The Sales Evangelist

Mentioned in this episode:

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

On today's episode of The Sales Evangelist, we're talking with Curt Rapp about how sellers can benefit from the experiences and knowledge of others, and how that knowledge creates shortcuts.

Curt works as an independent contractor selling luxury outdoor products to consumers. During the holidays, that means Christmas lights and decorations. During the warmer months, he sells outdoor cooling systems and mosquito control.

He has access to marketing collateral like CRM and other resources, but he has to bring purpose and a sense of direction to the process. He has to take ownership in the sales process and get focused.

Curt took part in our online coaching program, previously called TSE Hustler's League.

He said the most valuable part of the experience was learning from other people's mistakes. Curt calls them shortcuts because he's borrowing knowledge from other people. [03:15]

Learning how other people handle the daily dogfight of sales helps him borrow their knowledge the next time he finds himself in a dogfight of his own.

In TSE Hustler's League, even as the administrator of the course, I learned shortcuts and other tricks from people in other industries.

Salespeople tend to isolate themselves because they focus on the fact that their industries are different from other industries. The truth is that although the sales industries are very different, people who sell cars can learn from people who sell bicycles.

Curt said it took him several years to understand that he could learn from other people. Early on, he didn't listen to people or their advice, and he ignored shortcuts that could have helped him be more successful. [05:31]

By learning from others, he gets to benefit from new information, and then he gets to share it with other people.

[Tweet "Learning new information and sharing it with others means you learn twice: once when you hear it, and again when you teach it to someone else. There's tremendous value in learning from other people. #sharedexperience"]

Curt said that early in his sales career, he took everything that came his way. He wasn't selective in the choices he made. He saw opportunities all around but he didn't wait for the right opportunities. [07:08]

Many of his past mistakes stemmed from dealing with people incorrectly and failing to intentionally set his expectations.

As a new seller, he got excited about phone calls and appointments because he didn't have the confidence to expect them to happen. Now, he has the confidence to know that he can set appointments and close deals, and it has changed his focus.

Confidence has made everything easier in the sales arena. Also, it's important to be humble enough to acknowledge that you don't have all the answers. Once you do that, you can accept help from other people.

Curt learned from his TSE Hustler's League experience that you must always be learning. He came to sales from an IT background, and he didn't know what he was doing.

He had to be humbled, and that happened when he got around other people who were also hungry for knowledge. [10:40]

Group training sessions helped Curt in a variety of ways:

1. It gave him situational awareness. When an unfamiliar situation cropped up, he could draw on discussions he had heard other people share about the topic.
2. It improved his skills.
3. Group training improved his accountability. He learned that he couldn't be the guy sitting quietly in the corner of the group. He had to share and contribute something to the group.

To quote the book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, if you aren't sharpening your saw every day, you'll be passed over. Nothing will be handed to you.

Once Curt changed his mindset to understand that he didn't know everything, his situation started to change. The TSE Hustler's League group training helped him shift his mindset to always be learning.

Find people who are successful. Use social media. Use online training.

Become aware of all that you can learn and then put yourself in a position to learn something new. Be open to the possibilities. Change your mindset and your mentality. [13:01]

Your future may not look the way you think it will, but it will likely be better than you expected.

If you'd like to know more about Curt and to find out about the project he's launching in 2019 connect with him at curtisrapp.com and on Instagram @CurtisRapp.

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!

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Mentioned in this episode:

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

HubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS

Today on The Sales Evangelist we’ll talk about planning and setting effective goals.

It’s that time of year again where we find ourselves contemplating our achievements over the past 12 months. Some of us reached our sales goals and some of us did not, but we can all benefit from reflecting on what worked well, and what did not work at all.

There’s a difference between setting goals by ‘throwing a dart at the goal wall’ versus setting goals based on the experiences that we are guided towards by the people we meet.

It is the difference between having hope and having a plan. [03:27]

A ‘throw a dart’ goal is as simple as choosing a random number – say $80,000 for example – and then setting that as your commission goal.

But why that number? Are you simply hoping to make $80K, or do you have an actual plan in place to achieve it?

