How to Pick Up Sales Wisdom During a Pandemic

WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.540 --> 00:00:09.250 Hello, everybody. And welcome to the hashtag sale Siris on B two b growth I 2 00:00:09.250 --> 00:00:13.580 am your shiny boy co host Patrick Downs and say I am massively excited to be 3 00:00:13.580 --> 00:00:17.750 joined by Alexian Medawar. She is the major account executive at display Er 4 00:00:18.140 --> 00:00:21.360 today we're gonna be talking about how the heck you're supposed to learn the 5 00:00:21.360 --> 00:00:25.980 tribal pastime of the hunting cells role during a pandemic. I've seen if 6 00:00:25.980 --> 00:00:30.110 you may please add some color here. Intro. Yes. Hi, everyone. I am so 7 00:00:30.110 --> 00:00:34.570 excited to be here today. My name is Alex. Seem boudoir. I have spent the 8 00:00:34.570 --> 00:00:39.550 last seven plus years in SAS B two B sales, eh? So I'm really excited to 9 00:00:39.550 --> 00:00:42.970 share some of my tips and tricks and talk about prospecting. I definitely 10 00:00:42.970 --> 00:00:47.440 geek out on the topic outside of my day to day role. I do a lot of teaching as 11 00:00:47.440 --> 00:00:52.330 well, so I teach sales courses for rework, victory lap and Aspire ship. So 12 00:00:52.330 --> 00:00:56.650 I'm a big advocate for just, you know, helping educate others in this space 13 00:00:56.650 --> 00:01:02.090 and especially keeping women in sales as well. So, so excited to be here. I 14 00:01:02.090 --> 00:01:05.800 had no idea you had anything to do with the spire ship. I love that Christine 15 00:01:05.800 --> 00:01:09.960 is a friend of the show. Yeah, well, Christine, thank you for listening. If 16 00:01:09.960 --> 00:01:14.290 you are well, it's It's a pleasure to have you here. The reason that I'm 17 00:01:14.290 --> 00:01:17.740 really excited is even though we've never met I know that you've recently 18 00:01:17.740 --> 00:01:24.730 on boarded during the lock down pandemic. Are you okay? Yes, I am. Okay. 19 00:01:24.730 --> 00:01:29.590 I have survived ramping during a pandemic. I actually have been meaning 20 00:01:29.590 --> 00:01:33.940 to put together a post. That is just my information dump of everything I've 21 00:01:33.940 --> 00:01:37.140 learned really quickly in four weeks during the middle of the pandemic. And 22 00:01:37.150 --> 00:01:41.840 this is actually my first time working remotely full thymus. Well, so it's 23 00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:46.510 been both worlds simultaneously, but it's been good so far. It's been good 24 00:01:46.510 --> 00:01:52.410 so far. Sounds like a cover. But I appreciate I actually have to wrap 25 00:01:52.410 --> 00:01:56.620 people during this, and we're lucky enough to be in. We're now going 26 00:01:56.620 --> 00:02:00.310 outbound. Our model is switching from an inbound outbound model. So we're 27 00:02:00.310 --> 00:02:04.290 having toe teach people outbound that have never done it before during this 28 00:02:04.290 --> 00:02:08.460 situation. And as you know, typically, a lot of this stuff is picked up from 29 00:02:08.460 --> 00:02:12.570 your peers, especially the process and little tricks that make a huge 30 00:02:12.570 --> 00:02:17.140 difference. How has this been different for you? Learning the prospecting 31 00:02:17.140 --> 00:02:20.350 process at your current company versus when you've done it may be out of sales 32 00:02:20.350 --> 00:02:25.370 for Yeah, I mean, there's there's some huge differences and some big hurdles 33 00:02:25.370 --> 00:02:29.900 with, you know, with the good that comes with us. So I think that for me, 34 00:02:29.900 --> 00:02:33.190 one of the biggest things is in the past I've been able to just jump into 35 00:02:33.190 --> 00:02:37.830 conference rooms with people or sitting on calls we obviously have. You know, 36 00:02:37.830 --> 00:02:41.610 the ability to join calls. But it was a little bit more on the fly. Think in 37 00:02:41.610 --> 00:02:44.870 the past where someone could quickly run by my desk when I was just doing, 38 00:02:44.870 --> 00:02:47.170 you know, different on boarding tasks and be like, Hey, I'm jumping on a 39 00:02:47.170 --> 00:02:50.440 price and called You wanna come with? So I think this time it's a little bit 40 00:02:50.440 --> 00:02:54.090 more of a proactive approach where I really have to, like, hunt through 41 00:02:54.090 --> 00:02:56.780 people's calendars. And then if something gets rescheduled, I kind of 42 00:02:56.780 --> 00:02:59.780 have to follow them around through that. So it's a lot more of me kind of 43 00:02:59.780 --> 00:03:04.440 chasing people down. I also don't have as much access Thio People's talk 44 00:03:04.440 --> 00:03:08.800 tracks because I can't hear really when they're doing their cold calls. So I 45 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:12.090 think that part is definitely different, too, because that's even with seven 46 00:03:12.090 --> 00:03:15.490 years of experience is really helpful for me to hear what other people are 47 00:03:15.490 --> 00:03:18.850 saying on the phones because I think one of the things and, you know, I've 48 00:03:18.860 --> 00:03:22.100 been successful so far in the new role, which I'm really excited about, but I 49 00:03:22.100 --> 00:03:25.880 think one of the things I'm I have my pitch. But I have no idea, really, if 50 00:03:25.880 --> 00:03:29.370 that's close to what other people are actually doing for their pitch, So 51 00:03:29.340 --> 00:03:34.180 we're actually going back into the office in the next week here, so I will 52 00:03:34.180 --> 00:03:37.030 finally get to hear other people's pitch for the first time and actually 53 00:03:37.030 --> 00:03:40.640 be around my team for the first time. So it's such an interesting experience. 54 00:03:40.650 --> 00:03:44.590 Wow, Congrats on going back to the office. That's crazy. I can't even 55 00:03:44.590 --> 00:03:49.540 imagine that we sold our office. Yeah, there's no way we're going back. Eso 56 00:03:49.550 --> 00:03:53.490 that'll be interesting to see the differences. I'm curious around the 57 00:03:53.490 --> 00:03:56.650 scripting part because I'm gonna enablement and I provide people with 58 00:03:56.650 --> 00:04:01.570 talk tracks and in different messaging. But typically, I'd rather they take it 59 00:04:01.570 --> 00:04:05.940 and run with it. I don't want anybody using just my words. Eso your point 60 00:04:05.940 --> 00:04:11.470 about the tribal knowledge. Being kind of handicapped is very potent. And 61 00:04:12.540 --> 00:04:16.110 I've been trying to figure that out with my team. How have you seen success 62 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:18.640 with actually getting with people I know you mentioned? You know, it's hard 63 00:04:18.640 --> 00:04:21.589 to hunter the calendars and you almost have to take on, like a project manager 64 00:04:21.589 --> 00:04:27.150 role thio even get ahold of how is that actually happened once you've gotten on 65 00:04:27.150 --> 00:04:31.850 the phone with them? What is that, like, over zoom? Yeah. So I think for me, I 66 00:04:31.860 --> 00:04:34.850 forget who was talking about this on a recent event. But they were talking. 67 00:04:34.850 --> 00:04:36.970 And I've been Scott least, Actually, we're talking about how you have 68 00:04:36.970 --> 00:04:40.510 basically, like, a month where you're allowed to ask, like as many questions 69 00:04:40.510 --> 00:04:43.340 as you can and, like, get to know as many people as you can, and you get 70 00:04:43.340 --> 00:04:46.770 kind of that grace period when you first started job. So I think I really 71 00:04:46.770 --> 00:04:50.660 took advantage of that. My first four weeks, it was like, Hey, I'm brand new 72 00:04:50.660 --> 00:04:54.230 reminder like Hey, can I jump on this? Can I join this? Can you start throwing 73 00:04:54.230 --> 00:04:57.960 me on calls? So people were, you know, You know, some people were more 74 00:04:57.960 --> 00:05:01.980 proactive than others, and that was great. Some people proactively set up 75 00:05:01.980 --> 00:05:06.180 like our long zooms with me just to get to know me. Andi, I think part of this 76 00:05:06.180 --> 00:05:10.570 too. It's It's like anything in life. Like I also wanna add value to them, 77 00:05:10.640 --> 00:05:13.730 especially when you're new. Interval. There's the sense of, like take, take 78 00:05:13.730 --> 00:05:16.790 take because it's like the new person and they need to pick your hate that 79 00:05:16.790 --> 00:05:20.370 phrase. But they need to, like, pick your brain or whatever eso rather than 80 00:05:20.370 --> 00:05:23.430 that be the case and every one of these situations. What I have been trying to 81 00:05:23.430 --> 00:05:26.710 do is do like a little bit of a quid pro quo, like I'm like, Hey, can I sit 82 00:05:26.710 --> 00:05:29.670 in on a few of your calls? Can you help me understand some more of this talk 83 00:05:29.670 --> 00:05:33.110 track? What are some of the most common objections or Hey, I just got this 84 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:36.450 objection on a cool call. Can you talk me through how you would have done it 85 00:05:36.640 --> 00:05:39.970 and then a return. I noticed, like a lot of people don't use LinkedIn 86 00:05:39.970 --> 00:05:42.970 heavily, so I was like, maybe we could do a session. You know, once I'm like a 87 00:05:42.970 --> 00:05:45.520 little bit further in here where I could go through LinkedIn and we can 88 00:05:45.520 --> 00:05:49.600 either play with your profile and I can help you with some branding things or 89 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:53.880 weaken talk through some linked in maths teaching. So that's really been 90 00:05:53.880 --> 00:05:56.840 really successful for me. I've just been kind of doing that quid pro quo 91 00:05:56.840 --> 00:06:01.710 approach, and I think it's gone well so far. I love that approach. One of the 92 00:06:01.710 --> 00:06:04.510 things I struggle with what I've done that with too many people is you start 93 00:06:04.510 --> 00:06:08.340 to get conflicting advice, and that's natural because different things work 94 00:06:08.340 --> 00:06:12.390 for different people. When you go through all those different like zoom 95 00:06:12.390 --> 00:06:16.150 coffees, how do you actually implement that into your workflow and test it out 96 00:06:16.150 --> 00:06:20.630 and get toe? What's your voice? Yeah, and that's a really good call out, 97 00:06:20.630 --> 00:06:24.550 because I do feel like I'll hear one thing from someone, and then you hear 98 00:06:24.550 --> 00:06:28.020 something different from someone else. And the reality is, every sales person 99 00:06:28.020 --> 00:06:30.930 has a completely different style, like we have people on the team that are 100 00:06:30.930 --> 00:06:33.710 highly introverted that have done really well here and then We have 101 00:06:33.710 --> 00:06:37.420 highly extroverted people to also do really well. They're talk tracks are 102 00:06:37.420 --> 00:06:40.860 nothing alike. I mean, there's bits and pieces, obviously that are gonna 103 00:06:40.860 --> 00:06:44.320 overlap. But for the most part, completely different styles and talk 104 00:06:44.320 --> 00:06:48.760 track. So I think for me, I try to hold in on what sounds like me because I've 105 00:06:48.760 --> 00:06:53.220 been in this long enough to know, like, what would be natural for me to say and 106 00:06:53.220 --> 00:06:56.640 what would feel very, very unnatural. So some of the talk tracks, like we 107 00:06:56.640 --> 00:06:59.780 have a lot of resource is that were provided to be in writing. You know 108 00:06:59.780 --> 00:07:02.900 this if you're on the enablement side, seals People were notorious for not 109 00:07:02.910 --> 00:07:07.530 being like the most studios with sales enablement materials, so I'll just Oh, 110 00:07:07.530 --> 00:07:11.610 not right up front. But I think that for me, it's just picking through there. 111 00:07:11.610 --> 00:07:14.990 So what I did was like, skimp all of those materials that were given to me. 112 00:07:14.990 --> 00:07:18.600 And then I created, like, a cheat sheet for myself, and I basically took out 113 00:07:18.600 --> 00:07:22.440 like little exurbs like this one Sounds like me. But then some of it was super 114 00:07:22.440 --> 00:07:26.190 clunky, and it would have been hard for me. Thio convey over a cold call. So 115 00:07:26.190 --> 00:07:29.380 then I skipped some certain things. And then, you know, maybe I grabbed a 116 00:07:29.380 --> 00:07:32.250 couple client names that I thought were really relevant, and that's like the 117 00:07:32.250 --> 00:07:35.580 next piece. So I have this little cheat sheet that I basically cold call with 118 00:07:35.580 --> 00:07:39.350 Now. That's essentially all the pieces of information that made the most sense 119 00:07:39.350 --> 00:07:42.950 to me both from those conversations with colleagues and that written 120 00:07:42.950 --> 00:07:47.340 content that I went through. And then I kind of married those two together and 121 00:07:47.340 --> 00:07:51.360 made a talk track sheet that works for me. Does your company have an overall 122 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:56.360 exhales methodology, or is it more loose? Eso were about 50 people, so 123 00:07:56.360 --> 00:08:00.890 we're not at that stage yet. We do have. Our chief revenue officer has a ton of 124 00:08:00.890 --> 00:08:04.510 experience in sales. He was, you know, part of the reason that I signed on, I 125 00:08:04.510 --> 00:08:08.580 was really interested in his background. So I do think as we get deeper and 126 00:08:08.580 --> 00:08:14.460 we'll start more strict methodologies. But I also I'm in the school of thought 127 00:08:14.460 --> 00:08:17.670 were actually like playing with different methodologies like I've never 128 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:20.640 And this has come back to bite me even when I interviewed before. Like people 129 00:08:20.640 --> 00:08:23.690 ask you that question and interview. Do you have one specific methodology you 130 00:08:23.690 --> 00:08:28.740 felt? And I don't I've read a ton of books. I've done different training 131 00:08:28.740 --> 00:08:32.450 courses. I've done all these workshops, and so there are pieces of every one of 132 00:08:32.450 --> 00:08:36.510 these methodologies that I think are valuable. But for me, as a salesperson, 133 00:08:36.510 --> 00:08:39.730 I've never religiously stopped toe one, and I'm very honest about that. In 134 00:08:39.730 --> 00:08:44.850 interviews, Thio I found the best salespeople typically mutate the 135 00:08:44.850 --> 00:08:48.990 different methodologies until one and create their own like the one that I 136 00:08:48.990 --> 00:08:54.190 created for my company is just a bunch of stuff bastardized. Just put on a 137 00:08:54.190 --> 00:08:58.810 Google doc, you know, and I'm hoping that somebody will bastardize mine. So 138 00:08:58.810 --> 00:09:03.560 I'm glad to hear that, and like with a bunch of Josh Braun and then Kevin 139 00:09:03.560 --> 00:09:07.690 Dorsey and all those people out there, and I think that's another major thing 140 00:09:07.700 --> 00:09:10.750 that's been helping me during this period where I can't talk to my peers 141 00:09:10.750 --> 00:09:16.130 as much in person is linked. Unlike there is so much free sales advice, you 142 00:09:16.130 --> 00:09:20.670 could literally just download Lincoln's feed and you have a sales book. They're 143 00:09:20.670 --> 00:09:25.170 like 100 sales books. There's no way to even consume it. Also, like similar to 144 00:09:25.170 --> 00:09:29.210 how I'd asked earlier about picking through your peers. Like, Do you 145 00:09:29.210 --> 00:09:32.750 consume a lot of that stuff? And how does that affect your sale style? 146 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:38.610 Absolutely. Yeah, I am constantly on Lincoln Lincoln kind of replaced like 147 00:09:38.610 --> 00:09:42.150 Instagram and Facebook for me. So it's like it feels like a more professional 148 00:09:42.150 --> 00:09:46.730 social media. But I feel like all the hours I spent on those just mutated 149 00:09:46.730 --> 00:09:51.120 over to Lincoln. So it's kind of funny that now that's like my social media. 150 00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:54.310 Even at night. I'm reading through there. So I spent several hours a day 151 00:09:54.310 --> 00:09:58.770 on there a lot of in my free time. And I definitely follow, you know, every 152 00:09:58.770 --> 00:10:02.280 thought leader you can think of, and I love reading their different thoughts. 153 00:10:02.280 --> 00:10:05.740 I love their methodologies. Sometimes I disagree with what they say. Like some 154 00:10:05.750 --> 00:10:08.390 there. You know, this. There's a lot of thought leaders that are like cold 155 00:10:08.390 --> 00:10:11.680 calling is dead and they go on their tension about it. I don't agree, but 156 00:10:11.680 --> 00:10:15.770 then I'll see them post something else about so each doll. That's really great. 157 00:10:15.770 --> 00:10:20.760 I'm like, Well, that was a cool to tip in trick. So I think that you take what 158 00:10:20.760 --> 00:10:23.990 you can from people and I take everything with a grain of salt because 159 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:29.000 even, you know, a lot of these podcast will share like fun prospecting stories 160 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:32.750 or some crazy way that we got a meeting. The reality is that that way that we 161 00:10:32.750 --> 00:10:35.350 got a meeting isn't gonna work. For every salesperson, there's like a 162 00:10:35.350 --> 00:10:38.410 certain level of confidence. There's a certain type of messaging that we used 163 00:10:38.410 --> 00:10:41.700 to get that meeting, and if another person tried that, it might not work. 164 00:10:41.700 --> 00:10:45.700 So I think it's just taking information with a grain of salt, but also again 165 00:10:45.700 --> 00:10:50.360 marrying together pieces of information that are really helpful. And I also 166 00:10:50.360 --> 00:10:54.910 noticed I might be late to the party here, but like Scott least, I just 167 00:10:54.910 --> 00:10:57.820 joined his patryan. There's like a couple of people that I'm watching 168 00:10:57.820 --> 00:11:01.870 where I'm actually gonna start joining their patryan accounts as well. But I 169 00:11:01.880 --> 00:11:06.550 didn't even really know about patryan until, you know, very recently. So I 170 00:11:06.550 --> 00:11:09.790 think that's a really cool resource, and then these sales communities to 171 00:11:09.790 --> 00:11:14.210 that have spun off from linked in like rev. Genius like Revenue Collective. 172 00:11:14.220 --> 00:11:18.210 Where then I have slack channels to. That's where I get like a lot of my day 173 00:11:18.210 --> 00:11:22.360 to day acknowledge. Sharing is from the slack channels, more so than LinkedIn 174 00:11:22.360 --> 00:11:26.690 feed. It's crazy. The information don't, though, Like a zoo, you mentioned. Some 175 00:11:26.690 --> 00:11:30.920 people are saying cold calling is dead. Oh, social selling is the way to Gol. 176 00:11:30.920 --> 00:11:34.540 We should even doing face time drops like I have a friend that's all about 177 00:11:34.540 --> 00:11:38.050 face time in cold right now. And it's booking them like crazy amounts of 178 00:11:38.050 --> 00:11:41.850 meetings with Fortune 500 sea levels, which is wild to me. But it's one of 179 00:11:41.850 --> 00:11:44.950 those things where if you could go somewhere where no one else is, 180 00:11:45.040 --> 00:11:48.490 typically you have more air time. That's why something like Link linked 181 00:11:48.490 --> 00:11:52.320 in voicemail, where Lincoln Video is performing so well right now. It's 182 00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:57.310 because no one else is doing it because it Z yeah, and honestly, I'm like, 183 00:11:57.310 --> 00:12:00.520 stoked. When I see those posts. They're like cool call instead of like, yes, 184 00:12:00.520 --> 00:12:05.970 like, yeah, nobody else Cool call. Because then I because my market yes, 185 00:12:05.970 --> 00:12:09.460 I'm like, cool. It talks. Yeah, you know. So I think, yeah, with all of 186 00:12:09.460 --> 00:12:12.870 that e. Just take what I can from that information and like, put it all 187 00:12:12.870 --> 00:12:15.860 together and then walk away with what makes the most sense for me. But 188 00:12:15.860 --> 00:12:19.500 there's stuff that works for me, too, for a while, and then I'll hit a wall 189 00:12:19.500 --> 00:12:22.990 with it to like, sometimes social is really hot. And then there will be, 190 00:12:22.990 --> 00:12:25.550 like, a couple weeks where I'm just not booking meetings from there, and I'm 191 00:12:25.550 --> 00:12:29.450 like, Cool and, you know, maybe I pivot a little bit or I talk about going back 192 00:12:29.450 --> 00:12:32.630 to basics a lot. Like if I hit a wall, I'm not getting meetings for, like, a 193 00:12:32.630 --> 00:12:35.970 week or something, you know, I just restart like how I would approach a 194 00:12:35.970 --> 00:12:40.460 brand new lead and just, like, restart the process all over again. So, um, 195 00:12:40.470 --> 00:12:44.500 there is so much good content right now, and I eke out on it, but it's also 196 00:12:44.510 --> 00:12:47.810 really overwhelming. I don't know if you feel that way, but it's like now 197 00:12:47.810 --> 00:12:51.660 that we are kind of trapped at home. It was surrounded by all this good 198 00:12:51.660 --> 00:12:56.090 information. I wanna intake it all as much as possible But it's really hard 199 00:12:56.090 --> 00:12:59.460 to because it's everywhere. It's the slack channels. It's patryan! It's 200 00:12:59.540 --> 00:13:04.770 LinkedIn it z webinars. It's different events. So it is. It does get heavy to 201 00:13:04.770 --> 00:13:08.580 kind of like fall along with everything, too. Have you implemented any of it 202 00:13:08.580 --> 00:13:13.640 recently? I'm playing around with video now. So video Morgan and Graham was 203 00:13:13.640 --> 00:13:17.680 like poking at me for a long time about that, so that definitely gave me a 204 00:13:17.680 --> 00:13:21.710 little bit of a push. So when I was interviewing, I actually replaced all 205 00:13:21.710 --> 00:13:26.430 of my thank you notes with thank you videos. And that was part of the reason 206 00:13:26.430 --> 00:13:30.000 that a lot of the companies I ended up having multiple offers that I chose 207 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:33.430 from. And I ended up having a full out of several companies that I was in 208 00:13:33.430 --> 00:13:36.750 final stages with because I had already signed. But that was like a huge 209 00:13:36.750 --> 00:13:40.750 differentiator even for the interview process. So now that now that I've 210 00:13:40.750 --> 00:13:44.820 landed by any role and I've accepted it, I I'm starting to play around with what 211 00:13:44.820 --> 00:13:49.180 can I do with it for prospecting lies. So that's so TVT. I'll get some data 212 00:13:49.180 --> 00:13:55.430 around it. I started testing out like hyper personalized outreach through 213 00:13:55.430 --> 00:14:01.470 video and the screen share function was the game changer. Have you tried that 214 00:14:01.480 --> 00:14:06.800 before? Where you're screening? It's amazing. So what you do is you find 215 00:14:06.800 --> 00:14:10.010 either like a job posting or they're linked in page or some other social, 216 00:14:10.020 --> 00:14:12.990 and you screen share on it. And then you pick a point that relates to kind 217 00:14:12.990 --> 00:14:16.290 of what you dio. And then you ask them a pointed question about it with the 218 00:14:16.290 --> 00:14:19.530 visual. And the cool thing is, when they see the thumbnail they see like 219 00:14:19.530 --> 00:14:22.620 they're linked in profile with their website. So it's something that will 220 00:14:22.620 --> 00:14:28.130 get them to click it and respond to your question. So maybe try that out. 221 00:14:28.130 --> 00:14:33.770 That's a Smith. Yeah, there are a lot of, like, really good, and that's it's 222 00:14:33.770 --> 00:14:37.500 like funny cause I'm starting Thio follow Different people to that are 223 00:14:37.500 --> 00:14:41.090 really like posting some of these, like some people are actually posting like 224 00:14:41.090 --> 00:14:45.140 prospecting videos that they've sent out, like Jeremy Libya does. David 225 00:14:45.140 --> 00:14:49.030 McHale does that like they're just really good examples and eso I'm almost 226 00:14:49.030 --> 00:14:52.770 like a little intimidated because even my videos or sometimes choppy, so I 227 00:14:52.770 --> 00:14:57.220 have to step it up. But to your point like these are the most. I mean, as a 228 00:14:57.220 --> 00:15:01.490 facetime thing freaks me out. But if it's working, then it's working. And 229 00:15:01.490 --> 00:15:04.640 that's the thing, like, it's just whatever you're comfortable with that's 230 00:15:04.640 --> 00:15:07.820 getting you meetings run with it as long as people aren't, you know, like 231 00:15:07.820 --> 00:15:11.940 super uncomfortable. I also think it depends on who your audience is, like. 232 00:15:11.940 --> 00:15:17.510 I'm prospecting heavily into, like VPs, heads of the analytics and like market 233 00:15:17.510 --> 00:15:22.280 research. So I'm focused on the top level of the organization. Much in my 234 00:15:22.280 --> 00:15:26.140 book right now is enterprise accounts, so I don't know that like FaceTime for 235 00:15:26.140 --> 00:15:29.990 that specific persona would go well. Like I could see it going south very 236 00:15:29.990 --> 00:15:35.100 quickly. But, um, if I was prospecting into, like, marketing or like sales, I 237 00:15:35.100 --> 00:15:37.790 could see that going really well. So I also think you have to take into 238 00:15:37.790 --> 00:15:42.600 account like your specific market. But then there are assumptions, Like when I 239 00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:45.270 came into this company, my assumption was that would be doing a lot of 240 00:15:45.270 --> 00:15:48.820 prospecting in written form because I didn't expect that I would catch so 241 00:15:48.820 --> 00:15:53.010 many people. And what's happening is most of my prospecting, like last week, 242 00:15:53.010 --> 00:15:56.550 I said, I think one meeting a day and they were all vehicle calls. So people 243 00:15:56.550 --> 00:16:02.220 are actually picking up their calls, which I wasn't expecting either. So so 244 00:16:02.220 --> 00:16:06.100 it's a It's an interesting time for sure. What's your cold call opener? 245 00:16:06.110 --> 00:16:10.510 It's not So I wish that it was super scientific. This is like my little 246 00:16:10.510 --> 00:16:14.490 trick that I use. I'm like, you know, Hi, this is out seeing, calling And 247 00:16:14.490 --> 00:16:17.030 then they're like, You know, I'll give them a second to digest and then I'll 248 00:16:17.030 --> 00:16:20.500 say, I'm calling from display. Er, um just name, ring a bell and then, you 249 00:16:20.500 --> 00:16:23.470 know, of course, they always say no and I'll usually say this and it helps, 250 00:16:23.470 --> 00:16:27.070 like, have the ice a little. I'll just say, you know, I'm just gonna own it. I 251 00:16:27.070 --> 00:16:31.160 think we inundated you with some emails. You know, last quarter you probably got, 252 00:16:31.170 --> 00:16:34.450 you know, eight of those in a row, so I'm not sure if that rings a bell and 253 00:16:34.450 --> 00:16:37.730 it disarms them a little bit like it's so silly. It's just like a little 254 00:16:37.730 --> 00:16:41.320 phrase, but it's true. I mean, I'll look through like our sales force 255 00:16:41.320 --> 00:16:45.030 activity and look and I'll see that we did that in a date them, But that has 256 00:16:45.030 --> 00:16:48.140 been, honestly, really easy to help me cut the ice with people, too, because 257 00:16:48.140 --> 00:16:51.850 some people, it's like they can tell no matter what you say when you open like 258 00:16:51.850 --> 00:16:54.580 they know you're cool calling like there's, I know that there's people 259 00:16:54.580 --> 00:16:57.720 that say they can like cool, calm People don't realize it's a cool call. 260 00:16:57.730 --> 00:17:02.200 I've never had that feeling like I feel like people just know. And so I just 261 00:17:02.200 --> 00:17:04.810 like to own it and start with something like that where it's like a little bit 262 00:17:04.810 --> 00:17:09.250 humorous and a little bit disarming. Thio. I think how you Sound Matters 263 00:17:09.250 --> 00:17:13.760 More and Kevin Dorsey on. He mentioned that a lot where everybody's trying to, 264 00:17:13.760 --> 00:17:18.099 like find the secret sauce for an opener. But it's really like, Do you 265 00:17:18.099 --> 00:17:21.490 listen to your calls and go? Did I sound like some people want to talk to 266 00:17:21.490 --> 00:17:25.400 you? Or that sounds like an actual human being? That's the deepest thing 267 00:17:25.400 --> 00:17:28.030 is like, I think what people say it doesn't sound like a cold call is it 268 00:17:28.030 --> 00:17:31.850 sounds like a person calling you. That's what I'm going for. So when I 269 00:17:31.850 --> 00:17:35.220 call you. It's like, Oh, it's just Patrick and not Hey, what's going on? 270 00:17:35.220 --> 00:17:39.560 John? Yes, Patrick Panel. How you doing? That tone that every sales person uses 271 00:17:39.570 --> 00:17:44.330 that some poor person taught everyone. Yeah. How do you focus on your calls? 272 00:17:44.340 --> 00:17:49.860 Yeah. Yeah, And tonality is like they say, 95% of communication. That's such 273 00:17:49.860 --> 00:17:55.540 a crazy number is that you could really control the conversation as long as you 274 00:17:55.540 --> 00:17:58.770 start off with, like, a positive, upbeat tone. And that's why, like I 275 00:17:58.770 --> 00:18:02.770 coached this a lot is like, if you are in a funk or you're in a bad mood like 276 00:18:02.780 --> 00:18:06.490 don't pick up the phone like, for the love of God, like, go for a walk and 277 00:18:06.490 --> 00:18:10.250 come back. Go get a coffee, come back. But like if you are in a bad mood, you 278 00:18:10.250 --> 00:18:14.660 will very quickly noticed, like you're cool. Call Block is not going very hot, 279 00:18:14.670 --> 00:18:18.920 especially if I have, like, two or three calls in a row where someone 280 00:18:18.920 --> 00:18:22.810 seems like a little bit like, you know, they just seem like they have a mood or 281 00:18:22.810 --> 00:18:26.800 funk to them. Then that's like a moment where I taken introspective look and 282 00:18:26.800 --> 00:18:30.170 I'm like you know what I think I have a mood and I am projecting that on 283 00:18:30.170 --> 00:18:34.270 someone else, and then it's coming back on me. So I think, yeah, atonality is 284 00:18:34.270 --> 00:18:39.940 huge and I think to just kind of like trying to avoid some of the typical 285 00:18:39.940 --> 00:18:43.170 like sales talk tracks, like we talked a lot about, like, pattern interrupt. 286 00:18:43.180 --> 00:18:47.100 And I think, like that's what I try to do on these cold calls to is like, What 287 00:18:47.100 --> 00:18:50.410 can I say that they're not expecting? Like, for instance, I have one last 288 00:18:50.410 --> 00:18:53.450 week where I scheduled a meeting and they were like, We're going on vacation, 289 00:18:53.640 --> 00:18:57.340 you know? So can we schedule the call after we get back from vacation? And I 290 00:18:57.340 --> 00:18:59.860 was like, Oh, cool, are you going? You know, where you going for vacation? And 291 00:18:59.860 --> 00:19:02.950 they're like, Oh, what? And I was like, Yeah, they're like Yellowstone. I was 292 00:19:02.950 --> 00:19:06.890 like, Oh, cool, you know, whatever. It started asking them questions about the 293 00:19:06.890 --> 00:19:10.780 hat. And it's just such like an unexpected move, I think, to where 294 00:19:10.780 --> 00:19:14.270 people are like, Oh, they're asking about my vacation or, you know, this 295 00:19:14.270 --> 00:19:17.400 and that. So I think pattern interrupt their really important Thio, the 296 00:19:17.400 --> 00:19:21.770 unexpected. I think that's the theme of this conversation. And, uh, we've we've 297 00:19:21.770 --> 00:19:25.580 hit the end of the long and winding road And thank you so much for being 298 00:19:25.580 --> 00:19:28.850 here and coming on this journey with us. Is there anything that you would wanna 299 00:19:28.850 --> 00:19:34.000 plug before we go today? Yeah, I think the main thing. Make sure to connect 300 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:38.780 with me on LinkedIn. I love talking, prospecting ideas. So my entire inboxes 301 00:19:38.780 --> 00:19:41.810 Me chatting with people about prospecting techniques that they're 302 00:19:41.810 --> 00:19:46.000 trying or people sending me messaging. So I love collaborating with others. So 303 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:49.730 she shoot me a note on LinkedIn, connect with me there, and then I try 304 00:19:49.730 --> 00:19:53.280 to periodically post content. That's helpful, Thio, especially around 305 00:19:53.280 --> 00:19:57.200 prospecting strategies that are working well for me. So make sure to connect. 306 00:19:57.200 --> 00:20:01.650 And I'm excited to talk to some new folks soon. Thank you so much. Yes. 307 00:20:01.650 --> 00:20:05.290 Please connect with Alex seen on LinkedIn and thank you everybody for 308 00:20:05.290 --> 00:20:08.370 listening to this episode. This is again forever. Your generational 309 00:20:08.370 --> 00:20:12.510 haunting of a co host, Patrick Downs. I am the sales trainer of Panda. Doc, I 310 00:20:12.510 --> 00:20:15.970 love you. Don't ever change and see you next time. Bye, everybody 311 00:20:17.540 --> 00:20:21.410 This'll Episode is brought to you by Panda Doc. Sending your documents as 312 00:20:21.410 --> 00:20:25.370 PDFs through email is Super Old School. It's timeto while the socks off your 313 00:20:25.370 --> 00:20:29.270 prospects, clients and colleagues. By creating, sending, tracking and e 314 00:20:29.270 --> 00:20:34.040 signing with Panda Doc, go to panda dot dot com slash b two b today and start a 315 00:20:34.040 --> 00:20:36.950 completely free trial. No credit card required.