The Sales Evangelist

As you're working to expand your reach and grow your network, recognize the importance of building diversity into your network so you'll be better positioned to succeed in your industry. I met Sharon Manker at the Eastern Minority Supplier Development Council ROAR Conference, which connects minority-owned and women-owned businesses with Fortune 100 companies. Sharon has worked in supply chain for two decades, in both the for-profit and the nonprofit sectors, in utility and now in healthcare. In her words, she negotiates for a living. She also works to engage diverse suppliers in a woman-owned, veteran-owned, minority-owned system. Small business challenges Many small business owners lack the vehicle to connect with the right decision makers. They don't know how to meet the people who actually influence the contracts. When they discover their limitation, they often observe that they just didn't realize how it impacted their work. As a supply chain person, Sharon works to connect qualified suppliers to the businesses who need them. She also works to connect those same businesses with her business stakeholders. To that end, she attends events and even hosts events that allow people to connect and build relationships. The trick is to recognize that as you're working to connect with the decision makers, there are people along the way who can help you do exactly that. Diversifying suppliers When you aren't able to attend these events, Sharon points to other opportunities to connect with people: chambers of commerce and councils, just to name two. You'll be positioned to find corporate partners there. You'll encounter people who are actively engaged and ready to increase their supplier diversity. Even if you attend these events and find out about developments that are 24 months away, future gains will happen. Put in the work now and build relationships now. Benefits of partnership Many corporations prioritize working with small businesses because they have committed to certain diversity goals, such as spending a certain amount of their operating expenses with diverse suppliers. In some states, in fact, this diversity is mandated. This demands a pool of Minority Business Enterprises, Veteran Business Enterprises, and LGBTQ enterprises that can help meet the needs of those businesses. It can't be a last-minute effort, either. You don't want to wait until you're in an emergency situation to begin vetting partners. Those organizations must proactively work to find the best option in every category to provide the product or service they need. Some corporations connect with small businesses simply because they value giving back to entrepreneurs and small businesses. If you're an entrepreneur or a seller listening to this, find groups like this to connect with, because if you can land a large contract, you can eat pretty well for a while. If you balance your regular prospecting with your networking events while you work to connect with large corporations, you'll more easily keep a steady flow of connections. #CorporatePartners Strategic plan Create a strategic plan for your business. In your case, your plan for success is that failure is not an option. Instead, when you fail, you learn a lesson, and you repeat that until you get to a successful outcome. You can't give up. You must stay positive. There won't always be immediate opportunities, but building a network of resources or opportunities provides some security. Then, if you don't have a resource or an opportunity for those organizations, you could always help connect them with another partner that you've met and added to your network. We've talked recently about the need to focus on a champion rather than only focusing on the decision maker. Your network will help you accomplish that. You may bypass a champion on your way to connecting with a CEO, but the champion can be a much quicker connection. You can build a relationship with him more quickly, and then he can help you get to the CEO. Intentional communications When you're building relationships, be mindful of your communications. Some people are very aggressive in their approach, but they often overlook all the other restraints that these decision makers are facing. They want to do a deal now, but they aren't mindful of the other projects these professionals are working on. There are hierarchies of communication in every organization. There are also barriers to entry. Your champions can't advocate for you if you're perceived as aggressive or pushy. The vetting process may take weeks, and you must be willing to exercise patience. You don't know about all the things that the organization is working on. Be strategic. Recognize the structure in each organization. People will notice the way you communicate. Be prepared When your network does call on you for your product or service, make sure you are ready and able to give your brief, to-the-point presentation. Make sure you're being active so you'll stay positioned to meet other professionals. Make sure you're open and willing and teachable. Even if you aren't a minority, realize that if 51 percent of the company ownership is minority, that classifies as a minority-owned business. "Building Diversity Into Your Network" episode resources You can connect with Sharon on LinkedIn where she shares tremendous amounts of information about supply chain. 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 | STUDIOSHubSpot 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. 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 | STUDIOSHubSpot 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.  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: She can do some reconnaissance work. 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 joel.burstein@pgh.keepitsimple.com. 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 | STUDIOSHubSpot 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. 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 cbernard@criteriaforsuccess.com, 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 | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

