“Resilience is your superpower. It turns rejections into redirections, obstacles into opportunities, and setbacks into set-ups for success.” – Meshell Baker in today’s Tip 1800

How can you shift from a reactive to a proactive approach to boost sales success?

Join the conversation below and learn more about Meshell!

Meshell Baker on LinkedIn
Meshell Baker on Youtube
Meshell Baker on Facebook
Subscribe to Meshell’s Mailing List
Submit a Sales Tip

Have feedback? Want to share a sales tip? Call or text the Sales Success Hotline: 512-777-1442 or Email: [email protected]

Transcript

Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Meshell Baker, our favorite sales confidence igniter and authentic selling crusader. Here she is:

Meshell Baker: Hello. Today, we’re going to talk about how to go from reactive to proactive in boosting sales success. Now, quick question. Did you know that 92% of all salespeople give up after hearing no four times? But 80% of prospects say no four times before they say yes. Imagine the difference it will make. You could keep going if you had the resilience to turn those no’s into your opportunities.

So again, we’re going to talk about the trait that every successful salesperson needs in their toolkit, resilience. And yes, I know, sales is tough. Sales, you face rejections daily, objections feel like roadblocks, and sometimes the path to success is filled with so many twists and turns that you never anticipated or could even predict. But the difference between those who thrive and those who just survive in sales often comes down to this one simple quality, resilience.

So I’m going to break it down with three takeaways and one immediately implementable technique for you to build resilience today.

So takeaway number one. Challenge is opportunity. You see, resilient salespeople view obstacles as challenges to overcome. They’re not threats. They ask questions like, How can I solve this instead of, why is this happening to me? Difficulties are not meant to be paralyzing obstacles. They are challenges for you to overcome. There is no rejection. It’s only redirection. It’s just feedback. A lesson to fine-tune your approach. The most successful salespeople do not see no as a final answer. They see it as the next step in refining their pitch.

Tip number two. Commitment to your bigger picture. Top performers are committed to their goals and their clients. They don’t let temporary setbacks derail them from their purpose. Top performers are resilient people who are committed not to just closing the but to the bigger picture, building relationships, learning from every experience, and continuously improving. They understand that each rejection is one step closer to success. It’s not just about meeting quotas, It’s about being dedicated to your growth and the impact you want to make.

Takeaway number three. Focus on what you control. Resilient people focus their energy on the things they can control. The things are like their preparation, their attitude, and their actions. They don’t waste time worrying about uncontrollable factors. You see, in sales, you can get bogged down worrying about things that you have no control over, like your client’s budget or the competition or market trends. Resilient people don’t waste their energy on those things. Instead, they focus on what they can control, how they respond to rejection, how they follow up, and how they improve with every interaction.

And I want to tell you, there was a study by Harvard Business Review that show salespeople who view obstacles as challenges and that they can overcome are 60% more likely to achieve their quotas than those who view setbacks as failures. So understand this is not just a concept. This is actually a measurable advantage that you can put in your toolkit. So your immediately implementable step today.

After a rejection or disappointment, take five minutes to journal about the experience. Ask yourself the following questions.

“What did I learn from the experience?”
“What can I do differently next time?”
“What am I grateful for?”
“What’s one small step I can take right now to move forward?”

So remember, resilience is your superpower. It turns rejections into redirections, obstacles into opportunities, and setbacks into set-ups for success. Commit to building your resilience, and you will see your sales career transform. In the words of a quote author by Wendy Weiss, also known as the Queen of Cold Calling, Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesperson, not the attitude of the prospect. Have a great day selling.

Scott Ingram: For more from Meshell, just click over to DailySales.Tips/1800. That’s a lot! Once you’ve clicked over there, be sure to click back here for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!

“Have a little humility. Do some shared responsibility. It goes a long way towards developing your business relationship.” – Neil Rogers in today’s Tip 1799

Do you take ownership when a business problem arises?

Join the conversation below and learn more about Neil!

Bar Tips: Everything I Needed to Know in Sales I Learned Behind the Bar on Amazon
Bar Tips: Everything I Needed to Know in Sales I Learned Behind the Bar on Barnes & Noble
Neil Rogers on Instagram
Neil Rogers on LinkedIn
Positive Activity

Have feedback? Want to share a sales tip? Call or text the Sales Success Hotline: 512-777-1442 or Email: [email protected]

Transcript

Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Neil Rogers. Neil is an author, speaker, and business leader with over 37 years of experience in marketing & sales, generating revenue and guiding clients through highly effective & result-oriented marketing campaigns. Neil has been Owner and VP of Marketing & Sales at Rogers Marketing for nearly 26 years. Here he is:

Neil Rogers: Hey folks. Today, we’re going to talk a little bit about an old adage, the customer is always right. This comes from Chapter 8 of my book, Bar Tips: Taking Ownership When a Business Problem Arises. Let me tell you a little bit on an old sales mentor of mine, Jim Gallier. Jim taught me that whenever anything goes wrong, start here. You’re less likely to make the mistake again. You will also not go darting out, blaming somebody else. You’re the victim. You will show a lot of professionalism. It’ll give you a chance to examine what your role in this was.

Now, let me give you a bar example, seeing as bar tips is the name of the book. Dennis Meyer, a fantastic bartender that I worked with years ago at a place called Tia’s in Boston. Well, a woman came up to the bar and said, Hey, may I have a vodka martini straight out? Dennis made it just like he always makes. He took ice down the glass, he poured the vodka, he stirred it around, and then he poured it over a chilled glass. Did a little lemon twist, and there it was. The woman took a sip out of it. She goes, that’s not drying.

Dennis comes walking by me and he says, I’ve been doing this 15 years. I’ve never put a dropper of a mouth and a martini. But what does Dennis do? He goes back, and not in a showy way. He grabbed another glass, iced it down, poured the vodka right in front of the woman so she could see, did the whole routine all over again, just in her scope, put it into the glass, did the twist, she took a sip. She says, That’s the one.

Now, what did we learn here?

Dennis could have told her the same story he told me. He could have gotten a beef with her. Then everybody’s going to know what’s going on, and here we go. The place lost 2 ounces of boost. That’s all. He retained the customer, and he retained the integrity of the bar.

The lesson is here, have a little humility. Do some shared responsibility. It goes a long way towards developing your business relationship. The new adage, being right, well, it’s overrating.

Scott Ingram: To learn more about Neil and his book Bar Tips: Everything I Needed to Know in Sales I Learned Behind the Bar, just click over to DailySales.Tips/1799. Once you’ve clicked over there, be sure to click back here for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!

“Train an AI agent who can represent you, who knows your sales operations, and who can help you qualify that lead night and day.” – Paul Kleen in today’s Tip 1798

How quickly does your team respond to inbound leads?

Join the conversation below and learn more about Paul!

Pitchit
Pitchit on LinkedIn
Paul Kleen on LinkedIn
MarketWatch Blog Post
Demand Gen Report Blog Post

Have feedback? Want to share a sales tip? Call or text the Sales Success Hotline: 512-777-1442 or Email: [email protected]

Transcript

Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Paul Kleen. Paul is the CEO and Founder of Pitchit, a VC-backed AI company that builds AI sales agents that can instantly qualify inbound leads from every channel, labor-free. Here he is:

Paul Kleen: Today’s tip is the faster you can qualify inbound leads, the better the results are going to be. Now, this might sound obvious, but the reality is, based on the hundreds of companies we’ve studied, on average, 63% of leads that are inbound are kept waiting 15 minutes or more, and 43% of leads inbound are kept waiting one hour or more. And these numbers get even higher if the leads generated after hours, during vacation times, or over the weekend and holidays.

So the quicker you can get to responding to your inbound leads, the better the results. If that’s obvious, why are so many companies doing it poorly? The answer is that the manual labor is the challenge here. If customers are writing to you when you’re in a meeting, at a conference, out sick, on vacation, or sleeping, it doesn’t matter how quickly you check your email the next day. It’s default too late to get that lead qualified.

And so the real tip is, in order to make this happen, don’t just tell people about it, but give them a solution where they can solve this challenge. And the new solution is to train an AI agent who can represent you, who knows your sales operations, and who can help you qualify that lead night and day, 24/7, 365, using the same process and language and training materials that you would do if you were doing it yourself and plugged in 24/7.

