Episode 143: Insurance, Tenacity & The Law of Averages with Tompkins Insurance’s Daniel McDevitt

Daniel McDevitt is the top Account Executive at Tompkins Insurance out of Pennsylvania. Dan is a highly knowledgeable and skilled sales professional who always prioritizes his clients and their needs. Dan is committed to his craft, is a forever learner, and, most importantly, gets results. Today, Dan talks about his role at Tompkins Insurance and what it has taken to become the top seller in his organization.

Dan lists the three things he attributes most to his success. These include, following a highly regimented daily prospecting routine, maintaining a positive attitude, and being a constant student. Dan takes the audience through a typical day in the life, which usually starts around 5:30 and 6:00 am where he wakes up, gets ready for his day, and arrives at the office by 7:30. A self-described perfect day for Dan is one where he holds appointments in the morning, is back in the office by lunch to input his drop-offs, and then cold calling for the remainder of the afternoon. Dan talks about his sales philosophy and style, which are rooted in making people laugh and feel good.

Finally, Dan issues an actionable challenge to the audience. He challenges them to do more outflow sales. The higher numbers can sometimes be daunting, but if you set small goals it is possible to achieve incredible results. Reach out to five new businesses per day. That’s 25 businesses per week and a hundred in a month. If you go by the one in ten law of averages, that’s ten ‘Yes’s’ waiting for you!

What We Covered:

00:01 – Scott takes a moment to thanks today’s sponsors, Outreach, Vidyard, & RevenueGrid
00:39 – Scott introduces today’s guest, Dan McDevitt
00:59 – The top three things Jason attributes to his success
01:30 – Number One: Daily Prospecting Activity
02:47 – Number Two: Maintaining a positive attitude
04:21 – Number Three: Being a constant student
05:55 – Scott takes a moment to thank one of today’s sponsors, Outreach
06:24 – Dan’s sales origin story, including his current role at Tompkins Insurance
15:17 – What Dan would do differently if given the chance
17:59 – Dan’s sales results
19:35 – What motivates and drives Dan
23:20 – Dan’s approach to sales and prospecting
26:07 – How Dan maintains a positive attitude
28:09 – Scott takes a moment to thank another of today’s sponsors, RevenueGrid
28:40 – Dan takes the audience through a typical day in the life
31:35 – Prioritizing prospecting
33:15 – Other habits and routines that are critical to Dan’s success
34:24 – The books, news, podcasts, and trade information that Dan consumes
36:28 – Dan’s sales philosophy and style
40:14 – Prospecting through social media platforms such as Facebook
41:51 – What a cold open looks like from Dan
45:50 – Creativity and utilizing other channels to prospect
46:48 – Scott takes a moment to thank the final sponsor of today’s episode, Vidyard, and let’s listeners know about a special giveaway
47:51 – An average sales professional’s belief that Dan thinks is crazy
50:44 – Advice Dan would give to an upstart sales professional
51:55 – Advice Dan would give to a struggling sales professional
53:44 – Scott takes a moment to promote the recently launched $SALES Coin Community
54:52 – Final thoughts from Dan
56:08 – Scott announces that he’ll be making a specific episode page at top1.fm focused on inspirational sobriety sales stories
57:29 – Dan issues an actionable challenge to the audience

Tweetables:

“I try to put things into perspective when I am prospecting that, no matter how good of a product I have, how good my pitch is, how needed my product is, eighty percent of the day, I’m gonna be hearing the word ‘No.’ Take that for what it is. ‘No’s’ come in all shapes and sizes. I try not to let them affect me or bother me.” (02:56)

“The worst thing somebody is gonna say to me is, ‘No.’ I think I just have really thick skin for rejection given that I’ve been doing direct sales for eighteen years. Coming into it, as somebody new in the industry, know that it’s acceptable that a ‘No’ is a ‘No’ regardless if they scream at you, hang up on you or are passive aggressive to you. And every ‘No’ that you get gets you closer to a ‘Yes.’” (26:47)

“I try to get people to laugh. I’m big into building rapport through that medium. I believe that if you get somebody to laugh, they’re gonna like you. And then if they like you, people tend to do business with who they like.” (37:31)

“Ask for help. Network with people. I can’t tell you how many times that I’ve reached out to somebody on LinkedIn or in some sort of setting where it’s just met with open arms. I think being a student to your craft will go a long way there.” (53:17)

Sales Professionals Mentioned on TikTok:

Marshall Wilkinson
Brad Lea
Trent Dressel

LinkedIn
Facebook
Search People Free
FORM Method

Books Mentioned:

How To Get Your Competition Fired
New Sales. SImplified
Who Moved My Cheese?

Sponsors Mentioned:

Outreach
Revenue Grid
Vidyard

What We Covered:

Tweetables:

Links Mentioned:

Books Mentioned:

Sponsors Mentioned: