Category Archives for TSE Certified Sales Training

TSE 1130: TSE Certified Sales Training Program – “Freedom”

Today we’re celebrating our country’s independence, but sometimes sellers relinquish their freedoms because of fear. 

We discuss challenges like this in TSE Certified Sales Training Program, how they can hinder our success, and how we can overcome them. 

Storytelling 

We’re focusing on sales tools this month and one of the tools we’ve discussed is storytelling. We’ve talked about how to tell an effective story and how LinkedIn and other social media platforms can help you share your company’s values. 

In my own case, I recently relinquished my own freedom because I worried about what other people might think. Despite the fact that this is our 1,130th episode, I still worry about people’s opinions. You might think I’d be beyond that, but I still worry about my writing and how it will be perceived. I worry that if I write something, it might not sound great. 

I worry, too, about the videos I create and whether or not I’ll look and sound good in the video. As a result, I relinquish my freedom to express myself and share my thoughts because I’m worried. 

Trolls

I appeared on a friend’s podcast recently and I shared my own experiences with content and how it has benefited our audience. Luigi, the host of the Sales IQ podcast, recalled his experience with a troll who was intent on nitpicking his podcast by suggesting that I wasn’t qualified to speak about sales. He claimed I didn’t have enough B2B experience and that I was like many others who were cheating people.

Reading that was like a kick in the gut. Despite the fact that I’ve helped hundreds of people, I started to have second thoughts. Our clients have landed promotions and generated a pretty decent income, but still, I doubted whether or not I should express myself. 

Limitations

I wanted to pick apart his arguments and defend my experience against his claims that my information was basic to selling. Luigi pointed out that many sales professionals understand the importance of basics now. Together, we realized that this gentleman wasn’t a fit for the things we offered. 

Though he told us he had 33 years of sales experience, he’ll likely limit himself because he doesn’t believe he can learn from anyone else, especially those who are younger than him. 

I also realized that this gentleman had done this kind of thing before.

Experience

He didn’t realize that I haven’t listed every single bit of sales experience on my profiles. I have more than 15 years of sales experience between B2C and B2B settings. 

Perhaps he also didn’t realize that the fundamental things we share in the TSE Certified Sales Training Program are the key to moving the sales needle. We’ve had clients from Tokyo to Australia, Europe to Canada, and of course the U.S. 

I offered to set a time for me to learn about him and him to learn about me. He responded by telling me that I could buy his book if I wanted to learn more about him. I declined his offer to buy the book and suggested a phone call, at which point he said he doesn’t spend money on long-distance phone calls. I offered to have a Zoom meeting but he wouldn’t commit. 

The point is that there will always be detractors, but we cannot let them stop us from expressing ourselves. Not everyone will be a good fit for whatever you’re selling. You’ll always have haters. 

Content

Our content isn’t for people who don’t like it or who don’t believe they need it. It’s designed for people like you and me who are seeking to be better sellers. 

We talk a lot about how to generate content for podcasts or for LinkedIn or for blogs, and how videos can help you share content about your industry.

The truth is that most of the people who consume your content will contribute to the conversation, and you can’t shut down your whole operation because of a single person.   

Whether you’re in the hospitality industry or the medical industry or the technology space, you can share content with others around you. Curate something you found online or write your own piece and ask others around you to help you improve it. 

Independence

Declare your independence from fear and from trolls. Go out and share amazing content that impacts people’s lives. 

I want you to succeed and it’s why I do what I do. I want you to find more ideal customers and build stronger value in your conversations. I want you to close more deals and declare your independence. Mostly, I want you to go out and do big things. 

“TSE Certified Sales Training Program” episode resources

Connect with me at donald@thesalesevangelist.com.

Try the first module of the TSE Certified Sales Training Program for free.

This episode is brought to you by the TSE Certified Sales Training Program. I developed this training course because I struggled early on as a seller. Once I had the chance to go through my own training, I noticed a hockey-stick improvement in my performance.

TSE Certified Sales Training Program can help you out of your slump. If you gave a lot of great presentations and did a lot of hard work, only to watch your prospects choose to work with your competitors, we can help you fix that. 

Tools for sellers

This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It’s super easy, it’s helpful, and I recommend that you try it out. You’ll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link.

Mailtag.io allows you to see around the corners. You can see when people open your email, or when they click on the link you sent. Mailtag.io will give you half-off your subscription for life when you use the Promo Code: Donald at check out.

