The Sales Evangelist

Very often, sales reps find themselves frustrated and hemmed in by the mistakes small company sales leaders make.

I had a conversation last week with a sales rep who was frustrated because his company had no real plan or guidance for how it would achieve the owner’s vision. The owner expected Herculean efforts by the rep, but eventually the rep stopped performing and left the company to escape the pressure.

In many cases, unless the owner corrects the mistakes, the cycle starts all over again when a new rep joins the team.

Many of us in small organizations understand the excitement of entering a new role only to discover that the reality was different than the idea you bought into. The sales rep I mentioned was never good enough to accomplish what the boss was hoping for, because there was no plan in place to help him succeed.

Because the rep wasn’t as successful as the boss expected, he was moved into a different role. The rep continued in a sales support role, but his demeanor changed. His excitement disappeared. He wasn’t giving as much of himself to the company because he was discouraged by all that had happened.

Eventually he left the role and moved into a much better position.

Entrepreneurs certainly have the freedom to set their own vision for their companies. It’s their responsibility to establish where the organization will go, but they must also determine how it will get there.

Imagine an owner who sets a goal to make $1 million. He wants the best sales reps to come into his organization and help him carry out that plan.

He hires a successful sales rep from another company where there is already a proven sales process and proven guidance to help him succeed. The owner expects the sales rep to execute at the new company the same way he did at the previous one, except there’s no structure in place.

If the rep didn’t take the sales job expecting to have to reinvent the wheel, he’ll likely be frustrated by the lack of any kind of process. If he’s a new seller, he may not have the resources or the experience to help build a sales process from nothing.

As a result, he’ll be frustrated and burned out quickly because he doesn’t have the necessary tools to be successful.

Without a change in the owner’s approach, every sales rep who walks into this same situation will likely end up leaving.

If you don’t identify the best potential customer for your business, the sales rep will constantly have to switch gears in an effort to pursue different prospects. He’ll struggle to gain traction because he’ll be chasing too many possibilities.

He likely won’t have any idea what works and what doesn’t, because he’ll be spread too thin.

Have a clear definition of the customers you’ll pursue, and how you’ll connect with them. If you haven’t already determined who your ideal customers are, give your sales reps additional time to figure out which customers are worth pursuing.

If you aren’t tracking certain metrics within your company, you’ll have no way to determine which efforts are working and which ones are not.

Begin by determining which KPIs you’ll use to evaluate the effectiveness of your sales reps.

• How many deals do they close?
• The number of appointments they set?
• How many demonstrations do they schedule?
• How many contacts do they locate?

I recommend you focus on outcome-based KPIs. It’s ok to track the day-to-day activities that produce important outcomes like demonstrations scheduled or deals closed, but I wouldn’t judge your employees on those metrics.

Avoid measuring vanity numbers like the number of calls made and instead evaluate meaningful numbers like the number of appointments that resulted from those calls.

Determine what kind of realistic result your rep should be accomplishing. Should he be closing $6,000 worth of deals each month? Once you know that, you can help your reps ramp up.

CLICK TO TWEET

Once your team has an understanding of the ideal customers and how to find them, you must give your team a clear expectation of what to say.

Prepare your team for the questions they must be prepared to answer and the objections they’ll likely hear. Develop resources like downloads or podcasts or articles that will help your sales reps educate themselves. Accumulate resources that your reps can share with your prospects.

If you don’t help your sales reps succeed, they will move on to another company. Then, you’ll find yourself in the same mess again.

Don’t make these same mistakes. Develop a plan to help your team succeed.

Check out the TSE Certified Sales Training Program for help building a successful team and an effective process.

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

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.

This episode is also 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.

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

Salespeople don’t like to hear the word “no” but Andrea Waltz is going to help you change the way you look at that response so that you’ll find yourself trying to go for no.

Andrea and her husband struck out on their own about 19 years ago. They did sales workshops and trainings for big companies, and they found that their rejection piece was the thing everyone loved.

This was a problem and a solution that affected everyone no matter what business they were in.

In this replay of a 2017 episode of The Sales Evangelist, Andrea offers the following advice to those dealing with rejection.

Although it’s true that the rejection isn’t personal, it’s hard to avoid internalizing that rejection. It’s normal to respond emotionally when someone tells you no.

If, however, you allow rejection to take control of your sales process, you end up with mediocre results because you’re little more than an order-taker.

Eventually you’re going to have a conversation with someone, so rejection is always a possibility.

Andrea’s husband had an experience once selling menswear, and his manager asked him what the customer said no to. Her husband pointed out that the customer bought everything he recommended and didn’t say no to anything.

The manager then asked, “Well then how did you know he was done?”

As sellers, we tend to sell to our own wallets, but if we could get comfortable being told no, it’s possible that we’d be even more successful.

We must get used to hearing “no.”

“No” doesn’t mean never; it means not yet.