I hope I lose 10lbs next year, I hope I win the lottery, I hope we get out of work early… Those are all just hopes because there is no plan in place to accomplish any of it. You have no control over the outcome.

Goals, however, are fact-based. Let’s consider again the idea of earning $80K in commissions. If you made $40K last year and you know you want to push yourself more next year, does doubling your income seem realistic? Or is a goal of $60-65K more reasonable? [04:16]

The problem with repeatedly setting goals that are not based on fact is the likelihood of failing to meet them. It becomes a vicious cycle. We fall short of our goal, we feel deflated as a result, and we stop trying.

This contradicts Grant Cardone’s 10x Concept but hear me out. Let’s say I went to my manager and told him that I am going to try to get a million dollars in revenue for the year. We put that idea in motion and plan around it despite that, in reality, my highest revenue ever was $50K. It’s just not going to happen because it is an unrealistic goal from the start. [05:10]

So what steps can you take to ensure that your goal is both realistic but also pushes you to achieve more? I have five that I want you to consider. [06:50]

Learn from the experience of others. Talk with your teammates that have done well or talk with your manager. Find out what goals they set when they were new to the business.  What steps did they take? What is a reasonable goal in their opinion?

Put your goal in writing. Once you have decided on a reasonable goal, write it down and put it where you can see it. Studies have proven that goals that are written down are more likely to be achieved because there is a confidence that comes from taking that first step.

Focus on fewer goals. This may sound counterproductive but do you really have the time and energy to reach your sales goals, be the top seller, get 10 new clients every week, go to the gym every day, travel the world and achieve those lofty 10x goals? Wouldn’t it make more sense to break it down into fewer achievable goals instead?

Your goal needs to be measurable and specific. Suppose, after talking with your teammates, you’ve set a realistic goal of $50K.  The next step in achieving that goal is to decide how, specifically, you will achieve it. Break it down. How many new clients, for example, would you need to achieve the $50K? If gaining eight new clients is possible based on previous experience, then a goal of 10 new clients is not so far-fetched. [09:06] [12:21]

Divide the goal into manageable pieces. The beauty of the book The Twelve Week Year is that it breaks the entire year down into 12-week increments so that you can take your goal and divide it into quarterly goals. How many appointments, how many new clients, how many presentations etc. do you need, on a quarterly basis, to stay on track? Put those calculations into your calendar and work toward them on a regular basis.  

It really helped me to achieve my goals because it is so manageable. I can focus on what I need to do each day or each week to achieve my end goal instead of just hoping that it magically comes together at that end.

A quarterly focus on a realistic goal enables you to turn the process into a habit. Once you have the system down, you can replicate it over and over again. You are going to see measurable and amazing results. [09:57]

We’ve had our best year yet at The Sales Evangelist and I want to make sure you can do the same. I’ve been in your shoes and I really enjoy helping new sellers however I can.

We are already planning for next year by taking a look at what we’ve accomplished this year and what we hope to accomplish moving forward. I hope that today’s podcast will help you do the same.

Get a free download of the Twelve Week Year, as well as a 30-day free trial of the audible version, at audible trial.com/TSE.

Check out our Facebook group, The Sales Evangelizers. It is for sellers all over the world to share insights, ideas, ask questions, and so forth.

If you are not pleased with your CRM or think it could be functioning better, check out Maximizer CRM. Maximizer is a personalized CRM that will give you the confidence to improve your business and increase profits. Go to TheSalesEvangelist.com/maximizer for a free demonstration. [00:43] [14:45]

We are also brought to you by prospect.io/tse.  Do yourself a favor and check them out. Prospect.io is a powerful sales automation platform that allows you to build highly personalized, cold email campaigns. It has changed the way we prospect. [00:43] [13:57]

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 enjoy fine podcasts.

And be sure to subscribe to the podcast and share with your friends!

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

On today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, we’re going to hear from David DeRam, CEO and co-founder of Greenlight Guru, about the “it” factor, and how it can change the culture in any organization.

