Full Transcript below. Here you can find the condensed show notes.
Intro:
You are listening to the sales success stories podcast. When we deconstruct world class sales performers to provide insights and strategies to help you improve to learn more visit us a top one dot F.M. here’s your host Scott Ingram.
Scott Ingram:
Today I’m joined by Angela Kirkland. Angele is the team lead midmarket sales development rep, at sales loft and I really excited to talk with another S.T.R. and really dig in, and thanks for joining me today Angela
Angela Kirkland:
Absolutely, good morning, thank you so much Scott for having me. I’m very excited to be here and talk with this sales community.
Scott Ingram:
Yeah this this will be really fun because it’s drinking a lot of champagne I guess if, if those who are listening who aren’t familiar with sales loft they actually have a tool for the sales development community. So I think there’s probably an extra dose of best practices in what works that we can expect in the conversation with Angela today.
So really excited to really dig in and like we always do. I asked Angela to talk, think through the top three things that have really set her apart and allowed her to get to the top. I guess I didn’t say that Angela is I hope it goes without saying on this show.
She is the number one, S.D.R. at sales loft. So I just asked her to frame her thoughts of what are those things that have allowed her to get to and stay at the top consistently So Angela I’ll let you take those on however you like
Angela Kirkland:
Yeah absolutely, and so just a little background on myself. I’ve been in sales loft for about a year and a half in the S.T.R. role and we’ve gone through a lot of change at the company and so when, when I talk to Scott about this broadcast. I pass a really try to think of the top three things I know that have allowed me to be very successful throughout you know constant change because that has been the one thing that is starting at a start-up which I’m sure many of you can relate too. [00:02:00]
So the first one for me and it’s been very apparent throughout, my whole life and school and sports; I am you know a typical B. student. I and you know kind of average at any sport that I do, so I’ve always had a very strong work ethic, and I think that’s something that anyone you know were guard less of a talent or skill in a sales development role.
Especially if you have a very strong work ethic and make it consistent, you will, going to see results and I think you know for me, if I’ve hit quota for the month that doesn’t. I don’t take my foot off the gas. I, I know that when you know the table is hot I’ve got to keep going and pushing myself, because next week it may be different.
So having a consistent work ethic, I think is really going allow you to understand your strengths and your weaknesses as a, you know as a professional and then understanding you know through that work.
I think maybe when you’re most efficient; Scott and I were just actually talking about it this morning. I’m kind of dead in the afternoon and I know in the morning. That’s when I’m going to be at the top of my game to make calls, and I you know just kind of check out, and I it’s hard for me to really keep that energy around four thirty, five o’clock every day. So understanding when you’re most efficient capitalizing on that every day with a consistent work ethic.
I think is you’re going to find really strong results I don’t know if you, you can relate to that at all, Scott.
Scott Ingram:
Yeah for sure, and I’m it’s interesting that you bring that up about being, maybe slightly above average, and what’s typical because somebody recently asked me is being at the top of the, the sales food chain is that about run natural talent or is it something that can be developed, and what I’m hearing you say is it can absolutely be developed it just [00:04:00] it’s going to take work.
Angela Kirkland:
Absolutely, I mean think about it, you know anybody. I’m into this is essentially my first, you know sales role I was in technical recruiting, before there so that was a great foundation but first, kind of software sales role, and it’s I mean a full believer that what you put it is what you’re going to get out. And an understanding to when to ask for help and when to recognize okay, you know I’m a really good at calling, but it takes me thirty minutes to write a personalizing email, like I need to, I need some help with this. And it’s just navigating you know through management through your mentors and peers that way.
Scott Ingram:
And what does I mean, maybe be a little bit more specific like what do you mean by a work ethic like what. How would you define that? What does it mean to work really hard?
Angela Kirkland:
Right, so I mean I’m not, I don’t want to insinuate that I think everyone needs to work. You know a twelve hour day.
I know for, for me as an employee at sales loft, it’s very important for me it’s to one get, get my stuff done right. Like at the minimum I’m going to hit quota at the minimum I’m going to, you know make fifty calls a day. And add the net new prospects in companies that I need to, but also I want to be you know a good teammate, I want to have time and I need to take a break at lunch.
It was I know that for me mentally like I need to take that break I know I want to be around for my, my peers. I sit in a room with all our sales development reps in a huge bullpen so that could be very distracting. But I think it’s really great for building you know comradery and helping with morale with being available to your peers and also you know cutting up every once in a while.
So I know that for me you know if I want to have time to connect with other people. I’m going to have meetings that populate I have you know other pulled into interviews like everyone else. It’s [00:06:00] you’re busy. Right;
And you have things that come up on your calendar so for me, that consisted of work ethic comes with knowing when you’re most productive even going over like one day a week I go and work at the coffee shop next door, from seven to nine because you know that’s my time to really get stepped on and people start coming in the office around seven thirty. You know you chat you talk about whatever happened the day before. What they did the night before you really distracting, so I know for me I like doing that stuff in the morning, but also I need to get my stuff done.
So understanding you know what works for you, how to capitalize on the hours you have in the day. Maybe if you if you had four meetings that day. Okay I need to work through lunch, or I need to get in an hour earlier maybe I need to take my laptop home. Just understanding what your day looks like or what your week looks like, and then structuring that out to make sure you still have time to do all of your normal you know work.
Scott Ingram:
Yeah I think that makes so much sense. I mean I often think about just where my natural energies are I am an unnatural morning person. I’m up at four thirty or five kind of depending on the day, and I know that’s when I mean I, you can’t give me coffee, if you give me coffee in the morning you will scrape me off the ceiling, because I come so wired out of the box.
And that’s when I crank right, so I try and keep my morning open to knock out those things that I need to do to set up my day, and then I know I’m going to have a low in the energy in that mid to late afternoon timeframe, and that’s when I’ll put my meetings because if I’m in front of people, and I’m talking with people, that takes care of itself. I don’t crash when I’m having a great conversation. And so it’s kind of managing through those energies, so great stuff. What’s the next thing?
Angela Kirkland:
Yes, so for me I think competence I mean man, [00:08:00] you hear all the time in sales and it’s so hard to quantify or so hard to kind of gain, but understanding where you’re competent or why you’re competent.
I mean number one at minimum you really have to believe in what you’re selling right, so for me I get a lot of confidence from being prepared from over preparing from you know really wanting to sound at the top of my class. I want to be an educator. I want to have a good understanding of the person I’m talking to why this is a good fit for their business, and I you know a little selfishly, one of the big reasons I took the role it sales loft is because I’m selling a tool that is exactly meant for my role. We have sales development rep technology so I’m using the software every day I know its ins and outs, and you know what makes me confident is being prepared and informed.
And a man over act in exact position and I’m not sure any of you guys know him. Steve Richard. He has a great little tip called the three by three role, and that’s find the free little nuggets are facts about your prospect or the company that you’re calling or emailing into and write it down, write it down and sales force write it down in your sales enablement software so that way when you get prompted to call or e-mail that person, you have that information right in front of you, you can reference it on a phone call and it’s three by three and it’s supposed to take no more than three minutes to find.
So you know it’s a very easy digestible thing to keep in mind, and I do that for every person that reaching out to you and it helps establish report. I think it makes you sound extremely credible on the other end, and it shows that you know I’ve done a little research here, I’m, I’m meet me halfway give me some time, you know [00:10:00] I want to just at least just asking for five minutes to see if it’s worth talking for the next ten.
So understanding where you draw your confidence from, you know; for you, for you all out there it may be different, but I know for me that three by three roll is just in grained in my philosophy and if I don’t have it. I am kind of like oh no I forgot to do the three by three let me look it up real quick.
But it just it helps me so much going into my calls and my emails to understand a little bit more about the company or the prospects and allows me to speak. I think intelligently and confidently about it to the other person I’m trying to engage with.