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 | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

  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 | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

Sales differentiation helps salespeople win more deals at the price point they want, and today Lee Salz talks about building a framework that will allow you to personalize your sales. Sales reps in every industry must differentiate themselves in today's market. It's crucial for sellers to have room to "color" the sales process. Origins When Lee was a kid, he had a job as a pickup and delivery driver for dry cleaning. The guy he worked for didn't own a dry cleaning business; he simply knew it was a hassle to drop off and pick up your clothes. He developed a contract with a couple of different dry cleaning firms and he charged a premium for the service. The idea took off, and Lee was intrigued by the idea that he was able to add a 40 percentage point premium by differentiating the service. He didn't actually put the idea into play until his 50th birthday after he had learned a lot about the industry. Philosophy of differentiation Lee said the philosophy translates for every possible seller. No matter what industry you're in, what size company you're in, whether you sell products or service, whether you sell B2B or B2C, and it doesn't even matter what methodology you use in your sales. The premise is simple: win more deals at the prices you want. Differentiation around what you sell Differentiation around what you sell relies on the ability to translate your passion to the person sitting on the other side of the desk. If you can't communicate your own passion about your differentiators to the person on the other side of the desk, you might as well not have anyone sitting there. The idea is to build passion and help salespeople communicate it in a meaningful way. You want your customers to believe they must have what you're selling. [Tweet "Companies have an obligation to share their differentiators with their salespeople and to explain how to position them with buyers. #SalesDifferentiation"] It's a responsibility that falls to marketing, business owners, and sales leaders. Marketing and sales differentiation Marketing differentiation is one-directional communication for the masses. Think trade shows and websites. It screams to the marketplace, "Hey! Look at us! We're here." It demonstrates all the available potential. Sales differentiation is two-directional communication with an individual, specific buyer. It takes all of the potential and personalizes it to an individual specific buyer. Everyone buys for a different reason so if you leave all the capabilities out there and rely on that to drive buyers, you'll fail. You must have salespeople who gather all the potential and bring it to the individual level. [Tweet "Solution is often used haphazardly, but it means you take what someone is looking to accomplish and align it with what you offer. #SalesSolutions"] Add those two things together and that meets the definition of solution. Two differentiation workshops It doesn't matter what you're selling. Make a list of your most common competitors who also sell what you sell. Work with your team to do the analysis. Answer two questions: Why do you win? Why do they win? Make a list of the decision influencers, the people commonly involved in the decision to buy what you sell. Again, answer two questions: What is keeping them up at night relative to your offering? Given what is keeping them awake, how can you help? If you engage your team in these two workshops, you'll get a series of differentiators that will serve as raw material to work with. From there, develop a communication strategy that helps you build passion around those differentiators. Differentiation around how you sell Every interaction between a seller and a buyer provides an opportunity to offer meaningful value that your competition doesn't provide. Consider this: Would you prefer a restaurant with outstanding food and mediocre service or mediocre food and outstanding service? Most people will choose the outstanding service. That means you could have the best product features and functions but your failure to differentiate how you sell could cause you to lose. From that very first phone call to the time they sign on the dotted line, you have an opportunity to build a great experience. Customer service vs account management Don't equate the two as the same. Customer service occurs when your client asks you for something. The measurement of success should be timeliness and accuracy in the response. It's the proactive set of activities and behaviors that you'll provide that adds value in the relationship that has nothing to do with the product. Look at every touch point to find every opportunity to do something different that your client will find meaningful. Recognizing your competition Your true competition exists in your battle to earn face time with your prospects. No executive has the responsibility to meet with salespeople every hour on the hour. In order for us to earn