At Greenlight Guru, David and his team spend a lot of time focusing on culture. He calls the company culture unique, but he says that culture doesn’t fall down on you like rain. You don’t experience culture; you participate in it.

Leaders can think about culture and work to create culture, but leaders can’t execute culture. It’s like a plant that will grow the way that it grows, and if everyone isn’t on board with the culture, the culture won’t grow the way leaders want it to. [4:51]

As a result, David’s team looks to everyone on the team to get involved and participate in the culture.

CLICK TO TWEET

People will work how they feel, and if they feel great, they’ll bring an entirely different energy to their efforts.

David’s team intentionally calls work your profession. He points to the fact that the leaders in every industry, (think Tiger Woods, Warren Buffet, Jimi Hendrix) have devoted themselves to their work. Their work is their profession. [6:35]

Listeners of this podcast have devoted their lives to sales and it’s their profession. Your profession isn’t just what you do; it’s what you believe. David’s team has worked to bring all of those aspects into the culture.

Companies tend to focus on results, and by focusing on results you can miss the one thing you desire the most, which is the people, culture, and execution.

David became immediately aware of the “it” factor when he subbed as a coach for a little league baseball team. As soon as he encountered the players on the team, he could tell who the natural athletes were.

They moved naturally. They were confident. The true players were like fish in water.

David took the lessons he learned from that sports experience and moved them into his business. He prioritizes where people aim in order to find leaders.

Setting the bar high for yourself can create a lot of stress, anxiety, and uncertainty. People with the “it” factor know how to set the bar high because they understand that the vision they create is more exciting than the fear they experience as a result of setting it there. [9:46]

You can feel the “it” factor when you meet people. They have reached high levels in everything they’ve done and they have a lot of swagger. They’ve survived a lot of hardship.

One of the company’s core values is something it calls “alligator blood,” which refers to those people who are resistant to the endless psychological blows, and competitive enough to keep pounding away on others when they are ahead.

Not everyone is wired that way. You can coach it and build it, but when you find the “it” factor, you’re in the right place.

The people who love the struggle and who set the bar really high for themselves exude an energy that spreads to the people around them. [12:21]

David’s team focuses on the medical device industry. It’s a tough industry with a complicated product and a complicated regulatory environment, and the rules are constantly changing.

Instead of spending time talking about how hard the work is, the company focuses on true quality and being great. They take a one-game-at-a-time mentality, knowing that you can’t win the Super Bowl in week 1. [17:09]

Because the team understands that there’s a long way to go, it’s able to focus on execution.

David’s hiring process strives to bring people to the team who naturally fit that culture. Some personalities might work really well in other industries, but not in David’s industry.

It’s not in the company’s DNA to have a bad actor in the company.

The best way to destroy a company is from the inside. The same is true of building it. David’s team measures its success partly by whether the entire team is living the core values.

If you discover that your culture isn’t exactly where you’d like it to be, begin inside the organization. [19:50]

People who have had to perform in the past and really put themselves out there for the good of the team (like authors, musicians, and athletes) often make great recruits.

If a person doesn’t fit your core values, no matter how talented he is, you will have to unravel a huge mess if you hire him.

People with the “it” factor have a combination of God-given ability, work ethic, fun, and what David calls bounce. [20:57]

They win battles, they win games, they overcome odds, they win championships, and along the way, they raise the energy and the level of play for the people around them.

The team gets better, and the players respond and get better. When that happens, you’ve got something really special.

David’s team is always hiring people who want to play at the highest level. If you’re interested in figuring out whether you’re a good fit, you can connect with David’s team at www.greenlight.guru on the careers page. [21:55]

You can also connect with David on his LinkedIn page.

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 and it allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never ever be the same.

We’ll use prospect.io in the upcoming semester of TSE Hustler’s League to focus on prospecting. We’ll give you insights and tools that will help you gain new customers. In addition, we’ll provide training and strategies that you can implement today to ensure constant flow in your pipeline.

Check out our new semester of The Sales Evangelist Hustler’s League. We’re taking applications for the semester beginning in January, and we can only take a limited number of people.

This episode is also brought to you in part by Maximizer CRM, personalized CRM that gives you the confidence to improve your business and increase profits. To get a demonstration of maximizer, go to the sales evangelists.com/maximizer.

Click on the link to get a free demo of what Maximizer CRM can do for you. It integrates your marketing campaign as well as your CRM, and it works whether you’re a small organization or a large one.

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.

On today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, we’ll talk to serial entrepreneur Justin Hartzman about how we can grow a business and why we should do it with the possibility of an acquisition in mind.

Justin is the CEO and co-founder of Needls.com, the Internet’s first RoboAgency. It is the easiest and most effective way for small businesses to advertise online and bring in more sales.

By answering just six questions, Needls.com knows who you are, who you want to sell to, and what you want to sell. It can create 50-500 ads in real time, deliver them to the network, and show them to your ideal customer. 

Some of us seek the independence that comes from being our own boss while others desire flexibility and creative freedom or want to achieve a sense of personal fulfillment. [1:59]

The bottom line of starting any business though, as Justin explains, is to earn the financial freedom to live our lives the way we want. A successful business puts more money in our pockets and allows us the time to enjoy it.

Trying to start a new business, however, is tricky. While there are more people now looking for opportunities to fund, there are also more people competing for those funds.

The common approach is to build the product first. Then you find the money to produce the product next and then sell the product. Justin recommends the complete opposite approach.

Sales are always first.

Find out if people want your product and if they do – sell it to them.  

With the sales lined up and letters of intent in your hand, it becomes much easier to find people to fund your product. [3:19]

For example, Justin’s fiance’ told him that a friend on Facebook was looking for someone to build an iOS app. When that need for an app turned into an immediate $60,000 contract, the light bulb turned on and Needls.com was born.

People always have questions and they will always ask other for answers. Justin and his team created a software program to scan their Facebook feeds for specific words that could lead to other sales. [4:32] They soon realized a 300% increase in their business.

Those sales gave them the funds they needed to takeNeedls.com where it is today.

Ignore those instances when a fledgling business did well and was acquired without planning for it because those are few and far between.

Instead, Justin firmly believes that you need to be organized and to plan for an eventual acquisition from Day One. [8:02]

Have your data in order from the start because trying to organize it later is not only time-consuming but expensive. Instead, be sure you are incorporated correctly and have a handle on your finances.

Build the processes you need and scale your business at the proper cadence. Make sure your books and contracts are in order, your IP is buttoned up and all the proper NDAs are in place.

Simply put: Expect to be successful and plan accordingly.  

Justin’s success has come from partnering with other businesses who can help him as he helps them. [9:01] 

It all comes back to sales. Sell yourself first.

Make yourself useful. Find partners who will benefit from what you have to offer and take advantage of the networking opportunities, learning experiences, and industry insight they provide in return.

Then when an acquisition situation arises, you are in place and you are ready.

Justin truly believes that making oneself useful to others is the key to success and, as such, he is always happy to chat or answer your questions. He can be reached at [email protected]or you can find him on LinkedIn.   

He is also offering 35% off his entire platform for a year via needls.com/salesevan and his team is on standby to answer questions and to help you make the most of it.

Check out our previous episode about why buying your competition might be a good option for your company.

This episode is brought to you in part by Maximizer CRM, personalized CRM that gives you the confidence to improve your business and increase profits. To get a demonstration of maximizer, go to the salesevangelists.com/maximizer.

Click on the link to get a free demo of what Maximizer CRM can do for you. Maximizer is intuitive, simple, and personable. Maximizer integrates your marketing campaign as well as your CRM. It works whether you’re a small organization or a large one. It works throughout the whole organization and it’s customizable to the way you sell.

This episode is also 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 and it allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never ever be the same.

We’ll use prospect.io in the upcoming semester of TSE Hustler’s League to focus on prospecting. We’ll give you insights and tools that will help you gain new customers. You can implement our training and strategies today to ensure constant flow in your pipeline.

Check out TSE Hustler’s League and apply to see if it’s a good fit.

Leave us a review 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 it with someone else you think might benefit.

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.