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The Sales Evangelist

The Sales Evangelist

Donald Kelly

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.
Today I interview the world's best sales experts, successful sellers, sales leaders and entrepreneurs who share their strategies to succeed in sales right now: folks like Jeffrey Gitomer, Jill Konrath, Bob Burg, and Guy Kawasaki to name a few. They share actionable insights and stories that will encourage, challenge, and motivate you to hustle your way to top income status. If you’re someone looking to take off in your sales career and earn the income you deserve, hit subscribe and let’s start doing BIG THINGS!
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Top 10 The Sales Evangelist Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Sales Evangelist episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Sales Evangelist for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The Sales Evangelist episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

In the sales world, the mantra "do more with less" often feels more like a challenge than a guiding principle. In this episode, I chat with Anthony Nava, Senior SDR Manager at Crunchbase.

With years of dedicated service and experience, Anthony reveals the innovative strategies that have helped his team thrive despite tight resources. Discover how Anthony's blend of empathy, tech-savviness, and strategic thinking can transform your sales team's performance.

Meet Anthony Nava

  • He leads the sales efforts for the team, contributing significantly to their success through various innovative and strategic approaches.
  • Anthony has navigated the company's various transitions and challenges, leveraging tools like AI to maximize efficiency and performance.
  • Before joining Crunchbase, Anthony amassed valuable skills and knowledge that have made him an effective leader and a critical asset to the organization.

Embracing AI to Boost Sales Efficiency

  • When faced with limited resources, Anthony leverages AI tools to drive efficiency and maintain high performance. Essential tools mentioned include:
    • Attention AI: Helps in call listening, note-taking, and integrating insights into Salesforce, saving time for SDRs and allowing for focused coaching.
    • Crunchbase Insights: Using AI to determine accounts in a buying position, providing a strategic advantage by identifying potential deals before competitors.

Adjusting Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

  • Anthony discusses the critical pivot toward refining the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) to enhance sales efficacy.
  • His team, through data analysis and collaboration with marketing, identified key decision-makers who had a high impact on deal closures:
    • Finance Involvement: Around 80% of closed deals involved finance personnel from the early stages.
    • Strategic Adjustments: By aligning towards this new ICP, they ensured better engagement and quicker deal cycles.

Coping Mechanisms for Leaders

  • Anthony delves into how leaders can mentally and emotionally prepare themselves:
    • Empathy: Understanding the team’s challenges and adjusting leadership styles accordingly.
    • Positive Reinforcement: Continuously highlighting the exciting potentials and future achievements.
    • Offsite Meetings: Facilitating team get-togethers to discuss concerns and strategies. It also helps maintain a cohesive unit.

"Data and collaboration will be your best friend in some of the toughest times." - Anthony Nava.

Resources

Anthony Nava on LinkedIn

Sponsorship Offers

  1. This episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot.

With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales.

2. This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn.

Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse.

3. This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation.

Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin.

Credits

As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed,...

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Storytelling allows you to connect with your prospects on a more personal level. However, sometimes you might find yourself telling the wrong stories or sharing a story at the wrong time. My guest, Eugene Theodore, walks us through how to create impactful stories that align with your sales goals.

Meet Eugene Theodore

  • Eugene Theodore is a highly skilled and experienced storyteller with a background in sales and personal branding.
  • His storytelling approach aligns a product or service’s message with the needs and values of a target audience.
  • Eugene helps sales professionals and leaders navigate different stages of the customer journey by using storytelling to foster meaningful connections and close deals.

Why Storytelling Matters in Sales

  • People prefer to buy from those they trust and feel connected to. Without a genuine connection, prospects may choose not to move forward in the sales process.
  • Eugene explains that storytelling serves as a powerful alignment tool throughout the customer journey.
  • It brings the necessary harmony between the product, the company, and the target audience.

The Story Matrix Tool

  • If you find it challenging to craft effective stories, Eugene suggests using his “Story Matrix” tool. This tool helps map out various story types for different stages of the buyer’s journey: awareness, consideration, decision-making, and retention.
  • The Story Matrix allows you to create a grid that matches different phases of the buyer journey with suitable story types—whether humorous, serious, technical, or adventurous.

Applying the Story Matrix

  • Eugene provides practical examples of how to use the Story Matrix to tailor stories for different audiences and stages of engagement.
  • He emphasizes the importance of understanding a client’s personal interests, professional stage, and organizational needs to refine and personalize the story, making it more impactful.

“The story matrix is simply understanding the consumer journey, whether it's B2B or B2C, and understanding what is the right kind of story at that moment in time.” - Eugene Theodore.

Resources

Saga Squared

Cold Call Openers

Sponsorship Offers

  1. This episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot.

With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales.

  1. This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn.

Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse.

  1. This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation.

Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin.

Credits

As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify. Audio provided by Free SFX, Soundstripe, and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

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Tech sales can be one of the most daunting sales industries to work in, but this doesn’t mean finding success is impossible. In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist podcast, our host Donald Kelly interviews Shirelle Francis to talk about her success in tech.

How Shirelle Overcame Challenges

  • The first challenge that Shirelle faced was finding a mentor.
  • She looked for a black female mentor who had previously found success in sales and studied AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE from this mentor.
  • The second challenge that Shirelle faced was finding proper training.
  • This ties into finding a mentor. As Shirelle looked for a mentor, she also sought out useful training for sales and not only mentored someone but studied the craft of sales.
  • The third challenge Shirelle faced was getting access to capital.
  • She overcame this by searching for a sponsor and actively seeking training and someone to teach her.

You can connect with Shirelle on her LinkedIn or check out her website at www.ileapgroup.com. You can talk to Donald and drop him a message on LinkedIn, Tik Tok, and Instagram at donaldckelly. You can also join TSE’s space on Circle to talk to Donald and other sellers looking to improve their craft.

This episode is brought to you in part by Scratchpad.

Scratchpad is the first Revenue Team Workspace specifically designed to adapt to each salesperson’s workflow, so you don’t have to change your habits. Get Scratchpad free at Scratchpad.com.

Credits

As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify.

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There are many black women in sales and despite the challenges, they keep on moving forward to have success. Tune in as today’s guest, Cynthia Barnes, speaks of the challenges affecting black women in sales.

Cynthia Barnes is the founder and CEO of the National Association of Women Sales Professionals. It’s a member-based organization of women who sell B2B services in a male-dominated industry such as SAAS (Software as a Service), tech, cloud, and others. The organization provides two things to its members: access to laser-focused companies on achieving parity for women in sales and training created by women for women to reach the top 1%.

Women’s’ participation in sales

  • Anytime there’s an underrepresented population, there will always be challenges that are specific to them and vice-versa.
  • When women are working from home, they aren’t only employees. They are also mothers and wives. They juggle three or more different roles all at the same time.
  • These women are doing a good job of making sure that they’re staying balanced, but that comes at a price. Sometimes at the expense of their mental health.
  • When women give so much to their company, to their husbands, and their kids, they have nothing left for themselves.
  • Cynthia emphasizes the thought that you can’t pour from an empty cup. You always need to fill the cup to be a rockstar at work, home, and with the kids.
  • Organizations can make a difference in ensuring that their employees are appropriately compensated and given the work-life balance they need.
  • When sales members are well taken care of and they’re engaged, their output greatly improves. The money organizations put into their employee care is an investment.
  • The expression, ‘Happy wife, happy life,’ is also applicable at work. If women in sales are happy, engaged, supported, and heard, they’ll be able to perform better. As it is, women already outsell men by 5%. With that support system at work, women can do so much more.

Challenges women face in sales

  • Sales leaders who did not grow up with a diverse background will less likely prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion because it’s only thought to get more revenue, not an actual idea where they feel and see tangible results.
  • With the racial and systemic bias in the previous year, many companies wanted to get women in sales. They wanted not only black women but also the other underrepresented minorities.
  • The problem is that there are no programs in place to elevate women in sales. They only attract them but they do not make an effort to retain them.
  • There are still no organizational changes that make the women feel respected, welcomed, and represented.
  • When it comes to bringing in more diversity to the table, all you often see is a team of leaders who are all men.
  • Women are leaving the workforce because they can’t be a wife, a mother, and a teacher at the same time.
  • It’s about creating a culture of belonging. Women should have a voice at the table, not just a seat. They need to be heard and to be treated fairly.

Breaking the barriers

  • There should be more women in leadership roles.
  • As a leader of an organization for women in sales, part of Cynthia’s responsibility is to empower women to have the right mindset, get the right verbiage, and build awareness around microaggressions.
  • Women shouldn’t sit idly waiting for the opportunities that they’ve already earned.
  • Women should be the change that they want to see.

“Diversity: Challenges Affecting Black Women in Sales?” episode resources

Connect with Cynthia Barnes on LinkedIn. You can also check out their official site here.

Speak with Donald directly for more sales talks. Reach him via these channels: LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook about any sales concerns.

Try Pipedrive today for FREE! As a TSE listener, PipeDrive is offering you an EXTENDED trial beyond the typical 30 days + 25% off your first three months after trial. Try it today at → https://pipedrive.live/tse use your code: pipedrivetse.

This episode is also partly brought to you by Wingman. Wingman uses AI-software to empower remote sales teams with conversation intelligence, actionable insights on successful playbooks, and delivers real-time coaching.

Are you sick of crickets? The pain of sales reps continually reaching out with phone c...

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In today’s episode, Donald Kelly talks about the reasons why your discovery meeting is the most critical of all when it comes to sales.

The challenging part of the sales process

  • Many people make the mistake of taking discovery meetings for granted during the sales process.
  • There are typically two sides of the sales process: the prospecting side and the closing side.
  • The prospecting side is the hustle part that many salespeople don’t care for as much.
  • The closing side is when the transaction is completed.
  • Another critical part of the sales journey is the discovery meeting.
  • Sometimes, salespeople assume things about their clients and prospects without checking in with them. They go to the presentation right away and do it beautifully, too. They are taken aback when the prospect doesn't close the deal with them.
  • For Donald, the discovery part of your sales process is more important than the close.
  • Without discovery, you won’t be able to close.
  • You have prospects that do not fit your product and services. There could be any number of reasons why these prospects are not a fit.
  • Probing, digging, and getting information will help you disqualify prospects.
  • Salespeople should focus more on disqualifying the prospects instead of trying hard to quality them. You want to get rid of the ones that don’t fit the bill to focus on the ones that do fit the bill.
  • Discovery meeting allows you to do the following:
  1. Understand the needs of the client and understand our capabilities.
  2. We understand how they’re going to make decisions for our solution. We understand what they know and help them implement the solution.
  3. Lastly, it allows us to understand who will make the decision and the money they’re going to spend
  • As salespeople, you need to understand and establish that there is a need rather than hear them saying that they’re doing research and they’re trying to figure out what works for them.
  • The first phase is to disqualify the prospect. Ask them questions and figure out if they have a need for your services or solutions.
  • Your second phase is the demonstration and the proposal.
  • You shouldn’t be overcoming major objections at this point because you’ve already done that in the discovery.
  • Some salespeople make the mistake of becoming too focused on the discovery process and then don’t keep that attention throughout the process.
  • Your goal is to have natural conversations with the buyers and give them a valuable purchasing experience.
  • Doing effective discovery is difficult work. It requires you to ask adult questions and have adult discussion but these conversations will help you take out the objections.

“Discovery Meeting: Why Your Discovery Meeting is the Most Critical of All” episode resources

Speak with Donald directly for more sales talks. Reach him via these channels: LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook about any sales concerns.

Try Pipedrive today for FREE! As a TSE listener, PipeDrive is offering you an EXTENDED trial beyond the typical 30 days + 25% off your first three months after trial. Try it today at → https://pipedrive.live/tse use your code: pipedrivetse.

This episode is brought to you in part by NetHunt CRM. NetHunt CRM is a sales automation tool that lives inside Gmail. It covers a full set of features to manage leads, nurture customer relations, monitor sales progress, and automate sales and marketing workflows. With native-like Gmail and G Suite integration, you can access all the CRM data, launch bulk email campaigns, and set up automated sequences right from your inbox. NetHunt helps to move your leads down your sales funnel and never let the valuable prospects go untouched.

NetHunt CRM offers TSE listeners a 40% discount for the first 3 months along with free user training and a dedicated Customer Success Manager with any pricing plan.

Try NetHunt CRM today → https://nethunt.com/tse

Are you sick of crickets? The pain of sales reps continually reaching out with phone calls and emails and not receiving a response is real.

85% of people prefer text over email and phone calls because they want to engage

in a conversation. All text messaging is not equal. Customers respond to people,

NOT BOTS. Be more like people and start having conversations that end in conversions. Try Skipio at www.Skipio.com.

This course is brou...

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The Sales Evangelist - TSE 1352: 4 Steps to Systematic Sales Growth
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10/07/20 • 39 min

4 Steps to Systematic Sales Growth

Salespeople and business owners employ different strategies to achieve sales growth. In this episode, Jimmy Burgess talks about steps to systematic sales growth.

Jimmy has been in real estate for 27 years and the years have let him experience all the different marketing cycles. He was able to build a time and had over a million dollars income in a year and he’s also experienced bankruptcy with just $500 to his name. He is now with Berkshire Hathaway Homeservices Beach Properties and starting his own podcast show.

Systematic Sales Growth

Systematic sales growth can be achieved by either doing more of what you’re doing at the moment or trying new things. The whole business pattern is about birth, growth, maturity, and decline. Businesses need to look for more ways to add value to the market and ensure that people will come back to you.

Competence

Jimmy talks about ABL or always be learning. Build competence by learning new things to improve the business. Look at your weak spots in the business and learn more about it, become the expert in it. Get to the point where you are able to understand the business, the products and services more than anybody else. There are somany learning materials available in it’s a matter of discipline to get to where you want to be.

Repetition builds reputation

Consistency of providing value to the marketplace is where you build the confidence that the buyer has in you as the person selling the product. It’s now the perfect time to use videos and send video updates to a client base. The consistency helps in building your reputation. Once you build your reputation, your next goal is to keep communicating with people and have a referral basis. Find your systematic approach to consistency and providing value to the clients. Even when the whirlwind comes, you still need to stay consistent.

Conversations lead to conversions

You can send videos and post all posts in social media but at the end of the day, people do business with people. Salespeople need to connect, to have conversations, and ask questions. You need to get out there and find out how you can help others. Figure out their needs, their pain points, and you won't be able to do that without having the conversation.

Confidence

The first phone call will always be difficult but if you are confident, you will be able to answer the questions asked. It is critically important now to invest in yourself. Keep learning and connect with people.

“4 Steps to Systematic Sales Growth” episode resources

Connect with Jimmy Burgess via his Facebook and LinkedIn account. He also has his own website and podcast show.

Speak with Donald directly for more sales talks. Reach him via these channels: LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook about any sales concerns. Try Pipedrive today for FREE! As a TSE listener, PipeDrive is offering you an EXTEND trial beyond the typical 30 days + 25% off your first three months after trial. Try it today at → https://pipedrive.live/tse use your code: pipedrivetse. This course is brought to you in part by TSE Certified Sales Training Program. It’s a course designed to help new and struggling sellers to master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. It will help them elevate their sales game. Sign up now and get the first two modules for free! You can go and visit www.thesalesevangelist.com/closemoredeals also call us at (561) 570-5077.

We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes so tune in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to.

You can also read more about sales or listen to audiobooks on

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The Number 1 Reason You Hear "I'm Not Interested"

Of course salespeople like to hear positive responses from their prospects but it’s not always the case. Sometimes prospects say, “I’m not interested. Why do you hear that? Is there something wrong with your pitch? Listen to this episode and understand what prospects are thinking when they say they’re not interested.

Donald has worked with hundreds of sales reps,has coached a variety of individuals, trained organizations, and he’s been on countless sales phone calls. All those experiences have taught him many things. Donald’s latest lesson came from seeing Disney’s, The Princess and the Frog.

The story of Tiana and the Frog

In the story, Tiana lives in Louisiana and has a dream of creating an amazing restaurant with her dad. She wants to do something with her life and have a purpose. Eventually, however, she gets turned into a frog. The prince in the story also gets turned into a frog. Together, they begin their quest to find the witch that turned them into frogs so they can be turned back to humans. Along the way, they come across an alligator who’s good at playing the trumpet, and the frog prince asks the alligator for help. The alligator tells them about a witch doctor that can help but the frogs don’t know how to get there. When Tiana asks the alligator to take them, he refuses and goes back to playing the trumpet. The frog prince realizes they messed up their pitch and so he tries again. He goes back to the alligator and asks him about his challenges. To this, the alligator replies that it’s hard to play trumpet in front of people because they just run away. Upon hearing this, the frog prince then redirects his pitch. He asks the alligator to come with them in the hopes of being turned into a human as well. This time, he decides to join them! The frog prince was able to reframe the offer so the alligator could see the benefit to himself.

In relation to sales

That story speaks to the platinum rule in sales - to treat others the way they would like to be treated and to tell them things that they want to hear. The focus should always be about the prospect or client with the goal of giving them what they want and need.

Tiana asked for good will but didn’t offer any benefit. The prince got results because he focused on what the alligator desired. The same is true when prospecting for a sale. When he saw the movie, Donald realized there were times as an account executive that he’d reached out to a prospect and led with Me, My, and I. He’d talked about his company and what they’d been doing. Nothing in his pitch was about the buyer. He eventually learned to flip it around and prioritized what they needed and wanted the most. That made all the difference.

