The Sales Evangelist

The Sales Evangelist

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The Sales Evangelist episodes

  • TSE 1025: TSE Certified Sales Training Program: "Give Them Your All"

    One of the best ways to show your appreciation for your customers and provide value to them is to give them your all.

    Tiffany Southerland is a career confidence coach who works with both young, and experienced, professionals who are ready to make their career mark on the world and who want to increase their fulfillment in the work they do each day.

    She helps individuals evolve, thrive, and perform to the best of their ability.

    A business cannot exist without clients, so it is crucial to have a solid relationship with your buyers. Tiffany serves individuals one-on-one in a group setting and believes that, if they are not happy - if they have not improved or realized results - she has not done her job. It is, therefore, very important for the success of her business that she continually better herself in order to do better for her clients.

    The goal is not to simply make more money but rather to help the clients. A salesperson who pushes her own agenda over the needs of her clients is likely to lose those clients.

    The natural by-product of happy clients, however, is increased sales.

    Tiffany recalls failing to launch a group program twice because she had locked herself into reaching a specific number.

    She was focused on that target instead of the service she wanted to deliver. Once she removed the target and focused on the experiences, services, and opportunities she wanted to provide for her clients instead, she began to see results.

    Her level of stress was replaced with positive energy. People began to react differently to her as a result and her new goal was reached.

    Our unique gifts

    Tiffany knew that she wanted to build her business for the sake of changing people's lives and she wanted to leave a legacy. She had to realize and believe that she was capable of doing so. She needed to believe that she was uniquely gifted to provide her services in the way her clients wished to receive it.

    Tiffany was serious about reaching her goal. She knew she was capable of making an impact in a way that only she was qualified to do.

    Tiffany believes we are all uniquely gifted because our lives are all different. We came into our particular roles in a way that no one else did, even if we are doing the “same job.”

    Once you internalize that concept and apply the difference to the way you do business, you begin to walk authentically and in your own unique voice.  Regardless of the metrics or the sales targets, if you can show up authentically, it becomes easier to do anything. You are no longer working to fit somebody else’s mode.

    You will be perceived differently.

    People can tell when you are trying to be something you are not.

    Instead of thinking about making a sale, think about serving a need. If your product or service can meet the need, the entire perspective and experience for both the buyer and the seller shifts. Rather than ‘just selling,’ you are literally meeting a need.

    Comparison is the thief of joy

    It is easy to fall into the trap of comparing yourself to others in the same field and to doubt your ability to provide any unique service. Realize that you don’t have to reach a million people. Rather, you need to show up and impact just those people who need to hear your voice.

    We live in a world now where some people have thousands of followers. But if you have 10 people behind you - who really believe in you - that is a foundation upon which you can build everything else.

    Tiffany does not claim to be a celebrity by any stretch but she has a podcast audience that shares and believes in her. She, in turn, benefits when they share and connect her to others.

    It is impossible to be grateful and to take advantage of what you have if you are too busy comparing your achievements to others.

    Don’t worry about what other people have. Be appreciative of what you have. Have the right perspective and learn how to make the best from what you have been given.

    When Tiffany embraced this change, she was able to launch her business successfully. She was free to focus on her clients as opposed to focusing on herself and the bottom line.

    A call to serve

    Tiffany strongly believes that, regardless of industry, we are called to serve first. Focusing on metrics, for example, serves no purpose other than to appeal to our vanity.

    As soon as Tiffany changed her focus to the creation of a great product that would change the career trajectory of other women, she was able to truly connect with her clients.

    It was no longer the work she did for herself; it was the work they would do together that made the business successful.

    The feedback from her clients has been wonderful. They feel heard. They feel that they are getting so much more out of their experience with Tiffany than they expected.

    For Tiffany, that is the only result she really needs. Her clients register to improve their interviewing skills, or resumes, but they leave knowing how to clearly articulate what it is they are really good at doing and what they want in their careers.

    They are able to figure out, and seek out, the right opportunities with increased confidence. Tiffany says the change has been phenomenal and the impact extends well beyond career confidence.

    The work self and the personal self will eventually collide so they have to be congruent. Don’t go to work as an employee. Go to work as the individual that you are. It will give you the clarity to determine what opportunities are for you, and which ones are not.

