The Sales Evangelist

Sales constantly evolve and sellers who want to be successful must effectively map and create multithreaded relationships in order to close more deals. Peter Chun talks today about the importance of multithreaded relationships and the challenge for reps who must establish them.

Peter fell in love with the convergence of sales and data and has found a personal passion for it. He loves strategizing about how to close deals and about how to help your company scale and grow.

Evolving sales

The biggest obstacle for B2B sellers right now is the evolving face of sales. Buyers are more sophisticated, and they have more information at their fingertips. They do a lot of research before they even engage with a salesperson.

Additionally, the number of stakeholders within B2B deals is increasing, with research indicating that complex deals often include 6 to 10 stakeholders.

The big challenge, then, is finding and creating multithreaded relationships because too often they are single threaded. Many reps, either because of laziness or lack of awareness, fail to establish more than one relationship within a deal. They rely on a single relationship to get the deal done.

Multithreaded relationships

Being multithreaded doesn't simply refer to your customers. It's important that sellers create multithreaded relationships within their own companies as well.

Who else, besides your prospect, needs to be part of the conversation you're having? Who else on your team has relationships that can be leveraged to build a solid foundation?

One of Peter's reps teaches his reps to always do discovery because it keeps them aware of the details of the deal and helps them to stay relevant.

If you're multithreaded, you have other contacts that can help you move a deal forward.

Unnecessary risk

Even when you believe that you have the juice to close a deal, you leave yourself open to risk if you fail to be multithreaded. You may, in fact, be connected to the right person, but that doesn't mean there aren't others who can help move the deal forward as well.

Many reps simply haven't been coached to do this well. Sales leaders must coach them well and teach them how to have a multithreaded perspective.

In the case of a complex account, there may be hundreds of employees. There may be years of history between you and your prospect making it difficult to know where to even start.

Peter says that visually mapping the process will help you keep track of your efforts.

• Who are you talking to?
• Where does each employee sit?
• Who does each employee report to?
• What are the relationships within that organization?

Becoming multithreaded

In order to establish a multithreaded perspective, begin by figuring out all the people you already know. Start with who you've met or spoken to in the organization.

Step two is to identify all your targets or the people you'd like to talk to.

Third, add the executive team. Include the CEO and any executive leadership that you think is relevant to the conversation.

You can then figure out who reports to whom and who is pursuing specific initiatives. The goal is to drive consensus across the organization, so I must identify the leaders who can move this initiative forward.

[Tweet "Multithreaded relationships demand that you're constantly adding to your map, even if you'll never actually speak to some of those people. #Multithreaded"]

Recognizing your prospects' initiatives demonstrates an interest and it suggests that you're more than an order-taker; you're paying attention to the details.

Common mistakes

Some managers get so focused on their numbers that they fail to develop a real strategy. As soon as organizations allow their sellers to be a little more strategic, they'll find that their activities are much more scalable.

Account mapping has been around for a long time, but now we have the technology to use a more systemized approach to it and tie it into our CRM.

Young sales leaders simply haven't been exposed to enough deals to think that way. But great sales leaders think that way naturally.

Help your less tenured sellers learn to think that way.

It's easy to get overwhelmed with this idea but begin with your top account. Implement the three steps with that account, will help you begin really moving your deals.

Build the discipline within yourself and your team to be multithreaded. Even if you're certain it will close, you can still consider who else you have access to.

When you're multithreaded, you have more options when your contacts go dark. Remember to focus on internal and external connections.

"Create Multithreaded Relationships" episode resources

You can connect with Peter on LinkedIn and you can sign up for LucidChart and check out their sales templates.

This episode is brought to you in part by our TSE Certified Sales Training Program, which teaches you to improve your sales skills, find more customers, build stronger value, and close more deals.

The next semester begins in April.

If you're not familiar with the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, it's a program designed to help brand new sales reps, as well as those who have been selling forever. The 12-week module offers videos you can watch at your own pace, as well as the option to join a group discussion. It's broken into three sections: finding, building value, and closing. It's amazing and it's fun!

This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link.

The episode is also brought to you by prospect.io, a sales automation platform that allows you to send cold emails in a personalized manner. To find out more about how it can help you automate your sales process, go to prospect.io/tse. Your prospecting will never be the same.

I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility.

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Mentioned in this episode:

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

hubpspot.com/marketers

bluemangostudios.com

Sales constantly evolve and sellers who want to be successful must effectively map and create multithreaded relationships in order to close more deals. Peter Chun talks today about the importance of multithreaded relationships and the challenge for reps who must establish them.

No matter what business you're in or what product you're selling, downturns happen, so today we're talking about how to prepare your sales pipeline for an economic downturn. 

We're here at the Eastern Minority Supplier Development Council's ROAR Conference, which is connecting minority-owned and women-owned businesses with Fortune 100 companies.

Joel Burstein says that companies should be most aware of an economic downturn when the economy is good. The downturns in '01 and '08 were preceded by markets that were really,  but they grew so quickly that they weren't sustainable.

When things seem too good to be true, they usually are.

Consider the internet

At one point, everything was successful. It didn't matter what the product was. The reality of the world at that time was that 22-year-olds owned five properties.

If you drive your car as fast as you can for as long as you can, your car will eventually break. The economy is the same.

The time to prepare for the economic downturn is when the economy is good. You do that by diversifying your clientele and diversifying your business.

Clients who are looking are still engaged. You don't necessarily have to take your foot off the gas; you just have to think outside the box.

Talk to clients

Ask your clients how their world is going. They will have indicators, so if you ask them what signs they are seeing, they may be able to share signs with you.

Realize, too, that not everyone's downturn is equal. Some people's downturn started in '07 while others started in '08. What happened is that we missed it.

Your perspective depends on where your market falls. Some people are struggling today. It isn't that they're struggling tremendously, but their business is down.

Perhaps it only lasts one quarter, or maybe it stretches into two or three quarters. Once that happens, it begins to have an impact.

Have engaging conversations with your existing clients about what's happening in their markets. Because their markets are different than yours, you'll gain insight into the overall economy.

Two-fold benefit

Imagine an entrepreneur with a digital marketing company who has decent-sized clients. If she stays in touch with them she can accomplish two things:

1. She can do some reconnaissance work.
2. She can deepen her relationships.

At some point, you sell without selling. You have to be in the relationship mindset rather than the selling mindset.

You'll develop a deep understanding of what your client is facing and struggling with. Your client will remember you as the one who cared about how they were handling the downturn.

Preparing for downturn

Certain industries will survive recession better than others. Energy is a great example.

Oil is another industry that survives recession well, as evidenced by the Texas economy while the rest of the country was in a downturn. People still need oil, and we forget that it's used to make milk cartons. It's also used for the oil and gears of manufacturing machinery.

  Healthcare is another example. Hospitals have tremendous numbers of vendors because they are like self-sufficient cities.   Unemployment could negatively impact healthcare, but the government tends to step in so that people don't go without care.   Ask yourself which adjustments you'll make in order to survive the recession when it happens. Identify ways to gain traction in those industries that can survive recession. Add those behaviors to your daily, weekly, and monthly behaviors. Larger companies The EMSDC offers a great opportunity to expand a middle-sized business to a larger business. Because larger businesses have more funds, they survive a bit better than small ones.   If all of your businesses are about the same size, some of those will fluctuate. Some of them will go out of business. It's the nature of the industry.   There's a reason we talk about companies being too big to fail.   When you engage in the right behaviors, you introduce that diversity into your business.  It's a matter of making an effort to prospect in a certain area or to call on certain people or ask certain people for referrals.   Many entrepreneurs get stuck waiting for business to come in. If I can get out there and start having conversations with people I'm targeting, I can control my destiny a little better by choosing who I will target. Networking

When the economy shifts, you need to have a great network of people you can reach out to for different things at different times. If I don't know people, I can't do that.

Networking is a big thing. Speaking engagements are, too.

In our case, we can't always orchestrate large training opportunities but we can convince people to sign up for workshops or boot camps. It allows us to build our brand, stay connected to our customers, and it offers additional streams of income.

Joel said he leverages his LinkedIn so that his existing contacts can introduce him to people he doesn't know. People typically don't leverage it properly, but what if you knew all the same people your clients do?

[Tweet "Diversify now. It is never too soon. It is only too late. #DiversifyCustomers"]

"Prepare For Economic Downturn" episode resources

You can connect with Joel at keepitsimple.sandler.com or email him at [email protected].

We are currently in the Beta portion of our new TSE Certified Sales Training Program. The first section is about prospecting, the second is all about building value, and the third is about closing.

This episode is brought to you by the TSE Certified Sales Training Program. If 2018 wasn't the best year for you, check out TSE Certified Sales Training Program. We can help you out of your slump.

If you gave a lot of great presentations and did a lot of hard work, only to watch your prospects choose to work with your competitors, we can help you fix that. The new semester of TSE Certified Sales Training Program begins in April and it would be an absolute honor to have you join us.