“No” is the beginning of a negotiation. If you call on someone who is happy with the current supplier, that won’t necessarily be true forever.

You must stay in touch and follow up even when people tell you “no.”

Encourage your sellers to continue the follow up. It’s easy to lose track if you don’t use your CRM.

There’s also an interesting phenomenon around getting a “yes.” Everyone celebrates that “yes.” Contrast that with the person who makes 20 phone calls and gets nothing but “no.”

Consider that a lot of those “no” answers can turn into “yes.”

CLICK TO TWEET

Track your “no” answers. Set a “no” goal.

If you get permission to follow up, you absolutely must do it.

Sellers must learn to distinguish the different kinds of “no” answer. When you avoid hearing “no” you don’t get good at handling rejection emotionally.

When you get used to hearing “no” you learn to distinguish the “no” answers that could potentially turn into a “yes.”

Get permission to follow up with that qualified prospect. At worst, ask if you can check back in a few months to see if anything has changed.

You can also try to figure out what the “no” is by figuring out how you got to “no.”

You have nothing to lose at this point, so try to figure out why it wasn’t a good fit. Figure out why people are saying “no” and figure out how you can mitigate that in the future.

If you’re getting a large number of “no” answers, determine whether you’re talking to the right people. Consider that maybe you aren’t contacting qualified leads.

Maybe your presentation needs a few tweaks.

If you’re only being proactive, you’re only dealing with the “yes” answers.

People usually have to be contacted multiple times before they say “yes.” They are often hesitant to change, so if you’re changing a service but the prospect doesn’t want to make a change, that’s why multiple contacts are necessary.

Add value. Get them accustomed to the idea.

Understand that you don’t just have to focus on “yes.” That mindset shift forces you to let go of being perfect.

People have been conditioned to believe that “no” and failure go together.

When you avoid “no,” you miss opportunities for some big “yes” answers. We want to give people permission to believe that it’s ok to get a “no.”

Create a “no” awareness.

Learn more about these concepts by visiting GoForNo.com. You can also grab a copy of their book Go For No!: Yes Is the Destination, No Is How You Get There.

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.

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.

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

Following up means reconnecting with the prospect, and it's crucial that you understand why and how to follow up.

Many of us dread the follow-up portion of our job because we fear being a nuisance. When we do it effectively, though, it can be the key to more deals and more success.

Follow up builds trust with your prospects. When you tell them that you're going to follow up with them, they expect to hear from you. Failure to follow up suggests that you're not dependable or perhaps you found another prospect that is more valuable.

You must keep your promises because trust leads to success. People do business with people they know, like, and trust.

[Tweet "At the end of every single interaction with your prospect, you should have some form of follow-up in mind. #FollowUp"]

Create a meaningful process that will help move your prospects forward.

Decide what you need to do next and establish a clear next step for every single appointment. When you meet for the first time, schedule a next step that will allow a deeper dive with that prospect.

Let your prospects know that there will always be a clear next step as long as you two are a good fit for one another.

Ask your prospects what they would like to do next. Based upon their answer, you can schedule your next step.

Be prepared to offer some options for meeting days and times. Do NOT leave the meeting with a general statement that the prospect will follow up with you.

Better to have a specific sense of whether the relationship is moving forward than to be left wondering.

For most sellers, none of this is new material. We KNOW that we need to follow up.

Once you've created the next step, use Google Calendar to create a notifications that will remind each of you about the meeting.

Even if your prospect indicates that the time isn't right for your product or service, have a follow-up in mind that will allow you to reconnect with him after the fact.

Stay in touch. Keep your prospect moving in the right direction.

Check out the book 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management by Kevin Kruse.

This episode is brought to you by the TSE Certified Sales Training Program. If you put in a lot of hard work in 2018 but weren't able to close many of your deals, we can help you fix that. We have a new semester beginning in April and it would be an honor to have you join. Visit thesalesevangelist.com/CST.

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.

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 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.

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Mentioned in this episode:

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

If you struggle with sales and the challenges that go along with it, you aren’t alone, and today Ted Ryce shares how he overcame his own struggles and how you can overcome sales plateaus.

Ted has been a health and fitness professional for the past 17 years in Miami Beach. He has worked with tons of celebrities, CEOs, multi-million dollar companies and personalities like Richard Branson and Robert Downey, Jr. He now has a health, fitness, and personal development podcast called Legendary Life Podcast. Ted figured out early on that he actually is a salesperson. Sales never came easy for him and so today, he shares with us the challenges he faced and how he overcame them so you can learn from his experience.

Ted poured a lot of effort and resources into the fitness industry, and though it helped, he hit a plateau where he wasn’t getting more clients. For the money he invested, he expected to have a mile-long waiting list.

He was in desperate need of new clients when a guy expressed interest in training with him. Ted saw it as a chance to grow his client list and raise his prices.

Looking back, he realizes that because he didn’t have confidence in his business or his cost, he didn’t justify the cost to his prospect.

