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

The pandemic changed the way we sell. Or even how do we sell? Using LinkedIn as a resource for BDRs and SDRs to make sales, even during COVID-19, can help lead you to success. Today on The Sales Evangelist Donald is joined by Amanda Staffon and Jason Behnke, former business development representatives at BlueGrace Logistics, to learn how they used LinkedIn throughout the pandemic as a tool to supplement and advance their sales process. Selling in a difficult time While the pandemic threw a wrench in everyone’s professional lives, an opportunity was created: to help those in need.  Amanda and Jason found themselves focusing even more on building relationships and being available for their prospects. With COVID-19, the necessary questions have shifted from understanding company strategies to understanding if their basic needs are being met as an organization. Prospecting today  Now that the end of COVID is in sight, salespeople are running at high speeds to make up for the lull of 2020.  Rotating between pho

President and Co-founder of BombBomb Darin Dawson joins us on today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist to discuss the importance of utilizing video in sales after COVID-19. Running sales marketing and customer success for his video platform company gives Darin key insights to make your post-pandemic sales successful. The importance of video for sales in the post COVID era: The pandemic taught us how to create a new and different customer experience: video. Even once the pandemic ends, people might not be keen to leave the video approach because people can be unique, creative, and (most importantly) themselves.  Any business can replicate and develop new features, but there is no way to replicate people. And video allows people to capitalize on the people and the relationship you’ve built with your prospects. Video is personal, not personalized. Relationships aren’t built over text on a screen: Use video for the back and forth dialogue typically done through text. Video capitalizes on a salesperson’s relatio

Today on The Sales Evangelist, we’re joined by the Founder and Dean of The Non-Sleazy Sales Academy, Annie P. Ruggles. Annie has spent the last decade harnessing her Hulk-like disdain for hard sales and tacky self-promotion to help others sell their services without feeling slimy, queasy, or untrue to their ethics. And on today’s episode, she’ll explain how we can maneuver these tactics for sales in a post-COVID world. How do I ensure that my business will succeed in a post-pandemic world? Change areas of your selling that aren’t right for your message and delivery. You no longer have the excuse of COVID to keep those bad habits. Consider the post-pandemic a clean slate to look at your selling procedures and identify where more education or skill is needed. We tend as small business owners to sell and manage our sales folks to sell to people exactly like us. Cast a wider net.  Balance your emotional storytelling with the details and KPIs. What are some other things salespeople do that may be subtly eroding

Here’s a fun fact: Only 33% of decision-makers feel their organization is ready to get back to in-person work. What does this mean for the sales professional? In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald shares three insights salespeople should remember as we adjust to the inevitable post-COVID return to office work. Over the next four to six episodes of the podcast, you'll hear Donald talk with different sales leaders, authors, and sales coaches about what you need to know as we get back into the office full time. Only a third of decision-makers feel their company is ready to return to the office. This Market Watch article details this statistic and that many decision-makers feel going back to the office will be unpredictable and potentially chaotic. What should the salesperson expect when they come back to the office? Sales may slow down, and your sales process might take longer. Those decision-makers will have many fires to put out with the return to the office. They’ll have to ensure employee sa

On today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by Austin McCulloh, consultant and founder of Austin McCulloh Advising. Austin shows people how to prospect virtually, whether using LinkedIn, Facebook, or other methods to take advantage of online opportunities. During his professional career, he’s learned that what's between your ears is your biggest obstacle, not who’s in front of you. Overcome your mental challenges. None of us are perfect, so stop trying to live up to an impossible standard. Some salespeople spend an hour researching before a main call only to get a prospect voicemail. How much excitement and energy do you have now to make that next call? Have a counsel or advisor around you - people you can bounce ideas off. Especially those better than you. Read The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz to understand and overcome your own self-limiting beliefs. Develop a process. Some salespeople feel out a sale as it goes because they believe that’s what a successful salesperson can do. In

