Episode 170: More Than Achieving a Number, Mastering a Craft with Michael Kroll

Today, Scott welcomes top Producer and Executive Sales Leader at CMB Insurance Brokers, Michael Kroll, to the show to discuss best sales practices, the value of mentorship, and the role that leadership and culture can play in an organization. With over 20 years of experience in sales and business development, Michael is a passionate and results-oriented executive sales leader at CMB Insurance Brokers, a leading provider of insurance solutions for various industries and sectors. He has a proven track record of creating and executing effective sales strategies, building, and leading high-performance sales teams, as well as generating high net worth new business opportunities. As the executive sales leader, he oversees the overall growth of new clients, the continued development of the sales division, and the nurturing of next-generation sales professionals.

Michael is a voracious reader and lifelong learner who expounds on some of the key influences in his quest for Sales knowledge. These include the great Zig Ziglar, Neil Rackham, Napoleon Hill, and Jeffrey Gitomer, among others. Michael speaks about his role at CMB Insurance Brokers, quantifies his results, and talks about his decision to approach his sales career with an emphasis on learning a craft rather than achieving a number.

Michael talks about the three things he attributes to his success in Sales, including persistence, trial and error, and reading and studying up on Sales. Michael’s mission is to deliver exceptional service and value to his stakeholders and to foster a culture of cooperation, teamwork, and success for his organization. Michael delves into his sales philosophy and style and details how his definition of motivation has changed throughout his career. Finally, Michael issues an actionable challenge to the audience. He suggests three exercises. First and foremost, he urges you to record yourself and do a first, second, third, fourth, and fifth take. See the progression and then put yourself out there and ask a peer to review it for honest feedback. Next, try to get someone you know and trust – ideally a client – and get their opinion on it. It’s all about perspective. Exercise three is putting this information to good use and doing it ten to fifteen times a day for that week. See if you’re getting better or worse and understand why. If you put in the hard work, it will make your job easier.

What We Covered:

00:00 – Scott thanks today’s sponsor, The Sales Collective
01:01 – Scott welcomes to the show Michael Kroll
01:30 – The top three things Michael attributes to his success today
01:43 – Number One: Persistence, persistence, persistence
02:04 – Number Two: Trial and error
02:28 – Number Three: Reading and studying up on Sales
02:45 – Trial and error in commercial insurance
08:18 – Some of the most impactful books Michael has read recently
11:44 – Michael expounds on his role at CMB Insurance Brokers and quantifies his results
21:31 – Michael’s sales origin story
27:27 – The value of mentorship
29:02 – What Michael would do differently if given the chance
35:04 – Michael’s favorite sales story
46:06 – Leadership & Culture
51:43 – Warren Buffett’s advice to American Express
53:59 – Michael takes the audience through a typical day in the life, including the importance he places on writing
1:00:51 – How Michael structures the rest of his workday
1:05:18 – Other habits and routines that are critical to Michael’s success
1:09:11 – Where Michael finds the time to read so much
1:10:26 – Michael’s sales philosophy and style
1:16:15 – What motivates and drives Michael
1:18:43 – One of Michael’s beliefs that the average sales professional would think is crazy
1:21:46 – An average sales professional’s belief that Michael thinks is crazy
1:23:33 – What Michael would want to know about top performers in other organizations
1:25:17 – Michael’s ‘Moneyball Metric’
1:31:05 – Advice Michael would give to an upstart sales professional
1:34:47 – Advice Michael would give to an experienced sales professional who is looking to reach that next level
1:37:19 – Michael issues an actionable challenge to the audience

Tweetables:

“At the end of the day, insurance is paying for something that you had a loss on. Well, rather than just getting you a good price on the premium that you pay every year, why not make sure that the organization doesn’t suffer a loss in the first place.” (06:19)

“No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” (08:44)

“The companies that I’m with have a strong belief in mentorship. Mentorship is different than coaching. It’s different than training. It’s different than instruction. Mentorship is where you have someone who cares.” (27:43)

“The act of writing isn’t just some miracle of ‘write it and it will happen magically.’ But what it does is it slows your brain down and lets you know what you want to accomplish.” (59:04)

“That’s another big skill is understanding where your pipeline is at all times.” (1:09:06)

“For me, I’m starting to really feel motivation as to how can I make others around me better and more successful.” (1:18:09)

Sponsors Mentioned:

The Sales Collective

Books Mentioned:

Smart Calling
Zig Ziglar Books
The Little Red Book of Selling
The Little Black Book of Connections
The Law of Success
Think & Grow Rich
SPIN Selling

What We Covered:

Tweetables:

Links Mentioned:

Sponsors Mentioned:

Books Mentioned: