“Do more each day than you’re paid for and build relationships with hiring managers even before roles open up.” – Ian Agard in today’s Tip 1808
Do you do more than you’re paid for?
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Transcript
Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Ian Agard. Ian started his career as an actor before transitioning to tech sales, excelling as a top-performing AE and sales coach. He now runs “LevellUp,” a sales training company that helps BDRs, SDRs, and AEs earn their next promotion in 3-6 months by focusing on mindset, habits, and mastering sales skills. Here he is:
Ian Agard: Today, I’m super excited to share with you two proven strategies to get promoted faster in tech sales. See, these strategies have worked for me. They’ve worked for people, countless people I’ve known, from directors of sales to VP of sales to top performers across the whole tech space. I’m going to share with you right now.
Key number one is do more than you’re paid for. See, first things first. See, you must develop the habit of doing more than you’re paid for. So what does that mean? For example, say you’re asked to make 50 cold calls per day. Don’t stop there. Do 70, do 80, do 65. Just do more than you’re paid for.
I’m going to share with you a story. Back when I was a BDR working in tech sales, our target every day was to make 80 cold calls per day. But here, the top performers, the quota crushers, all made 100 plus dials per day. We used to call it the 100 Club. And with all those who made consistently 100 dials per day, A, they crossed their quota, and B, they all got promoted. They all got promoted. See, it’s simple. More Input equals more output, or as I say, activity equals MRR. So the extra effort makes you stand out.
Number two is build relationships with hiring managers. See, the second strategy is all about networking working, both internally and strategically. See, identify the role you want next, and start building relationships with the hiring manager now. Ask them how you can help. Even if there’s no roles open, currently, offer to assist with tasks to make their job easier. And over time, they’ll see you as a go-to person when the position opens.
Once again, I’ll give you another example. At the time, I was working, I got promoted, I was working as an AE. At the time, I wanted to move and shift more into sales enablement, to be a sales trainer. And there was no openings at the time. What I did, I approached the hiring manager and asked him, Hey, is there anything I can do to help out? And I would make videos, I would do any PDFs. And sure enough, when the opening came up, who was the first person you came to before it got posted in the opening to the public? He asked me, Hey, how’s the job opening? Do you want to be a part of the team? It works.
And learning number three is consider external opportunities. See, if internal opportunities don’t open fast enough, be ready to apply externally. See, your extra effort in your current role will make you more attractive to outside companies.
So to recap, to get promoted faster in tech sales, all you need to do is do two basic things. Do more each day than you’re paid for and build relationships with hiring managers even before roles open up.
So your action item for today is this. Whatever KPI your company is paying you to do, do 20% more than expected. Do that consistently in and out, in and out. So if you’re a BDR, make a couple of extra phone calls every day, consistently. If you’re an AE, offer to mentor a junior rep or take on a team initiative. These extra things you do each day, doing more than you pay for, will get you promoted faster in tech sales.
Scott Ingram: To learn more about Ian and subscribe to his podcast “Sales Reps On Fire”, just click over to DailySales.Tips/1808. Once you’ve done that, be sure to come back for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!