This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It's super easy, it's helpful, and I recommend that you try it out. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link.

Mailtag.io allows you to see around the corners. You can see when people open your email, or when they click on the link you sent. Mailtag.io will give you half-off your subscription for life when you use the Promo Code: Donald at check out.

I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility.

If you haven't already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won't miss a single episode. Share it with your friends who would benefit from learning more.

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Mentioned in this episode:

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

hubpspot.com/marketers

bluemangostudios.com

No matter what business you're in or what product you're selling, downturns happen, so today we're talking about how to prepare your sales pipeline for an economic downturn.

Sales leaders who can solve the most common sales problems will increase their productivity and improve their performance.

Today, Charles Bernard explains how a disciplined system for selling and managing can remove barriers to performance for sales leaders.

Bernard founded ‘Criteria for Success,' an organization that develops online sales playbooks and provides leadership and sales management training. Charles was a top performer in his division with General Electric and has run several businesses as well.

Caught in the middle

Charles believes that the number one issue facing sales managers today is the feeling of being caught in the middle between the CEO/Management and the sales team. Sales managers must bring in the numbers, on one hand, while acting as a micromanager on the other.  He compares it to having a target on his front side with another on his back.

Charles finds that pressure from above is unfiltered and passed directly down onto the sales teams, whether it's justified or not. And, he says, the sales teams hate that.

If management feels that something is wrong or that people are not doing their jobs, for example, it is the responsibility of the sales manager to balance the push/pull of the situation. She must absorb the pressure in order to adapt the message - without losing the importance behind it - to empower the team.

Passing the pressure from management to the team does nothing to motivate or incentivize sales.

Many times, leaders fall into the trap of thinking they must have all the answers for how things should be done. An enlightened manager should be able to pull the boss and the team together.  He should encourage conversations that promote transparency and foster teamwork.

Charles prefers for his sales teams to hear directly from the bosses and he often facilitates meetings to allow for such interaction. It allows each side to learn the concerns of the other and to work as a team.

Pulled in different directions

Charles cites the challenge of staying focused as another common issue facing sales managers. Don't engage in too many meetings or with multiple different initiatives. Lack of focus prevents the managers from spending time in the field and with their sales teams.

It was a struggle but Charles eventually learned how to say ‘No’ to those who people who weren't impacting sales.

Charles recalls numerous instances where he was asked, for example, to intervene with an upset client. He had to put his foot down and direct those calls to others in the organization better equipped to handle such situations.

It is understandable that sales managers want to prove their worth to the company. But it is a mistake to do so by getting involved in matters that do not pertain to their job or to assist with sales if the team is underperforming. It only serves to further scatter the focus a sales manager needs to succeed.

The purpose of the sales manager is to be available to the team. It must be the priority.

[Tweet "If you are constantly running back and forth putting out fires, you may feel busy, but non-sales related activities do not increase the bottom line. #SalesFocus"]

Inability to set goals

Sales managers often don’t have the time to spend on the proper vetting of the forecasts. As a result, they are often unable to create realistic forecasts and to set goals.

The need for realistic forecasting is obvious. The problem arises when the decisions made on that forecast - where the growth is coming from, how much we will grow, what the profits will be, and how the funds will be reinvested - are very linear and rigid. There isn’t a lot of thought behind it.

Charles believes that people should not think about what they are going to sell in a year. People tend to miss things like backlog, which is probably going to give you the most wind behind your sails.

If forecasting in 2018 for 2019, for example, you must see all the deals that didn’t close, at the individual and team sales levels. You want to know what stage they are in because that backlog will give you a jump on each quarter.

What is your backlog going in? What is your backlog coming out?

If you begin with a strong backlog of unclosed business and put that into your forecast, you can then see where you are short and what you need to do each quarter. It is very important to have a notion of forecasting that includes backlog. Without it, you are already behind at the start.

Sales advice

• Rank your sales team. Who are your A’s? Who are your B’s?
• Rank your customers. Who are your partners and who are your advocates? Who buys on a whim, or transactionally?
• Build a playbook. Take all the knowledge in the company and make it available for everyone to access.

"Solve The Most Common Sales Problems" episode resources

Charles can be reached via email at [email protected], or you can call him at 212-302-5518. Charles can also be found on LinkedIn.

This episode is brought to you in part by our TSE Certified Sales Training Program, which teaches you to improve your sales skills, find more customers, build stronger value, and close more deals.

The next semester begins in April.

