The Sales Evangelist: Sales Training|Speaking|Business Marketing|Donald Kelly

You know you need to personalize your outreach, but you keep getting bogged down in trying to write the perfect e-mail or phone script. If you’re trying to write quick, to-the-point e-mails that actually get opened, you’re in luck. In this episode, your host Donald Kelly opens up a great collaborative conversation with Michelle Craig and Tom Slocum. Between the three of them, they bring a variety of opinions and offer specific tools to add to your arsenal for 2023. Your Subject Line Short subjects or posing as though you’re sending an internal e-mail are reaching a point of saturation. Describe what’s in the e-mail in as few words as possible. Avoid gimmicks like emojis, using the person’s name, etc. The Body of the E-mail The first line is sometimes more important than the subject line! People are reading on mobile and even smart watches! Garner interest without seeming like spam. Outline the problem and tie it back to your solution, but keep it short and sweet. This isn’t school - there’s no n

It’s never been more important to make the most of your outbound leads. Hopefully you already have a clear ICP and you personalize your outreach, but how do you turn your hard work into measurable results? In this episode, your host Donald Kelly and guest Ari Brinson get into a great conversation about how Brinson’s team was able to boost meeting numbers through effective personalization.   Boosting Conversion Rates for Outbound Leads Work on creating accurate customer personas to make sure you’re connecting with the right people – otherwise BDRs are wasting time and energy. The sales landscape is changing: potential buyers are less likely to jump into buying and less willing to open up content that doesn’t seem tailored to them.   Show Me You Know Me (Sam McKenna method) Make sure your value proposition is scaleable to the prospect you’re connecting with. The first three sentences of your e-mail and your CTA at the end are the most important. Personalize them to your prospect in a way that ma

It’s time to start seeking the wisdom of our industry leaders to build pipeline. In this episode, your host Donald Kelly talks with Radhika Shukla about her years of experience bringing teams to success in sales. Her approach is equal parts methodical, data-driven, and human-centric. Listen in as she shares the proven methods she uses with her team to find new leads and convert them into happy repeat customers.  Start the Planning Process Early Identify “big bets” that you need to win. These are new leads that are great fits for your business that you are going to prioritize. Collaborate with different people in your organization who operate at all stages of the customer satisfaction process.  7-Step Method for Lead Qualifying Start with your ICP. Create a customer profile and become familiar with the industry and common pain points. Ask the right questions. Think of asking effective questions and staying curious rather than jumping straight to solutions. Qualification criteria. Don’t be mi

Salespeople and leaders alike have access to great tech to simplify and streamline their processes. Tech, however, isn’t everything – if a seller isn’t spending much time selling, they’re still not going to hit quotas. In this episode, your host Donald Kelly talks with Tiffani Bova about shaping the employee experience to drive success. The Connection Between Employees and Growth Employees drive revenue.  Even though powerful tech is out there to help you sell, a salesperson only spends 28% of their time selling and 54% of salespeople miss quotas. If sales reps don’t have the right tools and spend all their time doing administrative work, they’re not providing an excellent customer experience. Salespeople aren’t in control of the pitfalls in their tech, but they can help sales leaders understand what isn’t working. The Employee Journey A lot of energy is often put into improving the buyer’s journey. But the salesperson’s journey needs to match. The more back-end work the employee has to do per e

Whether you’re tired of receiving the same “pitches” all over LinkedIn or you’re a self-professed introvert like our guest Ben Lai, you know there’s a way to use LinkedIn to sell without selling out. Today on the Sales Evangelist podcast, Ben and host Donald Kelly tackle bringing humanity back to social media. Connection Requests: Being Other-Centric Your messaging should communicate that you care more about the person than the sale. Be courteous and authentic. Don’t use the same lines as everyone else – show others who you are. Identify a commonality that builds trust. People will then check out your profile, so if your message and profile are incongruent, you’ll lose that trust. If you have a limited market, personalize each connection request or meeting request, depending on what makes sense for you. Meeting Requests: Personal AND Commercial Before you reach out, give them a little bit of breathing room (about 1 week) after getting your connection request gets accepted. Find a conversational th

Social selling can be successful IF you know where to start. Many sellers waste time chasing celebrity status thinking that’s the only way to generate leads, not knowing there are options that can consistently get them to their sales targets. In today’s episode of the Sales Evangelist podcast, Donald Kelly talks with Tony Restell, the founder of Social-Hire, one of the leading social media marketing agencies in the UK. They discuss how to reach out to your target audience and convert that audience into opportunities.   Two Roads to Success for B2B Social Sellers You become a celebrity in your field and receive inquiries based on your name/presence. For every “celebrity,” there are a lot of people who are trying to do that and failing. You grow your account by putting in consistent work and focusing your attention on a target market. This is the less risky way to generate leads.   Writing Effective Connection Requests Think about how you would open up a conversation with someone at a trade show o

When faced with new challenges, your ability to adapt will determine whether you succeed. In the past 12-18 months, the market has undergone a massive shift. In today’s episode, you’re going to get the facts you need to respond. Your host Donald Kelly sits down with Kate Ahlering (CRO at Calendly) to talk about how automation can save you time and energy so you can apply your focus to the moments that matter. Challenges In the Current Market The game has changed from placing importance on “growth at all costs” (2020–2021) to “path to profitability” (2022-present).  There is a lot more scrutiny from buyers on all types of investment. The path to profitability needs to be clear at the outset. The silver lining: sales organizations get to hone their craft, become more focused, and improve beyond what they’ve been able to offer in the past. Speed of Sales Cycle When balancing personalization with automation, some steps in the process require a more personalized approach than others. Find the parts you c

By now, someone has already told you that sales is about building relationships. If you’ve ever been lured into the trap of trying to be your prospect’s best friend only to find out they weren’t interested, you’re not alone. As you’ll hear in this episode, JC Pollard isn’t afraid to ask tough questions, and that’s how he became a top seller at Gong, hitting 190% of his quota in his first year. Listen in as he and Donald Kelly discuss “soft closing” to get the facts about where your deals are at. Setting Expectations and Being Proactive As a rep, you are (or should be) experienced with your sales process. Take a leadership role in outlining the next steps in the process for your buyer. Give the buyer options so they know you can either close the deal quickly or take more time to evaluate, depending on what they want. Position the outcomes on every call and keep inviting your buyer to tell YOU where they stand. Soft Closing Many reps don’t know how certain their deals are. Instead of keeping yourself

Why do all presentations look and feel the same? Why does it feel like you have to leave your true self at the door and switch into ‘pitch mode’? Why isn’t there more storytelling? These are the big questions our guest Ravi Rajani sought to answer, and he packed this episode with so much of what he has learned. In this episode, your host Donald Kelly and Ravi Rajani get pumped about the art of telling exciting stories in a sales environment – and the energy is contagious! Understanding “STORY” in a Sales Context S: Simplify story-selling: A simple, but powerful story can get attention, tug at emotions, and build trust. T: Tactically create your story bank: Include the right kinds of stories in your arsenal. O: Obtain delivery mastery: It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. R: Ramp up your MVP story: Practice and fine-tune your story in low-stakes environments. Y: Yield long-term success: Over time, build up more stories to become second nature and conversational. Write Great Sales Stories With

Take a moment to walk in your prospect’s shoes. Imagine you’re interested in a product and you reached out for more information, only to wait weeks to hear back. Chances are you went looking elsewhere for a more responsive seller – and if you want to BECOME that second seller, listen in. In this episode, your host Donald Kelly and Aleks Gollu, founder and CEO at 11Sight, discuss the undeniable effectiveness of video calls and rapid response time. What Causes Friction? AI chat bots, long survey-style forms, and delayed response time are all points of friction that drag out and endanger deals. There is no reason why responses can’t be instantaneous – if your turnaround isn’t immediate, you could very easily lose your prospects. Two Ways to Talk On the Customer’s Terms Give your customer the option to schedule the meeting. Give them an option to get on an instant video call. Over 60% preferred an instant call! These options work best for high-velocity sales (conversion in 30-60 days). How Can R

New reps and veteran sellers alike are looking for the missing piece in their sales game – look no further. In this electrifying interview, your host Donald Kelly speaks with Amanda Holmes, CEO of Chet Holmes International, about how her finger-on-the-pulse approach connects with the foundational elements of her father’s work (The Ultimate Sales Machine) to bring us into the future of selling.  What is a Dream 100? There is always a smaller number of better buyers than there are buyers. Selling to your better buyers is smarter and cheaper than selling to anyone else. When he was a seller, Chet Holmes spent his energy focusing on his ideal clients rather than selling to 20,000 prospects. “In your face, in your space, in your place.” Chet Holmes used a lot of marketing tactics WITHOUT spamming. Aim to be interested instead of interesting!  Identify YOUR Dream 100 Start by going through your contacts and identifying the people who could be in your Dream 100 – without social media. Don’t get overwhelmed

If you’re still trying to build pipeline by loading up your “spam cannon,” you’re living in the past. In today’s episode, your host Donald Kelly opens up a conversation with Drew Sechrist, the CEO and co-founder of Connect the Dots (a FREE program that helps you leverage your connections – see the Resources below for a tip to skip the waiting list). Sechrist shares the history of how he got his start as a seller at Salesforce, becoming a top seller, and learning the skills that helped him revolutionize his strategy.    How Relationships Helped a Young Rep Become the Top Seller When Sechrist first started selling, he didn’t have a network to tap into. As he started selling to bigger more complex companies, having connections helped him get his foot in the door. The amount of people selling creates a lot of noise in the market, leaving buyers unsure of who to trust. Personal relationships built Salesforce from the beginning. At the time, there was no way to see how to leverage relationships with the c

Creating and sharing content is the new frontier, but it can feel like a chore if you’re not sure how or why to use it. In this episode, your host Donald Kelly sits down with Zach Basner, digital sales and marketing coach extraordinaire, to show you how effective this type of content can be when used correctly. Listen in as they shed some light on the effectiveness of these strategies and how they can be used to up your game as a seller. The 80% Video ·         What questions do your prospects always (or almost always) ask in your first conversation? This video should address those questions. ·         This informs your prospects and can also disqualify leads without wasting your time or theirs. 2.            The Bio Video ·         This is an employee bio video that allows a prospect to see, hear, and know the rep they’ll be in contact with. ·         This isn’t the rep’s life story! Just include anything useful for your prospect to know so they have the opportunity to build some trust in you b

We’re all trying to find creative ways to build pipeline, but sometimes it feels like we’ve exhausted every possible avenue. In this episode, your host Donald Kelly encourages you to look for leads in places you might have missed. Donald and his team use all of these methods and have done the hard work of testing them for their effectiveness. Give them a shot! 5 Ways to Build Pipeline this Quarter Current Customers: Selling to your current customers is the simplest, cheapest way to build pipeline because they already understand and believe in your product. Stay connected with them and build strong relationships so you can keep them up to date on your new offerings. Lost Deals: Deals fall through for many reasons, so it’s a good idea to check in with leaders to see if they know what went wrong. There may be opportunities to rectify some of the issues that occurred before. Existing Connections on LinkedIn: Your connections on LinkedIn, like your current customers, know of you and probably have some trust

There is absolutely nothing wrong with going to work every day for the paycheck. But if you go one step further, ask yourself, what is that paycheck for? What do you REALLY care about? In this episode, your host Donald Kelly and guest Will Yarbrough break down a word that all sales leaders should be thinking about constantly – “motivation.” Listen in to hear how you can improve yourself or your team by tapping into those unique drivers that go beyond the dollar sign.  Why Should We Go Beyond Being Money Driven? People want to spend their paychecks on the things that matter to them. There’s nothing wrong with making money, but it’s just a means to an end. Whether you’re a sales leader or an individual contributor, if you want to get better, you have to see how that fits into the big picture of your goals in life. Each decision you make should support those goals. Focusing on things other than money will reach sellers who aren’t that motivated by the money itself. This drives performance up and sets yo

You can’t control the changes that are currently happening with the economy, or the changes that are to come. What matters is how you respond in each moment. If you’re not sure how to approach selling in the current economy, fear not – our guest today brings the knowledge and experience that has helped him find great success in his business. Alex Levin is the Co-Founder and CEO of Regal.io, and he’s here today to sit down with your host Donald Kelly. Together, they share the wisdom that can get you through a tough period in the market and even help you see it as an opportunity for growth.  4 Tips for Success During Challenging Economic Times Invest in your craft. If you have enjoyed the luxury of a fairly passive sales experience during the last couple of years, now is the time to shift gears. Get better educated on how you can take a more active role in selling, rather than taking orders and filling them. Learn to create urgency. People get used to the way things are, and during a time when they’r

In this episode, your host Donald Kelly sits down with Chris Duprey, Chief Strategy Officer at IMPACT (impactplus.com). Duprey has an engaging, no-nonsense approach to sales training, and wants to help you and your team master the basics so that you can go from being decent at sales to being truly great. Check out the list below and see what’s holding your team back, then listen in as Donald and Chris delve into each one, point by point!  The 5 Habits of A Great Sales Team Have a team mentality. Top performers will burn out if they’re the only ones doing all the work. Go beyond sharing wins – share losses too. Even top sellers should be willing to talk to the team about what’s not working and why.  The best teams roleplay… a LOT. If you want to improve, practice! Work with others to get better. You’re not going to win unless you do the reps. Duprey recommends doing it weekly! The best teams watch their sales calls. Record your calls so that you can go back and review them later. Just like a sports

 Having the right mindset is crucial to being a successful salesperson. So why do we often get locked up in a mindset of fear, and how can we change that? In this episode, your host Donald Kelly and Dr. Jean Oursler (Ph.D. in Business Psychology from the Chicago School) are here to teach us about our “Caveman Brain” so that we can harness the way we are wired and make it work to our advantage.  What is Your Caveman Brain? The amygdala is a part of the brain that controls our fear responses to our environment. Dr. Oursler calls this the “caveman brain” Our “caveman brain” exists to protect us from getting hurt or dying, so we can’t get rid of it or turn it off!  We don’t have to run away from predators or protect our young from danger anymore, so nowadays, we fear things like rejection, losing our reputation, or being a pushy salesperson.  How Do We Work WITH the Caveman Brain? The amygdala only knows what it sees and hears. Pay attention to the media and information you consume! Identify your

Today’s guest brings his top-tier track record to the show to help you and your team convert your prospects into customers using his proven, customer-first approach. In this episode, your host Donald Kelly sits down with David Bennion, the VP Sales at Apollo.io, which serves over 160,000 companies and more than one million users worldwide. Bennion shares his clear-eyed, precise understanding of his team’s success and the steps it takes to get there.  As a Seller, Learn to: Identify your customer’s issue, even if they haven’t identified it themselves Quantify that problem - how impactful will solving the problem be? Ask the right questions so you can truly understand where your prospect is coming from. When they trust you enough to describe their company’s pains (or even their personal ones), show empathy! Know whether your product can actually solve their problem - and learn to graciously walk away if it can’t  Common Mistakes in Selling (And How to Avoid Them) DON’T just drive your company’s

Writing intriguing, trustworthy e-mail content in today’s market can feel like a losing game. How do you stand out from the crowd without resorting to gimmicks (which doesn’t work anyway)? Enter your host Donald Kelly and our guest James Boreham with five tips on creating e-mails that create unforgettable first impressions your clients will still be talking about years later (true story!).   Current Challenges In Email Prospecting People are flooded with information. When you reach out to someone, you’re just one out of so many notifications they’re going to see that day Buyers are burned out when it comes to e-mail. E-mail prospecting is up 30% since the beginning of the pandemic, but reply rates are down 50%   Do These 5 Things to Boost Your E-mail Open Rates Use short, intriguing subject lines. Most e-mails are viewed on mobile devices. On a smaller screen, only a small amount of text makes it to your prospect’s eyes before they decide whether it gets opened or goes to the trash.  TRY TH