had an opportunity to work with Dave for six years before David passed away in 1995. Dave purchased the company in 2012 and is currently the Brand Manager and CEO. They have 265 training centers globally and just last year, they trained 31,000 people and streamed their training to 19,000 people. 

This streamed training is becoming the way of the world, especially with the technology that is currently available. As a result, people in their system are represented by different age groups, different cultures, and different countries. Dave’s company creates content that is accessible in whatever format their clients need. For example, younger clients prefer several 4-minute micro trainings, versus a 45 minute lesson. With that knowledge, Sandler made 2,700 micro-learning lessons and added it to their suite of products and services. 

Sales strategies keep evolving so Dave and his company must keep up with new trends.  With Sandler being one of the longest running companies, many people in the industry may view them as “dinosaurs” but year after year, they win awards for best sales training, management, and coaching. They clearly have the expertise to do it right. 

Importance of goal setting and planning

From a CEO’s perspective, planning is imperative to make sure all the different groups in the organization know where they’re going. The assumption is that you have great salespeople working for you, competent individuals, but you have to make sure  they are all heading in the right direction. It is the leader’s responsibility to see all the working parts. Each group needs to be assigned their tasks so everyone ultimately moves toward the organization’s goals.  

As a leader, you need to set up a strategy on how to plan and set goals you can achieve in 2020. Layout the benchmarks you want your salespeople to achieve and how you intend to get there.  Show your team the contingency plans so they can better define daily goals for themselves. When the entire team has accountability, planning becomes a “we” exercise. The more you socialize it, the more people get involved. Dave suggests that for your corporate goal to become successful, each salesperson needs to link their commissions to personal goals that will keep them motivated.  A great question is, “If you earn your $250,000 commission, what are you going to do once you have your money?” Being able to visualize something that is meaningful to them, helps to keep up the momentum.

There are two reasons why people leave a company.  The first is that they don’t feel like they're being stretched. The second is they don’t respect the person they work for. Sales leaders have to think of ways to motivate their sales reps to achieve their goal, not only for the organization but for individual goals as well. 

When the team doesn’t play their role 

The most common reason people say they don’t play their role say is they don’t have enough time. There has always been a serious time compression problem in sales. Many magazines claim that the top 3% of all producers are the people who have written down their goals so 97 out of 100 people don’t. This tells you how difficult the job of a sales leader is in an organization. They are in charge of producing revenue from people they can’t control. 

Sales leaders need to find a way to motivate their people to make the organization’s plan a success. 

The planning process

The first thing you can do to plan and set goals that you can achieve in 2020 is to think about the different buckets of goals. What are the categories that are most important to you?  Job promotion? Family? Purchases? Think of the things you want to do in those areas and mind map. Doing this allows you to free your inhibitions and get comfortable with the things you want to do. It’s the fastest way you can brainstorm. Using your dream board or a journal, start putting these buckets in order of priority.   

As a CEO, Dave usually focuses on no more than five goals. This allows him to really focus. Goals are more achievable when you don’t have a broad list that can serve as a distraction. 

Have your mind map, narrow your goals to five, and have some plan of action. Break your plans down quarter by quarter, month to month, and day to day. If you can hit your goals for Q1, then you know you’re on track. If not, plan out your contingency and look for the people who can help you get refocused. 

The problem with setting annual goals is, while there’s nothing wrong with that, these goals are a long way off and you don’t get to feel a daily win. 

Become a behaviorist 

Say you have a goal of $10 million. You may have a monthly goal of  $850,000. That may mean six sales a month and 24 presentations. Getting in front of people is part of the plan but you can’t control all aspects of that goal.  For example, you can’t control how your prospect will respond. You can’t control anything but your own behavior. An option is, then, is to take a financial goal is and then reverse engineer. What are the daily goals you need to meet? Make little daily goals because you may not be able to control the outcome but you can control your behavior every single day. 

Sales reps from any company can break down their annual goal and reverse engineer to a daily behavior. Doing this will help them reach their quota faster.

When setting goals, what matters most is your attitude and behavior. A sales rep must have a balanced mindset and do the things he is supposed to do on a daily basis. 

 

Balance between realistic and stretch goals 

You need to know the distinction between a stretch goal and a realistic goal is. Stretch goals are reachable in longer time frames and while that is okay, you still need realistic goals that you can hit. 

Sandler taught Dave how to make some stretch goals.  When Dave was 70% to his goal, David would move the target even further. Sandler didn’t do it to be discouraging but, instead, he’d encourage Dave to keep moving because he knew Dave had the momentum to do even better. 

Remember to move slowly and celebrate your success. 

Goals are there to adjust. Be careful of setting goals that are too low just to feel good about yourself. 

Motivate yourself to reach your goals

Motivating yourself is a great idea way to reach your goals. Verbalize and publish your goals. Some people write down their goals in a journal so they can track their progress. It’s also good to have people around you who will hold you accountable to your goals and keep challenging you. They can be your partners, your colleague, or anyone else who won’t shy away from calling you out. 