Scott Ingram:
And Angela what are a couple examples of what you might use in that in that three facts.
Angela Kirkland:
Yeah, so it’s super easy and I typically try to find something off their Linked In profile. I am a midmarket sales development rep, so most all of my prospects are on Linked In number one which is great.
And number two there, these are typically people at larger companies so they are constantly publishing content, they are very active typically on Linked In, Twitter and social media they have sometimes they have their Twitter profile link to link to Linked In.
So number one I try to just scan and see if they’ve recently published any content or shared anything, anything around sales development is great. Then I can just relate it right back to the sales loft. So that’s typically the first thing.
Another super easy one is just to see. Hey I just noticed they celebrated three years with their company. You know that’s, that’s an easy piece, and a thing to jot down and kind of build some work or with someone and maybe another one is that they’re hiring for sale development reps on their website. I’ll go to the career page and see that they’re hiring for sales executives like that’s a great sign [00:12:00] of a growing company. Someone that’s investing in their people and you know they’re more likely to probably invest in technology. If the company’s doing well and they’re hiring for salespeople because the larger, larger the company gets sometimes the more, more help you need with kind of getting everyone on the same process so those are few just little like quick ones that I, I go to the careers anything that they published or maybe the company just got funding .But those are key things you can easily kind of find from a Linked In profile or the company website.
Scott Ingram:
Do you value one more than the other so I heard you talk about there’s some kind of human personal elements where you’re trying to make a little bit more of a personal connection and then others are related to their company and maybe some specific things that are going on there. Do you value one of those things more than the other when it comes to developing that confidence, and having something to connect around?
Angela Kirkland:
Yes, so I have that order kind of packing order I go off that is. But number one find something that relates to that person and personally, but you know make sure you, its business professional right, you don’t maybe don’t mention anything about their kids or anything like that something I’m unique to that person. Second then that would be the company and then third would be the industry. So if you have absolutely nothing to go off of from the Linked In profile from the website. Try to find a piece of content on what’s going on in their industry and the probably you know with that the first one you know finding a personal kind of bullet point or nugget to kind of draw out reference would be who you’re connected to on Linked In That’s such an easy one.
And I think you know the more you’re in the sales development role. The more you should be connecting with our leaders and, and as you start to build up that kind of brand and database for yourself on [00:14:00] Linked In. You’ll see, like I’ve been my C.E.O. all the time he’s connected with a lot of folks on Linked In and I’ll ask, ask him at least probably twice a week do you know this guy personally you know, do you have a phone number for him and those are great ways to just open up the door. I mean basically spoke to my C.E.O. or referred by Kyle Porter I can pretty much guarantee that it’s going to be an open email.
Scott Ingram:
Beautiful and that’s how we connected I reached out to Kyle and said hey I want to I want to talk to some great folks in the S.T.R. space and here we are.
Angela Kirkland:
Yeah absolutely and that I mean that goes so perfectly into kind of my third bullet point, and this one you know again it’s kind of hard to quantify but the more I thought about it I was to get it so important and that be resourceful. As a STR we have so many great resources at our fingertips. You’ve heard the old you know, always be closing I like to say I always been connecting.
And don’t send someone just that quick little I’d like to connect with you on Linked In. Send them a personalized note, tell them why you know the latter them stroking their ego. If you’re selling into sales people like I am, I mean they love that. And I and I think that’s just a general rule like anyone you know likes a compliment, right.
So send them a quick note hey, I saw your, your Linked In – profile and I’m extremely impressed with your security team your, it will being a honour to connect with you on Linked In and having on my network. I mean that I think that has a much higher likelihood of someone accepting than it does. I’d like to connect with you all and then.
So be resourceful always connect with folks on Linked In I think it’s going to open up doors even if I am have a great conversation with a prospect and I don’t get a meeting, and always asking hey I hope you don’t mind, I just send you a request to connect [00:16:00] on Linked In.
I know maybe now is not the right time for sales loft but I’d like to connect on Linked In and you know see your journey at X.Y.Z. company see if you. You know ever move on. Hopefully we can keep in touch and those people are very receptive to that, and-and again you know it’s great to utilize that for easy email introductions easy, like quick personalized subject line, as you know mutual connection with I use that all the time and you know again going back like the thought leaders in your space I think that’s so important.
I’ve gotten a lot of really great prospecting from when thought leaders in your space right post they’re typically probably very active on social, so maybe going through an article that they liked looking at all the other likes. People that like that post, people that commented on that post are probably decision makers or influencers in your an industry, make sure to pay attention to those like and I know looking can be really hard and you can get caught up kind of in your every day to day and you know work flow.
But I think it’s also important to understand and try that see, see if it gets you anywhere see if you get some good results. And if it does like, like it has for me and then keep doing it. Make sure you, you know if you stumble upon something like that, like make sure to just take the time to stop what you’re doing, and just knock it out, and it’s a great, great way to build rapport again and have an easy kind of warmer introduction Hey I thought we were both checking out this article, I loved what you said about you know this and so those are just some you know easy ways to be resourceful.
As an S.T.R. too and also, we set up meetings for our account executive team who does the kind of original call and then hopefully, you [00:18:00] know nurtures the relationship and closes the business from there. So you can be very you know transactional almost like and I’m, I’m there to get to, to get a meeting get in and get out.
But it’s great when you can actually like partner with the account executives on strategic accounts, or understand hey, you know this this is a great company but it was the wrong guy. Let’s, let’s go after, you know, they said we need to go back after this person. So the more collaborative and communicated you can be with your account executive team. The more opportunity it’s going to give you as an S.T.R. to book meetings.
Scott Ingram:
Angela that’s awesome. And you have set up my transition perfectly because it’s at this point in the show that I always give a shout out to our inaugural sponsor who literally makes this show possible, and that is my friends that nudge. Nudge is a modern sales platform that leverage is relationship strength to help you find and keep your best customers.
So just like Angela’s talking about, with always be connecting, nudge is a free tool that’s going to hook into your Linked In profile into your calendar and your e-mail to help you understand who you’re communicating with, and it’s going to let you know, when one of your connections is getting mentioned in the news or has posted an article sort of beyond just the core linked in functionality. So super valuable helps me a lot; the price is absolutely right. So I hope you’ll go check out nudge and they’re at, need nudge dot com. That is N E E D N U D G E D dot com
So Angela, talk about your role and how you got to number one. So you’re a, you’re a team leader mean you have some kind of a unique elements to your title, so just talk about all of those pieces.
Angela Kirkland:
Yeah absolutely, so one thing that I’m loved about sales loft and you know again is another breve reason of why chose to be an S.T.R. at this company, is because they want to set you up for success, so [00:20:00] when you first start out in the role you are assigned basically a mentor and it’s great it’s a peer someone that’s been in your role, that you know more senior, someone that management feels is you know has proved themselves, they feel comfortable with that person basically training new hires doing cold call coaching with them. Showing them best practices because that person has you know earned their stripes essentially.
So I am now in that role. I’m on the other side of the coin where I am a team leader. So I you know help out with, with the on boarding help out with a lot of the training and its part of our kind of career matrix, that that type of stuff is not for everyone. You know I really enjoy it. I think it’s a great way and get to know your new teammates and really kind of build a professional relationship, and I’m still you know very close with my, my mentor has moved on to the accounting executive role.
But it’s not for everyone. So it’s an option if you, you know like to go down that path or you can continue just to you know being a senior S.T.R. But your- your quota expectations do go up so that was something that I wanted to, I was like okay you know I really, really like this training and learning experience. I like it, to go that route.
