Alison Balthazor is the top national account executive at Access One, a business technology services and communications provider, dedicated to world-class technologies and customer service. Alison has a passion for success, which she demonstrates through her dedication and desire to outwork the rest of her field. After a short stint in upper management, Alison returned to sales where she consistently outperforms and exceeds expectations.
In this episode, Alison talks about her sales background, her role at Access One, and her quantified sales results. Alison has been with the same company her entire career, which gives her a unique perspective on how the landscape of sales has evolved and how her organization has adapted to these changes. Alison identifies the three things that have attributed to her success. These include her personal drive and strong work ethic, forging strong and meaningful relationships, and being a good person. Falling right in line with her work ethic, Alison’s sales philosophy is to work hard and play hard. This philosophy, coupled with the value Alison places in fostering meaningful relationships, have led to Alison’s tremendous success as a salesperson.
Alison shares her specific and detailed approach to sales and prospecting. She is a believer in face-to-face interactions and loves meeting with clients in person to maintain that personal connection. Alison also speaks to her preferred method of outreach and her strategies for contacting CIOs in order to get the sales conversations started.
Alison takes the audience through a typical day in the life, from her morning workout routine to the many follow up calls she makes late into the evening. Alison is also an avid traveler and believes in taking a break from her assiduous job when the occasion calls for it.
Finally, Alison proposes actionable challenges to the Sales Success Stories Podcast audience. She urges them to develop a list of habits that other successful salespeople are implementing. From there, she suggests finding out areas where they may be falling short. Lastly, she challenges the listeners to set outside of their comfort zones in order to find achieve positive results.
What We Covered:
00:24 – Scott Ingram welcomes to the podcast, Alison Balthazor
00:49 – The top three things Alison attributes to her success
01:01 – Number 1: Personal drive and strong work ethic
01:28 – Number 2: Relationships
03:38 – Number 3: Being a good person
04:30 – How Alison delivers on her promises
05:21 – Alison’s role at Access One
06:34 – The decision to leave a management role to return to sales
07:36 – Alison’s sales results as the top performer at Access One
08:12 – Alison speaks to the impact of staying with one company for her entire career
10:08 – How Alison got into sales
11:53 – The value Alison gained through her leadership experience as a manager
14:13 – Alison shares her two favorite sales stories
16:02 – Alison’s proudest accomplishment
17:12 – The biggest challenges Alison faces in her sales career
18:51 – Alison’s process during sales meetings
20:09 – The importance of taking detailed notes
22:02 – Alison describes a typical day in the life
23:47 – How Alison structures her workday
24:44 – Alison’s prospecting approach
25:42 – Alison’s preferred method of outreach
26:56 – The books, news and trade information that Alison consumes
28:11 – Tools and apps Alison uses on a daily basis
28:36 – The specific sales philosophy that Alison subscribes to
28:58 – Where Alison gets her personal drive
29:51 – Alison’s sales style and approach
31:04 – Extravagant travelling
32:00 – How Alison approaches sales territory management
33:29 – Alison talks about the Boardroom Events Conference
35:04 – One of Alison’s beliefs that the average salesperson thinks is crazy
36:23 – An average salesperson’s belief that Alison thinks is crazy
37:21 – The antiquated RFP process
38:30 – The most important lessons Alison has learned throughout her career
39:52 – Advice Alison would give to her younger self
40:42 – Advice Alison would give to a middle-of-the-pack salesperson
42:23 – Alison’s goal-setting process
44:31 – What Alison would want to know from other top salespeople
46:27 – Parting words of wisdom from Alison
47:34 – Alison’s actionable challenge to the Sales Success Stories Podcast audience
Tweetables:
• “As long as you see yourself as a partner of theirs, as opposed to just a vendor or a sales rep just trying to get the deal, your chances of winning the deal and plenty more like that in the future are far greater.” (03:21)
• “I am most proud of the fact that I’ve never been in a position or done anything that I couldn’t ever look back on and hold my head high.” (16:04)
• “I think it’s just important to know that you’re never the smartest person in the room and to always seek that out.” (27:56)
• “When you get complacent and feel as though those leads are just gonna keep coming in, that’s when things are gonna start to crumble underneath you.” (36:00)
Links Mentioned:
[email protected]
Sales Success Stories Podcast
Daily Sales Tips Podcast
Daily Sales Tip Podcast on iTunes
Sales Success Link to Book
Sales Success Summit
Dale Carnegie Presentation Skills
Alison Balthazor on LinkedIn
Tools Mentioned on the Podcast:
Books Mentioned on the Podcast:
Smarter Faster Better: The Transformative Power of Real Productivity