It’s also important to be able to adjust in the event you don’t achieve your goals. Failing isn’t a bad thing when it offers an opportunity to make the adjustments you need to get closer to success. These tweaks are the way to get back on track.
To plan and set goals you can achieve in 2020 write out your goals and create a plan of action. That will be your guide. Verbalize your goals too and make sure to break them down into achievable, daily goals. Believe in yourself and remember the Success Triangle: Attitude-Behavior-Technique. Know that it’s okay to fail. You are going to fail more than you win and the failures are not necessarily a negative to your goal setting. They just let you know it’s time to adjust. 

We may be “dinosaurs” but we’re still winning awards year after year for our sales training, management, and coaching. #SalesCoaching

“How To Plan And Set Goals You Can Achieve In 2020” episode resources

Dave Mattson recently finished his book entitled The Road to Excellence. It’s a playbook to help small entrepreneurs take their businesses from where they are today to where they want to be in three to five years. He also just published the book Success Cadence, he wrote it with two other business minded people from the company called Splunk, they were able to take their company from 30 million to 1.2 billion in just five years. This book is about how to turn your organization and yourself as a producer into a sales focused machine and find people who are willing and able to do what it takes to succeed. 

Reach out to Dave Mattson via his LinkedIn profile. You can also email him directly at Dmattson@sandlercut.com

If you have more sales concerns, you can also talk to Donald about it via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for any sales concerns. 

This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. 

We have a new semester beginning in January and we would love to have you and your team join us. Follow this link to apply to the program. 

We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes so tune in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to. 

You can also read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on Audible and explore this huge online library. Register now to get a free book and a 30-day free trial. 

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

Direct download: TSE_1233.mp3
Category:Sales Planning -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

Best Sellers In History Series 2 - "Abraham Lincoln"

This is the second episode from the Best Sellers in History series. This series talks about some of the most successful people and sellers in history. We’ll talk about who they are and what made them so successful. 

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States of America and led the nation during some of the most turbulent times in American history, such as the Civil War. It was the bloodiest war and  the greatest constitutional and political crisis faced by the U.S. at that time. President Lincoln persevered and was able to abolish slavery, strengthen the federal government and modernized the U.S. economy. Despite humble beginnings, Abraham Lincoln became one of the greatest statesmen leaders in our nation’s history.

Sales Spotlight - Abraham Lincoln 

A half-hour long episode isn’t enough time to discuss what made Abraham Lincoln persuasive and successful in his career. However, we can highlight The Gettysburg Address to illustrate how President Abraham Lincoln had the power of persuasion. Here are the four points we’ll be looking at in this episode:  

  • He had the ability to tell stories
  • He sought common ground
  • He was empathetic
  • He had the ability to give compelling reasons 

In the era of Abraham Lincoln

In the early 1800s, slavery in the United States was a very common thing. At its height, there were 700,000 individuals who were slaves. The first slaves came into the country as early as 1619 and slavery was finally abolished in the year 1865.  For 246 years slavery was entrenched in the U.S. economy and modern society. It was a fact of life and it brought in so much money that by today’s standards, slavery would account for roughly $6 billion. It’s been 154 years since Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery and still, slavery lasted almost a hundred years longer than we’ve known our country without it!  

Abraham Lincoln was raised in Kentucky and eventually, it became a slave state. His father who was a farmer but they eventually had to leave their smaller farm.  Larger farms had slaves and they couldn’t compete with the manpower. In addition, his father was a Christian and didn’t believe in slavery. Thomas Lincoln took his family and would move several more times before eventually settling in Illinois where Abraham Lincoln grew into adulthood. Lincoln married and his wife’s father had his own slaves. Through this exposure, Lincoln came to know how slavery operated and he didn’t like it.

Changing the system

Slavery was big business and everywhere. It was a system where some of the most influential people were involved. It would be a difficult system to change but Lincoln didn’t believe that people should be property. It became his passionate to reverse slavery.  When he became a president in 1860, many from the southern states weren’t happy about it. They looked at it as the North trying to impose their rights over their way of life and their economy. This eventually led to the bloodiest war in U.S., the Civil War. The nation was divided. Family members who fought on different sides killed each other. This went on from 1861 to 1865. It was a difficult time for the nation. Democracy was hanging by a thread and with the war going on, everything was falling apart. 

Through the need to unify, The Gettysburg Address was written. The four lessons highlighted in today’s episode came from this famous speech. 

Lincoln had the ability to tell stories 

The Gettysburg Address was delivered in an attempt to pull the nation together. Abraham Lincoln wanted people recognize they weren’t just the north and south but one nation. 

Tim David wrote an article about this and he pointed out the lessons from the address,  The first was the power of storytelling. He emphasized that the opening line of the Gettysburg Address was a story about our forefathers and their legacy. From the very first line of his speech, people  wanted to know where Abraham Lincoln was going with his story. 