So that’s where I kind of end at sales loft. And I you know still have a full quota to manage but you do get pulled into more of those meetings, and more of those things that come up you know questions, issues. So it does get pullet your time a little bit but I mean again it goes all back to just understanding your day and the role that you signed up for, and you can kind of kind of work around that, and so I just I started that role probably about maybe seven months ago [00:22:00] is when I was, was first eligible for that.
Scott Ingram:
And Angela, talk about your path and kind of a journey to getting to the, to the top.
Angela Kirkland:
Yes so it was not, not easy, I think like any, any salesperson you, you know you can relate. Sales is a roller coaster and I, I wear my emotions on my sleeve man, I mean I, it’s something I know I need to work on in personally, but it’s very tough, about I’ve always had that in mind that if you. You know if you keep your head down. You have that consistent work ethic and you know essentially the more the more luck the more opportunity you’re going to create for yourself.
So I think my first few months I’ll be honest at sales loft, I had had a lot of success, in terms of quantity. However, the quality side of my meetings I think were lacking, and that’s something they, they started to realize across the board for our team. So in February they shifted and we kind of took on this account based model. You know you hear that a lot in sales development it’s very buzz worthy, and basically what that means, is we you now identified with our target customer base and we found you know our I.C.P. And we said are these are;
Scott Ingram:
Wait, wait define I.C.P. I know what it is, but for those who are saying;
Angela Kirkland:
Yes to the ideal. You know customer client profile. So it’s basically just as fact after we went through who our customers were, who the most successful customers were, what do they all have in common. For us it was SAS companies you know at this size, with this technology stack.
So you know we sell to the sales force users so that was you know something immediately started to implement on the S.T.R side, [00:24:00] in terms of kind of tightening up those qualification parameters and understanding what’s qualified to send over to the A.E. team;
So that was that was a very big adjustment to me. I had been used to you know having forty to forty five meetings completed a month and now this was going to go down to twenty. So that was a big slap in the face for me to understand. Oh God. Can I do this? Can I can I handle, you know the extra stress of the qualifications, but you know still try to, to manage a number so that month was, was very interesting for me. I think I learned a lot about myself again, it’s you know change, which is inevitable. So it’s a great experience to go through that, and I didn’t hit February. I didn’t get to that number and it was very you know disheartening and luckily my company. You know they, they trusted me and to others that kind of made this move for our organization to feel it out into learn from you know why we did. Why we did it, our number that month.
And we all hit the next month. So it was a great, great learning experience to be kind of down and out but then you know we all rose above the next month and continued to hit month after that and then we implemented it across the team. I say I think in April or May. It was so we kind of paved the way but it was definitely very rocky. I’m not going to lie, I was doubting these changes that and understand why they were happening but now looking back, I’m so glad they did because they were you know hit it all for the success of our business.
So yeah I get it was not, not always straight on the up and up, but it was a very, very good experience to have that kind of change and I think it’s [00:26:00] good to mix up your expectations in the S.D.R. role, because you want to continue to evolve and innovate and the industry’s going to always be changing. So it’s nice that our company recognize you know we should probably change with it as well.
Scott Ingram:
Yeah and I think he goes back to it’s the quality versus quantity right you can have forty fifty meetings a month. But if they’re not converting and they’re not turning into the right kinds of customers that’s, that’s not helpful for anybody. It’s oftentimes better to have higher quality a little bit less volume but that increase that conversion and hopefully what’s coming out the bottom is, is higher levels of success.
Angela talk about you mentioned basically the emotional roller coaster how, how do you manage through that that’s, that’s a question that comes up a lot.
Angela Kirkland:
Yeah it’s very tough but I can tell you I’ve come a long way with it.
I was I was in a recruiting role before this, I was I was used to rejection, I you know was calling software engineers, who were highly sought out now and, and they have they probably get already recruiting all the day I mean it was very similar in terms of I was used to that I was used to getting told no or hung up on but it was still I don’t know it’s still kind of upset me when I first started the role. I would let myself get really down on it and again this goes back to the confidence thing.
I started to notice that that would see into the rest of my calls for the day, and I would look at the dashboard in sales force, and see you know all my other colleagues that were getting meetings, and it was so hard on my cell and I had a moment at the end of the day where I was like okay you know, you can only can control so much, an attitude is-is, is one of those things, and I just started to kind of take the [00:28:] mind set of it’s inevitable that you’re going to get more no’s than yes in sales. That’s just the name of the game that’s what you sign up for.
You know anyone that tells you different. I would love to talk to them, because I think they’re you know full of it, but so I just started to adopt that, and I think I literally had put this in a video, or for sales loft and it’s the song by Jay Z. on to the next. I literally when someone tells me no, I sing that song in my head and it just it makes me laugh, because it’s the market so huge, I mean you know one person that tells you no, you have probably three other people you can call within that company, or you have you know forty other companies that you can go and try to convert.
So I just I tried to, number one, not hold myself too much to, you know my counterparts. I don’t have a meeting one day and my associate has four. You know. Don’t let that get; get to me just again keep your head down keep working. Do, do the things you know you need to do and everything will fall in line and again, just stay, stay positive keep a good attitude laugh, laugh at yourself. I mean who cares if you get hung up on who cares if you get told no. It happens literally all day every day to millions of sales professionals around the world and it’s just part of the job. So you’ve got to understand that and embrace it.
Scott Ingram:
Nice, so how did this adventure start you talked about starting in more of a technical recruiting role how did you get into sales in the beginning?
Angela Kirkland:
Yes so it’s funny, we were my company actually recruited roles for sales loft when I, I first moved to Atlanta and you know I’m not sure familiar part of that was all I kind of heard about that was the biggest technology company. It really kind of [00:30:00] put us on the map with the acquisition from Exact Target, and then you know sales force acquired exact target.
So I just like there was a lot of really good buzz around that company, and started to look into it and found that David Cummings also invested in sales loft, and so I started to go to some of events at the Atlanta Tech Village, which is a local incubator type area here in Atlanta for start-ups to grow a network and you know co-working space.
So starting at a more advanced and I saw Kyle speaks at our C.E.O. at many of the, and he was just incredibly inspiring. I you know said to myself I want to work for that guy he, he has so much charisma and passion for the mission at this company, and I knew from recruiting first sales loft that the culture was, was out of the world you know I knew that I would get so much hands on mentorship, training experience, it would be it would be fun, it be hard at the challenge like I’d never had before and you know I was I was really wanted to get into a sales role that wasn’t really a possible at my recruiting company that I was working at.
So I’ve toyed around with you know do I want to go do sales at another recruiting firm, or really I really like it but I don’t see myself in that long term. So I knew you know software sales from just my kind of immediate attraction to part out and that’s where I wanted to be.
So just kind of connecting all the dots and meeting Kyle and meeting other co-workers at various networking events, getting out in the community. I mean that that’s how I got my job. It’s so much about who you know and how you how you can tell your story.
Scott Ingram:
Yeah great stuff and let’s talk about the other introverts story [00:32:00] because this is exciting too what, what’s next for you?
Angela Kirkland:
Yes so I am so excited I am moving over to an account executive role next month. My colleague Jordan Arrogating and I are moving over together and we have been number one and number two. My whole ten year at sales loft. So I’m so excited to go through that transition with someone that you know I’ve become extremely close with but, that also you know we have a very unique relationship in that we hold each other accountable where we’re competitive with each other, but not to the point of each other’s detriment. Which I think is something really special and I’m sure that sales loft is going to is going to utilize that they knew what they were doing when they moved us all together, both together because they’re going to get the best out of both of us in that role.
So moving over next month, I you know could mean more excited. I’ve done, done well. Nessie are all but I’m excited to see what I’ve got, you know closing in and you know care carrying a bag as they say.
Scott Ingram:
That’s exciting and talk a little bit about maybe just the structure of sales loft, because I think the challenge that I’ve heard from a lot of S.T.R.’s is they, they kind of get stuck right, most people don’t sign up for being in S.T.R. for the rest of their lives. It is a, a step in their sales journey and you’re obviously progressing through that journey relatively quickly. So talk about how that works, especially there so I think you guys have a really unique answer to this.
Angela Kirkland:
Right, yeah absolutely, so again you know I knew that I wanted to be in sales. It was very important for me to; I think to be the best ae. You start as an S.T.R. you’re going to have so much more knowledgeable experience. I’ve [00:34:00] seen it time and time again from when you know people move over to the ae role from the S.T.R. team and then we hire people from the outside. I agree you should have a mix of both, but in terms of the competence and the product knowledge it is you know so much stronger from those, S T R’s that have moved over.
So when you know we hired S.T.R. at sales loft. We want you to be in sales. You know this is not a type a role where, oh, I just want to, come work a nine to five a cool start up. You need to be hungry, you need to understand, you know that you’re going to put your time in, it’s going to be a valuable foundational you know learning experience for you, but eventually you know everyone should want to get to that full, you know sales role that’s, that’s kind of who we, we hire for, and the mould that we we’re trying to attract.
So, so part of that is lying out a career major’s right. So when I first started it was it didn’t matter how long you had been with the company. It was you know once you hit this number this is what you’re eligible for. We are in the process of changing out around as I mentioned with you know that the transition into account based sales development, earlier this year that you know our quota has gone down.
So we’re you know realigning some of those numbers right now, but the fact that we have a career matrix is very powerful, because sales people like that that’s something that can’t mean motivate and sales people are all about expectations, so understanding okay, if I you know you’re, you’re going to hold up your end of the deal when I come through with this and this is you know what what’s going to be available for me I am going to be at that level when I can you know interview for an ae position assuming [00:36:00] that you know there is one open and I’m you know I’m wanted on that team.
So I think having a career matrix and being up front with your employees around the expectation of a timeline for their role is very important, and to keep them motivated, to keep them you know hungry and continuing to, to go after a, a bigger goal.
Scott Ingram:
And I think you talked about in our first conversation, there being some recognition parts of that process too right. So obviously it’s, it’s not an immediate journey that you’re going to work here for three months and wa-la you’ll be an ae, it’s a longer journey than that but there were some points along the way where you are getting recognized and know that you’re making good progress.
Angela Kirkland:
Yes, yes I’m so glad you brought that up. Yes they’re like little mini micro promotions and that that goes over very well with me because every you know, every so often, once you get to this milestone, you get a raise. You get a title change.
So I started out on you know the S. and B. team and now I’m in midmarket as D R which I have a lower quota, but I’m going after you know bigger, bigger fish and eventually we’d also like to work it where the more senior members of our team can transition to an inbound role.
Which right now is kind of flip-flop, you start out, maybe inbound you know right out of school. No experience and then you can work your way up to outbound and then you can work your way up to ae, and so we’re looking actually like kind of flip flopping that but there’s a there’s a lot of different career paths terms of midmarket you know I’m sure we will start to break out our team. Into some, some type of territory alignment. So that will be exciting for the team just to, to recognize you know once I get here, I can be eligible for this, and you know I get a little mini promotion and raise. I think that’s really important to you know to boost that confidence individually. [00:38:00]
Scott Ingram:
Yeah and you said you have a lower quota talk about what does that mean, I assume that that has to do with kind of the number of meetings and things like that.
Angela Kirkland:
Right, yes so the way our quota is measured at sales loft, is for meetings completed per month.
So we also have you know quarterly goals as well. And then we break that down into what our weekly goals should look like, what our daily goals should look like it’s all to get us to that monthly number which I’m sure you know every other sales organization has and some type of guidelines like that too.
So for a mid-market S.T.R. we have basically two areas where we’re judged on quota, and that is the meetings completed, and then also the opportunity or seat size potential. So we need to hit both of those to get paid and basically our full, full quota we get hit one or the other but we won’t you know receive the full amount.
So for us that looks like eleven mid-market completed demos per month with a seat size of two hundred and sixty one potential you know seats that we’re adding to the pipeline for our accounting executives, and it’s very doable and we something I think is unique about our team is, we have a mid-market Pod. And basically it’s just, myself another mid-market S.T.R. named Blanche and then we have Jordan is doing some mid-market accounts.
And we feed up to two specific ae s; and this is been a great, and that allows for so much cross collaboration and you know in our department comic communication. So I wanted a lot about the ae role, just from working with you know these two ae s [00:40:00].
Exclusively the past few months but it’s also you know they have their own a different quota as well because the bigger deals are going to take longer to close. They’re going to have more departments that need to get involved, and it’s in their best interests to you know, stay on those we found before that, the ae s were maybe neglecting the bigger deals, because they needed to hit their quota and they needed to get these you know little fish in to sign, right now, and you know that they weren’t thinking bigger picture, long term, so that that’s really helped.
Our S.M.B. team is responsible for twenty one completed meetings per month. They are not measured on seat size the only thing that counts for them is the opportunity have to be at least three sales professionals that would use sales loft. So they have twenty one complete meetings with a minimum qualification of three users. You know per meeting.
Scott Ingram:
Excellent, so let’s give it a little bit and talk about some of your routines and habits you already mentioned you know one day a week you’re getting into the coffee shop for a couple of hours just to avoid the distractions. But walk; walk me through how you’re structuring your day and your week so your alarm goes off. What time does that happen and what happens from there?
Angela Kirkland:
So again it goes off about five forty five every morning. I’m, miss a snoozer so I like to snooze it, at least probably two or three times. I probably get out of, get out of bed at you know six fifteen. I try to be in the office by seven. I like that quiet time I like that time to you know do it. I need to do on the most efficient in the morning, so kind of those like admin tasks, or anything I can help to kind of set up my day. I can knock that out very easily in the morning [00:42:00] as opposed to an afternoon.
You know I would get distracted to be very hard for me to focus on that type of stuff. So I want to do all of that work. So as soon as eight o’clock, you know eight o five, comes around I can start capitalizing on working hours. I can call people on the west coast, oh excuse me on the East Coast, and you know soon as eleven o’clock hit again, I’m calling people on the West Coast. So I’m really trying to, to maximize the working hours that you have in the day or phone calls for emails. And then you know taking care of the admin, updating stuff in sales force, prospecting all that stuff I can do on my time, you know early in the morning or after or after work after I’ve done with my calls and e-mails for the day.
So that’s count kind of how I structure it. I do you know like I try to take a lunch every day and I typically work seven to five thirty or six.
So that’s a long day for me to actually be in the office, but so again I need, need to take a break at lunch and just get out, going to walk or do something and then if I’m done with lunch a little early. I like to come back in and prospect, I don’t get a lot of people on the phone during lunch hour.
So just from personal experience I know I can take that time again to do some more type of admin work and then my, my goal for the next day is to stop what I’m doing, and let’s say four or four thirty and set myself up for the next day.
This is something that I, I struggle to make myself do every day, but I have noticed such a huge difference in my anxiety level if I’m able to do that. So if I can stop what I’m doing at four, [00:44:00] four thirty figure out okay what do I need to tee up for tomorrow. Who do I need to put in the final? Who do I need to prospect? Let me go ahead and get them teed up and ready to go and I push everyone into sales force and I push everyone from sales force into sales last cadence which is the platform that I work at and ninety percent of my time as an S.T.R. So I don’t know if I can do all that get everyone teed up in cadence and even go ahead and start to write some of my emails and schedule send them to go out the next day the next morning and I will walk into the office feeling like a million bucks.
I will feel so good. I feel so prepared. Sometimes you know the days get away from you. New things come up. I’m not able to do that. I feel very behind coming in the morning and I hate that feeling. So it’s, it’s really important to me to, to try to room or just stop what you’re doing set yourself up for the next day I know for me. You know that that plays a lot into my am motional and my kind of mental preparedness for the day, which as I discuss, gives me confidence. So it’s really critical for me to kind of stick to that.