that meeting, we have to create intrigue in the first moment. Imagine operating the way the police do. When they knock on your door to ask questions about a crime, they don't randomly choose your home for a conversation. They follow a trail of evidence that leads them to you. They've put together a theory, and you should do the same with your sales efforts. Instead of blindly calling people and sending emails, put together a sales crime theory, based on the answer to this question: why should they want to have a conversation with us right now? Instead of asking why we should talk with them, ask why they should want to have a conversation with us. Put together a messaging strategy based on your research that will help them recognize what you have to offer. Sales Differentiation resources Lee's book Sales Differentiation:19 Powerful Strategies to Win More Deals at the Prices You Want is available in bookstore, at your favorite online book sources, at Amazon, and a variety of other places. You can also go to salesdifferentiation.com and register for Lee's video series. The videos are typically only available to workshop clients but he's making them available to the people who purchase the book. Go to the website, click on "bonus," fill out the form, and start taking advantage of the videos. "Sales Differentiation" episode resources 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 | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

Sometimes sales professionals get it backward, and they fail to understand the need to worry more about your champion than your decision maker. Today Garrett Mehrguth talks to us about the importance of your champion in your sales deals, and why we shouldn't lose sight of his importance. Sometimes there's great value in changing the defaults we learn as salespeople. We tend to become so obsessed with the decision makers that we overlook the champions, who are arguably the most important person in the whole scenario. How decisions are made Salespeople sometimes focus so greatly on getting a close that we neglect the fundamental truths involved in selling. In fact, we alienate people and we become our own worst enemy. It isn't price; it's me. Most often, we are the reason that deals don't close. It's a direct result of who we speak to, who we don't speak to, the way we end a conversation, the way we treat people, how well we prepare. We must have transparency and honesty to admit that often we're the reason we don't close a deal. Salespeople are quick to take credit for successes and slow to take responsibility for failures. #SalesTruth Garrett believes that if we would build our resources and our marketing toward decision makers, we would drastically improve our conversion rates. How deals emerge Once a decision-maker recognizes he has a need, he might send a subordinate to a conference to talk to vendors. He might instruct the person to get three quotes and then bring his two favorites to the decision-maker. Once that's done, the two will make a decision together. He might suggest filling out 10 forms on the way to finding three good options. The pair will whittle those to two good options before making a decision. The problem is that if you speak over the champion or speak through the champion or speak around the champion, you alienate your greatest ally. Why you need the champion The champion is your greatest asset while you're not in the room, so if you alienate that person, you're losing an important ally. You alienate the person who could potentially go to bat for you once you hang up the phone. Good decision-makers make decisions by asking the champion whether or not he could work with that agency. So who truly puts their butt on the line? It isn't the decision-maker, because he has a fall guy. The champion is the one who needs the information, the emotional support, and the resources to make a good decision. If you honor the champion with amazing intro calls, lots of sales resources, and well-prepared meetings, you give him the ammo to pitch you internally. [Tweet "Internal sales champions are far more powerful than outside reps trying to close deals. #SalesChampion"] Why the decision-maker shouldn't be your focus In five years of working with marketing teams, Garrett has never heard anyone mention targeting the champion. Instead, we treat decision-makers as though they have some kind of supernatural power. The decision-maker is never the point of contact. If he isn't the point of contact, and he isn't the one who will be working with the agency you choose, he isn't the one to target. Remember that everyone is selling to the decision-maker, including the champion. The decision-makers job is to discern the best fit for his champion. So even if he likes a certain agency better, if that agency can't work with his champion, it won't matter. Deal retention is far more important than closing deals. Even if you manage to close a deal, if you don't treat the champion well, you won't renew it. You won't get referrals from it. In Garrett's mind, there isn't a single aspect of the process where the decision-maker is more important than the champion. Avoiding absolutes He acknowledges, too, that absolutes are dangerous. It's certainly not true that the decision-maker should never, ever be considered. Instead, let's work to change the fundamental hypothesis that we as marketers and sales reps enter relationships with. If we spend more time building rapport with the point of contact, you will drastically improve your close rate because you are building confidence and comfort with the most important voice in the room. You need a champion who will give you a voice during moments when you aren't in the room because that's often when deals are decided. You won't close $150,000 contracts while you're in the room. It happens behind closed doors, and you won't likely be there when it does. Shifting focus to champions Give your champions resources to bolster their confidence. Make that your primary goal. Your champion is likely scared to death of going to his boss with a recommendation. His discernment and character will be judged by the referral he makes. Anytime you give a referral to someone, your own judgment is on the line. Challenge things that other people won't do. Put your neck on the line by offering evidence and claims that protect the champion when he goes to his boss. You take the risk so your champion doesn't have to. It will give him the confidence to recommend your agency and it will differentiate you from the competition. In order to be successful, do the opposite of what everyone else is doing. Building confidence Garrett's company operates on annual contracts, and they give the point of contact room to act if he doesn't feel completely comfortable in the relationship. By backing up their claims, it gives the champion room to cover himself if he makes a bad choice in hiring them. If you create alignment with the champion, you'll create alignment with the decision-maker. At the end of the day, the decision-makers just have to make more money than you're charging them. The champion has to have a day-to-day relationship with you. You can't neglect that relationship. It's why you must develop resources that speak directly to your champion. Even when it's time to renew, the champion will get to decide whether to continue working with your agency. Regardless of the data, if the relationship isn't there, the deal won't renew. Change your perspective to focus on champions, and your volume will drastically improve. There are far more champions looking for vendors than there are decision-makers. You'll also increase your deal retention and reduce churn. Change your prospecting and marketing to focus on the champions, you'll increase your at-bats and your close rate. "You Need to Worry More About Your Champion Than Your Decision Maker" episode resources You can connect with Garrett on LinkedIn @garrettmehrguth, email him at gmehrguth@directiveconsulting.com, or connect with him on Twitter @gmehrguth. 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 | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

Sometimes the logical approach doesn't make sense, just as in the story of David and Goliath it seemed impossible to believe that the shepherd boy could beat the giant. In sales, we sometimes have to be a bit irrational. We must think outside the box. Today we'll discuss how unorthodox thinking can help us take down some pretty significant giants. It can also help us win some pretty decent accounts. Logical approach When the giant Goliath demanded that the Israelites send out their best warrior, it didn't make sense for them to send David. He wasn't the fastest or the biggest. He was a little farm guy tending sheep, and he wasn't the typical warrior type. Too often in sales we default to the same logical approach that sales reps have been using for years. Instead of thinking outside the box, we choose the most rational solution to the problem. Imagine you're selling TVs and you're meeting with a client that has a good idea of what they need and what they want. It's possible, though, that the client's perception of the problem may not even be the real issue. Worse yet, their solution to the problem may not be the best one. In the case of David and Goliath, if the Israelites had sent the best warrior into battle to try to outperform the giant, the best warrior would likely have been killed. Unorthodox approach David used an approach that had never been used before. He used a sling and a stone to take down the giant, and the approach was unexpected. In the situation with the client and the TV, he may assume that he needs a TV because it has always been the best solution in the past. Perhaps, though, the best solution is a projector, but the client doesn't realize it's even a possibility. What if you forget about the TV for a minute and consider other possibilities: smartphones or tablets, or even podcasts. If the goal is for the client to find a form of entertainment, TV isn't the only option. [Tweet "Instead of giving the client exactly what he says he wants, offer possibilities that he may not even be aware of. #SolveProblems"] Sales reps who ask the right questions can differentiate themselves. They can challenge the status quo and help the buyer to see us in a different light. Risky decisions I was reading a book called Selling to the C-Suite and the author mentioned that executives will often make risky decisions if there's a clear plan for that decision. Most executives routinely get what they want. In many cases, their team members fail to offer unique proposals because they are afraid of getting fired. In this case, an educated seller may propose an option that's a little riskier than just selling the executive a television. The executive may be so busy running his business that he hasn't researched TVs or other options. Your goal should be to inform yourself about the industry, the client, the type of business, and the problem. Come to the table as an expert and offer unique ways to solve the client's problem. Memorable actions David explained to Saul that because he had killed lions and bears in the past, he was equipped to take down a giant. If Saul was seeking a victory that would make the opponents his servants, wouldn't it be worthwhile to consider David's proposal? David accomplished exactly what he said he would, and the result is a story that has survived for thousands of years. Will your clients remember you and your heroic efforts or will you be just another sale rep? Will you be the one who offered them a cheaper price? Or will you be the one who offered a unique approach that turned the organization around? Studying industries Know your client's industry well. Study it. Understand the business left and right. Instead of trying to sell to 10 million different industries, focus on the top three or five and master those industries. Become an expert in those niches. Then focus on those people. That doesn't mean you won't sell to those other industries. It simply means that you won't focus on those industries. Invest your efforts into the industries that will give you the best bang for your buck. Read industry magazines, and watch YouTube videos. Spend time on activities that will help you become more effective. When you do, you'll stand out from the competitors. Because you'll bring different ideas, different strategies, and different tactics, you'll earn the respect of your prospects. Bring resources, examples, and share your past experiences with your prospects. Explain to your clients why they must choose the option you're offering. “David and Goliath” 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 | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com

It's impossible to overstate the importance of being a great leader when you're working to build a team or an organization into something that will change the world and make things better for people. Today's guest Andrei Mincov founded Trademark Factory in 2013 to help entrepreneurs secure the legacy of their brands and preserve their hard work. Teams As you grow your team, as you grow your business, as you grow your dream, as you grow your vision, there comes a time when the leader can't come up with all the ideas. In order for the organization to grow, leaders need team members who help generate ideas and who provide initiative to improve things. You'll likely have some team members who simply have marching orders or tasks. Others will be responsible to help you move the organization forward. Those team members will have to have vision. They'll operate from your inspiration. Hiring Finding those visionary team members is different than hiring task-based team members. Andrei uses small, unique tasks to help make hiring decisions simpler. He might, for example, offer a jpeg with a typo or error in it and ask prospective employees to find the error. The intention would be to measure the candidate's attention to detail. He might also ask the candidate to build a video or a graphics project. This process helps him narrow the field because not every candidate is willing to jump through the required hoops to get the job. It also helps him determine who actually has the necessary skill set to accomplish the work. Without poring over countless resumes and applications he can narrow the field to the best candidates. If candidates aren't excited enough, in the beginning, to show you what they can do for you, how excited will they be after they are hired? [Tweet "It's hard to hire from a bunch of unknowns, but it's much easier to select employees from a smaller number of candidates you've already seen in action. #HiringLeaders"] Growth Leaders must have a compelling vision in order to grow a company. They should also likely have a track record of successfully accomplishing goals. Conveying thoughts and messages won't be enough to lead well. Leadership demands action and results. People will follow leaders who have vision and a successful track record. The better your business and the better your track record, the more likely you are to attract great people to surround you. Andrei shared that animals in the zoo don't care about ticket sales. They care about food and comfort and safety. Your team members are similar in that they care about basic things like provision and comfort. While you probably want them to have full ownership in your business, they likely never will. Your role is to provide enough vision for them to recognize that aligning themselves with your goal will benefit them personally. Building Smaller companies often fail to see that they are capable of building something that matters. They may have a really cool team or a really cool business and they assume it's a fluke. They don't take themselves seriously enough to worry about protecting their businesses. What steps would you take to protect yourself and your business if you knew that you would definitely succeed? This issue boils down to leadership, because if you don't have a vision of growing your company into something substantial, you'll miss an opportunity. Great leaders like Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos know that they are building something that can change the world. They are building something that will help a bunch of people do a bunch of great stuff. When you have a vision toward the path to greatness, people will follow you. Do something that people will remember years from now. "Being A Great Leader" episode resources You can connect with Andrei and his team trademarkfactory.com. If you have a brand you're interested in protecting, you can schedule a free call with the team to determine the next steps in your 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 | STUDIOSHubSpot and bluëmago | STUDIOS hubpspot.com/marketers bluemangostudios.com