The Sales Evangelist: Sales Training|Speaking|Business Marketing|Donald Kelly

Creating a valuable and accurate sales forecast is dependent on your ability to anticipate the success of sales. So how does the founder and CEO of forma.ai Nabeil Alazzam motivate and drive his team to maintain momentum? Through sales incentives! Using sales incentives and data-driven forecasting, Nabeil encourages his salespeople to reach specific and measurable objectives. How Nabeil defines sales forecasting: It depends on whether the forecast is for a team leader or a representative. As a leader, it’s taking data across the team and using it to aggregate results. On the rep level, accuracy is critical. If you’re confident which accounts close, you can better visualize what else is needed to do to hit a target number. Common forecasting mistakes: Being overconfident with deals without a data-driven element to justify the belief. Instead, utilize checkpoints throughout the sales process to know if a prospect will move forward. Another common mistake is that a lack of nuanced checkpoints leads to overpri

Today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist launches a new series on forecasting! When it comes to forecasting, there are a ton of strategies and tactics you can use to develop a solid background on it. In this episode, Donald discusses the three things you must know about forecasting before starting. But first, what is forecasting?  In essence, it’s your ability to predict what will happen in the future. As a sales professional (and especially as a sales manager), you must be able to estimate how your team will perform throughout the week, month, and quarter.  Without forecasting, you’ll have no idea if you’ll achieve your sales goals! Know your data. How many calls lead to a conversation, a demo, and, ultimately, a sale?  Understanding your sales figures and statistics leads to an accurate forecast. Your pipeline is tied directly to your forecast, and if you put inadequate or insufficient data into a forecast, you’ll get bad predictions in the outcome. Respect the process. Some prospects might want to skip

While mastering closing is critical, understanding how to open with a data-driven approach is a powerful component to help find and complete more deals. In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by author and founder of Win BIG Media Phillip Stutts to discuss the proper ways to begin prospecting.  The average American sees up to 10,000 ads every day.  Ipso facto, how is your messaging breaking out of the clutter? The correct entry point for salespeople is to create a deeper connection with the prospect and understand what moves them. Whether it’s a B2B or B2C company, Phillip makes each of his clients dive into their customer base to understand more about them and their values. The point isn’t to manipulate; it’s to use that understanding to create a deeper connection that closes more deals. What can a sales rep start to gain that understanding? Phillip partners with a major data analytics company to create custom data reports. If you have $7500-10000 to spare, this is high-quality data

The best way to have a great discovery call is by mentally preparing for the call beforehand. But what’s the best way to do this? In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by sales and mindset coach Isaac Ho to discuss his strategies and tricks to prepare for a successful discovery call.  Mental preparation can be the difference between an okay and a great call.  People often make decisions that fuel a latent belief they’re not even aware they have. Sales is just a transfer of energy. If you’re unprepared for a call or meeting, you transfer the wrong energy to the prospect or client. If you’ve done no research or prep about a company before a meeting, you must spend time and energy learning about the org rather than come to the meeting with thoughts to the table. When you enter a meeting, be curious. While a prospect will give you an understanding of their problem, they could be missing something that completely changes the situation. How does Isaac mentally prepare for a discovery call?

Discovery calls are thought to be a challenging element for almost any salesperson. But what if we were to tell you there’s a way to see more success with them? In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by the founder of 7th Level Jeremy Miner to discuss discovery call techniques that don’t scare away your prospect (because we don’t want that, trust me.) What makes a bad discovery? Sellers are taught the selling “ABC’s - Always Be Closing. But with today’s cautious buyers, this strategy doesn’t always come across well. To be great at sales, skip the C and learn the ABD’s of selling - Always Be Disarming. What triggers a prospect to buy or not to buy? Salespeople trigger behaviors by what they’re asking (and, more importantly, what they aren’t asking.) Salespeople frequently come across as too enthusiastic, talking about their solution too early in the conversation.  While you should be excited about what you sell, it shouldn’t be the point that it comes across as fake. Keep the joy inter

While setting up discovery calls is the first half of the battle, the other half is getting the prospect to show up. And a great solution to drive attendance is by using a text message. In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by founder and CEO of Salesmsg Chris Brisson to talk about how you can use text messaging to increase meeting show rates.  SMS can be used for anything, from lead generation to conversion and engagement. Sales is a three-step process: sign up, show up, and pay up.  Creating a multichannel approach is the best way to drive attendance. A simple text message offers a simple last-minute reminder shortly before meetings. We are a conversational society, so short messages with an understandable motive won't’ be considered spammy or annoying. Implementing SMS software into your business: If you want to test SMS messaging without a monetary investment, manually send a standard text message an hour before the meeting. But to scale this process, a system is necessary. With

Discovery calls aren’t just the first part of the process - they’re where the close begins. In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald will dive into seven common mistakes salespeople make when making discovery calls (and, more importantly, how you can fix them.)  Stop the lackluster pre-call prep. We know back-to-back zoom meetings can be tiring. But from the prospect’s perspective, you have just one meeting. So come prepared! It’s not just a discovery for you; it’s a discovery for the prospect to see if they’re interested in working with you. Consider creating an agenda for the prospect to review before the meeting to ensure everyone gets what they want out of it. Don’t ask what you should already know. Call the company ahead, speak to end-users, and get helpful information. Entering the discovery call with the intel you need will set you apart as a salesperson and demonstrate the qualities you want to convey. Talk less Salespeople should not be taking more than 40% of the time. Instead,

Prospecting is a critical element of the sales process. After all, how can you expect new business if you aren’t finding new prospects who can benefit from your product? In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by entrepreneur and speaker AJ Vassar to discuss how to prepare yourself for better prospecting.  Salespeople need new clients in their pipeline.  Despite this, it’s an area where people are frequently challenged. In sales, we learn ABC - always be closing. But, just as important is the idea of the prospecting ABC - always be connecting. Connecting and establishing a network is integral to being a successful salesperson. But don’t just connect with random people; find people you can provide value to (and vice versa.) When you also focus on connecting people with others, you’ll be top of mind in all instances. And that is a critical element to have. What if a salesperson doesn't have time to connect with new people? You have to make time. Connecting people with other people makes

It’s no secret that mentors and coaches can be the extra push that gets us to the top. But how can we go about finding great mentors? In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by Gabrielle Blackwell (GB), co-founder of Women in Sales Club (which focuses on empowering and enabling women to succeed in sales), to discuss her tactics and strategy when finding and interacting with a potential mentor. The problem: There’s a need for mentors. When GB got into sales, she wanted to be the best. However, she needed to learn more first. After suffering a concussion from a car accident, she needed to revitalize her efforts and get back on her sales feet. So, GB talked to people to evaluate if she was moving in the right direction. Sales reps and leaders need to acknowledge that you don’t have to know everything. Admitting you don’t know something requires an environment where you feel comfortable. And, upon noticing the discrepancy between what you know and what you need to know, you can ask for help.

Many salespeople rely on assumptions about salespeople - think the cringe-inducing car salesman from movies. But while there’s truth in its origins, that description is no longer true to the modern salesperson. And while the modern salesperson embraces technology to achieve more, they often fall short. The takeaway? We aren’t getting better at selling. So how can we improve? In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald brings on sales teacher, author, and consultant Andy Paul to discuss his strategy for revitalized selling. While there are commonalities, there is more than one way to sell well. The push to sales conformity is really for management, not the seller. Because management wants something predictable. However, the real world is more complicated.  You learn, take those learnings and apply them to life. And you become the sum of your experience and knowledge. We all end up doing things differently, even if they lead to the same result. Despite all the tools and technological advancements that b

More people use LinkedIn now than ever before. Is it the promised land? Not quite. But it’s still an excellent resource to find leads, start conversations, and ultimately convert connections. In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by authentic seller and co-host of the making Sales Social Podcast Bill McCormick to discuss generating conversations that convert on everyone’s favorite professional social media platform.  Three groups of people to understand on LinkedIn: The Lion: The people with a ton of connections they might not know very well. (Recruiters are a great example of this group.) The Purist: People who only connect with people in their industry or area. While they have high-quality connections, they don’t have very many. The Networker: People who see LinkedIn as a networking room open to connecting with new people. This group is the median between the Lion and the Purist. A critical part of every LinkedIn connection strategy is the introduction. How many times do you connec

Video is one of the most successful and valuable tactics salespeople can implement to land more meetings and reach higher sales goals. But it can be challenging to start without understanding the basics. On today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by Vidyard’s VP of Marketing and Chief Video Strategist Tyler Lessard to discuss how you can start integrating video content into your outreach campaigns. Common Video Mistakes: The largest mistake is the perception of video in today’s business world. Video is no longer a one-to-many, high-quality product like movies and advertisements. Now it’s about connection, not perfection. Video is just a new mode to communicate with prospects like phone calls, social media, and traditional email. However, short videos are a visual medium that drastically help create a connection. You don’t need a scripted, rehearsed monologue. The goal is authenticity. A viewer can see the passion and excitement for the product or service that email just can’t quite convey,

Converting web leads is the dream for virtually every B2B company. What if we told you there’s a way to increase the conversion rate for web visitors by as much as double your current rates? In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by co-founder and CEO of Chili Piper, Nicolas Vandenberghe, to discuss how his SaaS platform does just that. Only a fraction of website visitors turns into sales leads. The key to improving your conversion rate is to automate your inbound process.  The old inbound strategy depended on a human salesperson reaching out to a prospect (typically based on a form submission.) This humanist delay can result in up to days of lag time between the form and the response. And the business world is just too fast-paced for that. Speed to Lead helps overcome this issue by automating the qualification process and scheduling meetings in real-time. Prequalification is critical to faster client acquisition. You don’t want to waste time interacting with a potential client who wo

There aren’t many people in the world who look forward to cold calling. (And if you're one of those people, you deserve an award.) But if you want to see an immediate improvement in your cold outreach, there are two things your prospects should know as soon as you start your first interaction. Find out what those are on today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist.  1: Who are you? Your initial outreach should include your name (we hope that’s obvious). Still, it should also include the relevant information about you that will ease prospect anxiety and make them more receptive to what you have to say. This information could be how you found them, like LinkedIn or at a networking event. Even better, you could reference other people in the company the prospect works with, and that they suggested the connection.  2: What do you want? Once a prospect understands who you are, the seller must explain why they’re calling. Typically, there’s a reason you selected these specific people to cold call. As a result, you (ho

Many salespeople dream of reaching the illustrious seven-figure earners club. But how can you achieve this goal? In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by Brandon Fluharty to discuss his seven-step framework for making seven figures in enterprise SaaS sales.  There are core truths to seven-figure selling:  You’re likely selling to large enterprise companies. While you can do it with small and medium-sized companies, it is challenging. You have experience (and confidence) selling to large clients.  You need the patience to endure incredibly long sales cycles. Get in the right environment. Find your “Goldilocks” situation concerning your ideal workplace, whatever that may be. What kind of internal infrastructure do you need to feel comfortable and successful? Build a transformation mindset Seven-figure earners sell a transformation that doesn’t just solve an issue; it prevents the problem from happening again.  In SaaS, you want to be the player touching multiple parts of the busi

As we enter the new year, there’s no time like the present to set new goals and embrace the productive mindset you’ve always wanted. In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by lifelong businessman, best-selling author, and coach Brad Sugars to discuss how you can revolutionize your thinking.  Revolutionize your mindset to get to the next level: It starts with the acknowledgment that your attitude needs to change. Brad’s formula for success: Dreams x Goals x Learning x Planning x Action. Getting to that next level involves all five of these components. Many of us are taught not to “bite off more than we can chew.” But change often means diving into the deep end and moving past our comfort zones. But why should you jump into the deep end?  Immersing yourself in a new way of doing things creates a new identity, and that identity shift is the change people need. Put yourself in situations where you aren’t the smartest or most productive person in the room. Doing so gives you the push to gr

Differentiation is critical when operating as a B2B seller. But what’s the best way to differentiate and ensure you earn more money? In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by management strategist Lee B. Salz to understand how to effectively set yourself apart in B2B sales.  Why does Lee have a passion for B2B sales strategy? The short answer? Golden Girls. The long answer? Lee needed a job his junior year of high school, so he was hired to drive the vehicle for a dry cleaning delivery service.  Lee was fascinated that people were willing to spend more for the convenience of delivered dry cleaning. However, it was only certain people - those with long work commutes. Those who worked local found it unneceessary.  The takeaway? Understand who gets meaningful value from what you’re selling, because not everyone will. Find the people who see meaningful value in what you’re selling. Visit targetclientprofile.com to download a free worksheet to identify your target profile client. It’s not

For many salespeople, a change in mindset encourages growth as you cultivate your sales practice. And on today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by sales consultant and speaker Natasha Hemmingway to learn her 5-step formula to rewire the brain and think like a sales pro. With 16 years of corporate sales experience (and multiple years as a professional sales consultant), Natasha believes that sales changes everything. It gives us access, opportunities to impact and influence others and help solve their problems. Step One: Mindset Many sales teams focus exclusively on the numbers, hustling for new clients purely for financial gain. But this mentality just doesn’t help anyone. Selling with heart means putting the client at the front of your selling technique. Serving them should be your priority.  Selling is a partnership just as much as it is a transaction, and it is the willingness to walk away from a deal if it isn’t right for the prospect. Step Two: Communication  Communication cannot co

Many salespeople have a misconstrued mindset about mindset itself, hindering success and costing more money. In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald discusses five common sales misconceptions and how to overcome them. So start the new year by overcoming these common misconceptions. Myth #1: Mindset is a soft skill and can’t be proven to result. Yes, motivational things are important and cool. But pep talk motivation has a purpose - it helps you perform. If your mind is game-ready, the performance will follow. Mindset isn’t just your motivation; it’s the way you think. Motivation is only a tiny (but necessary) part of that. Myth #2: I don’t need mindset, I can just hustle and complete tactics. When you get to a certain point, “hustling” only gets you so far. People who shatter records, earn promotions, and go beyond their current limit need more than hustle; they need the proper mindset. Research shows 80% of our daily thoughts are negative, and we do this to keep ourselves in our comfort zones. 

Remote and hybrid work environments can be challenging. Back-to-back Zoom calls quickly blur together, and many salespeople find that, even with note-taking, there are gaps in recollection when the follow-up meeting arrives. In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by Richard White to discuss his sales app, Fathom, which helps address and overcome these sales issues.  Salespeople juggle note-taking, conducting conversations, and remembering essential elements of meetings for later discussions. Because of this huge workflow, it’s easy for things to fall through the cracks. So, Richard built the free app Fathom for Zoom that records, transcribes, and (most importantly) highlights key moments of calls so you can focus on having an actual conversation. In a typical call, only 15% of the conversation is note-worthy. That means 85% of the conversation probably isn’t very important. And that 85% drowns out the 15% pretty quickly. As a salesperson, you’re routinely giving pitches, answering que