Speaker 1: 0:00

The Surviving Outside Sales podcast, hosted by Mike O'Kelley, presented by Sales Builder Academy, the goal is to survive and thrive all phases of outside sales, whether you're getting in, dominating or getting out. Surviving Outside Sales now on with the show. Welcome to the Surviving Outside Sales podcast. I'm your host, mike O'Kelley, and, as promised, I'm dropping more episodes. I do apologize. I was hoping to get one earlier this week because I know that Q4 is dwindling down. I don't know if I'm being hyperbolic, but I do believe that the years are getting so much faster. I cannot believe we are already into November, almost halfway through with Q4. And that's what we're going to touch on today is Q4. And it's unbelievable. I don't know if it's just because I had two kids that are growing up so fast before my eyes it's making my head spin and or if it's just the amount of work that I have, the busyness that I have, but it seems like every time I snap my fingers, it's the weekend, and then all of a sudden, I snap my fingers again and it's the next weekend and things just move very quickly. Enough said with that, let's move forward. Q4. I kind of touched on this when, uh, on the last episode, but we're almost halfway through Q4. So this is probably about the time where, if you are, um, really pressing hard for Q4, or you're really going after it, you're probably starting to run on fumes and you're starting to I'm not going to say be tired, but you kind of feel like, hey, is it going to work? And I'm going to tell you it will All right.

Speaker 1: 1:48

The four. It doesn't matter what type of industry you are in. Okay, q4 is a industry you are in. A lot of the businesses have their fiscal year ends within the calendar year ends, so they have money to spend and they have budgets that they have to use or they're going to lose. And so that's the one thing to understand when you are out there selling to somebody is knowing your audience. You have to understand the why and how they are going to process the buying of your service or product, and it's not just about the product. I've got to.

Speaker 1: 2:39

If I've said one thing that hits home, it is this it's not necessarily about your product. If you have the best product in the world, if you are number one in your space, buyers don't care. And I understood this. I had some great mentors of my past. I understood this, but I really it really hit home this year. It really hit home this past year opening my wellness studio, because one of the things that I have realized as a small business owner I have about 10 to 14 employees is it's not about the product, about the product, it is about the service, it is about the employees and who you, who is giving messages and who is speaking with potential buyers, potential clients, is crucial. What is said is crucial. It's not about the products. Okay, because if it was just about the products, all you would have to do is walk in and present your product and you would get sale after sale after sale If you have a superior product.

Speaker 1: 3:52

Now, sometimes you do. I've mentioned before in the past about the whole launch of Viagra and how it really changed the pharmaceutical world. That's kind of a unicorn, and sometimes products enter the market that are just so far above and beyond and they are brought into markets that are thirsty and they're dying for that product or solution. But for the most part, that doesn't happen. A lot of education has to happen and you have to understand the mindset and the long-term vision and plan of your buyers, and that doesn't matter what industry you're in. It is all about how you're going to connect with all of the right what's the word I'm looking for Processes, or with all of the right ingredients, for instance.

Speaker 1: 4:45

You could have the right product, but it could be the wrong time and it could be hey, penny apologies, my dog is whining Penny, go lay down, go lay down. This is not great podcast episode or not not great recording, but I don't really edit my podcasts, I just let it free flow. Um, it saves me a lot of time, but also, I think it definitely, definitely tends to be more authentic. Um, so my dog is basically staring at me right now and I'm petting her on the head as I'm recording. All right back to sales. So you could have the right product. It could be the wrong time you could have, it could be the lesser of two products, but it's the right time. Your buyer could have had a conversation with their office manager, could have had a conversation with a business partner, a spouse you know what I really need to look for X, y, z and you could really legitimately be at the right place at the right time. And so, when it comes to Q4, this is a great opportunity for you to take a pause and go back to the basics.

Speaker 1: 5:50

I like to call it the blocking and tackling of sales. Are your habits there? Are your processes there? Are your systems there in order for you to execute? And it really comes down to those three things your habits, your processes and your systems. That is the blocking and tackling. Are you just shooting from the hip when you go into some of these offices or do you have a targeted plan for each one of your accounts that you are trying to close?

Speaker 1: 6:21

You cannot treat every account the same. Okay, if you. Just because they're in the same industry, you can't treat them the same. They don't have the same revenue, they don't have the same length that they have been in business or, in practice, they don't have the same experiences. So you have to walk into each one of your accounts as if it was a clean slate.

