Today marks our 500th episode! And to celebrate this marvelous milestone, we’re having this fun Q&A session where I pulled out some questions sent to me through email or from the Facebook group.
Q: How do I get current customers and referral partners to write recommendations about me on LinkedIn aside from skills endorsements? How can I help influence them?
A: The best way to get something is to GIVE something. Give them something of value. There’s a feature on LinkedIn that allows you to write a recommendation and you’re asked if you want to write a recommendation in return. These people are already your partners so they’re willing to do this but people are usually afraid to initiate the process. So try writing them recommendations first.
Q: What comes to mind when you hear $8,500?
A: When I began doing speaking engagements, I was practically taking opportunities to speak for free and getting paid $500 blew me away. Fast forward to now, I’m closing deals to speak for over $500. One of the highest I’ve had is $8,500 for a speaking opportunity and I am now on the $10,000 range.
This is HUGE! The point here is to not undervalue yourself and to not be afraid of asking for more. Don’t hold yourself back. So when I hear $8,500, I think about the idea that the sky’s the limit. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing, you can’t let yourself hold you back.
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Q: How would you coach someone who has recently been hired to do outbound sales for a company who has not had anyone in this role before?
A: Understand the ideal client for the organization. Go into the CRM. Look at the top deals closed in the past 2-3 year and look at client demographics. Then figure out how long does it take to close the deal and what products/services you have to offer to your ideal customer.
Find out why they went with you and what issues did you solve for them which you can use as a talking point to other customers. Then outline your sales process. How do you find your ideal customers? (Outbound and inbound strategies). Set a discovery meeting to see if you’re a great fit. Have the right people on board. Then bring value. Make sure to have a standard operating procedure and qualifying metrics before going to the next stage.
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Q: When you recorded Episode 1, what did you hope to be getting out of podcasting and 499 episodes later, can you say that you’ve achieved your goal?
A: I was excited to create a community of people that I could help overcome the pitfalls that I also went through when I started off. That was the dream. 500 episodes later, I did accomplish that. I’ve seen so many individuals whose lives have changed because of the things our guests have shared or the lessons they’ve picked up from the podcast.
Q: How do you hustle to get promoted?
A: Just give value and go above and beyond your call of duty. Bring value to the table. Find the challenges and offer solutions. Work early and stay late. Bring something to the table to help you get noticed. Act rather than be acted upon. Also help other departments.
Q: How did you go from working a full-time sales job to creating 500 episodes and give time to your wife, church, community, traveling, and taking time to take care of yourself?
A: I found the most important elements in my life and I made sure I put time in for those. I have always loved planning and was always writing things out and making goals. I put the big things in place. So put the times in for the things that matter the most. Then I started delegating other tasks to my team members (ex. writing the show notes, audio editing, etc.)
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Q: How did you make yourself productive without losing sleep?
A: Just put the most important things first. Don’t jeopardize your family or friendship for your career. Make sure you give them your time. Sometimes you have to work early too.
Q: From the time your dream hit you, how long did it take before launching? What steps did you take to help others achieve big things as well?
A: I got introduced to listening to podcasts by my friend Jared Easley and so I started listening to Seth Godin’s Startup School Podcast and got hooked on podcasting since then. I listened to Pat Flynn and I was thinking about how this stuff could work and how I can talk about sales and sales challenges. So it took me around 3-4 months from the time the idea was conceived to the actual execution.
My key takeaways:
- Strike while the iron is out so you won’t talk yourself out of things. Keep that dream alive and keep going.
- Start small. Big things will come when you start small but you have to start in order to get there.
Do you have any questions? Email me at donald@donaldk4.sg-host.com and I’d love to hear from you.
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Episode Resources:
Predictable Revenue by Aaron Ross
Asana project management tool
Seth Godin’s Startup School podcast
Let’s go down memory lane and listen to the very first episode of The Sales Evangelist
Join our Facebook group, The Sales Evangelizers
Say goodbye to long, boring proposals and check out PandaDoc. Create electronic proposals to your prospects. Sign and receive payments without leaving your CRM. It integrates well with other CRMs such as Salesforce. Pipedrive, and HubSpot. To get a quick demonstration and a free trial, go to www.donaldk4.sg-host.com/panda
Help us spread the word out by leaving us a rating or review on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play or whatever platform you’re using.
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