Today on The Sales Evangelist, Donald is joined by Junior Germain - intern extraordinaire at The Sales Evangelist. When he’s not hitting the books at BYU-Idaho, you can find Junior assisting the TSE team in all things social media, PR, and marketing. Today’s episode is a quick Q&A, where Junior asks Donald his questions about one topic: what do I need to do to succeed in sales? Question 1: How do I overcome mental fatigue as a salesperson? When people tell you no, view it as a part of the sales game. (Meaning they aren’t rejecting the person; they’re rejecting the role.) That person might be in the middle of cooking dinner, watching a great Netflix show, or preparing for work. If you try to make a sale (especially when inconvenient for the prospect), you’ll inevitably get rejected. Question 2: How do you overcome the fact that you’re interrupting their daily schedule?  You’re providing a helpful service or product - something of worth to your prospects. Your job is to help them realize that. You don’t

New sellers struggle to make sales because they lack the skill and experience to ask well-crafted questions and build rapport with their prospects. In this episode of The Sales Evangelist, guest Tony Morris tells us the five ways for new sellers to sell like pros. As an author, podcaster, entrepreneur, and speaker for sales conferences worldwide, Tony knows how any beginner in the sales world can stand out.   Follow the 80/20 rule (but in the proper order) Sales reps should apply the 80/20 rule when talking to prospects: listen 80% of the time and speak 20% of the time. (We have two ears and one mouth, so use them in that order.) Many salespeople use the 80/20 rule, but reversed. Tony’s first tip for new sellers: talk less and listen more.  When you encourage your prospect to talk more, you learn more about their needs and how you can help them. Ask the right questions.  What makes a bad question? Any question that prompts a one-word answer. These questions are impersonal and don’t provide insight into the

Today on The Sales Evangelist, we’re joined by Shufflrr CEO and co-founder James Ontra to discuss the importance of storytelling in sales. What’s Shufflrr? They help companies transform humble PowerPoints into invaluable business assets. Even better, your entire company can present and share from those same decks. It’s a paradigm change in presentation management that’s long overdue. Why are presentations so important? Presentations are an integral part of the business world. From product information to case studies to introductions, companies communicate to each other through presentations.  We typically think of presentations as a single document, but it’s more nuanced than that. Every presentation is a story, and every slide is a scene. Within Shuffler, you can drag and drop slides to create custom stories, and your entire company can present and share from those same decks. Meaning, those coworkers presenting in London or Hong Kong will be unified with the same platform.   How do we tell better stories?

On today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, we’re joined by coach, speaker, and presenter Francois Lupien. From Tae Kwon Do Canadian champion to a top real estate agent to serial entrepreneur, Francois has worn multiple hats and now dedicates himself to helping entrepreneurs increase their net worth and accomplish their goals. Today, he lets us know why sales are important and his approach to doing it right every time. But first, why are sales so important? Nothing happens until a sale is made, regardless of the field. A sale is needed for a business, just like fuel is needed for any car. For the client, you are an essential cog in the wheel. There are many problems and many solutions, but the salesperson’s job is to ensure the solution is brought to the problem. As a salesperson, you need to be Sherlock Holmes: inquisitive, curious, and 100% focused on the person in front of you. Genuine interest in the client is your first role. Francois’s tips to be excellent in sales: Questions are the answer. If you a

Today on The Sales Evangelist, Donald gives three tips to consider before your first BDR role. Success doesn’t happen overnight, but using Donald’s tips will pave the path to your success as you begin your sales career. Don’t take it personally. There will be times people hang up on you are simply not interested - it happens to everyone. But don’t let that unmotivate you! There will also be times putting yourself out there, and engaging with the prospect will be what makes the sale. Even if a prospect isn’t interested, recognize they’re rejecting the offer and not the salesperson. Follow up more than you think you should. 80% of sales require five follow-up calls after the meeting, yet 44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up. Why is that? Salespeople are often afraid of how they’re presenting themselves if they contact a prospect multiple times in a row. Even worse, the salesperson might have their feelings hurt after a nonresponse.  Avoiding these mentalities is key to developing sales. From the wi

A salesperson usually has a list of questions they want to ask a prospect. After all, understanding the prospect and their business is necessary to know if and how you can help them and their business. But often, these questions come across as overly prying. How do you fix this? By using Donald’s four tips to avoid sounding like you’re prying in their business. Build rapport before you ask questions. The private information you need will come only if the prospect feels comfortable. You don’t have the authority to ask those questions when you first start interacting with a prospect. The key? Don’t ask about the weather - surface-level questions don’t build the relationship you need.  Ask more profound questions and provide thoughtful engagement to show the client you care about their result. Let them know you’ll be asking tough questions.  Think back to episode 1275 and episode 452 about rapport building and rule-setting, respectively - these elements are critical to establishing before asking questions. Gi

Today on The Sales Evangelist, we’re joined by David Garcia. The current CEO of the pre-employment background check company ScoutLogic Screening, David’s 25 years of experience in B2B sales and marketing has made him well-accustomed to asking the right questions. With a specialty in big enterprise deals, David developed a strategic sales method to optimize his success chances. He’ll share some of that methodology by telling us four things to consider when drafting sales questions based on a customer’s personality. Rethink your role in the sales process.  Sales is shifting away from a sales-driven approach. Consider yourself more akin to an intelligence agent. (Think Carrie Mathison from Homeland.) Why is this important?  Because sales today is 80% research and 20% asking questions. Salespeople are versed in researching a company: check reports, Twitter feeds, social media; you can learn a lot that way. But when David says research, he means to learn about the buyer - the person on the other end of the call o

On today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, we’re joined by David Goings, self-professed sales nerd and current SMB team lead at LogicGate.  David believes in making an impact in the prospect’s sales journey. Sales, at its core, should bring a positive impact to your customer’s lives. You might do that through your products and services. But also, sometimes it's just in the experience that you have with the customer. From an inbound perspective, you need to consider where the customer may be in the buying process. With an inbound conversation, the prospect may have already identified that problem internally.  In an outbound conversation, you may have just pique someone's interest. But the prospect is still identifying the problem.  David’s Three Tips to Avoid Conversations Feeling Like an Interrogation Change your mindset. You need to come in and understand that your job is to help the other person, not to make a sale. You morally can't pitch products and solutions until you know the prospect’s current sit

Sometimes we have in our minds that we ask stupid questions. This mentality creates roadblocks, and these roadblocks stop us from getting the information we need to help our clients in a way they need to be helped. In today's episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald shares with you what you can do to overcome this thought and how you can prepare to ask the right questions. The American Dream is Dead Donald asked everyday people a question: do they believe the American Dream is dead? Those initial nerves that come with asking strangers big questions turned to excitement when those strangers animatedly responded, “no, the dream isn’t dead!” (just more difficult to achieve.) What did Donald learn from the experience? Questions we might be nervous to ask often come lead to the most success.  Some of the reasons you don’t ask meaningful questions:  You are self-conscious. You focus back on yourself because you think it might sound bad. You think the question might be too rude, against social norms, or that you d

In today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, Donald Kelly gives us the scoop on one major closing question you’re neglecting to ask. But first, let’s picture this scenario. Dave is a salesperson who has been working with his lead, Bob, for three months.  His sale is in the bag; he gave a fantastic presentation, his sales engineer answered every question the prospect had, and Dave sent them a proposal. Despite going through every step in the process, Dave didn’t get the result he wanted; he got hit with the “we’re going to need some more time to think about it” conversation. Where did he go wrong? It’s simple - there’s one question he forgot to ask. The ultimate question: Would I make this purchase based on the same information I know if I were the buyer? Sales is shortsighted - we’re focused on our pipeline. Dave was focused on meeting his quota, impressing his manager, and making sales rather than his prospect’s needs.  How can you ask this question to improve your sales strategy? Habit #5 of “The 7 Habi

On today’s episode, we welcomed Michael Reddington, a certified forensic interviewer and President of InQuasive, Inc. His company integrates components of effective interview techniques with current business research to show others how to use the truth to their advantage. The topic for today? Why listening is critical to sales. Why is listening important? Humans aren’t meant to be good listeners. It’s difficult for us to sideline our egos and focus on the goal instead of the people while in conversation. Because it can be a rarity, actively listening while in the sales environment (or any environment) can be the differentiator between you and your competitors. Key steps to listening: Limit variables during an interaction. There can be distractions in your mind and environment that prevent you from listening. Have a good plan going into the conversation. This can limit distractions and result in more efficient and positive discussions. Michael’s three points to enhance listening: Have a plan - Focus on wh

In this episode, Donald Kelly shares ten questions to ask the prospects when you are meeting them for the first time.  What problems are you trying to solve today? Your goal is to get deeper and to figure out the problem the prospect is trying to solve.  Why is that a particular problem right now? This allows the prospects to vocalize what they think the problem is.  What’s the source of that problem? This will help the prospects think of the source of their problem if there is any.  What would happen if you don’t do anything today? Ask them this question to put the decision back. Don’t use this question right off the bat. Only use it when you’ve already established some rapport. Why is it a priority today? It allows you to figure out why there’s an urge to solve the problem.  Why hasn’t it been addressed before? This question allows you to probe deeper into the problem of the prospects.  What would a successful outcome look like in, say, for example, six months from now if we work together? It p

In this episode, Jose Quiroz joins Donald Kelly to talk about the easy ways to make new LinkedIn connections without sounding spammy.  Jose Quiroz is an immigrant, an entrepreneur, and a business guy. His mentality is always veered into finding opportunities and creating opportunities. For Jose, it’s more about creation than consumption.  He has a lot of experience with the family business and regional operations as his dad started a janitorial company.  After college, he got into the corporate world and fell under the Director of Digital Marketing sphere.  Jose’s unique selling proposition is adapting the digital strategy and the digital language to the overall brand strategy. He helps business owners understand how they can leverage digital strategies to scale up their operations.  Building connections Businesses can find a third party who can do their massive lead generation for them. At that point, connecting isn’t about building relationships. Connecting then becomes a numbers game.  This means that y

Join us in today’s episode as Doug C. Brown and Donald Kelly talk about the best practices for finding hot B2B prospects on LinkedIn. What are salespeople doing wrong on LinkedIn? Doug Brown often sees a lot of people on LinkedIn who are making prospecting a complex process.  The other mistake is that they’re not clear on their target audience.  Sometimes, it’s not the sales reps fault because they’re trained to prospect in a certain way. On LinkedIn, however, one has to think differently. Instead of targeting many people at once, it’s better to start narrowing at the top of the funnel and getting more focused going down.  Narrowing down prospects means that you’re able to pick 25-30 ideal target customers from your list of 100 people to prospect.  Think of the ultra-high quality prospects that you would love to do business with because the challenge on LinkedIn and other prospecting methods is the follow-up.  The power of follow-up is huge and impactful and this process has to start from the first conversat

Join Donald Kelly and Jon James in this episode as they talk about how to use the ‘Ask me Anything’ strategy to land more LinkedIn appointments.  Jon James is the CEO of Ignited Results, a digital agency specializing in leveraging LinkedIn to get more sales opportunities. They work with their clients and help them with their LinkedIn marketing to get more meetings with prospects.  The challenges on LinkedIn Part of the challenge is the failure of not identifying who they’re connecting to, which is the driver in terms of who you end up on a call with or having the opportunity to ask someone for a call.  Salespeople need to start with good targeting.  Jon James recommends having a Sales Navigator to target the types of people who can be your ideal prospects. With Sales Navigator, you can target teams or companies with a certain employee count of revenue mark.  The LinkedIn outreach process Before you begin the outreach, you first need to look at your profile and make sure that it’s good to go. Check out t