I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility.

If you haven’t already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss a single episode. Share it with your friends who would benefit from learning more.

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

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TSE 1065: TSE Certified Sales Training Program – “Don’t Make The Closing an Event”

Sellers are understandably focused on the closing of any deal but it’s important that we keep things in perspective and don’t make the closing an event.

The truth is that every transaction has a beginning, a middle, and an end, but we often get so focused on the closing that we unnecessarily freak ourselves out.

This conversation comes from our TSE Certified Sales Training Program, our sales coaching program that helps sellers maximize their effectiveness.

Sales process

The sales process naturally builds toward a close where the client signs the deal and then everyone celebrates. Our challenge as sellers is to avoid the temptation to make the closing the entire focus of the sale.

Focus throughout the sale on building value. Initiate conversations that address your prospects’ challenges and difficulties. Realize that you’ll never get to the closing if you don’t effectively address the buyers’ objections.

Help the buyer feel confident in this deal by sharing stories that provide value and dispel your customers’ objections. Instead of waiting for your customer to offer his objections, bring them up on your own terms as a way of building trust.

Red flags won’t go away simply because you ignore them. They don’t typically diffuse themselves, and your decision to wait until the end of the process to address them could cost you your deal.

Growing problems

Like many other relationships in life, struggles between buyer and seller don’t naturally disappear over time. In fact, problems often get bigger and worse as we fail to address them.

A single demo for your client won’t magically offset all his concerns, so don’t wait until then to address his objections. If he has concerns about your product or service, it won’t likely matter how good your demo is: you won’t overcome his hesitation until you address the problems.

Addressing fears

Whether you’re selling water, computers, or houses, your buyer doesn’t want to part with his hard-earned cash until you’ve addressed his fears.

He may want a new house. He may even need a new house. But he has fears of his own:

• What if he can’t afford this house?
• What if an unforeseen issue comes up?
• How much will hurricane insurance cost?

Help him minimize those risks and fears throughout the process. That way, when he gets to the end of the transaction, those fears won’t be an issue.

Prospecting

Hubspot reported recently that as many as 40 percent of salespeople don’t like prospecting and about 30 percent struggle with closings. As a result, we tend to make closings a big deal in our own heads because we’ve worked so hard to find a prospect and get to this point.

Instead of viewing it as a huge event, we should think of it as a natural byproduct of the sales process, and we should move the buyer smoothly through to conversion.

Conversion begins the moment I start building value for my prospect. If I focus on blind-side challenges and identifying key problems, I can address objections early and minimize the risk that my deal will fall apart.

My goal is to eliminate any reasonable doubt about whether I’m the right vendor for the prospect.

Pitching yourself

If you’re able to identify the companies your prospect is currently working with, you’ll be better able to pitch your own strengths against theirs. You can identify the competition’s weaknesses and use those to make your case.

Share stories about past clients who have left that company to work with you and explain why they made that choice.

Build one-on-one conversations into your process as often as possible so you can clarify any questions as they develop. Once you understand the big issues that will likely sabotage your deal, you can help everyone get to the same page.

Follow your demonstrations with an email outreach offering to address any new questions the prospect has.

Avoid pushing objections to the end of the process. Make objections and questions a constant part of your dialogue so that you minimize any risk toward the end of the deal.

Strive to create a smooth experience for your customer.

“Don’t Make The Closing an Event” episode resources

You’ve heard us talk about the TSE Certified Sales Training Program, and we’re offering the first module free as a gift to you. Preview it. Check it out. If it makes sense for you to join, you can be part of our upcoming semester in April.

You can take it on your own or as part of the semester group. The program includes 65 videos altogether, and we just completed a beta group that helped us improve the program and maximize the information in it.

If you and your team are interested in learning more, we’d love to have you join us. Call (561)578-1729 to speak directly to me or one of our team members about the program.

This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. You’ll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link.

I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility.

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

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TSE 1060: TSE Certified Sales Training Program – “Stories Are Everywhere”

Stories pack a lot of power for sellers when used in the proper sales framework, and the good news is that stories are everywhere.

Today we’re sharing an excerpt from TSE Certified Sales Training Program that addresses how you can effectively use stories in your own sales.

Utilizing stories

Stories have existed since the dawn of time. Early cave drawings told stories of cavemen hunting, and those stories have been passed down.

It’s true of cultures and of the Bible. Stories paint a picture for us.