Determine your value, and stick to it.

Once you play the price game, everyone loses, including other people in your industry. You have to differentiate yourself and have a reason for charging as much as you do. You must explain it so that the prospect can understand the cost.

Have a reason for charging more, not coming from a place of being awesome but in a way the prospect can understand.

In Ted’s case, he realized there would always be people who would work for less money, so he started to highlight how his training was different.

He offered a holistic approach that included sleep and other physical and health challenges, and he specialized in injuries. He also had a background of working with CEOs, so he marketed himself accordingly.

Don’t sell yourself or what you want to sell. Sell exactly what the client wants.

Ted worked to determine exactly what his clients needed, and then he sold them exactly that instead of selling what he wanted to sell.

He also made peace with the idea that some customers would need something different than what he was selling, so he would be willing to refer them out.

Match what you do with what someone else needs.

[Tweet "When you value your product or service in the right way, price no longer becomes an issue. #Value"]

Once you’ve narrowed your message, find ways to reach the people who can benefit from your product or service. This is a great way of selling yourself without selling yourself.

Go out there and do more presentations. Do a podcast. Eventually, they will look at you as a leader in your industry.

People will apply the things you’re sharing, and if it helps them succeed, they will view you as a subject-matter expert. Take things step by step. Stay at it. Take lessons and courses. Listen to podcasts. Stay on course to make consistent improvements. In 3-6 months time, you’re going to see major changes.

Stay consistent, keep at it, and don’t give up.

You can connect with Ted on the Legendary Life Podcast, and check out the Be The Change group.

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.

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.

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

One of the biggest challenges in business is keeping that constant flow of new customers in the pipeline.  How you brand yourself and your company is imperative in producing growth and recurrent revenue.   

Johanne Wilson is co-founder of a Florida-based design agency called COOL Creative. COOL stands for Create Out of Love. Their branding comes from a creative and design standpoint.  

Every company experiences challenges when it comes to sales. Understanding those challenges and learning effective ways to overcome them can increase your sales. It can also clarify your target audience and reveal how to best go about reaching them.  

Find effective ways to pitch so you can have a healthy flow of clients and client work. When you do, you’ll create active, recurrent clients that return again and again.     

From a fashion standpoint, offer enough product and keep it updated and fresh. The customer will keep coming in to purchase product and will create recurrent revenue.  

Change product release times and inform the customer of new releases to keep him engaged..  

Strive for constant communication with the customer in order to drive sales.

Maintain consistent growth within your business.

On the agency side, COOL Creative developed a growth plan that would move the sales needle.

For example, making an investment in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program provides tools for creating an effective growth plan.

Johanne realized that she was spending too much time on client work and not enough on the sales side of her business. As the business leader, she realized she was spending a lot of time on design because she was comfortable with it. She was not investing enough time in the sales side.  

She learned that in order to be a good business person, you have to become a good sales person as well.  You must familiarize yourself with the aspects of business that you aren’t comfortable or familiar with.  

On the fashion side, pushing more on advertising, marketing, social, communication, and partnerships with influential people like celebrities can all help drive sales. Right partnerships can lead to other agencies funneling clients your way.

Work smarter, not harder. Identify the areas that need more attention and push toward making those a priority.

As an entrepreneur, Donald neglected the sales facet. But once he made sales a priority, everything else fell into place.

As a business leader, sales is a necessity.

Nobody knows your business better than you.  Nobody can sell it better than you.

It can be hard to let go of the things that got you into business in the first place. Identify the areas of business that aren’t as strong. Invest more time and energy into those areas.

Business will become healthier and you will be able to serve clients better.  

Understand your clients’ issues and the strategies you will use in solving them. Then attach a price tag to those solutions.

When you and the client see amazing results from something you helped him with, it’s rewarding. Bringing a client’s idea to life or bringing a business objective to life makes it all worthwhile. Create Out of Love (COOL) speaks for itself when these instances occur.

Growth is always a good indicator for having made positive changes.

You don’t have to do anything drastic: small changes can have big rewards.

What are you focusing on? If your head is always down working on the deliverables, which is important, you must make sure there is a strong person on the sales side to keep the engine moving.  

Speaking to the creative entrepreneur, don’t forget why you are in business. While it is the creative piece that got you started, you have to get good at the business side, too. This includes sales, accurate bookkeeping, and meeting with other professionals to make sure that the business stays in good standing.

You can reach Johanne Wilson online at www.coolcreativeinc.com.  Here you can link to the online shop, Instagram @CoolCreativeinc, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

This episode is brought to you by the TSE Certified Sales Training Program. If you put in a lot of hard work in 2018 but weren't able to close many of your deals, we can help you fix that. We have a new semester beginning in April and it would be an honor to have you join. Visit thesalesevangelist.com/CST.

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.

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 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.

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Mentioned in this episode:

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS