Success in the New Virtual World of Sales (Is it All About Personalization?)
Donald Kelly - The Sales Evangelist, sat down with Owler to discuss best sales practices, personalized outreach, and how he began his sales training passion
Your website notes that 57% of sellers will miss quota this month - why is this happening?
Most salespeople miss quota because of a few key things that they aren’t doing.
One is that they aren’t prospecting regularly. They may send out a bunch of emails but with minimal results. They don’t personalize these messages and aren’t focusing on the humanization of sales. There is no deep connection between them and the prospects.
The other thing that hinders salespeople from hitting their quota is that they don't have great discovery calls. When you have a great discovery call, you find out their real problems and concerns. This part of the sales process is where breakthrough information comes out.
Third, follow-up is a big weakness in many salespeople. The typical sale requires about eight follow-ups after the first meeting. Statistics show that most salespeople give up after one follow-up attempt. I’ll repeat that: Eight follow-ups are needed to close most deals, but most salespeople give up after one attempt.
We also find that salespeople don't do multi-threading. They rely on one person to help them to close deals when they should be bringing more people into the conversation.
They also aren’t analyzing their data and adjusting appropriately. Sellers should look for ways to better leverage social media. This doesn’t just mean having a LinkedIn account and spamming people in the messages. It means posting meaningful content and engaging with prospects in conversational ways. These are just some of the many reasons why we see that sellers are missing quota.
Personalized outreach and building a connection with your client is easy with Owler Max.
Is data important to sales success?
Data is absolutely critical in sales. One of the most important things for salespeople to understand is that analytics is the language of business. You will be well on your way if you can understand this because it’s all about the numbers. Numbers tell stories, teach us, provide guidance, and help us identify difficulties and challenges.
When I began in sales, I immediately wanted to figure out my ratios. So, I started tracking how many calls I made and how many appointments resulted from it. For example, you can find that if you have 50 activities or calls in a day, you’ll get one appointment. Or perhaps you may learn that if you do 10 demos, you may get one closed deal. This lets you know what gaps to close.
You can then take those gap areas and look for ways to fix them. If you have many conversations but aren’t getting an appointment, clearly the right things aren't being said.
Understanding how to analyze data helped me in several areas of business. The more data you know, the better off you will be. I didn’t have to wait for a manager to tell me what to do. By understanding the data, I knew exactly how to move forward.
How can salespeople be successful in our new virtual world?
The way for salespeople to succeed in our new virtual world is to create their own brand. Too often, we find that sales reps are hiding behind their company’s brand or identity. Create your brand. You must be active in sharing posts on social media, LinkedIn specifically, and engage with prospects on social platforms.
The second thing is to create concise messages. Use video tools like Bomb Bomb to create brief videos that grab prospects’ attention.
Third, own your image in virtual meetings. BDRs often have a mindset of “well, I’m just a BDR, I don’t have to dress nice.” Wrong. You have to look presentable on camera. Invest in a good microphone and camera. You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on equipment. You can spend about $100 on an LG camera with a nice crisp view. If you spend a lot of your time in virtual meetings, a good mic will help your voice sound clear and bold.
Finally, have a decent background. You can use tools like Prezi or Zoom to help you with this. You can even find a nice quiet park near your house or a neat room in your home. Make sure your surroundings look good. Come prepared and own your brand. If your brand is clean-shaven, perfect. If your brand means a scruffy look, go for it. The bottom line is that you must look presentable for your ideal customers and be you. Your image plays a vital role in a virtual sales world. If you follow these things, you’ll be able to leverage videos and be successful. We are excited about a course we are building around image and personal branding.
What ignited your passion for sales training?
I started as a sales rep in a B2B space with zero training. I remember feeling frustrated every single day. I had a passion for the product I was selling, but I didn’t know how to sell it effectively. So, I started to explore different things to gain more knowledge. I read books, articles, blogs, and various other things. It seemed like the more things I consumed from what I read and listened to, the more confused I got. I was confused because the proposed processes weren’t working. I had no guidance and an unclear path. I was just super frustrated with it all.
When I finally figured it out and saw success, I was like, “you’ve got to be kidding me!” I went through all that pain and difficulty when the answers were quite simple. I immediately thought, “there has to be somebody to share this knowledge, and I want to be that person.” I wanted to help other people. I knew that if I could be successful at sales, so could anyone else. That’s where my passion began. In addition to that, I love to evangelize about things that work and things that I believe in. It’s like that in all aspects of my life. I’m the kind of guy who gets so excited when I find anything of value and immediately want to share it with others and get them equally excited about it. I like taking people who have little to no training or people who feel stuck and then guiding them. I want to be the voice to help salespeople who are struggling, especially young and new salespeople, to find the path to success.
What has been your greatest sales story?
There are several different great sales stories that I have experienced. One was closing a deal that involved a very long-tail sales process. I worked on the deal for 18 months, and it was riddled with challenges virtually every seller faces.
I had to involve the help of executives and department leaders in the mix. There were times when the deal felt close to closing, but then another obstacle would appear. Fortunately, I eventually closed the $150,000 deal while a software sales rep. I give a lot of the credit for these accomplishments to overcoming my imposter syndrome.
Imposter syndrome ties back to the belief that you are unworthy or not good enough to do something. We must realize that we do have what it takes. Currently, our company closed deals and partnered with companies like LinkedIn, Better Homes & Gardens, HubSpot, and more. I may not be where I am or who I am if I never broke through the imposter syndrome.
Learn more about Donald and his sales training on his website here: https://thesalesevangelist.com/