If you're not familiar with the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, it's a program designed to help brand new sales reps, as well as those who have been selling forever. The 12-week module offers videos you can watch at your own pace, as well as the option to join a group discussion. It's broken into three sections: finding, building value, and closing. It's amazing and it's fun!

This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link.

The episode is also brought to you by prospect.io, a sales automation platform that allows you to send cold emails in a personalized manner. To find out more about how it can help you automate your sales process, go to prospect.io/tse. Your prospecting will never be the same.

I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility.

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Mentioned in this episode:

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

hubpspot.com/marketers

bluemangostudios.com

Sales leaders who can solve the most common sales problems will increase their productivity and improve their performance. Today, Charles Bernard explains how a disciplined system for selling and managing can remove barriers to performance for sales leaders.

If you paint a picture for your customers of where they are now versus where they want to go, you can help them make a buying decision.  Show them how the positive change will happen, or what might happen if they don’t change. It will allow them to logically justify an emotional decision.

Jeffrey Gitomer was my first ever guest and he taught us something interesting on that very first podcast: People love to buy but they hate to be sold.

Think about that.  Nobody wants to feel tricked or manipulated. That is the last thing that you want to do as a sales rep. You want to help them to buy.

Your job is to guide clients through a process that educates them.

Become an artist

The key is to paint amazing pictures that feel so real and so vivid that your clients can see the value being offered.

Imagine we have presented our business case and the prospect is loving it. They know it is amazing but they will naturally start to compare it to their current situation.

What are we doing? What are our sales reps doing? How much time are they spending? Are we wasting time?

It is time to paint the picture for them.

Asking ‘why?’

Toyota once used the ‘Five Whys’ concept to get to the root of a problem; to fix the real issue of any problem instead of the surface-level problem. As an example, suppose I take my car into the shop because I have a flat tire from hitting a pothole.

As a sales rep, there are many things you could sell me. I need a new tire, for sure. Do I also need glasses so I can see potholes in the future? Maybe I didn’t see the pothole because I was speeding. Perhaps I was late and I need to buy an alarm clock.

What if I was running late because I am not disciplined enough to properly prioritize my day? Will a new tire or a pair of glasses help with the root of my problems? No.

When it comes to your prospect, once he agrees with your business proposal and realizes that he is in the same scenario you're describing, that is the time to share with him how you can deliver.

Paint the picture that directly represents his business and his situation. Ask him what you need to know.

Do you feel the scenario that I’ve presented fits your situation? Why do you think that is the case? What have you tried before to address this same problem? What are your goals?

Become a consultant

Become a consultant that will help solve their problems. You’ve already painted a picture with your business case. Once you have your answers - once you have more details - you can effectively execute the demonstration.

Know your client’s timeframe and budget.  Go over who will be involved in the process and the criteria for future decisions. Everything discussed during the buyer’s journey needs to be referenced during the discovery call as well. It helps make the closing that much easier.

[Tweet "Paint the picture of where your clients are now, why they shouldn’t be in that situation, and how your product or service can help them. #SellSolutions"]

Underpromise and overdeliver

If I know I can deliver 4x, I often promise 3x because it is a simple fact that my clients will be much happier if they accomplish more than they expected.

You can help the prospect realize that the decision is theirs. It is not being forced upon them and it is not manipulative. Rather, with your help, they realize where they are and the challenges they face in moving forward. We have had meaningful and educating dialogue that provided solutions and opportunities for change. The buyer’s decision is now up to them.

"Paint a Picture" episode resources

We are currently in the Beta portion of our new TSE Certified Sales Training Program. The first section is about prospecting, the second is all about building value, and the third is about closing.

This episode is brought to you by the TSE Certified Sales Training Program. If 2018 wasn't the best year for you, check out TSE Certified Sales Training Program. We can help you out of your slump.

If you gave a lot of great presentations and did a lot of hard work, only to watch your prospects choose to work with your competitors, we can help you fix that. The new semester of TSE Certified Sales Training Program begins in April and it would be an absolute honor to have you join us.

This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It's super easy, it's helpful, and I recommend that you try it out. You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link.

Mailtag.io allows you to see around the corners. You can see when people open your email, or when they click on the link you sent. Mailtag.io will give you half-off your subscription for life when you use the Promo Code: Donald at check out.

I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility.

If you haven't already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won't miss a single episode. Share it with your friends who would benefit from learning more.

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Mentioned in this episode:

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

hubpspot.com/marketers

bluemangostudios.com

During this episode, I will share with you why it's so important to help paint a picture for your prospects and how this concept can build tremendous value for you and your team.

 

Saying goodbye to a legend is difficult, but we can move forward living by the principles they teach us and the lessons we learn.

One of the best selling business books of all times is Think and Grow Rich; it changed my life. It transformed the way I think about money and about the opportunities I could create.

The person I received the book from is also important to me. It was from someone who was like a father to me. He came into my life when I was 14 years old and helped mold me into the person I am today.

Dennis Rosebrough

Dennis, Denny, Dad...I learned a lot from him. He was a true hustler, a real entrepreneur - always looking for something.  He grew up the youngest of five kids in a poor family but always had a determination to make something of himself and for his family.

As an X-ray technician, Denny went into the business of providing mobile x-ray machines. The company grew from scratch into a multi-million dollar organization, employing and helping hundreds of people.  

His son, Andrew, currently runs the organization and has been a best friend of mine since we were kids.

Principle One: See people as people

It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from, your race or your color.

Denny had a heart of gold. Treating everyone equally was his strong suit. He came from a poor background and moved into a position where he could afford to take care of himself and his family.

Regardless of where he was in his life, he was kind to everyone. He just connected with people. He reached out to those who were different. He was always humble and eager to learn.

I remember a time when I was 16. My family was going through some financial difficulties to the point where we were evicted from our home.

My mom and brother moved in with one relative but because of the location of my school bus stop, I moved in with another relative. I  slept on a bunk bed in their laundry room.

When Andrew found out, he talked to his Dad. Denny, without even thinking about it, invited me to move in.  Both my Mom and I remain super grateful for their guidance and assistance. I was loved and cared for and welcomed into the family.

It was a lesson in learning to look at other people as individuals and to help them and to care for them. I think it is a lesson that can apply to how we, as sales reps, entrepreneurs, and business owners conduct ourselves as well.

Principle Two: Be willing to give

Sometimes we don’t give to others because we don’t see anything for us in return. Denny didn’t think that way. He would give regardless.

He once gave his car to a woman at his church who had five grandkids and an unreliable car. He had the means to do so, of course, but that doesn’t detract from the fact that he gave without expecting anything in return.

He gave without any desire for compensation but received so much in return just the same.

Give willingly. Give without expectation or strings attached. Give from the heart.

Principle Three: Dream big

After high school, I moved back in with my family for a few months before leaving to serve on two-year mission trip. When I returned home from that trip, Denny took me out to dinner and gave me a book.

It was his testimonial - how he started his business, the vision he had for his life and for his family, and his experiences. He wrote it all down and he shared it with me because he had faith that I could have the same success.

It is also when he gave me the, now very tattered, Think and Grow Rich book.

Denny taught me that I needed to plan and that I needed to have vision; a higher vision for my life.

We often have a low level of thinking where we doubt our ability to achieve bigger things in life. But Denny, and that book, helped me see otherwise.

It helped me in college, and it helped me in my performance. Then, it helped me run for student body president, helped me in my business career, and it helped me in sales.

It helped me have a higher level of thinking. I realized that I could be successful too. It helped me to think and grow rich.

I saw where Denny had come from and how much he achieved. I wanted a life and a family like his. I want to be be able to help others the way he did and to see people for who they are.

Principle Four: Work Hard

Denny taught me to work hard. He taught me about business. He hustled and he worked and he stayed up late and took the odd shifts as his company grew.

Denny passed away this weekend and I know his spirit will remain in the many things he has taught us all, the individuals he has touched, and the legacy he has left behind for his family.

At the time, I encourage all of you to think about the legacy you will someday leave behind. I hope the principles I learned from Dennis can help guide you along your path.

"Say Goodbye to a Legend" episode resources

This episode is brought to you in part by our TSE Certified Sales Training Program, which teaches you to improve your sales skills, find more customers, build stronger value, and close more deals.

The next semester begins in April.

If you're not familiar with the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, it's a program designed to help brand new sales reps, as well as those who have been selling forever. The 12-week module offers videos you can watch at your own pace, as well as the option to join a group discussion. It's broken into three sections: finding, building value, and closing. It's amazing and it's fun!

This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It's super easy, it's helpful, and I recommend that you try it out.

You'll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link.

The episode is also brought to you by prospect.io, a sales automation platform that allows you to send cold emails in a personalized manner. To find out more about how it can help you automate your sales process, go to prospect.io/tse. Your prospecting will never be the same.

I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility.

If you haven't already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won't miss a single episode, and share with your friends!

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Mentioned in this episode:

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

hubpspot.com/marketers

bluemangostudios.com

During this episode, I will share a personal experience of a father figure who helped to transform my thinking and life.