Stories exist in movies, songs, social media, and books. It all points to the fact that we love stories. Society loves stories because that’s how we make sense of the world.

Imagine you’re meeting with a prospect for the first time. Instead of talking about your widget and your certification, which could be boring, share a compelling reason for your prospect to do business with you.

Instead, share a problem and a solution to help me understand.

Story structure

Stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end. The beginning explains the problem so that the prospect can understand it and it introduces characters.

The second part is the build or the escalation of the problem, where it seems that all is lost.

The third part is the breakthrough. It’s the payoff or the climax. It’s where everyone lives happily ever after.

Using stories effectively

It’s important to understand when to use stories.

Use them to reinforce a point or to help them understand the importance of your product or service. In the case of CRM, imagine a client who has been using Excel for years and he doesn’t understand the importance of upgrading to a better CRM.

You can begin by explaining that you understand why he is hesitant to invest in something that he might not actually need.

Then tell a story of another client who successfully used Excel as her CRM for years. The problem emerged when she hired a sales rep who wasn’t as familiar with the process as she was.

The sales rep failed to log some of his contacts, and they didn’t follow up on the lead. The potential client chose another provider because the company didn’t remember to follow up. In this case, it cost them $5,000.

If this happens multiple times a month, how much will it cost you?

We gave this client an opportunity to test our CRM for 30 days, and the company doubled its earnings as a result. The ability to log calls automatically and schedule appointments easily changed the company’s output.

Context

Consider using a free trial, too, to make the transaction less overwhelming.

Don’t make yourself the hero of the story. Craft the story so that your prospect is the hero because he tried the new CRM and it made a huge difference for his organization.

Apply these ideas and let me know how they worked. If you already knew them, stay with it.

“Stories Are Everywhere” episode resources

This episode is brought to you by the TSE Certified Sales Training Program. I developed this training course because I struggled early on as a seller. Once I had the chance to go through my own training, I noticed a hockey-stick improvement in my performance.

TSE Certified Sales Training Program can help you out of your slump.

If you gave a lot of great presentations and did a lot of hard work, only to watch your prospects choose to work with your competitors, we can help you fix that. The new semester of TSE Certified Sales Training Program begins in April and it would be an absolute honor to have you join us.

This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It’s super easy, it’s helpful, and I recommend that you try it out. You’ll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link.

Mailtag.io allows you to see around the corners. You can see when people open your email, or when they click on the link you sent. Mailtag.io will give you half-off your subscription for life when you use the Promo Code: Donald at check out.

I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility.

If you haven’t already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss a single episode. Share it with your friends who would benefit from learning more.

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

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TSE 1035: TSE Certified Sales Training Program – “Story Selling”

Stories provide a powerful opportunity to connect with your prospects, and story selling can push you across the line and even make you more successful than the competition.

They can even help you overcome a less superior product because people respond to good stories.

Stories as a lifeline

Good stories can separate you from your competition.

I’m putting together a workshop right designed to help business owners understand the power of stories in the selling process. Many of them are trying to land big contracts without great stories.

I call this process edutaining, and it differentiates those who do it well. After all, anyone can talk about their product or service. Not everyone can explain how it solve problems for clients. Not everyone can give specific examples of the difference their product or service made.

Your prospect wants to hear why it matters. He doesn’t care about your software or widget; he cares about what it can do for him.

Focus on “why”

I’m helping a client build a huge presentation for a corporation her company has done business with in the past. She’ll be educating these buyers about her company and its offerings. As she prepares, she’s trying to determine what exactly she should say.

We’re working to provide the “whys” of her company instead of focusing on the “what.” Rather than address what they do, what they offer, and what they can create, she’ll focus on why they’ve done those things.

• Why did you start the company?
• What makes you passionate about solving this issue?
• Why do clients seek your products?

When she told me the story of why she started the company, she came to life and her excitement pulled me in. She told me about her first client and the series of events that launched the whole company, and she pulled me in.

It didn’t matter to me that she had been in business for 15 years.

The buyers

Think about your buyers.

Spend time thinking of examples of the ways you help your customers solve problems. Ask yourself what your buyers are most concerned about.

Think back to an experience when you helped a client solve an important problem or prevent a crisis for their own customers. Then, weave that into your presentation.

In the case of this client, her company had suffered a bad experience because of a product delay, and she was concerned about how to handle the situation. To take the fear out of the incident, she decided to tell a story that directly addressed it.