    Have faith not only in the qualifications on your resume but in your ability to deliver. You have to believe in yourself.

    Focus on service. Take the pressure off yourself by focusing on the people around you instead. Focus on the company you work for, your colleagues, and your clients. When the focus is on them, the pressure you used to place on yourself no longer exists.

    “Give Them Your All” episode resources

    Tiffany’s next ‘Elevate your Career Academy’ will launch in March. It is an 8-week faith-based, group career coaching program for women. Learn more about it and register at www.Howdoesshedoitpodcast.com or www.fourcornerscoach.com.

    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 March.

    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!

    Mentioned in this episode:

    HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

    HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

    hubpspot.com/marketers
    bluemangostudios.com

    24 min
  • TSE 1024: Sales From The Street: "Selling To Everyone"

    Selling a product or service that expands across multiple industries is possible when we realize that selling to everyone takes a team effort.

    Phil Sweeney worked in sales while in college because he enjoyed talking with people and problem-solving. Now, just two years after graduating, Phil is still working for Negotiatus, a fast-growing tech start-up business he first joined while in school.

    There were only a handful of employees when Phil first signed on. Now they are at 60 employees and Phil is loving every minute of it.

    SELLING TO EVERYONE

    It was exciting, as a salesperson, to have totally green fields ahead in terms of being able to work with, and sell to, any company. Phil had to quickly learn how not overextend himself.

    He had to learn how to hone in on the ideal customer profile. He had to understand who had the biggest need for the platforms he offers.

    When Phil first joined the sales team in its infancy, the company really could sell to everyone. It was a huge undertaking. They were also faced with the challenge of being a new company with little success to promote.

    They were shooting from all cylinders to determine where the biggest impact was in terms of the types of companies that they were attracting. From there, they were able to focus more and more on those types of clients.

    Phil dedicated blocks of time to the task. For 2-3 hours each day, he would not take any calls, schedule meetings, or go anywhere.

    Ideally, using blocks of time outside of selling hours, Phil would focus solely on who he was going to call the next day. He used many of the brilliant resources now available such as Sales Navigator, to find the people he needed to find and to learn more about them prior to the call.

    SHARING THE IDEAL CUSTOMER PROFILE

    Now that he is part of a larger sales team, he is having conversations not only within sales but also with success teams and operating teams to understand, in their opinion, which clients have been the most successful and easiest to work with.

    When selling to everyone is possible, it is easy to find yourself going nowhere fast. It is hard to know the correct verbiage for each industry. Selling in the medical industry, for example, is much different than selling in the automotive industry. It can be hard to land a good appointment until you narrow your focus to the industries that work best for your company.

    DIVIDE AND CONQUER

    Success begins when the teams can focus and then specialize across multiple industries. Phil believes it is important to identify as an expert in whichever field or department you are selling to. It is massively beneficial when you can speak the same language as the people you are selling to and when you can understand their struggles.

    Only then can you hone in on the pain points in order to solve those problems.

    Phil is closing sales now within 1-2 weeks of his first meetings because he has established himself as the expert in the field with the ideal solution/product. The need for his product is real and he is positioned to offer the main solution to satisfy that need.

    First and foremost, Phil recommends setting goals and dedicating time to the task. Most salespeople work in teams, so use that to your advantage. In Phil’s team, they announce the number of new contacts, for example, that they hope to reach in the next two hours; it is written on a whiteboard for all to see – and then they get to it.

    At the end of the time period, they check in on each other. Did they get it done? Or do they need to work longer? They hold each other accountable.

    Get familiar with the industry. Share tips and resources. Google Alerts, for example, is an excellent tool to stay on top of specific topics in a particular industry which can help you at every stage of your pipeline.

    Put in the time at the top of the funnel and it will pay off when it comes time to close the deal.

    In this manner, Phil’s sales team is leading the pack with a 115-150% quota attainment on a month-to-month basis. As a company, they have seen month-to-month revenue growth between 15-30%.

    STAY HUNGRY, STAY HUMBLE

    Everything is measured by the week or the month; even the hourly way of team progress is measured. It all resets to zero at the end of each period, so don’t hang your hat on a certain closed deal or a really good day of selling; stay humble.

    You’ve got to start each day mentally fresh and hungry again.

