Allen Schlesinger — Social Selling
You don’t need cold calls if you sell on social.
Read the full transcript & show notes →
Allen Schlesinger is the Premium Sales Manager for the Austin Spurs. He has been the #1 seller in all of the NBA Development League (NBA G League) for the last four years consecutively. Allen started off with no experience in sales, and has risen to become one of the top sellers in his industry — and he hasn’t made a cold call in five years! Allen uses social selling on avenues such as LinkedIn and email to get clients, and is a living example of the fact that persistence pays. Tune in to this episode to find out how you can turn to social selling to ramp up your sales and become a top seller too!
Shareable Clips & Quotes:
Sales Differentiators: Persistence, Hard Work and Building Relationships
“I haven’t made a cold call in over 5 years”
Allen Schlesinger is the NBA’s poster child for Social Selling
Social Selling Formula: 100-10-2
Allen’s half million dollar sales result and goal for next year
The Social Selling Process: Linkedin, Email, Coffee
Push yourself. Control what you can control: how hard you work
Sales Motivation – Being #1 and getting better every year
Cold calling is crazy
Improving sales results
Key Takeaways:
[:28] Scott introduces his guest for this episode — Allen Schlesinger.
[:47] If you have a suggestion for guests who should be featured on the show, feel free to email Scott!
[1:05] What are the top three things that have allowed Allen to get to the top of the NBA leaderboard?
[2:09] Allen is well-known to be a social selling advocate and practitioner. How does that fit in to his success?
[3:05] How does the sports industry work from a sales perspective? What is Allen’s role in the Austin Spurs, and how did he get to #1?
[5:17] What is Allen’s daily goal?
[6:08] What does it take to be #1 in all of the NBA? Allen quantifies his results.
[7:10] How did Allen get into sales in the first place?
[9:09] Allen started off with zero experience in sales. At what point did he get comfortable with his role?
[10:42] What is something that Allen would have done differently in his career?
[12:21] Allen’s meeting strategy has evolved over time. How does he structure meetings currently?
[13:11] A big part of Allen’s approach is relating to new clients through existing clients. He elaborates more on making use of his network to make sales.
[14:00] Allen shares his favorite sales story.
[16:03] What’s the biggest challenge that Allen faces in sales today?
[17:58] Allen doesn’t have the benefit of selling a well-known brand name, which makes his results even more impressive!
[18:50] How does Allen’s activity (contacting 100 new people each day) compare to that of his co-workers?
[19:59] What does Allen’s morning process look like?
[22:07] How is the rest of Allen’s day structured?
[23:10] What is Allen’s outreach, specifically?
[24:01] Allen doesn’t even have a follow up strategy. He simply relies on making 100 new touches a day!
[25:40] How much of Allen’s sales comes from cold outreach efforts?
[26:58] Allen talks about how he wraps up his day.
[27:29] Does Allen schedule different days differently?
[29:24] What does Allen’s information diet look like?
[32:48] What are the tools that are core to Allen’s process?
[34:32] What sales philosophy does Allen subscribe to?
[36:29] How would Allen describe his selling style?
[37:23] What motivates Allen?
[40:25] What is something that Allen believes or does that the average sales rep would think is crazy?
[42:54] What does the average seller do that Allen thinks is crazy?
[44:33] What have been the most important lessons Allen has had to learn to get where his is?
[46:06] Allen has some advice for sales reps just starting out on their career, and those who are further along in their journey.
[49:01] What are some of the most effective tips that Allen can share?
[51:35] What does Allen want to know from top sellers in other organizations?
[51:59] Who is the most successful salesperson Allen knows?
[52:52] Allen encourages you to try something new!
[53:48] Allen’s final challenge for you — ramp up your efforts!
Mentioned in This Episode:
Top1.fm
Allen Schlesinger on LinkedIn
Austin Spurs
LinkedIn
Hunter
ProspectWorks
Seamless.AI
Sale Success Stories Podcast Episode 20: Barry Womack — Leverage Your Resources
Social Selling — The Innovation of How Professional Sports Teams Are Doing Business, by Anthony DiMoro on Forbes
Fanatical Prospecting, by Jeb Blount
Forbes Magazine
LeadIQ
Austin Business Journal