Speaker 1: 6:48

Now, obviously, if you've been in your territory for a very long time or you've been calling on your accounts, or if you have long existing accounts, you hopefully you know them like the back of your hand. But it is never a bad idea to try to reinvent the conversation, to go back to the beginning, to make sure that you have not forgotten some key things. Okay, how many times have you ever been talking to somebody it doesn't matter if it's a friend, family member, et cetera and they bring up a story and you're like, oh my gosh, I completely forgot about that. Guess what. That happens from your buyers to your product or service and it happens from you to your buyers. You are going to want to touch base and go back to the beginning and try to find out hey, did we miss something here? Is there an opportunity for growth? Because the people that are actually buying from you probably will buy more, especially if you're carrying multiple products. If you've got multiple products, multiple offerings, you have an opportunity to go back and see if there's anything else that you can offer them. You got four products and maybe they're using two of them. Hey, you have an opportunity for the other two. Start up that conversation again.

Speaker 1: 8:09

So if you're new to the show I talk about it all the time this is an opportunity to kind of dump out your bag and reassess everything that you're doing. It doesn't mean change everything you're doing. It just means reassess. Are you doing the fundamentals correctly, the blocking and tackling, habits, processes, systems. Are those all in line? Have you gotten loose? Have you gotten sloppy? Have you gotten lazy, lackadaisical, um, complacent? Just because you're ahead of goal, hey, you can always hit higher and this is one of the things that I. It's a conversation that never ends that people in the sales world, or even now in my business, when we talk about setting goals and sales numbers, the conversation is always about well, I mean, does that mean that our goal is going to go up the next month? Yes, that is the reality of everything in life. If you do something, the person that you, the person that is in the environment, you know, if you're married and you are always doing something in the relationship, it's going to be expected. And when you stop doing that, the other person's going to say hey, why are you not doing this anymore? That's just the reality of life.

Speaker 1: 9:27

But you have no idea when the last day is going to be with your company. You don't know the last sales call you're ever going to make. It happens to all of us. I mentioned before when I played minor league baseball. I never knew when my last at bat was going to be. I was very idealistic and I thought, hey, you know, I'm a good ball player, I'm going to keep getting opportunities. Well, at some point I didn't, and you don't know when your last at bat is going to be, just like you don't know when your last at bat is going to be, just like you don't know when your last sales call is going to be. So you have to take every single opportunity. If you are sandbagging or if you are kicking your feet up, well, I I'm. I'm close to hitting my number. I'm good. I don't want to, I don't want to make it too hard on myself next quarter. What if next quarter doesn't come? You don't know what your other, you don't know what your competition is doing, but you also don't know what opportunities that could have set you up for long-term you could have developed.

Speaker 1: 10:33

Again, I want you to think of every single client journey. So when you're calling on somebody, every single one of those prospects has a client journey. So when you're calling on somebody, every single one of those prospects has a client journey and you have to start that journey with them as soon as possible. Some journeys take longer than others. Some sales cycles could be three, six, 12 months, but you have to have to start that journey as fast as possible and get the ball rolling, because you have no idea who else is out there In the sales world. It can be a game of musical chairs, and if you sit around and wait till the music stops, you could be left without one. So right now it's Q4. It is the quarter to just go all out and work ridiculously hard, harder than you ever thought possible, longer hours than you ever thought possible. Trust me, it's going to be worth it. It's an investment in your future, future success, and I want you to. I want you to think about this. Okay, if right now you are not where you want to be, this can be that pivot moment.

Speaker 1: 11:51

Stop complaining, stop making excuses, stop talking about how busy you are. We're in a hundred percent control of our schedules. What do you do in your free time? What do you do in those breaks between calls? Are you role-playing with yourself? Are you calling and talking to other sales professionals that can make you better? Are you listening to sales books? Are you doing? Are you reading sales books? Are you doing sales training? Are you watching YouTube videos, listening to podcasts? I mean, obviously, right now you're listening to me, thank you. Have you reinvested in yourself? Are you trying to get better?

Speaker 1: 12:30

I've talked to a lot of older sales professionals in their fifties, because part of surviving outside sales is the getting in, dominating and getting out, and I've talked to a lot of 50-something sales professionals and because they reach out to me and I've coached some of them and they want to know how to pivot. They've been carrying a bag their entire career and they want to know how to pivot, to get into something else. And they want to know how to pivot and to get into something else. And the one thing that they always say is they wish they would have started sooner, reinvesting in their development, reinvesting in education and staying connected with the latest trends. Almost all of them had not embraced technology outside of a cell phone. They hadn't thought of doing video sales calls, video sales letters, doing a podcast of their own, and they didn't think of using social media as their friend to connect with people shooting video and content about their product or service.

Speaker 1: 13:48

And so I have to tell you that sometimes in the sales world, it could feel like you're in quick sand because, yes, the sand, the earth and the sand is always moving from under your feet. But if you realize that all you have to do is just keep your feet moving, keep moving forward, keep moving forward. So this can be the time right now where you take a pause and you focus on your habits, your processes and your systems, all right, and you get back to your blocking and tackling and you kind of reassess and normally I don't really talk about the days of the week, but this is a weekend. I'm recording this on a Saturday, so you got time and I'm going to release it today as well. So you have time this weekend to reassess. I know college football is in play. I know NFL football, I know there's stuff going on Shoot, I've got two parties to go to today.

Speaker 1: 14:39

One's a birthday party and one's a party at a house with kids and all that stuff. And then tomorrow is picture day, celebrating my mom's birthday. Well, picture day is the family photos in the fall they go out on the Christmas cards and, of course, there's going to be football on. Go Commanders, my Washington Commanders, a seven and two. I have a big smile on my face. Things are really looking up. Uh, if you've listened to my earlier episodes, I've talked about my sports allegiances. Um, but um, uh, I, um, oh, I just lost my train of thought. Anyway, you have time this weekend to reassess where you are Okay and I highly suggest that you do and you focus on your processes, your systems, your habits. Now, if you want help with any of those habits, processes and systems, reach out to me on LinkedIn.

Speaker 1: 15:43

I have courses. I'm going to be adjusting and working on my courses again. The courses that I offered in the past are not very fast acting. They're they're longer programs, they are three months, they are um, I don't know necessarily say like sales one-on-one, but they're like sales two-one-one, sales three-one-one. Well, I'm going to be releasing some things, some some assets, some things that you can use just for Q4, but also setting you up for Q1. I realized that's the most important thing. The most important thing is right now, and what I'll do in those, what I'll do in those courses, is tell you exactly how I would approach if I was thrust back in the field, if I got a job and I started Monday, what exactly what I was going to do for Q4.

Speaker 1: 16:33

This happened to me. I took a job selling radiation machines several years ago and I started at the end of October and everything that I did during that period to the end of the year closing, selling two devices was my habits, my processes, systems, my blocking and tackling of systems, my blocking and tackling, and some things have changed since then. We have a lot more technology. My outreach and my reach into the territory would have been completely different. But I'll discuss that and I'll briefly talk about it on another episode that I'm going to shoot this weekend and release next week. So please reach out to me if you are interested in that and I'll let you know when that's going to be released. I'll probably release it in the next week.

Speaker 1: 17:18

Thank you to everybody who reached out on LinkedIn, um. I really appreciate it, um. I had a little more than a dozen to 15 people reach out to me, um, from last week's episode, which is great. Normally with my episodes, it seems as if they build up steam after the first two or three weeks, especially since the fact that I'm not promoting it. Um. That means it's just a bunch of listeners that have uh, um, saved my uh page, saved my episodes, and they get notifications every time something is downloaded. So I really appreciate it. I'm glad that I can assist some people with some questions that they had. Please reach out to me on LinkedIn, um. Or you can reach out to me.

Speaker 1: 17:58

Mike at surviving outside salescom Mike at surviving outside salescom, but, as a reminder, next week I'm going to be releasing a Q4 guide to crushing your sales and making sure that you get everything out of Q4, but also set you up for success in 2025. 2025 is going to be here Well, way before we know it it's. It's even crazy to say that we're going to be halfway through the decade the 2020s. Again, I mentioned time is moving way too quickly. Thank you so much. I really do appreciate it.

Speaker 1: 18:26

Share this episode with a friend, talk about what is discussed on on this podcast and reach out to people, tell them hey, you need to listen to this podcast. Um, what I'm seeing in the the the download numbers of the episodes is it is definitely a late uh, late growth type of thing, but the the biggest, the biggest episodes that I see revolve around selling in the Q4, the Q4 guide last year was the number one podcast episode. It's still getting hundreds of downloads a week and the podcast episode is a year old, more than a year old. So that's pretty wild that one episode is getting that kind of traction more than a year later. So thank you for everybody who's been listening. Really do appreciate it and we'll see you next time on surviving outside sales Cheers.