And so that is my advice today, is go out there and find an AI agent. You can use our companies at Pitchit to build your AI agent or another one. It doesn’t really matter. Either way, if you’re using an AI agent, you’re going to have a humongous competitive advantage over any of the people that you’re competing with because you’ll be the one who can write back almost instantly on any day of the week on any channel.

Scott Ingram: For links to connect with Paul, just click over to DailySales.Tips/1798. Once you’ve clicked over there, be sure to click back here for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!

“Selling myself in terms of building credibility, it could be building credibility in a sales cycle, could be building credibility and knowledge about me in terms of a job interview” – Mike Simmons & Jacquelyn Nicholson in today’s Tip 1797

How do you sell yourself?

Join the conversation below and learn more about Mike and Jacquelyn!

Mike Simmons on LinkedIn
Jacquelyn Nicholson on LinkedIn
Sales Success Society
2024 Sales Success Summit
Submit a Sales Tip

Have feedback? Want to share a sales tip? Call or text the Sales Success Hotline: 512-777-1442 or Email: [email protected]

Transcript

Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip features both Jacquelyn Nicholson and Mike Simmons in another of their joint tips. Here they are:

Mike Simmons: How do you sell yourself?

Jacquelyn Nicholson: Well, I think for me, it shows up in a couple of places in my life. So one would be if you’re ever in a job interview cycle, right? I’m currently working, so I’m not doing that. But in the past, when I’ve been in a sales cycle for a job interview, it’s something that’s really important. Then the other piece is your personal brand as a professional, as it pertains to you on LinkedIn. So a lot of people make their presence on LinkedIn about their business, about the company they work for. But then there are a lot of us who focus on our personal brand. For me, based on my great friend Larry Long Jr’s advice to me last April was he wanted to see my point of view on things every day. He’s like, just go out and do it. I don’t really care if you’re reposting somebody else’s stuff. I want to know what you think about stuff. And I don’t want to know what you think about someone else’s post. I want to know what you think, period. And so I started doing that. And I tend to be known for talking about the importance of mindset in sales. And on the weekends, I tend to post about wine. And so for me, my personal brand and “how I’m selling myself on LinkedIn” is to be a person you can reliably see content from on those topics.

Now, when I think about selling myself in terms of building credibility, it could be building credibility in a sales cycle, could be building credibility and knowledge about me in terms of a job interview, or it could just be maybe I’m running for public office, which I have done before. There are any number of things that you can do, but it’s really about letting people get to know you. What are you good at? What is your character? What are some of the results that you’ve gotten in the past? And what would other people say about you? So to me, that’s the mix of going into how would I sell Jacquelyn. It’s like, look, here’s the demonstrated success I’ve had. You can ask others about me publicly. You can see what I’m doing on LinkedIn. You can see I’m consistent. You can see what I care about. And by the way, here’s what I care about. Here’s what I’m passionate about. And here’s why it matters. And that just having that authenticity, that demonstrated capability is, I think, very important. How about you?

Mike Simmons: It’s an interesting challenge. Where this question came up is Jacquelyn and I were talking with a group of folks, and one of the questions that came up was, how sell yourself? Well, heck, if that’s a question that people are asking, why not talk about it? I don’t think about it as selling myself, but I think because of my background and because of what I do and what I talk about, that people think I’m always selling, depending on who you engage with. There are some people who will look at the smile and look at the discussion and look at the questions. They’ll be like, Oh, there we go. Cheesy car salesman or whatever. And I’ve never sold cars. But you get this impression where, Oh, you’re just a sales guy. And as a result of being just a sales guy, you get put into this category. And I think the challenge that we’ve got to run into as sales professionals, as leaders, as people who help solve problems, is not falling into the trap of being just a sales guy or just a sales girl or just a sales whatever. It’s more about what’s the specific problem that someone is trying to solve? How can I help someone solve that specific problem? And if there’s no problem there, I shouldn’t be creating it and trying to solve myself because that feels very self-centered and not serving, not acting in service of others. And I believe sales is an act of service. It’s an act of service, it’s an act of leadership. And we as leaders, we understand what people are struggling with. We can help them move forward.

So I think it’s less about selling yourself and more about helping others either move forward, solve problems, reengage. Now, the challenge with it though, is sometimes I might be too soft and I might not be so direct in calling people to action. And some of is by design, and some of it is just because there really isn’t the right fit. And that’s even by design, too. So that’s how I think. I don’t really think of it as selling myself, but I think other people would say that I’m typically selling myself. That’s not how I want to be perceived.

Jacquelyn Nicholson: Well, if it’s any help, I don’t perceive you that way. I feel like you’re one of the go-to people that helps others all the time, but I know you well, so that’s a good thing. And I do agree with you. I think one of the reasons why we are such good friends is we both believe that same thing about sales is it is an act of service. Our good friend, Dale Dupree  feels the same way. It’s like we’re here to serve people, we’re here to give people an experience. And if people perceive it the wrong way, then all we can do is try to do better the next time, or we can take the advice of my great husband, Paul, who said, I would not take criticism from someone from whom I would not take advice. I was like, Yeah.

Scott Ingram: For links to connect with both Jacquelyn and Mike, just click over to DailySales.Tips/1797. Once you’ve done that, be sure to come back tomorrow for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!

“By compiling insights that are going to be valuable to all of your customers and all of your prospects, you can use that email to reach as many of your prospects as you’d like, and it will valuable to everybody that you reach.” – Andrew Barbuto in today’s Tip 1796

Are you providing value at every single touchpoint?

Join the conversation below and learn more about Andrew!

Meeting Hacks
Andrew Barbuto’s Website
Andrew Barbuto on YouTube
Top Sales Producer Blog
Join the waitlist

Have feedback? Want to share a sales tip? Call or text the Sales Success Hotline: 512-777-1442 or Email: [email protected]

Transcript

Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast, and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Andrew Barbuto. Andrew is a seasoned digital media sales professional with a proven track record of winning new business and building long-term customer relationships. Over the last 8 years, he has been a top-producing salesperson at two leading digital media companies, closing hundreds of services and software deals to agencies and advertisers worth over $250 million in revenue. Here he is:

Andrew Barbuto: Today’s tip I’m going to talk about is providing value in every single touch point. And I do mean every single touch point. It doesn’t matter if you’re reaching out to check in, if you’re doing a prospecting email, if you’re just reaching out to your customer to see if a deal is going to be coming through or not. Prior to asking for whatever request you do, if you do ask for a request. I always try to provide some value. And it’s even more beneficial if it’s personalized value.

So the process that I use is I’ll go into my CRM system, I’ll check out all of the notes from our past conversations, see what their goals are, see what some of their challenges are, and if there are any other topics that came up during our meetings. This is why it’s really important to take very good notes during your meetings and then immediately transfer over into your CRM system so that at all points during the sales cycle, you can take a look and see what’s most important to them and then provide personalized value.

So I’ll take a look. I’ll send over something that’s related. If they focus on a particular vertical, if they’re interested in a certain topic, I always send over value value, and then I ask for whatever I need to move the deal forward. However, I don’t always ask for something, and I don’t recommend that you do either. You should be a value driver for your prospects. And so what that means is that you should be providing value at all times, if you’re going to speak to them, give them some insights, give them some education, something that they can learn. And you want to also provide value sometimes and have no expectations. You don’t always need to be asking for something.

If you do provide value regularly and you are a true asset to them, when it’s time for them to buy, trust me, they’ll come to you. There doesn’t need to be an exchange of dollars for you to be an asset to them. The reality is that not everyone is going to be ready to buy when you would like them to buy. B2b sales, buyers, it’s often not their budgets, and so they’re not going to be ready to buy after every single conversation that you have to them. It can often be difficult to determine when they are going to be able to buy.

And so the process that I use is I try to reach out to as many qualified prospects as I can, have as many in the pipeline as possible, and then just continue to add value for each individual prospect until there is one that’s ready to buy. And I don’t stop after the contract is signed. I want to provide value throughout an entire relationship at all times. I want to be looked at as a consultant. And I want my prospects and my customers to want to work with me and not want to lose me. They would want to pay me regardless of whether they end up spending any money with us or not.

So the type of value that you can provide is market research, be proactive about something like that. If you see an article where they are referenced or you think that they might find interest in it, one of the things I’ll do is I will consolidate all of the most important articles from the past month, and I will send it out to my prospects and my customers. This is a great way to do mass outreach, but be valuable as well. By compiling insights that are going to be valuable to all of your customers and all of your prospects, you can use that email to reach as many of your prospects as you’d like, and it will valuable to everybody that you reach.

The way that you would provide value on your first outreach is to do a little research. Go on their website, type their name into Google, see what you can find is important to them. What have they been in the news about lately? Have they been in the news for a new partnership model? Have there been any articles written about them? Go on their site, take a look at the technology they’re using. What is most important to them? You could find a lot from their website.

Another place you should look is their LinkedIn. So often, customers will post about things that they care about. They’ll often do some promotional posts about their company. You should use this information to be as relevant as possible. Then you want to use that in your outreach. Instead of just saying, Hi, I’d like to do business with you, or, Hey, let’s get on a call, you say, Hey, I found out some information about you. I thought you’d find this valuable based on the most recent post that I’ve been seeing about you and based on the articles that I found. This is an exponentially more valuable email than you just reaching out and asking for something.

Scott Ingram: To learn more about Andrew, join the waitlist for his book, and receive a script to secure next steps in meetings, just click over to DailySales.Tips/1796. Once you’ve done that, be sure to come back here for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!

“What gets measured truly gets managed. When you manage your sales effectively, you manage your success masterfully.” – Meshell Baker in today’s Tip 1795

What sales metric will you measure daily to boost your success?

Join the conversation below and learn more about Meshell!

Meshell Baker on LinkedIn
Meshell Baker on Youtube
Meshell Baker on Facebook
Subscribe to Meshell’s Mailing List
Submit a Sales Tip

Have feedback? Want to share a sales tip? Call or text the Sales Success Hotline: 512-777-1442 or Email: [email protected]

Transcript

Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Meshell Baker, our favorite sales confidence igniter and authentic selling crusader. Here she is:

Meshell Baker: Hello. We’re talking about your path to profits and why metrics matters. Today, I want to share with you a powerful tip that will transform your sales approach starting today. We’ve all heard the phrase, What gets measured, gets managed. But have you ever truly considered how this impacts your sales success? Today, I’m going to share with you three takeaways and one immediately implementable tool to help you to begin measuring for mastery.

Takeaway number one. Measurement drives action. When you consistently measure your sales activities, you’re not just collecting data, you’re setting yourself up for success. Research shows when you measure something, the probability of you acting on that information skyrockets. It’s like having a roadmap. You’re far more likely to reach your destination when you can clearly see the path of where you’re headed.

Takeaway number two. Visibility equals accountability. By tracking your progress, you create visibility for yourself, for your superiors, and your team. This visibility leads to accountability. When you can see what’s working and what’s not working, you can take decisive action to course-correct or double down on what’s bringing results. Without measurement, you’re basically flying blind.

Takeaway number three. Consistency is king. It’s not enough to measure occasionally. Consistency is the key. Your regular measurement creates a rhythm of success. It allows you to spot trends, adjust your strategies, and ultimately improve your outcomes over time. Remember, small improvements lead to massive gains in the long run.

Now, Harvard Business Review did a study, and they found that companies that focus on sales activity metrics see a 28% higher revenue growth than those that don’t. That’s a game-changing difference driven by something as simple as paying attention to your numbers.

Ask yourself, what would a 28% higher revenue growth mean to my commission?

Now, what you’re going to be able to do with this immediately implementable tool starting today is commit yourself to measuring one critical aspect of your sales process daily. Whether it’s the number of calls made, the follow-ups completed, or the deals close, choose a metric that matters to you. Then create a simple sales dashboard. You can use a tool like Excel, Google Sheets, or if you have a dedicated sales software, track this personal key performance indicator.

And next is set aside five minutes at the end of each day to capture your activities, and then 15 minutes at the end of each week to review your metrics, assess your progress, and adjust your strategies accordingly. This set-aside time, add it to your calendar. That way, you are ensuring that you have the time and the space for this small habit that will lead to significant improvements in your sales performance.

I want you to, as you have listened to this, remember, what gets measured truly gets managed. When you manage your sales effectively, you manage your success masterfully.

A quote by Cynthia Goods states, Sales success comes after you stretch yourself past your limits on a daily basis. I look forward to hearing about and seeing that you have reached the top of your sales dashboard within your organization. Have a great day selling.

Scott Ingram: For more from Meshell, just click over to DailySales.Tips/1795. Once you’ve clicked over there, be sure to click back here for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!