Scott Ingram:
It’s interesting and I think there’s another theme really starting to develop here particularly around. Just planning for and being really intentional about each day or at least at the week level you know, when I talked with Debbie Rapson she talked about you know Sunday she would think about okay what do I want to accomplish this week and blocking out time, and making sure those things were in place, but you know talking with the previous S.T.R. that I interview with Jennifer linker same thing you know, she started her morning and it was what’s my goal for the day. How many I get there. How am I going to prepare for this? And it’s, it’s me to right, it’s when I, I have a very, very specific morning process that I actually trios everything and [00:46:00] understand, you know what’s on the calendar what sort of time do I have available. To work on some of these other bigger things to move opportunities forward and man if I don’t get that time just like you I’m, I’m screwed, I’m screwed, I mean I’m just so behind it. I’m so reactionary and I’m not in control, like it sounds like you, you get yourself to be when you take that time at the end of your day each day.
Angela Kirkland:
Yes, yes, I get it so worked up, and then you know I think sometimes that it affects my attitude you know, maybe I close myself off and I’m not, not as receipted to the others in the room, and it doesn’t, doesn’t come across of the most reported, so again that that’s important for me as a leader in the room at me. I want to maintain that right team I want to be a good resource for them and in order for me to do that. I yeah I have to feel prepared in the morning or I’ve just my anxiety levels to go through the roof.
Scott Ingram:
Yeah. So let’s dig into, I mean to this point I kind of like to talk about the tool sets and obviously for you a huge part of that is sales loft talk about. I mean what does a typical cadence, look like for you. What have you found for you, personally works best in terms of structuring that outreach and really driving to those meetings
Angela Kirkland:
Right so it totally depends on your industry. But I mean the phone is my best friend. I would so much rather pick up the phone and even talk to another salesperson, and just try to find out or is this account qualified, is even worth me going after, you know even if you can’t get the decision maker on the phone. There’s so much you know extra that you can gather for yourself and, and make your, you know make a stronger case going into [00:48:00] the next call hey, I spoke with so and so I understand you guys are using X. you know this is how we can help you know whatever it may be just for me it’s really important to try to find out some piece of information, from a phone call before I move on from that prospect.
So I structure my day around a heavy call activity. I have in my cadence. I work about fifty mid-market accounts at a given time, and I’m going to work at least five contacts from that company before I move on from them so. So that’s fifty-fifty accounts at least five contacts and then I’m going to reach out to each contact at least probably seventeen times over the course of a month.
Scott Ingram:
And Angela are you, are you working those contacts in parallel, like or are you reaching out to all five at the same time, or are you doing it sort of in sequence like a miss with this person, if that doesn’t work out. I’ll move on to the next person. How do you do that?
Angela Kirkland:
Yeah, yeah great questions, I’m doing it in sequence I’m kind of like you know tearing or toggling back and forth, so right around the time where one contact one contact gets to maybe the fifth day step for me, I’m adding another one in there, and I have that actually is a step in my workflow to help me remember to go back and add someone else, and if I haven’t got anywhere. The goal here obviously would be just to get you know, get to the meeting on the first call first prospect but. That doesn’t always happen, though and having a game plan of you know what to do, when and when you don’t convert that for second third fourth prospect of it’s such a great in gratifying experience when you can get like you can get a meeting on that fifth person and just you know it really works for sales loft, it works [00:50:00] for our process and it’s, it’s extremely gratifying just to know the process is working, and you know you’re talking to us now.
But so throughout that cadence of those seventeen touches, its heavy phone call, and you know I, again getting a piece of information before you move on from that call. So I call it I have this person’s direct dial, which we use in info and or direct dials, amazing I literally felt like Christmas morning when we got it. It was awesome, I highly recommend it to anyone that’s, you know making a ton of calls.
And in the end I, again Scott, I want you to just emphasize that I’m very intentional about I’m calling, so I don’t want you to think that I’m making a hundred dials a day, and it’s you know it’s sweat shop over here it’s sales loft. It’s, it’s very intentional and it’s about calling the right people creatively and you know more times instead of you know I’m going to call hundred people only two times and give up.
So that’s, that’s kind of where my energy focus is so I make one call into a prospect, I have their direct dial they not answer. Okay instead of moving on, I’m going to call the main line, and try to get a gate keeper to give me their cell phone or I’m going to call into the H.R. line on the main line and act like I’m confused, and see if they can give me you know another direct line, or see if they’re even still at the company or they are the right person. I mean just talk to these people say what you can figure out and once you’re satisfied with you know a piece of information then you then I try to move on.
So its heavy phone calls, but they’re more strategic like that, not just banging out a bunch of, you know, random dials. So you yeah pretty, pretty strategic in the calling and I do [00:52:00] very personalized day one emails to prospects.
I think you know there, that’s your first shot right. Like I, I sent an email to a prospect and then I call them. So that way they have a, hopefully they have a little bit familiarity with, with us. I give them a chance to respond if they don’t get back to me by that afternoon. You, you bet it I’m calling you, you know I’m calling you up and figure out what went on or least we’re trying to set up a call a five minute discovery call.
So that’s could be, I mean that’s very much it, and then I also throw in a Linked In an email. That’s you know something I’ve used as a last resort, kind of once they get towards the bottom of my cadence, and I’m not getting anywhere. You know shoot them a mail but it’s also like it’s a great thing where the person you know your prospect is active that someone’s very active on Twitter, like that’s where I’m going to go communicate with them. I’m going to like their tweets.
You know I’m not going to be creepy about it but I’m going to try to communicate with them in their area. So just understanding what channels and avenues you have available to you is great. We had this was awesome. What my, my co-worker Blanched, she noticed that a prospect had hid gee chat name, on Linked In. So she gee chatted, him and gave her a meeting. I mean it was amazing and he’s like Yeah I’ve never had anyone do this before and you know I, he gave her the meeting and was open to talking because he loved the creativity and it never happened and one of the best memories ever at sales loft is, I wrote, I wrote an email to a prospect, I think he was from Sweden maybe and literally went to google translator and wrote the whole email in Swedish, and he responded and loved it. And you know it is a great, [00:54:00] a great opportunity for us to close business and he took that, because he known that no one ever done that to him before, and it’s just something I saw on his Linked In profile that he was flying in and I thought it might stand out in his inbox. So doing things like that not every other S.T.R. is doing. Will get you, you know a long way.
Scott Ingram:
Now did you have to call out like okay, now I’m doing this to be creative? Please don’t respond in Swedish because that’s really not, no work.
Angela Kirkland:
He did respond he responded in Swedish and it was like their time zone. It was crazy as like me and he’s making me really work for this one.
I send over then by him and then I just responded back in English I was like you know, I’m a little rusty here like I think this the, the time that you propose though and it worked out. Yeah but it, I mean that happened so many times to members of our team, that my colleague Peter, actually he thought of the idea and it works for him and I totally copied then and, and I mean it’s great like anytime you see that, in on a Linked In profile like it’s bingo.
Scott Ingram:
Yeah and I want to come back to like some, similar or those just interesting success stories where, you the whole game is you talk about being resourceful as one of your key things, and I think you have to be you just have to be creative, and you know they put gee chat up there, they put Skype. But nobody pings them through those channels, but gosh if you listed on your profile, you know you’re probably on there but I don’t want to forget about you mentioned something earlier, about reaching out to somebody in sales and this is something that I think tons of people overlook right. It’s hard to get people on the phone, but you know who picks up their phone an awful lot is sales.
