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

10 things new sellers should avoid doing   We all make mistakes from time to time but you can’t avoid them if you don’t know they’re mistakes. In this episode, Donald will share 10 mistakes he’s made so you he’s made so you don’t have to.    Mistake #1: Being pushy People hate pushy sales reps. These are the ones that are often associated with being a stereotypical “used car salesperson.” This makes buyers feel like they are being tricked into making a purchase. Buyers nowadays are educated, prepared, and they are familiar with the tactics that sellers use. These days, buyers have different options and can go somewhere else if they don’t feel you have their best interest at heart. Buyers want to move toward sellers who can educate them to make the best decision, as opposed to someone who is trying to push them into an option they don’t really need. .  Pushy sellers are those who are trying to hit their own deadlines and quotas without taking into account what’s best for their customer. They have abandoned the

How to Virtually Forge Deep Connections With Prospects   The pandemic has changed the methods of prospecting. Sales is still about connecting with people on a personal level but with so many people doing business virtually now, sales reps have to be able to do this without getting to see people in “the real world.”    Steve Herz is the president of the Montag Group, a talent agency specializing in representing sportscasters, TV newscasters, weathermen radio personalities, podcast hosts, and more. Over the last four years, however, Steve has also become a coach to executive CEOs and anyone who wants to improve their communication skills to close more deals.    Don’t Take Yes for an Answer  Steve’s book is  Don’t Take Yes for an Answer. The title might seem odd to a salesperson whose livelihood depends on a yes. In this case,  Steve means that he doesn’t want people to be surrounded by the yeses that keep them stuck in mediocrity.  It impedes your improvement.   For example, Steve was in his second year of law

What To Do When a Customer Says “Not Yet” To Closing   We’ve all gotten a “not yet” from a prospect and it can be frustrating having that delay in closing. In this episode we’ll look at how to move from “not yet” to yes.   Jeff Shore is a salesperson at heart and has been in the industry for a number of years. He started his sales career in real estate but for the last 20 years, he’s been at Shore Consulting. Jeff works with companies large and small all around the world. He is also a published author and is getting ready to launch his 10th book. He used to look at sales from the perspective of the salesperson but now, he’s looking at how a buyer buys. Instead of reading sales books, he reads psychology books to know what’s going on in the mind during the sales process that leads to the decisions people make.    Salespeople are sales counselors because they get to the root of the problem before they try to provide any kind of solution. This is the heartbeat of sales. We understand the customers’ problems and

5 Things All Sellers Should Do Before Prospecting Many salespeople find prospecting daunting. Prospecting is one of the most critical actions a sales rep can do to develop leads.Donald has worked with many salespeople and he still sees sales reps who don’t prepare as much as they should when prospecting. Even people who are high in the organizational chart need to prospect.  In this episode, Donald is sharing 5 actions that all sellers should take before prospecting. Set goals Plan ahead of time Focus on your list Do your research and find the right information about your prospects Have the proper mindset   Setting your goals  You must have a goal whenever you prospect. Having a goal allows you to have focused action in the time you’ve set aside for prospecting. Set a goal for how many prospects you want to contact in your scheduled time frame. Evaluate what you want to achieve. For example:   Do you plan on getting three new prospects? Are you setting two new appointments? Will you be making X number of ca

What To Do When a Prospect "Ghosts" You   During these uncertain times salespeople can feel they are being “ghosted” by prospects.  Someone who once seemed like a potential client has vanished with what seems like no hope of reconnecting. When this happens, what can you do?  You’ll find answers in this episode.    Rian Laniga graduated college and moved to Australia for a year. When he went back to Ireland, he started his career in sales. After working for other companies, he decided to start his agency to help B2B sales leaders get themselves in front of people more regularly. Rian is working with clients all over the globe including Singapore, Ireland, England, and the United States.    Defining ghosting Ghosting is not simply sending an email and not hearing or getting a response. Ghosting is more of already having a meeting with them, arranging for a follow-up, and then they didn’t show up. It’s when you’ve reached out to them multiple times but you didn’t hear a response. It’s not a one and done deal.   

How a Steady Referral Rate Generated More Than 900 Authentic Testimonials   A great way to increase the longevity of any business or sales career is to have great referrals. In this episode, we’ll explore the evolution of referrals and the stages of you can move through to receive authentic and quality testimonials and referrals.   Amber Vilhauer is the owner of the company called NGNG Enterprises, which stands for No Guts, No Glory, a phrase that her mother used as she was growing up. It reminds Amber to face her fears as she navigates the online world.    A large part of NGNG Enterprises’ work includes developing high-performance websites. Amber understands websites are the hub and heart of a business and her goal is for people to land on your website and to experience you. In order to do that, the video has become a big part of their marketing strategy so the connection is more personal. They also have a marketing division where they help influencers start creating videos and live streaming. Amber’s team t

5 Things To Know Before Using LinkedIn Voice Message   Salespeople want to know how to use new features that enable us to reach out to prospects and an example is the LinkedIn voice message. There are, however,  things you need to know before sending your first one.   LinkedIn Voice Messaging LinkedIn is now expanding its reach and updating its platform with new features. One great feature you want to be aware of is the ability to send a video message. Donald Kelly has 5 tips for using LinkedIn’s voice message:   Tip 1: Keep your message simple  Tip 2: You need to have a specific message Tip 3: Offer value Tip 4: Follow a structure Tip 5: Have an invitation to action   Keep it Simple  LinkedIn voice messages offer a 60-second to record a message. (If you don’t know how to find this tool, you can check out this episode on our YouTube channel, episode 1316.) When you only have 60 seconds you need to keep your message simple and brief. Your prospects are bombarded with activities from daily schedules and you don

Finding the Right Blend of Personalization and Automation In Outbound Sales   There has to be a balance between personalization and automation in outbound sales. The question is, how do you keep the right blend of the two? In this episode, we’ll discuss how to personalize the method of automation.   Stephen Lowisz always says that he sucks at everything except sales. He was 16 when he started selling consulting solutions. He didn’t make any money at first but even with no formal training he was able to study the process and he made his first 1.1 at 19. When Stephen started sales, it was old-school smile-and-dial. It was a time of manual effort - finding people, getting their data, putting it on SalesForce, and calling. Things are different now.   The lack of interest in effective outreach Outbound sales isn’t necessarily viewed as appealing. The appeal comes later when you’re collecting the check. Outbound sales is considered spam because we often get automated messages from a variety of sources. Many sales t

Shoan's mission is to help every person on the planet that has a powerful and compelling message, to overcome their challenges with getting their material out “there” and broadcast their voice with confidence, courage, and fearless determination in order to connect with the Social Media World and impact their audience with next-level engagement.

Most sellers have an intense fear of prospecting, and they'll have to overcome it in order to survive in sales.

Tom Abbott is the founder and Managing Director of SOCO Sales Training. He has delivered hundreds of motivational sales keynotes, kickoffs, presentations and workshops in over 20 countries and is a pioneer of optimising the sales processes of organizations worldwide. He is the author of the sales books The SOHO Solution and Social Selling, the host of the Selling in Asia podcast and is the architect of SOCO Academy an award winning e-learning platform helping thousands of small business owners and sales professionals optimise their sales performance. And here are links to resources Tom shared in the episode: SOCO Sales Training Website https://www.socoselling.com Free copy of ’Social Selling’ book by Tom Abbott: https://bit.ly/SOCOevangelizers Connect with Tom on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/socoselling/ Facebook Soco Selling Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/socoselling

Tom Whalen is a career Inside Sales professional and has been leading sales teams since 2000. As a leader, coach, and mentor, Tom has trained countless sales professionals for industry leading organizations such as: Hewlett-Packard, American Express, Key Corp and McKesson Corporation. Tom has built successful sales teams from scratch, scaled new organizations, turned struggling departments around, and integrated several acquisitions. Tom’s passion for developing talent, winning new business and moving the inside sales profession forward has been instrumental in the growth of the companies he’s worked for as well as the clients they serve. When Tom isn’t growing sales organizations, he loves taking wife Suzanne and two daughters Casey and Sydney to Disneyworld and is a zealous fan of all things wrestling.

In many cases, engaging a team in your sales activity can imply professionalism and strategy that isn't present when only a single person gets involved.

John Voris educates about the very things that make us tick, the roots that make for success or failure in our work, relationships and personal well-being. John is a philosopher, writer and a psychological researcher. John earned his degree from the University of California with a degree in Philosophy. “Discover the Power That Drives Your Personality” is the result of over 20 years of application and another 16 years of research. By applying European discoveries into field application involving hundreds of sales prospects, John invented a groundbreaking approach to personal inquiry that revealed a person’s life motivation and authentic design far beyond sales. He discovered that our drive for personal Happiness, Meaning, Purpose and Harmony manifest the hidden power beneath our observed personality

How to Double Your Cold-Calling Contacts   Cold-calling has always been part of the sales process. Many salespeople can struggle with this aspect of the job but it’s a critical part of gaining new prospects. The more you call, the greater the odds that they will turn into great leads.    David Walter ran a call center for thirteen years and is currently a coach. He is also the author of the book, The Million Dollar Rebuttal and Stratospheric Lead Generation Secrets. David also worked with the American Bank i, and then helped his father sell million-dollar HVAC equipment. The recession then hit, however, and David had to look for another job.    David reads a lot as part of his training and personal development. He credits his exposure to quality books as being a catalyst to the life he has today.  With the culmination of his experience and knowledge, David has been able to revolutionize the concept of cold-calling from the ground up.    Mistakes salespeople make David did training with SDRs in Plano and made

How To Get Cold Prospects To Genuinely Listen   Every call to a prospect provides an opportunity to get a sale. Your job is to move the odds in your favor and you do this about strategizing the right approach in that initial call. With the right preparation, your prospects will genuinely want to listen to what you have to say.     About 25% of the phone calls you make are answered by the person you are reaching out to. Now that you have them on the phone, however, what do you say to maintain their interest? In cold-calling,  every second matters, every word matters. In this episode, Donald will offer tips on how to excel in cold-calling by grabbing your prospects’ attention, and eventually make an appointment and hopefully, a sale.    Grab your prospects’ interest Cold-calling can be difficult and when you let your nerves get the best of you you can end up rambling. Before you know it, they’ve hung up on you. You need to do what you can to ensure the call is successful and a lot of that success is going to be

How To Lead A Team of SDRs and BDRs During Challenging Times These recent times have been tough for sales leaders. There’s a lot to be done, but if you have a team of SDRs and BDRs in these challenging times, you can still guide them toward success. Let’s talk about that in this episode.    Asa Hochhauser has been in sales for 15 years primarily leading startups, both as an individual contributor and as a sales manager. He is currently busy helping sales enterprises, from small to mid-market businesses, and he is leading a sales academy where they are experiencing a lot of growth as people look for more training.    Challenges in leading a team Keeping the team motivated is often the biggest challenge a sales manager can face. It’s difficult to keep up team spirit and focus on helping other companies. It’s also equally challenging to ensure that the SDRs and BDRs are doing the right thing when it comes to disseminating information and providing value. Sometimes, salespeople are so focused on learning about th

Building Good Habits In Sales Salespeople need to build good habits to excel in their careers and close more deals. There is an abundance of training materials, books, and seminars to become the salespeople we want to be. In this episode, we will talk about moving from being a salesperson to becoming a sales professional.    Mark Evans has been a salesperson all his life, starting with his parents’ small business, practicing being a salesperson. After finishing college, he got back into sales. Now, Mark has a sales consultancy where he helps companies build their sales playbook. He teaches disciplined actions that can be used daily. These actions focus on the craft of selling long before the first meeting. This is the respect prospects deserve.    Respecting the prospects The key differential between salespeople and being a sales professional is the level they hone their craft and prepare for each meeting. A true sales professional won’t practice in front of their prospects.  Sales professionals are intrigued

How To Generate Interest In Lost Opportunities    Every so often, a prior interest doesn’t end with a good close. Sometimes, there are lost opportunities. As a salesperson, how do you generate interest in lost opportunities? Today’s episode will talk about how you can turn “trash” to treasure!    Have you experienced winning a deal that came from a lost opportunity? How did you do it? Leave a comment below!    Defining lost opportunity Imagine this sales scenario: You are moving through the sales process with a new prospect and he/she is very excited to work with you. For some reason, however, before you get a chance to close the prospect loses interest. You’re not alone. A study from HubSpot shows that almost half the deals are lost due to budget and the other half is because of timing. Other reasons for a loss of interest are as follows are because of the lack of the prospect’s authority, no time to review or wanting more time to review the deal, and lack of urgency. Your deal became a back-burner item and

How to Network Your Way into Value    Building your network is an important step in being a success in sales. With a good network, you’re able to network your value. Curt Tueffert is the Vice President of sales development for a large industrial distributor in Houston, Texas.  The company was founded in 1908  is now a multinational publicly traded company with over 200 outside sales. Curt’s job is to manage a small group responsible for developing sales training, sales leadership, and vision casting for the rest of the team.    Curt is also a sales instructor at the University of Houston, an author of two books, and travels across the United States trying to coach people in getting better at sales. He teaches that sales is a work in progress and no two sales are the same. Each sale needs to be approached with curiosity to discover what is needed to build relationships.    Defining networking and value Curt points out that networking isn’t about the people you know, it’s about the people who know you. You can