    “SELLING TO EVERYONE” EPISODE RESOURCES

    Reach out to Phil via email at [email protected], or give him a call at 631-901-2685.  He is also active on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn as PhillipSweeney.

    Additionally, Phil is part of The Sales Evangelist Facebook group and would love to connect with you there.

    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 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 March.

    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 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

    hubpspot.com/marketers
    bluemangostudios.com

    22 min
  • TSE 1023: Generating Business Referrals...Without Asking

    When you bring value to customers and care for your clients, you’ve taken an important first step toward generating business referrals… without asking.

    Stacey Brown Randall considers herself a contrarian in the sales world, because she believes that if you’re asking for referrals, you’re doing it wrong. She helps small business owners and solopreneurs generate referrals and she dispels myths about referrals.

    She didn’t set out to focus on referrals, but after her first business failed, she discovered that business owners have to figure out how to touch business development every day. You also have to figure out the ways in which you’re willing to do it.

    TONS OF OPTIONS

    Sellers have countless options for bringing in clients and prospects to their pipelines, but they have to be options that the sellers are willing to do day-in, day-out.

    When her own business failed, she asked herself what went wrong.

    Although there was more than one mistake along the way, she realized that she never figured out how to fill her pipeline consistently. She never found an activity she was willing to do on a regular basis.

    She researched and found that referrals offer an amazing way to bring in clients, and they’re often quicker to close. They also trust you before they ever meet you, and they are less price sensitive.

    Everything about referrals is just better.

    REFERRAL PIECE

    Stacey was determined to figure out the referral piece when she launched her second business, but all the information she could find said you had to ask for referrals.

    To her, asking for a referral felt like a second-cousin to a cold call. She didn’t want to do it.

    In order to help her second business be successful, she decided to figure out how to generate referrals without asking. Once she did that, she moved into teaching other people how to succeed in the same way.

    REFERRAL MISTAKES

    Referrals are not about you.

    If you ask for them, or make them part of your marketing plan and develop promotions around them, you’re making the referrals about you.

    Stacey discovered that the sales process has three buckets: prospecting activities, marketing activities, and referral activities. What we do to generate referrals looks different than what we do compared to prospecting and marketing.

    When I’m in prospecting mode, I’m looking for someone who will say yes within 30 days. With marketing, it’s a little more long-term but there is always an ultimate mindset.

    Referrals, however, require different activities and a different mindset. The biggest mistake people make is treating their referral process like part of the prospecting effort. Or, they think about it like marketing and make it promotional and gimmicky.

    GREAT WORK

    If you’re going to hand off the client at some point, you have to make sure it’s a great process and great client experience.

    Nobody refers to crappy work and no one refers a choppy customer experience. That’s a foundational piece, and none of these suggestions will work if you aren’t referrable. You must do the things that make people want to refer you.

    The most important person in a referral process isn’t you and it isn’t your prospect; it’s your referral source. You must understand who is referring you.

    ACTION STEPS

    Begin by pulling out your list of clients, at least from the last two years, and figure out how those clients learned about you. (Pull data from as many years as you’re willing to do the work for.)

    You may have this information in your CRM, or you may have to do some digging.

    Determine who those people are that already referred you in the past, and begin there.

    You’ll likely realize that you don’t have that many, and you’ll probably discover that you haven’t been intentional about building relationships with those people.

    Figure out what you’re doing to take care of your referral sources.

    Because sellers often get paid on commission, it’s tempting to move quickly from one client to the next. Sometimes sellers don’t recognize that it’s a lot of work to constantly seek the next big win.

    Instead, sellers can spend their time doing activities they enjoy doing for people who know that they truly care. Then, the sellers can watch clients drop in their laps.

      If you do the right kind of work at the right time for the right people in the right way, they will fill up your pipelines for you. #Pipeline

    CLICK TO TWEET

     

    It saves a tremendous amount of time and money.

    YOUR JOB

    No one wakes up in the morning thinking about ways to make your job easier. They aren’t thinking about how they can refer you.

    Your job is to make sure that you’re doing outreach to referral sources and that you’re being memorable and meaningful.

    You want to use the right referral seed planting language so that you move into their subconscious. When you take care of people, they naturally want to take care of you back.

    We want to be the person who is constantly giving to them so they think about us in a different way. When an opportunity arises, we want them thinking about us. It’s all about how we take care of people.

    TOP OF MIND

    When you know who your referral sources are and you focus on them, you start to notice and develop patterns about those sources.

    When Stacey was a business and productivity coach, she noticed that her niche happened to be working parents. Their world was her world. Her previous business failure gave her a unique perspective she could share.

    She initiated a touchpoint that included “off-guard holidays.” In order to be meaningful, she sent Mother’s Day and Father’s Day gifts to her top referral sources.

    She sent a Wonder Woman water bottle to the moms reminding them that they are heroes. It didn’t include Stacey’s logo and it wasn’t about her. It was about her client.

    Those clients have never forgotten who sent that bottle. They were seen and recognized.

    That effort can’t be a one-and-done. The touch points must accumulate over time.

    Clients will always think about you in return when you’ve thought about them first. Anything you do must be all about them.

    PLANTING SEEDS

    Begin by using the word referral when you’re talking to your clients. When someone sends you someone, send them a hand-written thank you note that thanks the referrer by name.

    It’s noticeable because it’s a thank you note that you took time to write.

    Then, when people ask how your business is going, use the opportunity to plant a referral seed. Consider this: “You know, I on-boarded three new clients last week who were referred to me. I love receiving referrals because it tells me I’m doing something right with my business.”

    Be honest, but plant the idea of referral. The seed may not always fall on fertile soil, but eventually, it will.

    Aim for the 30 percent who will actually refer you.

    Like the other steps, it must be a consistent effort that builds on itself. We’re seeking to create a habit for how our clients will behave.

    “GENERATING BUSINESS REFERRALS…WITHOUT ASKING” EPISODE RESOURCES

    You can connect with Stacey at staceybrownrandall.com where you can figure out your skill level at generating referrals by taking her Referral Ninja Quiz. The quiz identifies three different levels, and it will help you determine whether you should learn more about referrals.

    Her website includes all kinds of free content to help you figure out how to move to the next level.

    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 March.

    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!

    Mentioned in this episode:

    HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

    HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

    hubpspot.com/marketers
    bluemangostudios.com

    38 min
  • TSE 1022: The Redheaded Stepbrother of Sales...Client Success

    The Red-headed Step Brother of Sales … Client Success; we don’t pay attention to it. But, we should.

    There were times, growing up in Jamaica when we would have issues with getting water into our house. The pressure wouldn’t be strong enough or a pipe would burst, and we would have to take buckets down to the community water source and haul them back home.

    Imagine me, Little Donald, carrying a bucket of water a quarter mile each way …and I’m sure I filled that bucket to the very top.

    Naturally, some will spill out as you walk along, but imagine my surprise to see the bucket only half-full when I got home … A small crack in the bucket caused me to lose most of it.

    What incentive would I have to go back for more? I needed to fix that bucket.

    Client success is the same way. Nobody pays attention to it but it is critical to the organization’s success.

    CLIENT SUCCESS

    Client success is the function of a company responsible for maintaining the relationship between the client and you, the vendor. The goal of client success is very simple: to make sure your clients are as successful as possible. This, in turn, improves your relationship with the client and the lifetime value of that client.

    It helps the organization in many ways. As with my bucket example, client success is the source that helps to make sure the holes in the bucket are sealed. We don’t lose water – we don’t lose customers. [02:17]

    Compare the lifetime value of your client to my bucket of water. The last thing you want to do is lose your customers after working so hard to get them. It would be such a waste to work for a year and a half to land an amazing client only for them to move on after only a year.

    Multiply that scenario across multiple clients and you’ll find yourself in a whole heap of trouble: you need to fix that bucket. You need to address client success. [03:26]

    I read a statistic in an article published by the Precision Marketing Group which states that86% of buyers will pay more for a product if they receive a better customer experience.

    This may not occur immediately but imagine a client does come on board who has an opportunity to purchase more of the licenses, or services, that you offer.

    Let’s use furniture sales as an example. You sold a nice desk and chair to your client. In the future, what prevents him from going elsewhere if he needs another chair? [04:11]

    MAINTAINING RELATIONSHIPS

    What if your client success team was able to actively work that account and learn the goals of the client? If you knew the client was planning to expand in six months, for example, would it not make sense for you to create an opportunity to help them reach that goal?

    In some companies, sales takes care of this but it spreads the sales force thin. They are asked to find new people, build value, close deals, AND actively farm the account, fix problems, and keep the client happy.

    You need new business to come in but you also need to maintain relationships with your current clients so they will return to you over and over again.

    It is virtually impossible to do it all. Something has to give and, in all likelihood, new business will stop coming in. [04:58]

    Again, 86% of buyers would pay more for a product or service if they receive a better customer experience.

    Let’s say your product is at premium value and a buyer could go somewhere else next time to get it for less. If the buyer perceives a value in the sales experience he has with you, however, he will stay with you. [05:48]

    CLIENT SUPPORT

    Client support, on the other hand, is basically a range of client services to assist clients in making cost effective and correct use of a product. This includes assisting in planning, training, troubleshooting, maintaining, updating, etc.

    Using the office furniture example again, the client support team helps install and assemble the desk. The client success team does not.

    In smaller organizations, however, sellers often do it all. Solving problems while also maintaining accounts can certainly be overwhelming. You can see how this could affect new net revenue. [06:32]

    The emphasis on new business causes client support and client success to be pushed to the side: they become the red-headed step children of sales.

    CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

    Another statistic from the Precision Marketing Group states that the companies who prioritize customer experience generate 60% higher profits.

    Instead of hiring three new salespeople, would it not make more sense to hire two sales individuals and one client success individual instead? Hire a client success person to ensure that everyone brought on board by the sales team stays on board.

    Instead of losing new clients each year, keep them for five or six years – even longer. Give them an amazing experience. Help them. Guide them and fix any problems they might have so they don’t feel neglected. [07:29]

    It has been said that the client success team is just an appendage of customer support and it is not as important as sales. But we all know that it is much easier, and cheaper, to keep a client than to find a new one.

    If you give your client a great experience, he will give to you in return with referrals and repeats sales.

    A happy client will continue to feed you new business. The client success team can then create more opportunities for more sales. [08:46]

    THE POD APPROACH

    A ‘pod’ is a term some companies are now using to refer to a three-system approach: one person from sales, one person from customer support, and a third person from client success working as a team. Together, they create a cohesive relationship that keeps new business coming in, solves issues, and works toward the success of the clients.

    It makes a huge difference. [09:30]

    Finally, I previously shared a story about my experience working for a software company where I didn’t really know what to do. I learned, however, from working with client success (known as customer support back then) the type of clients not to pursue, which helped me to recognize the type of clients I did want.

    I was able to retain those types of clients, build stronger relationships with them, and close more deals.

    Customer support helped the clients be successful. If they recognized a problem that I could fix for the client, they would bring me in. It worked amazingly.

    I suggest considering such a system in your organization. If you already have one in place, be sure to evaluate its effectiveness. What is the lifetime value of a client right now? How much money can you expect from that client? Is there a process for upselling or cross-selling? [10:07]

    Don’t waste your time and energy on a client only to have him fall through the cracks.

    Don’t go home with a half-empty bucket.

    EPISODE RESOURCES FOR ‘THE RED-HEADED STEP BROTHER OF SALES … CLIENT SUCCESS”

    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 brought to you in part by prospect.io, a powerful sales automation platform that allows you to build highly personalized, cold email campaigns. To learn more, go to prospect.io/tse. It will help you with your outbound to expand your outreach. It allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never ever be the same.

    Prospect.io is offering three months at half-price.

    Previously known as TSE Hustler’s League, our TSE Certified Sales Program offers modules that you can engage on your own schedule as well as opportunities to engage with other sellers in other industries.

    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 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

    hubpspot.com/marketers
    bluemangostudios.com

    15 min
  • TSE 1021: The Value of Giving Prospects Hands-on Control During Presentations and Leave-Behind

    What is the value of giving prospects hands-on control during presentations and leave behinds?

    Zvi Guterman, founder and CEO of CloudShare, is here today to tell us. CloudShare is a cloud company providing IT labs as a service mainly for IT training, IT sales enablement, and sandboxing, all in the cloud.

    Like most entrepreneurs, Zvi got the idea for CloudShare when faced with a problem that needed a solution. In previous positions, there was always a point in the sales process when Zvi needed to build a demo or training talk.

    When he realized how much time and work he was spending to build that infrastructure, as opposed to actually doing the demo and closing the deal, he knew there had to be a better way.