“Everybody wants to accelerate sales, but really understanding the barriers and challenges of our users help us develop a truly valuable solution.” – Erik Haines in today’s Tip 1794

Do you know your customers’ pain points?

Join the conversation below and learn more about Erik!

Qsight Prospector
Guidepoint Qsight
Guidepoint Qsight LinkedIn
Guidepoint Qsight Launches Qsight Prospector:
Erik Haines on LinkedIn

Have feedback? Want to share a sales tip? Call or text the Sales Success Hotline: 512-777-1442 or Email: [email protected]

Transcript

Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Erik Haines. Erik is the Managing Director at Guidepoint Qsight, where they’ve been working in the Aesthetics and MedTech industries, developing data intelligence solutions designed to empower businesses to make strategic, data-driven decisions, and has driving fivefold growth for the business since 2016. Here he is:

Erik Haines: Hi everyone. I’ve attended countless trade shows in the esthetics industry over the years. In every conversation I had with executives and decision makers, two issues kept coming up.

First, they were struggling to identify quality accounts efficiently. Second, even when they had a lot of data to work with, they didn’t know how to turn it into actionable insights that could actually drive their business forward without a ton of time and dedicated resources.

These pain points were so consistent across the board that I knew there had to be a better way. That’s when I started thinking, What if there was a platform that could take all this data companies pulled together and refine it into something they could quickly and efficiently use to generate high-quality leads and make smarter business decisions?

After months of research, collaboration, and testing, we developed a platform that does exactly that. It transforms data into actionable sales support, making it easier for companies to target effectively and grow sales.

Here’s a sales tip.

The key takeaway from my journey is that understanding your customers’ pain points is essential. Of course, everybody wants to accelerate sales, but really understanding the barriers and challenges of our users help us develop a truly valuable solution.

When you listen to what your market is struggling with, you can develop solutions that not only meet their needs, but also position you as a trusted partner in their success. That’s exactly exactly what we aspire to do with our platform. By addressing the specific challenges these companies were facing, we created something that provides real value and drives measurable results.

Since launching our platform, companies using the tool have seen meaningful sales growth and improved sales efficiency. They are no longer guessing, they’re making decisions based on solid data, and that’s helping them close more deals and grow their business.

Scott Ingram: For links to connect with Erik and learn more about Guidepoint Qsight, just click over to DailySales.Tips/1794. Once you’ve clicked over there, be sure to click back here for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!

“Some of the key insights include data showing SDR hiring is declining. I actually think this is potentially understated.” – Scott Ingram in today’s Tip 1793

What’s your thought about this?

Join the conversation below and go check out the links!

The State of GTM Jobs: Sales
Scott Ingram on LinkedIn
Sophie Buonassisi on LinkedIn
Scott Barker on LinkedIn
[email protected]

Have feedback? Want to share a sales tip? Call or text the Sales Success Hotline: 512-777-1442 or Email: [email protected]

Transcript

Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Yesterday my friend Scott Barker along with Sophie Buonassisi put out a really great edition of The GTM Newsletter by GTMnow where they talked about The State of Sales Jobs.

In so many ways their findings validated a ton of what I’ve been hearing anecdotally across a bunch of different conversations lately. The full newsletter is definitely worth a read and we’ve got it linked up for you at DailySales.Tips/1793.

Some of the key insights include data showing SDR hiring is declining. I actually think this is potentially understated. I recently talked with a VC who shared that they have eliminated all SDR and BDR roles across their portfolio companies and they’re largely leveraging AI to replace a lot of that capability.

Which leads to the next observation that companies are increasingly favoring more experienced talent that can take on broader responsibilities. This very much jives with me seeing the merciful move back to full cycle sales and AEs being responsible for their own pipeline as well as account growth after they win a new logo.

Overall they’re also seeing sales role hiring that’s rebounding this year after a difficult 2023. To this I would suggest that we’ll likely also see a surge in hiring in Q4 after the election regardless of what happens as organizations once again have some clarity on which direction policy is likely to head after this extended period of uncertainty that we’re currently sitting in.

There’s also some really interesting data points about tenure across a variety of different roles, but I don’t want to spoil the entire thing. It really is a very worthwhile read, so check it out: DailySales.Tips/1793. Once you’ve clicked over there, be sure to click back here for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!

By the way, I’m curious to know what trends you’re seeing right now. I love hearing from you. Send a quick note to [email protected] or DM me on LinkedIn. Thanks again for listening!

“Be as easy as possible to work with. Don’t make their lives difficult and just be super, super flexible so they want to continue to work with you.” – Andrew Barbuto in today’s Tip 1792

Are you easy to work with?

Join the conversation below and learn more about Andrew!

Meeting Hacks
Andrew Barbuto’s Website
Andrew Barbuto on YouTube
Top Sales Producer Blog
Join the waitlist

Have feedback? Want to share a sales tip? Call or text the Sales Success Hotline: 512-777-1442 or Email: [email protected]

Transcript

Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast, and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Andrew Barbuto. Andrew is a seasoned digital media sales professional with a proven track record of winning new business and building long-term customer relationships. Over the last 8 years, he has been a top-producing salesperson at two leading digital media companies, closing hundreds of services and software deals to agencies and advertisers worth over $250 million in revenue. Here he is:

Andrew Barbuto: Today’s tip I’m going to talk about is to be as easy as possible to work with. So often customers want to work with vendors, but they make it extremely difficult to do so, whether that be through very specific requirements for their contract, having extraordinarily high minimums, or just not moving as quickly as they would like to.

So one of the first things that I used to do when I first started in sales was I would ask a prospect, what budget do you expect to be able to spend next year? And then based on the budget they gave me, I would use that as the minimum spend level. However, I was finding there was a gap between what prospects told me they could spend next year and what they would be willing to guarantee they could spend next year. And so what was happening was that my deals were getting stalled.

And so once I realized this was happening, I spoke to one of my colleagues, explained the situation, and what he told me was that he uses the minimum spend level on every single contract. And what he found was that there was really no impact as to what the client ultimately ended up spending. So once I took his advice, I lowered the minimums so that way, in every single contract, regardless of how big I thought the opportunity was, I used our minimum spend level. And when I started doing that, deals started closing much, much faster. And the reason for that was that it just serves as a barrier to entry. Ultimately, the client is going to spend what they’re going to spend, and you just need to do what you can do to get their signature on the contract.

What your minimum spend level really has no indication as to what the client ultimately ends up spending and can just serve as hesitations for the client. Am I going to be able to spend this amount? This seems like a bigger amount. When I first signed it, it seemed like it was more realistic. But now that it’s real, it feels like it could be a little bit out of my range. What happens if I don’t hit it? These are all thoughts that go through your client’s heads.

Another way that it’s important to be flexible to work together is to have multiple partnership options. Not every prospect is a one-size-fits-all. Some prospects are going to have different needs than others. I’m very fortunate that I work at a company where we have multiple partnership options. And so I always start my calls by laying out what those are. We have different partnership options. This partnership model makes sense if you have these needs, this partnership model makes sense if you have these needs, and this one for these needs.

What do you think makes most sense for you? Then, based on what they tell me, I spend the remainder of the conversation focusing exclusively on that partnership model. The point is that we have options for people at all different skill levels and with all different sorts of resources when you are partnering with customers.

Be very quick with your responses. Listen very diligently and provide customized proposals based on what they tell you. You should never provide a proposal that’s outside of scope without explicitly getting their permission to do so. If anything, this is just going to turn them off and have them feel like you’re not listening to them.

The other factor is the contract terms. We all work in sales, we understand that we have to get the best terms for our company. At the same time, if you work in an industry like I do, they have many different options. I work in a commoditized space. It’s very competitive. So I always try to be the easiest possible partner to work with. And I’m also always pushing for flexibility whenever needed to get the deal over the finish line.

The last thing I’ll speak about is comparisons versus other competitors. I highly recommend that during the sales process, at some point, you ask your prospect, Are we going to be competing against any other options? If so, what is the main criteria your decision is going to be based on? Once you’ve determined what that criteria is and if they’re considering any other competitors of yours, I put myself in the driver’s seat and say, Hey, I understand there’s multiple decision-makers that are likely involved in this. I want to make your life as easy as possible. I’m sure that you have to do a comparison between us and any of our competitors. If you give me the of the competitors you’re also considering, I’m happy to put together a comparison between us and them. I’ll break down very clearly what are our strengths, what are their strengths, and I’ll make sure to tie that to what your ultimate objectives are and how are you going to be basing this decision.