Figuring out what they want

One of the easiest ways to figure out what a customer wants is to search for their job title on LinkedIn. You can also go to indeed.com. Try searching for what their responsibilities are. For example, if you see your prospect is a marketing director, search for that job title on LinkedIn. You’ll see that their job is to get traffic to their site, to bring inbound leads, bring in prospects that their sales reps can talk to, and eventually buy their product.

If you call them and talk to them about your company, they’ll only listen to the first 10 seconds of your call before you hear, “I’m not interested.” As a sales rep, your job is to reach out to them with a point of reference. Connect with them via LinkedIn using the omnichannel approach. When you’ve done that, then you’re ready to make the call.

Hey Mike, we connected on LinkedIn last week....”

Position yourself as a person with whom they’re already acquainted. You’ve already moved through the threat barrier on LinkedIn, so now you can present them a solution they want. For the previous marketing director example, you could say, “I was looking at what you’re doing. If there’s a way I could show you how to get 10-15% more leads coming into your website, would you be open to hearing what we can do for you?” Provide a story loop to get his attention first before you ask your qualifying questions. Then you can set up that next appointment.

The old way of doing a pitch where you present your company, and all the great things you’ve accomplished, doesn’t work anymore. Now we figure out what the clients need and present a solution that benefits them.

Client-centered, not sales rep-centered

Your goal is to focus on what the buyer wants, use your questioning skills, and make them the center of the sales process. There is no deception when you are trying to grab their attention to solve their problem. If you’re not going into a deeper discussion, then you won’t get a close. Bring value to deepen the conversation. Provide what the prospect needs.

If you’re trying to gr...

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The Sales Evangelist - TSE 1313: How to Overcome Your Fear of Prospecting
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07/08/20 • 16 min

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The Sales Evangelist - TSE 1260: How To Qualify Your Prospects In Under 10 Minutes
play

03/06/20 • 30 min

How To Qualify Your Prospects In Under 10 Minutes

How can a salesperson qualify a lead in under 10 minutes? Jason Swenk can help. He is a self-proclaimed professional Uber driver for his children, who are 13 and 9 years old, but his main job is to work with agency owners grow and create freedom in their company.

The downstream sales process

The downstream sales process doesn’t start the conversation by immediately selling to a potential client. Launching a meeting by talking about a product is a tactic many sales reps use but it doesn’t often lead to closing. The downstream sales process is more about taking away the risks and making sure that the transaction works for both parties and ensures both parties have good experiences.

Mistakes that people often do

Oftentimes, people sell their core services right off the bat, and immediately go to the high ticket item regardless if it meets the client’s need. In this scenario a high commission is the goal by trying to capture a major commitment from a client who doesn’t yet see the value in what you’re offering. You’re trying to sell long term or short-term contracts to people who don’t fit the criteria of your ideal client. For long-term gains, you have to know and find your ideal customer.

Knowing the profile of your ideal customers takes a while especially if you are just starting out. You need time to figure out who the ideal client is so you don’t waste time or resources. Conversing with clients who aren’t actually your ideal customers is akin to flirting with someone who you were never meant to have a relationship with. This is caused by both desperation and misplaced optimism, which can be common in sales.

Another mistake that salespeople can make is the failure to ask questions. Salespeople tend to keep talking with statements and forget that the most valuable aspects of the conversation will come from the client answering their questions. Asking a prospect questions will reveal their pain points, the impact of the problems on their business, and how these problems make them feel.

Identifying the right people

It is important to identify what kind of client you want to work with and getting to know what their biggest challenges are. For example, say you’re an agency that wants to work with lawyers. Which lawyers are you really going after?

  • Go for a specific type of lawyer. For example, personal injury attorneys.
  • After that, take it a step further, and decide to work with personal injury lawyers who are doing pay-per-click paid advertising

After you have the most specific profile you can get, it’s time to make a call. When you do, don’t offer everything, just offer a sneak peek. Sell it as a foot-in-the-door service. This strategy takes the pressure off of the new sales guy and the prospects as well. This benefits both parties because you’re not asking for more than just a small, simple commitment. You’re giving them a slice of the pie instead of giving them the whole pie without even knowing if they like it or not.

To join you, you’re client gets three options:

  • Identify everything you’re doing and lay-out a plan you can execute
  • Lay out a plan, love it, and we will help you out.
  • Hate the plan and we give you your money back so that you have nothing to lose.