    He looked but couldn’t find a service to create labs for him, so he decided to create that service.

    Ten years and $30 million later, Zvi has seen a lot.

    HANDS-ON CONTROL DURING PRESENTATIONS

    Zvi learned from working with his customers and users that, once a prospect is given a hands-on experience, the level of commitment from those prospects increases.

    It is no longer some vague idea that you are selling but rather a tangible product.

    When the clients understand how the software works, for example, it is easier for them to imagine using it. They are more committed and less worried because their questions are answered. It also allows sales to collaborate with the prospects on how best to utilize the product.

      Hands-on experiences remove obstacles and shorten the sales cycle. #SalesCycle

    CLICK TO TWEET

     

    A hands-on experience allows sales to move control of the demonstration to the prospect. It increases the prospect’s understanding of the product and allows them the opportunity to ask questions they may not even know they had.

    Onboarding then becomes super enjoyable.

    Begin by answering simple questions and explaining terminology. Then, proceed together to determine other areas to test, what type of specific functionality to add, or which performance issues need to be addressed. It also enables sales to personalize a timeline and success criteria for each prospect.

    OTHER BENEFITS OF THE HANDS-ON APPROACH 

    Client engagement increases retention. The hands-on process increases usage and reduces the risk of the prospects buying but never deploying the product simply because they don’t have the time to install or set it up.

    Cases will still arise where the product is not a good match for your prospect. But looking at the big picture, you want to see the No’s. Hands-on presentations shorten the time spent on irrelevant leads because the prospects will see right away whether the product is a match for their needs.

    Most times, salespeople focus on leads or clients that are not going to progress. Engaging the customer with hands-on opportunities saves times and energy for everyone.

    Zvi insists that the demonstration parameters be the same parameters the prospects can expect when the product is deployed to their data centers. They do not optimize or otherwise tweak the demonstration. This provides true value to the customers.

    It also allows everyone the opportunity to enjoy the move toward deployment. The transition is smoother and the actual deployment is faster.

    THE DUALITY OF THE HANDS-ON PROCESS

    The prospects are happy with the duality of the hands-on process. On one hand, they have control of the environment. No one will interfere or touch their data.

    At the same time, sales is available to answer any questions and to collaborate.

    An in-house test lab is probably the most common scenario in many organizations but scheduling use of the lab is both cumbersome and expensive.

    CloudShare simplifies and reduces that cost by reducing the amount of lab time.  Hands-on demonstrations are more efficient, more powerful, and less expensive.

    Providing hands-on demonstrations and a trial in the cloud also allows for more and more advanced scenarios. Zvi sees people utilizing all the available tools together and becoming more efficient.

    People are now using the data available in CloudShare to calculate the probability of engagement. They can also determine where to concentrate their efforts and to learn about new directions to take.

    It allows people to collaborate and get the best results.

    For example, if a sales rep on the east coast notices better results from a demo being used on the west coast, he can quickly learn more about it and how best to apply it. With CloudShare, team members can share improvements implement them on a global scale.

    Organizations become more efficient as a result.

    “GIVING PROSPECTS HANDS-ON CONTROL DURING PRESENTATIONS AND LEAVE-BEHINDS” EPISODE RESOURCES

    The best way to reach Zvi is via email at [email protected].

    This episode is brought to you in part by prospect.io, a powerful sales automation platform that allows you to build highly personalized, cold email campaigns. To learn more, go to prospect.io/tse. It will help you with your outbound to expand your outreach. It allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never, ever be the same.

    Previously known as TSE Hustler’s League, our TSE Certified Sales Program offers modules that you can engage on your own schedule as well as opportunities to engage with other sellers in other industries.

    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.

    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!

    Mentioned in this episode:

    HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

    HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

    hubpspot.com/marketers
    bluemangostudios.com

    28 min

About The Sales Evangelist

From the publisher's feed

I believe in doing BIG THINGS! You should be earning 6 figures easily as a sales rep. But chances are you are not...yet! Sales is the most important department in every company but many sellers are never taught how to effectively sell, much less how to earn their way to high-income status. My own career limped along until a company I worked for invested in sales training to help me succeed. Immediately afterward, I closed a deal worth 4X what the company spent on me and saw hockey-stick improvement in my performance. So I started a podcast to “Evangelize” what was working.

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