By taking the initiative of putting together this comparison, you’re putting yourself in the driver’s seat. You’re not leaving it up to them to find out, and you’re definitely not leaving it up to your competitors. I always try to make myself an asset to my champion when they’re trying to get this over the finish. Once I get down to the contract negotiation phase, I always look at it as if we’re on the same team. I do everything I can to get this over the finish line by pushing internally, and I expect the same from them. To wrap it up, be as easy as possible to work with. Don’t make their lives difficult and just be super, super flexible so they want to continue to work with you. They have a great customer experience and they keep coming back.

Scott Ingram: To learn more about Andrew, join the waitlist for his book, and receive a script to secure next steps in meetings, just click over to DailySales.Tips/1792. Once you’ve done that, be sure to come back here for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!

“You will have built a culture and a journey that people want to stay for, and that is also instilled in those who are joining your group, the same qualities, because you are all collectively living your mission at this point.” – Richard Cogswell in today’s Tip 1791

How do you create an exceptional sales team?

Join the conversation below and check out the links!

The Cultural Sales Leader
Richard Cogswell Website
Richard Cogswell on LinkedIn
Submit a Sales Tip

Have feedback? Want to share a sales tip? Call or text the Sales Success Hotline: 512-777-1442 or Email: [email protected]

Transcript

Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Richard Cogswell. Richard is a people-first sales leader and author of the new book The Cultural Sales Leader. He is an organizational team builder who believes that people, vision, values, and behaviors build winning sales cultures. Living and working in Singapore, Richard is currently working in Fintech and card issuance. Here he is:

Richard Cogswell: So I’m often asked, how do you create an exceptional sales team? In the book, The Cultural Sales Leader, what I’m talking about here is how you can transform your sales environment through the power of unleashing the creativity and behaviors of your team by building culture. And the premise there is that behaviors create culture that lead to results. And I also talk about the basic concept that if you get the people side right, the results will come. But to my mind, this is phase two of working with any sales team.

Phase one is about getting a thorough understanding of your company’s trajectory through its data pipeline, understanding what its winning use cases are, building a defined go-to-market plan, focus and finishing on new business, landing and expanding key identified customers, and having a communicable vision and plan that you can share with your team, your cross-functional peers, your leadership, which includes an articulation of opportunities and risks and what needs to be true to win. Once you have those fundamentals, then the element which will build an exceptional team is to focus on your culture. And that begins by finding the leaders within your cohort and working with them so that they are spreading your philosophy, your approach, and your culture.

I describe all of this in the book with tools and templates, but fundamentally, what this is about is then freeing yourself as a leader from being pulled into the trenches and the day-to-day fighting of particular opportunities or challenges with customers or trying to get deals across the line, which is often the temptation for a newly promoted sales leader and can happen in environments where the product or offering is complex or where the go-to-market has not been defined well at all.

And a good example of this is instilling behavior behaviors as opposed to KPIs or directorial leadership is around the topic of escalations. Instead, I mean, escalations are inevitable, but instead, you ask, what do you think we should do? Or who in the organization have you spoken to and what are our available options? Which is not to say that there can be no escalations, right? But it does confer on others the requirement, the responsibility to think creatively about their, and by extension, the business. And you do this by trusting your people and giving them the tools and the freedom to build their own networks and ability to source solutions, which they can then bring to the table.

And the more this becomes an instilled behavior, the freer you are as the sales leader to start to think a little bit further out and to think about, well, what does my three to five year journey actually look like? And what are the investments or that I need to transform this business that I was hired to lead or turn around? And this all can become exceptionally powerful, especially if your group has already been through a reset or a journey.

For example, I did this in a turnaround situation where we had to totally reset a business, which we essentially doubled in under two years. And then by showing a three to five year journey, you already had buy-in from those who have already seen what you’ve been able to achieve to date. And more especially, by this stage, you will have built a culture and a journey that people want to stay for, and that is also instilled in those who are joining your group, the same qualities, because you are all collectively living your mission at this point.

Scott Ingram: For links to connect with Richard and buy his book, The Cultural Sales Leader, just click over to DailySales.Tips/1791. Once you’ve clicked over there, be sure to click back here for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!