Angela Kirkland:
You’re right
Scott Ingram:
And they under, they have a pretty good sense of their organization they know what’s going on. It’s probably even more direct for you right, because you’re trying to get into [00:56:00] the sales department, but I think for anybody, almost any role. You can reach out connect with the salesperson. You have something to connect on because well hey, we’re both in sales, and just say hey; look I’m trying to get in front of your company. You know helping understand. Are these the right people, you know what, do they care about what-what channels do they prefer? Can you make an introduction I mean there’s so many things. You can do with that. And again it’s one of those creative things that we just we don’t think about enough.
Angela Kirkland:
Right, absolutely, it is so funny. So at, at sales loft we did an exercise, called and Gallup strength finders, I don’t know if any of your familiar with it was amazing. It’s like open by so much of why I’m wired like I am, and basically gives you five current strengths about yourself and one of mine was woo W.O.O. and it’s a winning others over, and it was so like it was just like a light bulb went off in my head and that that’s why I like calling into these sales lines, or calling in and talking to other people might getting them to, to help me and give me some information like, I thrive on that and it’s it just makes you know it makes so much sense, and it can help you from going down a path that you don’t need to be going down, or trying to call someone that’s not even there anymore.
I mean it’s-it’s great. And again you like you said, you immediately have a connection with another salesperson, and I think I think they respect the hustle and they you know respect what you’re trying to do, and a lot of times they’ll give you what you need and just say hey, I don’t I didn’t come from me.
So that’s you know that’s, that’s fine, but yeah that’s a good point about, about being resourceful. I had a, is actually just happened this week. This is crazy I excited to tell it. So I had a prospect [00:58:00] at a company. I was going after really excited about the account and we, we needed to agree to some time, we talked, it was a very brief kind of discovery call my part all set and do that great of a job, uncovering a lot of pain. It was kind of one of those ones all the S.T.R. is out there you can relate to, those quick hit calls where you, you know talk for maybe three or four minutes and they agree to some time and when it came time for that meeting the guy rescheduled, then it got rescheduled again, and we were going back and forth. It was awesome.
I told him I was like hey I already had quota. But you’d help me break a company record if you, you know hopped on this call because I get measured on sales qualified leads, and he loved it. He was super open and receipted to it. We couldn’t we were going back and forth we could never find a time that works for my account executives. So I was kind of bummed, but you know it’s like okay this guy like, you know we connected on the sales thing like he understands that, and for probably the past month I’ve been still trying to go after him, have heard nothing. It’s been crickets, hasn’t even viewed my e-mails. I think he knows who I am when I’m calling, nothing, and I was so bombed and I got to thinking okay, and I notice that he’s connected with a colleague, that’s actually a sales loft customer, and someone that I set up on a demo I knew that, but you know I wasn’t his sales rep throughout, you know their whole experience but I thought he would remember me. I reached out to ae and I told him the situation and I said hey, would you mind if I you know reached out to one of our customers and asked him to make an introduction and just basically give this prospect a little nudge.
Say hey, [01:00:00] remember roomer Angela sales loft were customer they’re great. You should talk to these guys. So I did and the prospect agreed to it, and he wrote me back and said, Yes you know he’s happy to, to set up the call with you. He looks for your note. So I was like you know great this is two weeks ago, so I said great. You know awesome and we get this guy back on the hook.
Well two weeks later, nothing. You know again he’s not answering my calls. He’s not getting back my email and so puzzled. So I went found someone in our company that was from North Carolina this is where that prospect was and now with sales up cadence we had the ability to we have a built in dial on our platform and it can match the area code of the prospect that you’re calling in to. But this guy already knew my number right, like it was the same North Carolina that populated. So I went and found someone of my company that was from North Carolina asked him on Tuesday, is like Hey can I borrow your cell phone like I’m just going to try to call this guy one last time, so he answered and we set up a meeting and it was like, oh like the best yelling ever, just to feel like I did it, like it work and it was is a bumpy road but I mean you got to get creative like that on stuff. So reaching out to customers like you knows trying a different numbers all that stuff. It will pay off.
Scott Ingram:
Yeah for sure, and Angela talk about, I mean one of the things that I think most in the S.G.R. role are measured on it’s not just how many meetings you set. Its how many meetings actually happened? So how do you manage that process to make sure that that meeting you set up actually happens?
Angela Kirkland:
Yeah that that’s a great question, and something we’re constantly evaluating is our show rates, because I that one thing that you know is just in theory. I think a [01:02:00] team when they have a full schedule of let’s face you know eight meeting scheduled that week and only two go off, like that that puts him in a really bad position and that’s what we’re here for is to help set them up, and you know, make their job easier. So that’s something we’re very you know closely tracking is our show up rate.
But obviously things happen you know people have lives they have emergencies come up. They’re going to be late for meetings they have bosses too just like us that are going to pull them into different situations. So here for me I we send calendar and write for these calls at the absolute minimum I’m going to make sure that person has accepted. If they haven’t accepted let’s add book a meeting today, that person doesn’t except by the end of the day, I’m calling them this afternoon and I’m saying hey we spoke this morning. I sent the invite over I reconfirming it guys. Your inbox you know do you mind checking right now on the phone to me that’s just very important just it’s the least you can do is an S.T.R. is get it except in the calendar.
Now depending on how far out you set that meeting. You know we found that if you, if you set a meeting and it are set to go off within the next two business days. The odds of it you know actually going off are very high. It starts to atrophy. After that, so if I set a meeting today for December sixteenth. I mean that’s a joke right. Like no way, that guy’s going to show up. It’s a month. You know essentially a month from now, unless there’s you know it’s an onsite meeting, or you know there’s, there’s a very good reason for it. So we tried are not that meetings that are over you know two weeks out. That’s kind of our ruler thumb, and then also I like to call people and reconfirm meetings that I think sometimes sending an [01:004:00] e-mail is an easy out for someone to say oh something came up can’t make it, like I’d rather you know pick up the phone, get a cell phone for them get a direct dial when you’re booking the meeting. Ask them for it and then that’s also again you can see how receptive they are and how you kind of judge to understand are is this person really answers that are they going to hop on like they have a problem giving me their direct dial, like they don’t they obviously don’t trust me the odds of them showing up to this meeting are pretty slimmed.
So I’d like to call them typically that the day of or the day before and just reconfirm if it’s been booked you know out for a little while, but it’s something I’ve booked with within the past two days, I leave it alone if it’s if it’s accepted on the calendar. I let it lie and then I’m standing by, when that meeting goes off. And I have my ae flacked me, and let me know if they’re not on five minutes into the call and then I call them.
And they also get a reminder just from G. Mail that pops up ten minutes before the call. Just you know, I think it shows up on your phone and in your e-mail that hey, got a call in ten minutes. So that’s, that’s really my best practice is I try to avoid the e-mail ,you know reconfirmation, because I think it gives people an easy out to say something came up. But if you can get someone on the phone you typically get you know they’re you know, that hot time to think of a lie or her and if you do have something goes. That’s coming at you can easily reschedule it, and just knock it out right then and there.
Scott Ingram:
Yeah so if there some pretty interesting best practices and they’re I mean for me and in my meetings are a little bit different, because the majority are not cold kind of first meetings right a lot of here’s are and I know who I meeting with, but there’s nothing more frustrating than I’ve got an hour blocked on my calendar, and I’m going to sit on the phone line for five or seven or eight minutes ago shoot and this isn’t happening. And I don’t know what’s going on [01:06:00] and so.
So my personal best practice is part of that morning process that I do is I will confirm all of my meetings through the day in my case it’s typically an email but I would much rather know if this is going to happen. Let me know. Let’s get it rescheduled, right. I’ve got other things that I can do with that time and I’d like to be more proactive than that. I think your idea is also really smart about using that touch as an opportunity to get another touch point so any on site meeting that I have I’m always asking for. Hey I’m sure you’re going to be running around that day. What’s your mobile number so we can text each other should anything come up, you know that’s those kinds of things where okay great. Now I’ve got another channel and I’m not at the whim of. The receptionist in the laddie and you know they’re not to be able to chase them effectively because the reality is like how many of us actually get a chance to sit at our desks all day know where we’re moving from conference to conference room and. Things are things are happening.
Angela Kirkland:
Exactly
Scott Ingram:
So Angela what is your information diet look like, what do you reading, what do you listening to and what are you watching?
Angela Kirkland:
Yes so I will be very up front and say that I am. This is another area I need to work on for myself. R.C.O and C.C.O, are so awesome with constantly reading in recommending books to us. I mean we have a weekly stand up or like scrum our whole company, and we talk about a highlight in I can guarantee either one of been the C.E.O. or the C.E.O.O. Will reference a quote in a book, they’re reading or something you know that that really stood out to them, and I know that’s something I need, need to be better at, so with the transition to ae you know on a rant quota.
So I’ve said okay I need to take this time going to do some reading. I’m going to, to figure out [01:08:00] you know really try to utilize some of these resources that are available to me, but right now I’m reading the challenger sale, which I just started which I heard is great. It is a few years old, also reading I picked up I think it’s like the little red book of selling this is like my kind of book. It is it’s a,
Scott Ingram:
Is that get him her?
Scott Ingram:
I yes, yes and it’s perfect. It’s like in the form of little digestible tips and it’s meant for something to be read and read and read it’s, it’s very interactive it’s in like bite sized chunks and he’s perfect for like a sales person right. And I really enjoy that. So far but in terms of just kind of like you know every, every day stuff. I mean I feel like I just and I need to read the news right. Like a side of sales stuff like as a decent human being. I need to understand what’s going on in the world. So every morning you know checking the news. I get this little synthesised news source called the scam sent to my inbox every warning. It’s great it you know kind of scans what’s going on in the world it’s nonbiased you know non-political party swayed.
So I mean I’ve read that I just try to keep a baseline understanding of what’s going on in the world with C.N.N. as well and Linked In. I mean I’d try to read an article a day off Linked In that’s my goal. If I again, I have a lot of prospects who are sharing content that’s a self-serving in in many fashions as hopefully I can reference that article and utilize that to get a meeting, but also it’s very informative about you know best practice industry standards. What’s going on in an all-round so trying to be better on the book side of the house but I think if you can read an article a day that’s [01:10:00] publish on Linked In and that’s relevant to your industry or your prospects. You know that’s, that’s not too much to ask. That’s something everyone can, can probably sit in a ten minute ten fifteen minute window in their day to do.
Scott Ingram:
Yeah, that makes sense Angela do you have, how would you describe your style and do you think that contributes to your success.
Angela Kirkland:
Yes so I it’s, it’s so interesting to me that myself and another female have been one in two in the entire you know our entire ten year of the S.T.R. world, and it’s super interesting, because you know sadly most of the sales leadership is male, in the companies that wear prospecting and again going back to that winning others over that will quality of mine like I’m really am passionate about women in sales and I, you know tend to be, I can be challenging, challenging I can be aggressive at times to male prospects, and I think that works in my favour. I’ve tried it with female prospects, and it does not go over well. So when I’m talking to female D.P.S. sales female S.T.R. directors. You know I’m going to have to let them take the reins and may get I may get pushed around a little bit but.
But when I’m talking to male prospects, you know that that’s an area I think that really helped me and my style is I’m very, very nice. I try to bring a lot of energy on the in the conversation, but the moment you try to push me off or you know give me some, some soft objection like you’re in for it like just wait buddy you don’t know who you’re talking to yet.
So I think that works out really well and I think it’s an automatic kind of respect gainer on the phone. [01:12:00] I’m not sure really you know why it, but it does go over well with male prospects, so I mean my style of you know I’m, I’m not going to let you basically bulldoze over me or get out of this conversation. I’m going to, to try everything you know politely in respectfully to challenge you, and why you just said no so, that’s, that’s my style. I would rather you know have someone tell me no, than push me to email like that’s not going to work. What, what sale has ever happened over e-mail?
Scott Ingram:
Nice, so this is this is interesting. I am very, very quickly. I mean a sample size is still relatively small with this show. I’m more still in the single digits of new episodes, but it’s very clear obviously women in sales are a minority. However it does not seem to be a minority in the top ranks. I think women are more consistently at the top than other things and again maybe I’m just seeing that and in a limited view. Why do you think that is what’s going on.
Angela Kirkland:
You know I, I think about this a lot, and me and my colleague Jordan have talked about it a lot, and I think it’s, it’s interesting like sales loft, like we’re making a very big place with inclusion and diversity in our organization like it’s absolutely critical we’re at you know, one hundred twenty folks I think right now, and we’re really at that point where we need to we need this. We need the diversity to help get us get to the next level like and but for Jordan I mean it’s a lot about like we care. I mean it is aimed at Kyle actually talks about this a lot. Sometimes [01:14:00] the best salespeople to hire are the ones that kind of have a chip on their shoulder essential like I am; I care so much and want to be at the top of my class. Like and you not let any, any new troubler beat me, like that like that’s just important to me and like I’ve I want to prove that to me in the world in the company and it’s a big driving force for, you know why I want to be successful as I’m out to kind of pay that way and be a future leader in sales as a woman.
So I don’t know if it’s a little bit of that I don’t know if it’s you know I think it’s our emotional I.Q. can tend to be higher. So we we’re well connected we understand the ends and outs, so of the role and we understand we can utilize you know extra resources that help us get us there like leveraging their relationships and you know, the communication in the collaboration. Those are things that I think women are just like very inherently good at, and obviously you can have you know it’s an downside to that too with gossip and you know kind of nit pickiness but for the most part it works, works really well and in a sales related role.
Scott Ingram:
And at this point I’m often inclined to ask about just advice you would have for others in either coming into your type of role, or who have been in the role for a while and are really looking to take it to the next level. But the layer of the role add to that is maybe frame it for, for other women that S.T.R. and it is, I don’t know if that changes your advice at all but I’m curious.
Angela Kirkland:
Yeah, so I mean the biggest thing for me is. Continue to ask yourself, why? If you set a goal out for yourself, understand why is that important [01:16:00] to you, try to understand okay what is, is driving my success, what’s a motivating me and like those are the type of things that you’re going to have to keep in mind when your times get tough, and I think a lot of people you know join or a think they want to be in sales for, for the wrong reasons. Maybe it’s they just they want to be in sales just to say they’re in sales at a cool start up or or-or whatever, but understanding like really why you want to be there, like what your overall goal is your objective, like that’s going to keep you going like it’s not it’s not you know at a fun role all the time, you’re going to get a lot of no’s.
So understanding why you’re in this and what you’re in it for, you know needs to be, a constant reminder and has been to help you, help me going in kind of finding that passion and feeling it. So I challenge you know the women out there to do that and understand really was driving you know, their-their motivations and really hone in on it.
Scott Ingram:
And what is that for you. I mean what’s, what’s the underlying why that motivates you?
Angela Kirkland:
Not underline why for me has a lot to come from my background like I grew up in a very small town and you know, I my dad didn’t graduate from college. My mom was you know the breadwinner in our family and she raised me to be very independent to be very strong willed into you know, if I see something I want go out there and get it and don’t, don’t wait for anyone to hand it to you, and most certainly don’t wait. You know wait for a man to support them as has been has been very apparent to me my whole life is you know kind of breaking stereotypes, like getting out [01:18:00] that small town, you know really making something of myself, being a powerful sales executive in Atlanta.
