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

Whether you’re the person in charge of leads, a small business owner, or anyone looking to do more business through prospecting (which should be everyone), this episode is for you. In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by Mike Moll to learn how to attract high-quality leads without ads by using modern techniques and platforms. Sales professionals can’t rely on marketing to supply enough leads. Video outreach is an effective strategy to supply your ideal client. Once you’re connected with someone, you’re guaranteed a 100% delivery rate platform through LinkedIn messaging. Make videos right on the LinkedIn platform. Other options include BombBomb and Loom, but asking a prospect to click a video link might dissuade some from watching. Sending a video far outclasses automated messages. With the pandemic ending in-person conferences, many B2B sellers turned to LinkedIn to conduct business, resulting in a surplus of auto-generated LinkedIn outreach messages.  Sending 50 impactful videos wi

Creating a mindset for sales involves building credibility and rapport with the prospect, that’s always been clear. But should we apply logic or emotion to our negotiations and social selling strategy? In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by Andres Lares to discuss. The principles of negotiation are the same, regardless of the negotiation subject. As negotiators, we tend to focus on logic. However, we should instead focus on emotion. Statements and facts mitigate feelings of risk, but they aren’t a driver for decision-making. At the end of a call, there needs to be trust and rapport beyond what facts can deliver. Why do we tend to go to logic for negotiating? Because it’s easier. You can have the same approach for every client and situation instead of emotionally tailoring conversations to the prospect’s problem.  You have to ask questions and determine which features give them the benefits they want. So what should we do? Why focus on emotions? Especially with hybrid work, there

Staying ahead of the curve and the competition is the key to getting ahead as a seller. In today’s episode of the Sales Evangelist, Donald discusses some of his top social selling strategies and current selling trends as we enter the second half of 2022. By definition, “modern” selling is always changing. Modern selling is the ability to use new tools, modern techniques, and social selling strategies to find and engage with prospects.  In 2022, post-pandemic sales strategies largely revolve around social selling strategies geared toward a remote audience. Modern sellers use tools like Zoom and have mastered how to work with people, even if you can’t see them on the screen. Modern tools for a modern seller: Tools like Gong and Fathom help you conduct meetings that prompt sellers to better engage with the prospect. Modern sellers are used to remote work, which means a microphone like the ATR2100 or Yeti helps you take advantage of your environment.  Gone are the days you could send a blank phone call or em

Sales enablement isn’t just for major corporations; it’s for businesses of all sizes. In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by bestselling author and VP of Enablement of PRO Unlimited, Roderick Jefferson, to discuss how we can apply sales enablement to any organization.  Three distinct factions of sales enablement: The original enablement began when sellers sold knives and vacuums door-to-door. The second faction arrived during the .com boom of the early 2000s. Finally, the current age of sales enablement is the present day, featuring an innovative approach focused on increasing sales productivity with a systematic, personalized, and collaborative process. Whether a small organization or a large corporation, sales enablement joins the various departments and roles to unify the end goal. Get people to have conversations instead of presentations: The proper discussion isn’t just the right topic - it’s talking to the right people at the right time in their language. There’s a difference

Many salespeople are bombarded with countless tech tools to make their lives easier. But what if one tool helped unify your department’s sales process? On today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by the CEO and co-founder of Scratchpad, Pouyan Salehi, to discuss how sellers can utilize Scratchpad to eliminate their sales stack drag. Salespeople have many tools at their disposal but often rely on their own systems. People are digitally duct-taping a workspace together to do the job they need rather than using a unified system. This means sellers can spend hours each week updating the next steps for management to view, creating a massive waste of time.  Scratchpad unifies sellers’ efforts by creating a space for sellers to work. Athletes have gyms, artists have studios, and salespeople have Scratchpad - a workspace for them. The end goal? Eliminate sales stack drag. For salespeople, drag is an important concept; it’s the burden on salespeople that prevents them from doing their best. This co

You can’t keep begging for a piece of the pie; you need to bake the whole pie yourself! In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald discusses three reasons why he baked his pie (and by that, we mean creating his own business development event.) Tune in to learn about Donald’s upcoming event to master the art of social selling! Why create the event? While Donald loves West Palm Beach, Florida, he found that existing sales meet-ups did not really pertain to B2B sellers.  Wanting a place for B2B sellers to learn and grow alongside one another, Donald created his own! It’s all-around business development. Whether you’re a full-cycle sales rep or a frontline seller; if you’re looking to find new strategies and tips, BusDev22 is the event for you. Are you not local to Florida? Then, purchase a virtual pass to gain all the knowledge from the comfort of your home. Donald’s three reasons to make BusDev22: You can’t wait for people to do stuff for you; you have to take action. When it comes to the event, Dona

In today’s special episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald discusses the highlights of his new book! Sell It Like a Mango, available on Amazon or at thesalesevangelist.com/mango, is full of principles, practices, and tips to sell your product through a shift in mindset and approach to sales.  The premise of the book: Donald saw many mango vendors in the street growing up in Jamaica. But they all sold the same product! So, why did some mangos sell better than others? Because the seller made the deal. If your product has value, you sell it at that value. Donald set up a mango stand in his front yard, but people couldn’t see him and didn’t come.  The takeaway? Get outside your comfort zone to be a successful seller. This applies to everyone - people will sell the same thing as you, so you need to stand out. In the book, Donald points out common sales misconceptions: Misconception 1: My role as a seller is to convince the buyer to make a purchase. The real job is to educate the buyer to know they should make

Social selling is a topic many salespeople are familiar with. In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by the CEO of Pipeline Signals and Sales for Life and pioneer of social selling, Jamie Shanks, to learn how he utilizes relationship mapping to land more enterprise deals. Three triggers matter to your audience:  Buying intent - Who is googling a keyword or downloading something off your website? Product usage - Who uses which software, and how does that integrate with you? Following the human - Humans make business decisions. Whether for a customer company or a pending relationship.  How can you maintain this high-level maintenance for all your prospects if people are shuffling and moving positions in this great resignation? It’s not impossible to do it all yourself, but it’s very challenging. Missing sales intelligence is happening with all of your prospects because it’s just too much information for one person or team to stay on top of while maintaining their actual sales work.  For

Every seller wants the same things: more prospects and more sales. So why not use the best tools to help you get there? In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by VP of Sales and Marketing at GPSLockbox Andrew Velker to discuss his favorite sales tools. Andrew’s favorite tools start with the swiss army knife of CRMs: CRMs are the first and most important part of a sales tech stack, and Andrew prefers one that satisfies two questions: First, can it connect with other tools? Second, is it easy to use? Hubspot fulfills both. Hubspot offers easy integration and is incredibly inclusive of other technical applications you might need. Use LinkedIn Navigator to connect with the exact people you want. Further turbo-charge LinkedIn Navigator by using Seamless.ai to connect with people you know fit your exact target demographic. Finding the right people and having the right conversations will make your prospecting life immeasurably easier. With these tools, you’ll automatically update contacts w

Sales teams are constantly looking for ways to maximize productivity and increase sales, and tech stacks are a big part of that goal. Only sometimes, these tools don’t always give us the results we want. In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald shares three common issues salespeople face in finding the right tech stack. Ask yourself: Can you use it? Leadership often implements new tools and tech without consulting the sales staff who’d use them.  Analyze the current selling practices of your organization before purchasing a new tool. If it doesn’t fit the existing methods, it might not receive high adoption rates. The sales tools are implemented to cover lousy selling. It doesn’t matter if you have the premium tier package of a piece of technology - if you don’t know how to sell properly, it’ll likely go to waste. If you have bad selling practices, a new tech stack will help you sell poorly… at scale. (Not the most ideal result.) Before you push for a new tech tool, find out if you can perform th

In today’s episode, Donald is joined by executive coach Susie Tomenchok to learn how sales professionals can master the skill of negotiating without manipulating. Negotiation isn’t manipulation: Incorporating negotiating strategies and techniques help you and your team reach its needs or goals and open the door for priorities to rearrange and be met. It’s not a winner/loser situation - negotiation should come from a place where you look to satisfy everyone. Low-stakes negotiation happens every day. Mastering negotiation is the key to developing long-term success. Conveying your interests isn’t manipulation - it’s telling your story to meet your needs. Barriers to entering a high-stakes negotiation: PACE: Prepare - aware - close - evaluate Prepare, think at the moment, and be as objective as possible. Be aware of both your and the other party’s interests. Uncover relevant information to reach the close. If you don’t know what you want, how can you expect yourself to negotiate well? There are many pieces of

One of the best ways to build rapport with prospects is through their topics of interest. (And what better way to do that than by podcasting?) In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by Co-founder and CEO at Salescast Collin Mitchell to learn how he uses podcasting to build rapport with his clients. Use podcasting to build a professional relationship. People go on podcasts to contribute thought leadership and share knowledge with the world. Therefore, finding podcasts your clients or prospects have spoken on is a great way to learn more about them. Listen Notes is a helpful resource to view podcasting information like topics, guest names, and show popularity. You can also search for specific people to see if your client or prospect has been on a podcast!  People are often more personal and vulnerable on podcasts. So listening to a prospect’s guest episode is a great way to learn about them to use in conversation later. For example, people on this show frequently talk about how they got i

As a salesperson, you (hopefully) enjoy interacting with your prospects. However, a typical sales mistake is forcing the prospect to fit our communication style rather than the other way around. In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by the author of The Savage Leader and founder of Group Sixty, Darren Reinke, to discuss building rapport the way the prospect wants.  Sellers assume prospects like to communicate in the same style as the seller. Selling should start with the understanding that we’re all different. Establishing that early on will impact your ability to build rapport. Some people might like starting with a conversation; others prefer to focus on the tasks at hand. We’re all different. Get a sense of the customer’s style by learning what motivates and drives them. Listen to the prospect and pay attention to their tone and how they conduct themselves to understand how to communicate. Three steps to learn a prospect’s communication style: Intention: Have a willingness to cha

Building rapport with prospects is the bridge that fosters trust needed to move through the sales process. In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald introduces our newest season of content centered around building rapport with prospects. So what are three things that sellers get wrong with rapport-building? Find out in today’s episode. Sellers put on their fake corporate persona. Just because you represent a company doesn’t mean you need to sound like their answering machine. Avoid fake, salesy language that isn’t your authentic self. Whether speaking to your next prospect or your close friend, you should sound the same. Sellers aren’t interested enough in their prospects. Be interested, not interesting. You should want to listen to your prospect, not try to inform them about yourself (beyond what’s necessary.) People love talking about themselves. So allow your prospects to do that by talking about their interests, career, and company goals. Sellers don’t create a dialogue with their prospects.

In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by author, speak, and co-founder of Gap Wireless, Glenn Poulos, to discuss five ways to know your customer’s ecosystem. This conversation is based partially on Glenn’s recently published book, Never Sit in the Lobby, available now on Amazon. Understand your key stakeholders. Some salespeople sell simple things, and some people sell multi-million dollar systems. Whatever the product is, know what you’re talking about. And, more importantly, learn how to explain it to others. Too often, salespeople are very technically proficient at explaining their solutions. However, this is potentially too descriptive for the prospect to understand your solution's clear benefits.  Recognize who you need to speak to, identify their level of understanding, and adjust your speech to accommodate the stakeholder. Isolate the prospects Who are the people that will use and derive benefit from your solution? Those are the people you need to demonstrate to. Showing the

No matter what level of sales you’re in, you are bound to encounter objections. In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, host Donald Kelly is joined by the co-founder and former owner of Solo Stove, Spencer Jan, for an in-depth look at Spencer’s experience handling his biggest sales objection. But first, what does Spencer consider an objection?  In general, Spencer sees sales objections as a lack of communication; the disconnect of not understanding the other person. When objections arise, it’s not that they’re rejecting you, there’s simply a gap between you and the prospect. In 2016 Spencer and his brother decided to sell their business. When they went to sell, investment bankers and brokers told them their company wasn’t sellable.  They were surprised because the business was very profitable. However, Spencer and his brother didn’t understand their buyer. They realized a buyer wants to invest in a company, not necessarily run it. They aren’t looking to deal with day-to-day problems. And that was the o

Objections can strike fear into the hearts of salespeople everywhere. But what if there’s a simple formula to handle objections with confidence? In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, our guest Ryann Dowdy explains how we can integrate this sales strategy into our sales methodology.  Ryann’s feelings on objections: It’s about asking questions - focusing on the human to human connection and seeing the value in that connection We think of a “closing problem,” but the “opening problem” can be just as essential to overcome. Help people get what they want by using information they’ve already shared. Overcome objections from the beginning: It’s a simple philosophy: Jeb Blunt’s book Sales EQ explains that we have a physiological response (like increased heart rate) when someone raises an objection.  When you get an objection, have a script to follow immediately after the objection to have time to collect yourself. For Ryann, she likes to empathize and understand more about the objection to determine where i

In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by COO of People.ai Art Harding. With twenty years of experience in the industry, he’s had plenty of practice overcoming B2B objections through digital transformations. What is a digital transformation? Sure, it’s Uber and Netflix. But it is not solely a technology play; it’s reimagining the customer experience and using technology to facilitate those changes. Uber didn’t invent cars, apps, or driving strangers. They just combined those elements in a unique way to make something new. The classic go-to-market functions had relatively siloed expectations. Marketing was responsible for branding; sellers were responsible for closing deals, etc. Those transformations affected these elements at different rates to unlock new digital journeys. Digital transformations start from the inside out.  Younger generations use the tools and data they expect from a professional (or implement themselves as they grow in their careers.) Enterprise sales have dramatic

The pushy salesperson is still the preemptive perception many people think of when they think of salespeople, but in today’s world, that image is no longer accurate. Instead, closing a sale is best accomplished by overcoming objections by selling with a servant’s heart. In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by Jim Doyle to discuss why this is so important. What exactly is the term “selling with a servant’s heart?” It is being obsessed with the customer outcome. It’s more than a win-win because if it’s right for the customer, it’s right. A short term might not be in the seller’s best interest if it means the customer wins in the long term. You’re here to serve, not to sell.  This should be the default mentality of salespeople. As you embrace it, you’ll see more success with this mentality. A servant’s heart can help overcome objections. One of his book chapters is, “ask a million questions.” Salespeople are taught to answer questions without focusing on uncovering the seller’s needs.

When most people think of objections, they think of what stops a deal from progressing. Today’s episode launches the next series on The Sales Evangelist covering the ins and outs of objections. How can you be well-equipped to handle objections with confidence and knowledge? Listen in to find out!  What is an objection? Many salespeople associate an objection with a worst-case scenario, but that’s not always the case. Instead, an objection can be anything that prevents a deal from moving forward, either permanently or just a few days. Objections tie back to the buyer not having enough information to move forward. When prospecting, come up with something so valuable they want to move forward. Remember, there are limitless reasons people might not want to move forward.  Identify the objections before they become issues. As an industry expert, you can likely know the top issues a prospect might have before purchasing. If you know the objections, address them before the prospect has an issue! It streamlines the