Abraham Lincoln was a self-educated man. While kids during this time were working in the field, Lincoln was reading books. There were traveling teachers and when they came around, he’d get a formal education, but still, it wasn’t enough on its own. Most of his education stemmed from his desire to learn. He was dedicated to his education and as he read, he learned the power of a story and how it can make an impact when written well. 

As a sales rep, you need to be able to engage your prospect\ with a story that is grounded in reality. Talk to your prospects a successful experience you had with a client. Help your prospects see the positive results that can come from working with you. Instead of just talking about the benefits of your products and services, offering a real scenario can help to illustrate the point better. Talk about how you helped previous clients and their companies. For example, a social media marketer may say, “We helped ____ generate X amount of return with their social media ads. If I could share with you how we did it in just 5 minutes, would you be open to  a conversation with us?”

Like Abraham Lincoln, use a quick story to pique their interest. 

Lincoln sought common ground 

With the war over, Lincoln wanted to make sure his speech would unify a divided nation. The time was ripe for rebuilding the country. Abraham Lincoln looked for common ground to ensure that his message would speak to the hearts of his people. He knew that regardless of where they came from, both Northerners and Southerners loved their nation. They fought together against the English, against the mother empire, and they won. He implored everyone to bring back that feeling of solidarity when the union was founded. Abraham Lincoln used the word Liberty because it was something that would resonate through the hearts of his listeners. 

He capitalized on the American ideal and it made his speech compelling. His writings is persuasive because he knows exactly what topics people are passionate about. 

 

Sales reps can utilize this skill, especially when meeting with prospects. It is your job to make them feel connected and have common ground. Donald Miller’s book uses Joseph Campbell’s idea of The Hero’s Journey. It is the story of a hero who is transformed after the difficulties he faced in war. As the salesperson, your role is the guide.. As the guide, you’re not trying to take over or compete with your client, you’re trying to move your prospect to action. 

Before meeting, do the research to find common ground.  It may be the school attended or other notable experience or hobby. Bring up topics that both you and your prospects love to talk about. Always follow the basics: Build rapport and help them realize you’re coming from common ground.

. Lincoln showed empathy 

Tim David pointed out how Abraham Lincoln used words that made people feel connected to him. He used a lot of personal pronouns like ours to help develop rapport and to create a sense of togetherness. The use of personal pronouns increased Lincoln’s status in the minds of his audience.

 Tim continued to emphasize this point  with James Pennebaker’s studies about how people use functional words such as pronouns. In his book, The Secret Life of Pronouns, he wrote that in any interaction between people, the person with a higher status uses fewer “I” words and instead, use first person plural pronouns such as we, us, and ours.

Abraham Lincoln’s use of personal pronouns early on in his speech allowed the audience to recognize his authority and role as a guide. They were able to classify him as someone they could listen to. Because he established his authority, people were willing to listen.

From a sales perspective, we can do the same thing when talking to prospects. Use inclusive personal pronouns in your conversations as you talk about common ground.

This will make your prospect feel involved in the process and let them know you’re there to help them. Assure them you are committed to their problem and you are there to work with them to come up with a solution. 

Speak as if you are part of their organization. 

Lincoln created a compelling reason

Abraham Lincoln was particularly skilled at offering compelling reasons for people to do something different.

Salespeople want to have influence as well.  We want to give prospects reasons to change and take action. Tim shared a 1970 Harvard Psychology research led by Helen Langer.  In her study she discovered that saying the word because increases your persuasive power from 60% to 92% even when you don’t actually have a compelling reason. 

Tim has a concept called ABT or the Advanced Because Techniques. Abraham Lincoln may not have literally said because in his speech but even without using the word, he made the entire Gettysburg Address a speech that answers the question why.

Lincoln was giving compelling reasons to many Whys

  • Why we need to come together
  • Why we need to to work together
  • Why we need to be one nation

People responded to his speech because he gave compelling reasons. They saw the bigger purpose

Salespeople can’t just state facts about products and services. You need to give them reasons why your products and services will work out to their advantage. Examples are as follows: 

 

  • “When you implement the software, we’re going to make it possible for you to actually get home and have dinner with your kids every night.”
  • “When you implement this solution, we’re going to make sure you never have to pay a late fee to the government again.”

 

When you give them compelling reasons, people will take action.

Best Sellers In History Series 2 - "Abraham Lincoln" episode resources

We are no Abraham Lincoln and we are not facing a divided nation, however, we have daily battles and regardless of the severity, we can still use these principles in overcoming sales difficulties. 

Do you have any stories worth sharing? Sellers in the history that made an impact in your life? Tell Donald about it via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for any sales concerns. 

This episode is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can also call us at (561) 570-5077. 

We have a new semester beginning in January and we would love to have you and your team join us. Follow this link to apply to the program. 

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Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

Direct download: TSE_1232.mp3
Category:Best sellers in History -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

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