I’m involved with a group called Women in Technology. I’m mentoring a younger and actually a senior in high school to help her continue to pursue you know, a career in her dreams in STEM science technology engineering and math and is just really important to me. I want more women in the workplace. I want more women in sales in technology and it’s something I’m just very passionate about.
Literally Scott, I can’t tell you I check out career pages for websites all the time right. Like I have every, every prospect, I’m calling into I go to their careers page I go to their leadership page, and it’s always the female is the HR leader, and that pisses me off. I really want us to take a stand here, and support each other and you know be in the workplace and have strong leadership roles, and if that’s you know what I want then I need to be part of that movement.
Scott Ingram:
That’s awesome. And I think. My assumption through this has been it is the female trade, so as the father of two daughters, man there is a big difference between boys and girls like that they come out different. I don’t know how it happened I swear there was absolutely no exposure to Princess anything in the early years, and it’s in the D.N.A. I don’t know where that thing comes from and it’s a stage I mean there’s sort of through that it at this at this point but the point is. We’re different. And I think some of those female trades and I think you really nailed it.
It’s, it’s the empathy and just really caring about, the clients [01:20:00] the people that they’re working with their results. And continuing through with those things and I hope that, I mean to your point. So much of sales leadership is male. I think we need to be open to. Bringing more into, into this role and just continuing to encourage it. Because I don’t know what it is, it’s still not a gigantic cross-section, that I’m, I’m seeing so I can’t say that it’s statistically relevant yet, but man there, there is something going on. I think we need to be really, really aware of it and embrace it because gosh it works. I mean just, just the fact of your results there. If one in two or both females in the last test you hardly talk to, at the, at the top of her game, it at vision critical is female and there’s something going on here guys.
Angela Kirkland:
Right and it it’s so interesting. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with Trish Fortuesdy, but I mean she’s awesome, she is such an advocate in this space and I’ve had an opportunity to meet her at several events that she came to sales loft, and talked to, and myself and Jordan and another colleague, who is a very successful female ae at sales loft and we all kind of uncovered that we had like hard working moms, growing up and a lot of you know, people that aren’t so my friends that you know are want to be stay at home moms, that’s what their moms were, and you know but I don’t want to get too into it, but I just think that has a big play of, of what you see you know, as if you grew up in a family where that supported by your mom or your dad and it really influences. You know what, what you want to do and why. And it’s just something I’m, I’m very passionate about and I want to help, help break the mould for especially you know also Atlanta, like I want to put Atlanta on the map, man like [01:22:00] where we’re a great city so much tech talent and I want to be a part of sales loft and show that you can be a successful start-up SAS company, and not be in San Francisco.
Scott Ingram:
Okay well I’m in Austin and we do pretty well here too in the tech space, so you right, you don’t have to be in San Francisco.
Angela Kirkland:
Yeah awesome
Scott Ingram:
Angela I’ve been starting to have a few more of these S.T.R. conversations I’ve got at least one more interview coming up here in the next couple of weeks. I’m curious what, what questions would you want to ask of your peers who are at the top of their game and this type of a role or maybe even going into an ae role, because it’s obviously where your head’s at these days.
Angela Kirkland:
Yeah. So I’ve been I’ve been sitting down with a lot of the ae s at sales lofts and I actually met with an ae at terminus, which is another Atlanta based technology company. What do you know she’s female and she’s the number one ae over there, so just it was awesome, just to get some different perspective you know outside of, of your own company, and I think you know the biggest thing for me is what’s, what’s the most challenging part of your day to day job as an ae.
I think I can manage. I mean control of my day pretty well now, but as an ae you’re essentially like freeing up your, your week for people to book meetings for you, and that, that would make me a little nervous like you know you go to lunch and you think you have two meetings, and you come back and you maybe have four, like so being a little out of control of your schedule, like I’d love to, to learn about that a little bit more how you handle that and also you know how do you know who’s going to buy, like that’s so different than getting someone on a call on a demo.
There’s so much [01:24:00] more finesse and I think skill that goes into just showing someone a demo, it’s so much more about the questions you ask and you know the process you having getting people to certain points, throughout that pipeline and I mean I have try a million questions, but those are kind of the most top of mind for me is around time management and basically you know freeing up your schedule.
Again and I’m naturally concerned about that one, because I like to be prepared. So making sure I can be prepared for all those conversations gets me a little worried, understanding you know if you’ve got forty opportunities in your pipeline for that month. How do you, well which one do you focus on that you can actually close, and you know how do you I know for me, I’d be I want to touch all of them, but you can’t you have to narrow it down, so understanding you know kind of the selection process for that. Those are a few; that I’d love to get some insights on.
Scott Ingram:
Great questions we’ll keep, keep them come in, and if you’re listening to this, keep those coming as well we’re really trying to continue to evolve the questions that we’re asking, of the top sellers we bring onto the show, to answer those questions that are that are most relevant for you and the things that you’re trying to solve for, you can always just send me an e-mail. I’m at Scott at top one dot F.M. or better yet join the sales success community if you go to top one dot F.M. and get on that mailing list, will get you an invite in there and that’s where we’re really trying to share a lot of extra content and conversation.
So Angela this has been so great. I want you to start to wrap up here and end, the way I try I don’t know if this is working or not. So here’s something else you guys can reach out to me wanted to tell me, if you like this approach or not, but I’m trying to have each of my guests kind of distil what they’ve shared in the end, the key learnings into something really actionable.
So what [01:26:00] would you suggest and what will stay on the S.T.R. theme because that’s, that’s the world you know. So for the S.T.R. as in the audience that are, that are listening; what is something that they can take on maybe as a personal challenge over the next seven to ten days, that’s going to help them directly improve their game and their results.
Angela Kirkland:
Yeah, so I would challenge everyone on a Sunday afternoon. Look at their week. Look at what they need to accomplish, and make a goal, for themselves whether that be, weekly or if you want to break it down daily. Figure out you know based on where you’re at, really you and you know as an S.T.R. you know what you need to be focusing more on. For me it’s always adding net new accounts. I just have a problem with doing that consistently every day. So I’d say focus on what that is and then on Monday morning. Ask one of your colleagues, someone that you’re close with to hold you accountable. That is so huge. If you verbalize a goal, tell someone else. And you’ve built that trust and you know relationship with them, and they will still awkward calling you out on your shirt then that’s going to help you succeed, I guarantee you will hit that goal. If you have someone that’s holding you accountable but if you say oh yeah I really need to do this. This is my goal like it will the odds of it happening I know for me are much higher if I can have someone help me with it, and they don’t have to be super invested they can ping you at lunch or ping you at the end the day and see where you’re at, and help you through that, and just hold you accountable that’s a biggest thing guarantee if you set a goal, get someone to help you with that you will hit it.
Angela Kirkland:
That’s awesome and it sounds like that is very, very real and in your world. I imagine that’s something that you must deal with Jordan on a weekly basis.
Angela Kirkland:
Yes we do that [01:28:00] all the time we put, I put things on my calendar that are like literally stop what you’re doing and do this. Like I have to I have to put it on there I need like constant you know reminders of it, like it’s just the more you can, can like ingrain it into your day your week. The more likely it is to happen and yeah I guarantee you there’s someone at your company will want you to do the same for them, and it’s a great, great way to learn and grow together.
Scott Ingram:
Love it love it. Angela this is been fantastic. So much value so many insights I can’t wait to share it. Thank you.
Angela Kirkland:
Thank you so much Scott. It was awesome. I’m like I’m really excited to be, be a part of this broadcast, I mean at I love sales, I love getting the story and out and helping any way I can and it’s, it’s-it’s amazing, so thank you so much for inviting me to be on the show.
Scott Ingram:
Thanks for listening to the sales success stories podcast to be sure you never miss an episode and for an invitation to our sales success community powered by influ-ative and subscribe to our newsletter at top one dot F.M.
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