Fixing the problem

A great salesperson thinks two steps ahead. This means that as you are in a meeting, you are already setting up the next one. As you’re walking your potential clients through the front door, help them feel they are already partners in building the plan with you.

The next part in the process is fixing the problem through this plan you’re laying out together. Your prospect will already be bought in because they’re helping to create it.

When they give the go signal to start the project, everybody on the team should work on it together. This is important in the downstream process because the client is seeing the results. When they start seeing the success from the original plan, the sales person then needs to go back to the client and see what other needs can be taken care of. For example:

“Hey! I’m glad you’re getting results. You know, there are a couple of other things that we could do in order to really accelerate this. Are you open to having a conversation about that?”

Since you’ve already earned their trust, you now have the opportunity to pitch your year-to-year retainer and they can still cancel anytime. This foot-in-the-door process is effective since clients are 10 times more likely to pay you again if they’ve already had a successful transaction with you. You’re going to close the deal a lot quicker because what you’re offering is less risky since they’ve already gotten to see a positive outcome. You start at entry level and build from there...

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In the early days of my career, I had the chance to go through Sandler Sales Training. While there, I met my two wonderful guests for this episode, Emily Davidson and Mike Montague.

The principles they taught in that course provide excellent strategies that you can use during this year’s Q4 to help prepare for Q1 next year. Take notes and listen to their game plan, which will surely help you close more deals before the new year.

Common BDR Challenges During Q4

  • You may wonder how to make the most of the remaining months of the year. Which deals should you focus on? Should you let any clients go if you know they won’t make a decision before the end of the year?
  • These challenges can cause a lot of anxiety, but with a strategic plan, you can overcome them.
  • Mike suggests continuing to prospect during this time. You don’t want to start the new year trying to rebuild your sales pipeline. Don’t start fresh in 2025 and bring Q4 clients along.

Prioritizing Deals

  • You may find yourself with deals that are moving very slowly through the pipeline or with nothing at all. What actions should you prioritize to help close deals?
  • Follow the Sandler Sales Training Care Plan, where you assess your accounts and prioritize which ones to keep.
  • Mike and Emily provide examples of the Care Plan to help you understand how to apply it to your situation.
  • Sales leaders may need to help team members prioritize their deals. Sometimes an outside perspective can help a sales rep view their accounts objectively.

Be Creative with Your Prospecting

  • During this time of year, most sales reps are out enjoying the holiday festivities like everyone else. You may be tempted to do the same, but if you want to close deals, you’ll have to put in some work.
  • The good news is, if you get creative with your approach, you can still have fun while doing it.
  • Attend the Christmas parties, but use the opportunity to talk to decision-makers. Don’t take a vacation during this time—use it to cold-call CEOs and presidents.
  • The key is to work smarter, not harder, during this season.

“Our job is to create an atmosphere and environment that allows the customer to buy while the salesperson stays out of the way.” - Mike Montague.

“Looking at your accounts through the lens of the Care Plan will help you break down those targets into categories. You can focus on which ones are a priority to keep.” - Emily Davidson.

Resources

“The 12 Week Year,” by Brian P. Morgan and Michael Lennington

www.sandler.com

How To Succeed Podcast

LinkedIn Prospecting Course

Cold Call Openers

Sponsorship Offers

  1. This episode is brought to you in part by Hubspot.

With HubSpot sales hubs, your data tools and teams join a single platform to close deals and turn prospects into pipelines. Try it for yourself at hubspot.com/sales.

  1. This episode is brought to you in part by LinkedIn.

Are you tired of prospective clients not responding to your emails? Sign up for a free 60-day trial of LinkedIn Sales Navigator at linkedin.com/tse.

  1. This episode is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Foundation.

Improve your connection on LinkedIn and land three or five appointments with our LinkedIn prospecting course. Go to the salesevangelist.com/linkedin.

Credits

As one of our podcast listeners, we value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify....

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FAQ

How many episodes does The Sales Evangelist have?

The Sales Evangelist currently has 1839 episodes available.

What topics does The Sales Evangelist cover?

The podcast is about Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Podcasts, Sales and Business.

What is the most popular episode on The Sales Evangelist?

The episode title 'This Practice Helped Me Shatter My Goals This Year | Casey Stubbs - 1805' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on The Sales Evangelist?

The average episode length on The Sales Evangelist is 23 minutes.

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Episodes of The Sales Evangelist are typically released every 2 days.

When was the first episode of The Sales Evangelist?

The first episode of The Sales Evangelist was released on Dec 26, 2013.

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