Episode 84: Successful Selling in a Small Company with Kyle Kruse of Global Interconnect

Kyle Kruse is the top seller at Global Interconnect out of Boston, an organization focused on helping manufacturers improve and scale their business through their manufacturing engineering capabilities. In this capacity, Kyle leads Global Interconnect’s new customer development efforts. Kyle is a self-described hustler and a born salesperson. He recalls his sales origin story, one that includes his passion for sales at a young age. Kyle was always eager to prove himself, whether through school sanctioned fundraisers or running a beverage cart during summers in Cape Cod. Sales has truly been in Kyle’s blood from day one.

In this episode, Kyle speaks to his sales philosophy, approach and style. His philosophy revolves around the simple concept of quality over quantity while his style is one focused on bringing the energy, building relationships, educating his clients, and closing deals. This ‘rifle approach’ as Kyle calls it, has been a major factor in his sales success.
Within this approach, Kyle places a tremendous amount of value on ethics. Having made the mistake of chasing money once before, he’s learned that true sales success comes from selling for the right reasons. Kyle goes on to identify three keys that he attributes to his success, including curating handwritten notes, creating tried and true processes, and continually learning.

Kyle describes a typical day in the life, from spending time with his family in the morning and holding standard daily team meetings to working out at lunchtime, prospecting and even playing hockey some nights. Kyle is also a proponent of working in a physical office rather than working remotely. Scott and Kyle share their thoughts on the positive and negative aspects that come with both. Finally, Kyle provides actionable advice for salespeople who are looking to continually learn and improve in their careers. He encourages them to trust in the power of the handwritten note and to practice by writing four to five cold call letters for two weeks and monitor the response. Both Kyle and Scott encourage the audience to reach out and connect (preferably through a handwritten note) so that they can continue this discussion on sales success.

What We Covered:

00:24 – Scott takes a moment to thank today’s sponsor, the 2020 Sales Success Summit
00:35 – Scott Ingram welcomes today’s guest, Kyle Kruse
00:48 – The top three things Kyle attributes to his sales success
01:02 – Number 1: Handwritten letters
04:25 – Numbers 2: Creating processes
07:06 – Numbers 3: Continuous learning
09:25 – Scott takes a moment to promote the 2020 Sales Success Summit
10:44 – Kyle’s role at Global Interconnect
15:04 – Kyle quantifies his sales results
16:29 – Kyle’s sales origin story
20:44 – What Kyle would do differently if given the opportunity
21:53 – Kyle’s favorite sales story
25:33 – Challenges Kyle has faced throughout his career
29:19 – The dangers of chasing money in a role
30:17 – Why looking for a sales job is a sales job in and of itself
31:24 – Kyle describes a typical day in the life
36:30 – The books, news, podcasts and trade information that Kyle consumes
37:57 – Kyle’s sales philosophy and style
39:31 – What drives and motivates Kyle
41:21 – Advice Kyle would give to an upstart salesperson
42:33 – Advice Kyle would give to an established, yet struggling, salesperson
44:34 – Working remotely vs. working in an office
47:45 – What Kyle would want to know about top sellers in other organizations
48:52 – Kyle’ actionable challenge to the audience
51:27 – Scott encourages listeners to send him a handwritten letter
53:26 – Kyle offers to help any listeners who reach out and connect with him

Tweetables:

“The opportunity to learn continuously through your colleagues is so powerful and it’s really how organizations truly, I think, achieve tremendous success and growth.” (08:16)

“I was just a hustler. And it was something that my dad taught me and, over the years, it just continued to evolve.” (18:01)

“I think a lot of young professionals getting into the sales world, you gotta do it for all the right reasons; you gotta do it to help people. And when you have that approach, you’re more likely to see success a lot sooner.” (21:32)

“I was faced with a challenge in my career. And I felt lost and I didn’t know where to go. But I never stopped believing in myself. And, in a time of difficulty, I knew that I had to be mentally stronger than ever and I had to keep on plugging away and just never give up.” (28:46)

“You really want to be the best communicator that you can possibly be. And, creating these conversations with people is everything. So, it’s really how people are going to trust you. This isn’t B2B anymore. It’s not B2C. It’s P2P, ok? People to people.” (41:42)

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