She acknowledged that her organization isn’t perfect, and then she addressed how they had fixed the mistakes that happened in the past. She emphasized her company’s desire to never make the same mistake twice.

“Story Selling” episode resources

The TSE Certified Sales Training Program addresses how to provide value to your buyers. We discuss the importance of teaching and educating them using stories, and you can be part of it.

This episode is brought to you in part by our TSE Certified Sales Training Program, which teaches you to improve your sales skills, find more customers, build stronger value, and close more deals.

The next semester begins in April.

This episode is also brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It’s super easy, it’s helpful, and I recommend that you try it out.

You’ll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link.

I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility.

If you haven’t already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss a single episode, and share with your friends!

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

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TSE 990: TSE Certified Sales Program – “Shortcuts”

On today’s episode of The Sales Evangelist, we’re talking with Curt Rapp about how sellers can benefit from the experiences and knowledge of others, and how that knowledge creates shortcuts.

Curt works as an independent contractor selling luxury outdoor products to consumers. During the holidays, that means Christmas lights and decorations. During the warmer months, he sells outdoor cooling systems and mosquito control.

He has access to marketing collateral like CRM and other resources, but he has to bring purpose and a sense of direction to the process. He has to take ownership in the sales process and get focused.

TSE Hustler’s League

Curt took part in our online coaching program, previously called TSE Hustler’s League.

He said the most valuable part of the experience was learning from other people’s mistakes. Curt calls them shortcuts because he’s borrowing knowledge from other people. [03:15]

Learning how other people handle the daily dogfight of sales helps him borrow their knowledge the next time he finds himself in a dogfight of his own.

In TSE Hustler’s League, even as the administrator of the course, I learned shortcuts and other tricks from people in other industries.

Silos

Salespeople tend to isolate themselves because they focus on the fact that their industries are different from other industries. The truth is that although the sales industries are very different, people who sell cars can learn from people who sell bicycles.

Curt said it took him several years to understand that he could learn from other people. Early on, he didn’t listen to people or their advice, and he ignored shortcuts that could have helped him be more successful. [05:31]

By learning from others, he gets to benefit from new information, and then he gets to share it with other people.

Having a plan

Curt said that early in his sales career, he took everything that came his way. He wasn’t selective in the choices he made. He saw opportunities all around but he didn’t wait for the right opportunities. [07:08]

Many of his past mistakes stemmed from dealing with people incorrectly and failing to intentionally set his expectations.

As a new seller, he got excited about phone calls and appointments because he didn’t have the confidence to expect them to happen. Now, he has the confidence to know that he can set appointments and close deals, and it has changed his focus.

Confidence has made everything easier in the sales arena. Also, it’s important to be humble enough to acknowledge that you don’t have all the answers. Once you do that, you can accept help from other people.

Positioned for the future

Curt learned from his TSE Hustler’s League experience that you must always be learning. He came to sales from an IT background, and he didn’t know what he was doing.

He had to be humbled, and that happened when he got around other people who were also hungry for knowledge. [10:40]

Group training sessions helped Curt in a variety of ways:

1. It gave him situational awareness. When an unfamiliar situation cropped up, he could draw on discussions he had heard other people share about the topic.
2. It improved his skills.
3. Group training improved his accountability. He learned that he couldn’t be the guy sitting quietly in the corner of the group. He had to share and contribute something to the group.

To quote the book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, if you aren’t sharpening your saw every day, you’ll be passed over. Nothing will be handed to you.

Once Curt changed his mindset to understand that he didn’t know everything, his situation started to change. The TSE Hustler’s League group training helped him shift his mindset to always be learning.

Engage with successful people

Find people who are successful. Use social media. Use online training.

Become aware of all that you can learn and then put yourself in a position to learn something new. Be open to the possibilities. Change your mindset and your mentality. [13:01]

Your future may not look the way you think it will, but it will likely be better than you expected.

“Shortcuts” episode resources

If you’d like to know more about Curt and to find out about the project he’s launching in 2019 connect with him at curtisrapp.com and on Instagram @CurtisRapp.

This episode is brought to you in part by prospect.io, a powerful sales automation platform that allows you to build highly personalized, cold email campaigns. To learn more, go to prospect.io/tse. It will help you with your outbound to expand your outreach. It allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never ever be the same.

Previously known as TSE Hustler’s League, our TSE Certified Sales Program offers modules that you can engage on your own schedule as well as opportunities to engage with other sellers in other industries.

This episode is brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It’s super easy, it’s helpful, and I recommend that you try it out.

You’ll receive real-time alerts anyone opens an email or clicks a link.

I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility.

If you haven’t already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss a single episode, and share with your friends!

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

TSE 985: TSE Certified Sales Program – “Fear of Prospecting”

Today on The Sales Evangelist, we’re going to talk about the fear of prospecting, how your coworkers often contribute to it, and how you can overcome your fear of rejection.

Fear of rejection often keeps salespeople from going after potential deals, but it doesn’t have to be this way.

Intimidation

If you’re a new rep and your teammates warn you to stay away from a certain account, it can cause you to fear to reach out at all.

In our case, a seller named Rick found himself in this exact situation. He believed so strongly in what he had to offer that he actually went to visit the client.

He spoke to the prospect’s receptionist and he left information with her that she could pass on to the VP of the company.

Several days passed and he didn’t hear from the receptionist or the VP. Fortunately, his confidence outweighed his fear of rejection.

He called the prospect at 7:30 a.m. and was able to talk to the exec because the receptionist wasn’t there yet.

Eventually, he closed the deal that his coworkers said couldn’t be closed.

His co-workers could have solved the problem as well, but they allowed the warnings and stories to intimidate. They never reached out to him.

TSE Certified Sales Training

In our TSE Certified Sales Training program, the first lesson we teach is how to prospect like an evangelist. The first thing we discuss is how to overcome the fear of rejection. [4:58]

Fear results when we believe that someone is going to cause us harm or pain.

But how does that belief come into existence? Because we were taught or coached to be fearful of the word no.

When we were kids, we didn’t fear being told no. But as we got older, we became conditioned to the idea that no is bad.

Knowing the problems

Rick did believe that he could be rejected, but he had a greater belief that he could solve a problem for the prospect. In many cases, because we don’t understand what the prospect’s challenges are, we have little confidence in our ability to solve problems for him.

To overcome fear, you must develop confidence in what you have to offer. The more times you successfully solve problems for companies, the more confident you’ll become.

If you make enough calls, speak with enough prospects, and solve enough problems, you can become more confident.

Getting better

If you could listen to your very first cold call, you’d probably cringe because it sounds so awful. But imagine if you gave up after that very first cold call. Imagine if you gave up the first time someone yelled at you.

You’d never be where you are right now.

Instead, because you kept doing it, you became confident.

If you listen to the very first episodes of this podcast,  you might think I should have gotten more training before I started. Now, 985 episodes later, we’re still creating episodes.

Imagine all the money we’ve generated, the business opportunities we’ve created, and the salespeople we’ve helped over the years.

You must have a belief that is stronger than fear.  Gain that by doing things over and over again. Also, gather as much intel as you possibly can about your prospect’s problem.

“Fear of Prospecting” episode resources

If this episode was helpful to you, share it with someone else who can benefit from it. Help them overcome their fear of rejection.

The TSE Certified Sales Training program targets new and struggling salespeople working for small to midsize companies.

The sales training course will help you plan your day, understand prospecting, build value, and convert more customers.

You can work through the course alone or as part of a group of 25 people. Click here to learn more or to register for the next course.

This episode is brought to you in part by mailtag.io, a Chrome browser extension for Gmail that allows you to track and schedule your emails. It’s super easy, it’s helpful, and I recommend that you try it out.

This episode is brought to you in part by prospect.io, a powerful sales automation platform that allows you to build highly personalized, cold email campaigns. To learn more, go to prospect.io/tse. It will help you with your outbound to expand your outreach and it allows you to set it and forget it. Your prospecting will never ever be the same.

We’ll use prospect.io in the upcoming semester of TSE Hustler’s League to focus on prospecting. We’ll give you insights and tools that will help you gain new customers. In addition, we’ll provide training and strategies that you can implement today to ensure constant flow in your pipeline.

Check out our new semester of The Sales Evangelist Hustler’s League. We’re taking applications for the semester beginning in January, and we can only take a limited number of people.

I hope you enjoyed the show today as much as I did. If so, please consider leaving us a rating on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or wherever you consume this content and share it with someone else who might benefit from our message. It helps others find our message and improves our visibility.

If you haven’t already done so, subscribe to the podcast so you won’t miss a single episode, and share with your friends!

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS