Learn from the top 1% of sales professionals in 5 minutes per week through the Elite Level Newsletter: https://www.elitelevel.co 🚀

You’ve heard stories of people realizing their passions late in life when stuck in another job or wondering what to do with life, but how often do you come across life stories of people who just knew what their dreams were tied to? In our case, people who knew early on that sales and leadership were the path they had to chase?

From selling barbecue grills to help his father in the side business to opening a business selling insurance, Kevin realized how the very thought of assisting people in getting what they wanted – and making good amounts of money in the process – was where lay his vibe. Sailing along with this revelation and working exceptionally hard to make it to the other end, Kevin grew impressively: from tech sales to sales leadership, his growth curve was as rewarding as possible. Today, working as the Sales Manager at Lattice, he realizes the mammoth of a journey he’s taken, fighting insecurities, learning the ins and outs of the trade, and winning customer trust with his intrinsic traits of vulnerability, and understandability, leadership, grit, and courage.

Hearing Kevin speak, you’ll realize why you’re capable of much more than you think. The initial few months into sales were tough for him too, but deciding to stick along and show up, turned the tables around before he even knew it.

As we often talk about in the Elite Level Podcast, it’s harder to get from good to elite than reaching ‘good’. Along with relentless effort, elite-level salespersons require an unmatchable understanding of customer needs and expectations, which could benefit from vulnerability. The more you are yourself, the more you can connect with your customer, as Kevin shares realizing through his experiences.

Sit back as Alex and Kevin also talk about achieving unbounded sales growth and how to fasten that goal with a strong motivation that goes beyond money and an understanding of what you’re helping your customers get. 

Key talking points:

 ●      How to overcome your insecurities as a salesperson

●      Understanding your customer deeply

●      The responsibilities that come with being a leader

●      Career decision-making

Connect with Kevin

●      LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-bowen-b1a00754/?originalSubdomain=uk

Connect with Alex

●      Website:  https://www.alexalleyne.com | www.elitelevelacademy.com

●      Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elitelevelalex

●      Twitter: https://twitter.com/elitelevelalex

●      YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/elitelevelpodcast

Learn from the top 1% of sales professionals in 5 minutes per week through the Elite Level Newsletter: https://www.elitelevel.co 🚀

What if we told you that the difference between being just a success and an extraordinary success lies in your ability to self-reflect and self-regulate? 

Working hard and hustling has its place and might reap many rewards in the short run. But to sustain in the long run, you need to know WHY you're in it. What about the chase excites you? What is it that you're chasing?

Self-awareness is an undeniably important factor for success.

Top sales professional turned workspace wellness entrepreneur Sophie joins us in this episode of the Elite Level Podcast to reveal everything that went behind her change of heart and mind from corporate culture to entrepreneurship, her secrets to sales success, and the importance of self-awareness in paving our way to success. 

Our first female guest on the show, Sophie, shares how she ventured into sales in her mid-20s, working for Thomson Local in the yellow pages directory sales. More exciting is how Sophie ranked in the top 10 salespeople of about 250 in the company! After a while, she moved on to telecom sales, an industry that was dominated by men, but still made her success count and established her authority in the space. What is behind this ever-increasing growth curve she's achieved?

Self-awareness and self-reflection. In today's conversation, Sophie gets underneath why self-awareness is critical to success in any space. Explaining the discoveries on the impact of work-related stress on employee health and productivity, especially in the fast-paced career of sales, Sophie teaches you to reflect on your personal life and health and realize its transformative power in your professional life. Your strategic thinking, problem-solving speed, and intuition are a few of the many things that are directly impacted when under stress, so minimizing it isn't a luxury but a necessity. 

You cannot prevent stress or trauma but can figure out a better way to cope with it. Listen up for more on the same in today's episode!

Key talking points:

●      How to make it to the top salespersons at your company

●      Why self-awareness is a primary step to success

●      Navigating burnout in sales

●      Know your energy distribution using a simple assessment!

 
Connect with Sophie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiecoulthard/

Learn from the top 1% of sales professionals in 5 minutes per week through the Elite Level Newsletter: https://www.elitelevel.co 🚀

Ask any successful person the secret to their wins, and a significant percentage will answer: tenacity. You see, tenacity means you will never stop trying, no matter what happens along the way.

Take a sneak peek into Alex’s life as he shares how the simple value combined with relentless determination, grit, and motivation led him to success: in a 10-question-quick Q&A episode! Revealing how he chased his dreams, temporarily pushing aside a scholarship study in corporate law, he explains the importance of building the courage to follow your passion unaffected by the opinions of those around you. You know your thing better than anyone else in the world. Staying true to himself helped Alex build the monumental success he has right now and still go back to complete the degree he was pursuing before.

Today, get to know your host personally – learn about his interests in food, sports, and cars; his inspiration, hobbies, personal stories, and more. Alex also encapsulates the secrets to his sales success for you to listen to and learn from.

 Alex underpins that his motivation currently isn’t money but the ability to make a difference in the world. He wants to help talented, driven individuals, particularly salespersons, achieve elite-level success. And one element of that is embodying the role you’re chasing. Want to become an Account Executive? Dive into the specifics of the role and learn what it takes to perform well in it through available and accessible resources like this podcast. 

(PS. If you are a Sales Development Representative who wants to transition into an Account Executive role, join Alex’s Elite Level Academy @https://www.elitelevelacademy.com. He would help you do that in 8 weeks or less!)

 Listen to this episode for more!

 Key talking points:

●      Being driven by the desire to impact the world

●      Why tenacity is an irreplaceable ingredient of sales success

●      The importance of embodying a role to grab it

●      Building muscle memory by continuing to practice something

Connect with Alex

●      Website:  www.elitelevelacademy.com | www.alexalleyne.com

●      Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mralexalleyne/

●      Twitter: https://twitter.com/elitelevelalex

●      YouTube: http://youtube.com/c/elitelevelpodcast

Learn from the top 1% of sales professionals in 5 minutes per week through the Elite Level Newsletter: https://www.elitelevel.co 🚀

The desire to outperform and exceed any set expectations turned an enthusiastic sales professional into the CEO + Founder of a blazing startup. From abuse to swearing, Samuel faced it all in his early days in sales only to see it transform into unshakable resilience, which led him to powerful corporates and then his own business that’s been raking in incredible profits since the first month of its starting!

Today’s episode of Elite Level features Samuel Brooksworth, the CEO & Founder of Remoteli. Samuel narrates his path to sales and entrepreneurship, the experiences gained and the lessons learned.

 Challenging times taught Samuel to spring back despite any odds. From media sales to insurance sales, he worked with the sales wings of different departments, making door-to-door sales, convincing customers about products they would otherwise refuse to buy, and sometimes even tolerating their abuse and pushback. In what started as the journey to make money, Samuel found his passion. He fell in love with the idea of selling.

Remarkably, in Samuel’s first corporate job, when he was asked to sell  ₤ 25,000 in the first three months, he sold for ₤ 300,000 - an achievement that not only convinced his employers of his abilities but himself that he was capable of a lot more.

Over time, Samuel learned and gathered the courage to fight for what he’s worth. And when the need to be recognized for his work took over, he decided to pivot from a full-time job to a company. Hence birthing Remoteli, which is now en route to finding the right investors to help grow its vision even more.

Listen and watch today’s episode to hear Samuel narrate his story to Alex. And learn how you can succeed in any venture by striving (and working hard) for excellence.

Key talking points: 

●      3 keys to Samuel’s monumental success

●      How challenging times teach you the most lessons in life

●      Don’t be afraid of the no’s - they’re bringing you closer to your success

●      The importance of diversity and inclusion in your organization

Meet The Guest!

Samuel Brooksworth is the CEO & Founder of Remoteli, a tech-led outsourcing business supporting organizations globally.

Learn from the top 1% of sales professionals in 5 minutes per week through the Elite Level Newsletter: https://www.elitelevel.co 🚀

While it's not easy, embracing discomfort is a surefire way to grow. The BEST sales professionals are continually pushing themselves beyond their comfort zones, like Chris.

From a wanna-be firefighter paramedic to an aspiring accountant, Chris had overseen multiple careers before pursuing the sales route. Starting his journey as a technical support trainer in the corporate world, he has now amassed considerable experience in the sales engineering industry, having worked with big corporates and start-ups alike.

The key to such an enthusiastic career, he believes, is the zest to continually learn and improve – and exploring spaces beyond his zone of genius. 

Chris joins us in this episode of the Elite Level Podcast to talk about all things sales engineering – what it is, what makes an exceptional sales engineer, how people make their way into the career, and the traits of extraordinary sales engineers. He also dives into the lessons + tips he wishes he knew when starting out, including the importance of keeping your ego aside, staying humble, and knowing when to speak and when not to speak.

Top-tier sales engineers, in his opinion, are people who drive business value in addition to being technically sound. They can communicate well with the stakeholders involved and lead a customer from dissatisfaction to satisfaction by charting out their needs exceptionally well.

To become an elite sales engineer, surround yourself with people better than you and choose discomfort. Explore spaces beyond your present comfort level, and you'll see your learning levels sky-rocket.

Take a step forward to your dream sales career with Alex and Chris in this episode of the Elite Level Podcast.

Key talking points:

●      Elite level sales engineers: Are they born or made?

●      Who is a sales engineer?

●      A sales engineer’s role in the sales cycle

●      Shattering your ego and opting for growth

Meet The Guest!

Connect with Chris

●      LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-frost123/

Connect with Alex

●      Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mralexalleyne/

●      Website:  https://www.alexalleyne.com

●      Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mralexalleyne/

●      Twitter: https://twitter.com/mralexalleyne

●      YouTube: http://youtube.com/c/alexAlleyne 

Learn from the top 1% of sales professionals in 5 minutes per week through the Elite Level Newsletter: https://www.elitelevel.co 🚀

When you’re living your passion and doing a job you love and enjoy, the money will gradually come – unquestionably so – because your passion will compel you to find new ways to improve your business, do better work and charge more.

 And this isn’t a mere saying. The guest for today’s episode of the Elite Level Podcast is living proof of this learning.

 Graduating with a financial degree in 2008, Corey never thought his career would take off to such unfathomable heights. But it did. 

 As the Regional Director @ Snowflake, Corey Cummins now has over a decade’s worth of experience in sales and marketing, precisely equity research sales, sales to portfolio managers, hedge funds, medical research sales, tech sales – and has worked in both the US and the UK. He also had Founded and sold his own big data analytics software (SaaS) company called REalyse, which was named a top 10 PropTech company to watch by UKPA. 

Corey attributes a large part of his success to the realization that he had to think beyond money – finding work that fit his skill and taste was key to his inspiring career.

In this episode, Corey sits with Alex to cover everything he’s learned from his time so far in sales – from finding interest in the industry to ideating, scaling, building his skillset and founding his own company. He digs into fundraising challenges, hiring and training advice for employees, and why you must explore options outside of your zone of genius to be truly successful in life.

Some noteworthy things Corey shares in the conversation include:

>>  Money alone might not drive you forward in your career.

>> Fundraising is a full-time job in itself. A lot of pointers should be kept in mind when fundraising, including telling people how you built your business, sharing your story, giving them reasons to buy your product – just proving to them you’re worthy of their investment. 

>> When interviewing people, you need to be open to different kinds of personalities – you don’t want all your employees to be the same. There might be some who’re happy being on the more technical side, and there might be some who wish to get into the more managerial roles, but whatever the case, you have to be open to differences.

>> Sales is tough. There’s a lot of competition, and being a result-driven industry, people often only assess their employees for the figures they made. 

 
Key talking points:

●      Why being money-driven alone doesn’t guarantee happiness (works for some, but not all)

●      How the US and UK markets have different sales approaches

●      Exploring opportunities spanning outside your skillset

●      How to strike a balance between results and humanness in leadership

Meet The Guest!

Corey Cummins is the Regional Director at Snowflake. He was the Former CRO & Co-founder at REalyse, an enterprise property management platform, that improved the experience for landlords and tenants.

Connect with Corey Cummins

●      LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coreycummins

Connect with Alex

●      Facebook: 

Learn from the top 1% of sales professionals in 5 minutes per week through the Elite Level Newsletter: https://www.elitelevel.co 🚀

Sales teams across companies today have a pressing need to be data-driven to stay relevant. However, bringing sales strategies and tactics in sync with data can be tricky, especially if you're not familiar with the science of sales or data analytics. That's why on the podcast episode, we've invited business intelligence and data analytics expert and sales maestro Hursh Rughani.

Hursh had sound technical knowledge before advancing into sales with a background as a software engineer working in Big Data and Analytics. An undying interest in problem-solving coupled with a customer-first mindset set him on his sales journey, leading him to become the Regional Director at Data Robot, an organization that powers companies through AI-driven platforms.

Having worked in the pre-sales departments for long enough, Hursh explains the transition to sales was indeed difficult - the first year was tough since the change was clearly seen and felt. Also, ever since becoming a leader, Hursh's workflow and priorities have shifted too, which is now majorly focused on guiding an entire team towards the business goal.

Modern sales is data-centric; knowing the technicalities of data analysis and usage empowers you to make decisions based on customer interests. To succeed, salespersons need to have three essential qualities: accountability, intelligence, and experience. Hursh explains how he assesses candidates in the three areas and why the three are the most necessary skills required in sales. 

In addition, today's episode digs into the benefits of a sales and marketing playbook, Hursh's 3 'Why' framework for making a sales decision (jump to 21:01 of the audio), and the need to align yourself with providing value to people as a modern salesperson. Hursh also talks about his Information Management degree, experience working as a consultant, his interest in traveling, and experience working for companies from different countries.

Key talking points:

●      The importance of a data-driven sales approach

●      Why you must have a customer-first attitude in sales

●      Hursh’s 3 ‘Why’ framework

●      Managers vs. leaders

 Meet The Guest!

Hursh Rughani is the Regional Director at Data Robot, an organization that powers companies through AI-driven platforms. Previously, he has worked as a strategic account executive, consultant, and software engineer, a background that has helped him tremendously in his sales career.

Connect with Hursh

●      LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hurshrughani/?originalSubdomain=uk

Connect with Alex

●      Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mralexalleyne/

●      Website:  https://www.alexalleyne.com

●      Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mralexalleyne/

●      Twitter: https://twitter.com/mralexalleyne

●      YouTube: http://youtube.com/c/alexAlleyne

Learn from the top 1% of sales professionals in 5 minutes per week through the Elite Level Newsletter: https://www.elitelevel.co 🚀

The road to success is a bumpy one, and in the world of sales - it can be treacherous. 

The fact is, there are two types of career: an extraordinary one and an average one. In a sea of mediocrity, it can be pretty hard to stand out as someone remarkable when the others are constantly trying to pull you to their level of average. 

 As a 2x LinkedIn Top Voice, Alex has raked extraordinary success in his life so far. An early-life entrepreneur, Alex realized why a career in law (which his family suggested he take) wasn't for him. In eight months, he quit his law degree to join as a BDR in a company selling printers and copiers. The rest is history. Alex furthered in his career, making millions in sales for software companies (the highest being $8.5 million!) and building his personal voice and brand.

In today's episode, he answers your most persistent questions on building a career in sales, including the essential parts of a sales process, the secrets to his highest sales, and how much you can earn in the industry. He also shares his journey, beliefs, and success keys, explaining how to choose a company that uses your best skills, encourages growth, and drives meaningful change.

"Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." Alex believes devotedly that there's no substitute for hard work. Elite salespersons marry their passion and enthusiasm with a thirst for learning and build a success system around it. They chart out their mornings and nights in a way that allows them the time to learn and grow in their craft continually - How and when do you wake up? Do you optimize your sleep? Do you have a good morning routine? If not, it's time to think it over: be intentional and do not let your time slide past you.

Push yourself to do more, invite a little bit of discomfort, and work hard to become successful in sales. For more, tune in to the episode now!

Key talking points:

●      The importance of a paint point and ‘champions’ in sales

●      How to choose a company to work for

●      The secret to an $8.5 million software sales in two years

●      There’s no substitute for hard work

Connect with Alex 

●      Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mralexalleyne/

●      Website:  https://www.alexalleyne.com

●      Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mralexalleyne/

●      Twitter: https://twitter.com/mralexalleyne

●      YouTube: http://youtube.com/c/alexAlleyne

Learn from the top 1% of sales professionals in 5 minutes per week through the Elite Level Newsletter: https://www.elitelevel.co 🚀

The thought of leaving your own small business to work in someone else's larger company can be tricky. But what do you do when you no longer feel challenged or growing by being in it?

That's what our guest for today's episode did. As an experienced recruiting professional and a passionate entrepreneur, Steve founded Imnet, a specialised recruitment services company for the technology industry when just 28. He ran it for over 2 decades before selling it and pivoting to a day job as the Sales Director at Bullhorn. 

Now, we've all heard stories of people quitting their full-time job for the business, but Steve's case is rather unique. He left his small business to work on a full-time job. But why?

Because the former ceased to challenge him or help him grow. In his words, "You might be good at something, but it doesn't make that something, the whole something." To reach greater heights in life, you have to explore other spaces and expand your skill set.

Today's conversation gets deeper into the traits sales candidates must possess and avoid to be accepted by the recruitment team. The biggest no-no is blame-gaming. An interviewer might instantly lose interest in your profile if you pull down other people or companies. Additionally, CVs and LinkedIn profiles matter - they're great for pitching for a job and getting your recruiter's interest.

Steve also talks about how a recruiter's role is assessed – they're evaluated for their relationships with their candidates, stakeholders, the hiring managers, and business partners. Moreover, a recruiter must learn to ask the right question at the right time. This, in turn, requires practice. Build your expertise, so you don't ever hire an incorrect fit for your team.

Steve and Alex explain the importance of hard work, discipline, honesty, awareness, and focus for success in any field. Today's work culture asks us to slow things down. Sure, your brain needs time to relax and realign, but it's essential to know there's no success without hard work. Stay ahead in the sales game by continually growing yourself.

Listen to the episode for more! 

Key talking points:

●      Leaving your small business to chase growth

●      The state of the recruitment industry today

●      What recruiters and candidates must know before the recruitment process begins

●      The importance of LinkedIn and CVs 

Meet The Guest!

Steve Harris is the Senior Director of Talent Acquisition at 8x8. He is a career and lifetime recruiter within the tech industry.

Resources Mentioned

●      Book: Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

Connect with Steve

●      LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/uksteveharris?originalSubdomain=uk

Learn from the top 1% of sales professionals in 5 minutes per week through the Elite Level Newsletter: https://www.elitelevel.co 🚀

As much as we want to believe that we're all self-made, successful people, most of us find it painfully challenging to reach the heights of our respective fields without help. Whether it's a teacher showing us how to play the piano or an experienced programmer showing us the ropes, there's something extremely valuable about having someone to turn to in times of trouble or confusion. And unlike popular opinion, this isn't uncool or unworthy! Mentorship has more benefits than you can imagine.

In today's episode of the Elite Level Podcast, Alex interviews Freddie Chetwood, Account Executive at Creative X, a company that helps brands improve their creative efficiency, consistency, and effectiveness across all their creative contents. The duo chats about their journey into sales, sharing their experience leveling up and succeeding in the industry. They talk especially about mentorship and coaching, growth and transformation, and balance and execution.

Alex shares that curiosity and a zest to learn are key attributes to success in sales. Elite level people do not wait for an opportunity to come to them but instead discover and fit themselves into places they're comfortable in. If you're a freshly joined SDR, know that it's okay to fail or make mistakes. Every failure would teach you something new. 

Further in the discussion, Freddie shares that Curiosity, Hunger, and Self-Awareness are three invaluable skills that can hardly be taught. The only way to progress in your career is to activate them in your system, move ahead with knowledge, and perfect them.

Atop everything lies effective planning – your career rests on it. But planning alone doesn’t do what is necessary. It goes hand-in-hand with execution. Implement your action plans to know if the information you consumed is translating well. The catch here is that the planning mainly works out only in the early stages of your career, where you have the time and opportunity to create and dive into it headfirst. 

Growth begins with you. Whether you're an experienced, successful salesperson, or a freshly joined appointee in a company, make sure to constantly upskill yourself to succeed in life.

Check out today's conversation now!

Key talking points:

●      How to discover the inherent desire to be different

●      Perfectionism is a myth

●      The importance of curiosity and self-awareness in sales

●      Moving forward with a desire to get better

●      The mindset changes in a developing salesperson

 Meet The Guest!

 Freddie Chetwood is the Account Executive at CreativeX, a company that uses technology to help brands improve their creative efficiency, consistency, and effectiveness across all their creative contents.

Connect with Freddie

●      LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/freddie-chetwood-a86b5a186

Connect with Alex

●      Website:  https://www.alexalleyne.com

●      Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elitelevelalex

●      YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMSziXthLl2MqxpaGAlQ2Hw