Stop talking. Just stop.

Published: Wed, 06/21/23

June 21, 2023

TOGETHER WITH

Welcome back. The countdown is on! Nine days from now you’ll either be popping champagne to celebrate another successful quarter or popping champagne to drown your sorrows after another unsuccessful quarter. Either way, you will drink with tears in your eyes. In this week’s issue, we interview a sales manager for a home improvement firm, share a Sales Fail about talking too much, and give some advice to a rep who regrets leaving their job. Let’s go.

NUMBER OF THE WEEK

24.6

Outreach emails with long subject lines have a 24.6% higher average response rate compared to those with short subject lines.

Source: Backlinko

SALES ROUNDUP

Here’s what’s happening in the sales world this week:

The Chief Marketing Officer for tech firm Twilio predicts that in 12 months, AI is going to change sales and marketing at every single company. Joyce Kim described a world where marketers could create individualized ad campaigns, and where each potential customer would receive a different message that's tailored to their needs and behaviors. All reps would need to do is close. Easy enough, right?! You can read the full article here.
While not necessarily new, we recently came across a fascinating article that chronicles the history of the American salesman, as told by a Harvard professor who literally wrote the book, Birth of a Salesman. He talks about the rise and development of modern sales from the 18th century to the present day. It’s a good read. Check it out here.

FEATURE

An interview with Andrew Leachman, Senior Sales Manager at Feazel, a roofing, home exterior, and solar roofing company.

Andrew Leachman is a Senior Sales Manager at Feazel, a roofing, windows, and home exteriors company. He is also a retired bodybuilder, who stands 6’3, and at one point, weighed 275 pounds. We talked to Andrew about his background, and about what it’s like to manage a team that sells home improvement services directly to consumers. The interview had been edited for length and clarity.

You’ve been selling for nearly a decade. How did you get your start in sales? When did you know it would be your career?

On some level, I always knew I’d be in sales. As a kid, if I could always make a buck when I was hustling. In junior high, I had a couple of run-ins where I was almost suspended because I was essentially supplying the entire school with candy. I’d buy it in bulk, double the price, and flip it at school. It was great until the teachers and principal were wondering where all this candy was coming from.

In regards to my current sales career, it actually relates back to my bodybuilding days. I was always seeing these successful guys training around 11am and wondered what kind of job they had that allowed such flexibility. I inquired, and that winter, I was hired as a roofing salesman. I figured out almost immediately that the goal was to sell, recruit, and train more guys to do the same to earn an unlimited and uncapped amount on overrides to supplement my own sales. Once I knew that I was good at recruiting and had beginner's luck with selling, I was hooked.

You manage a sales team that sells roofing and home exterior remodeling. What’s it like selling directly to consumers? What are some of the upsides/downsides?

I love that part of my job. Also, I don't recruit from within the industry. In my experience, identifying the intangibles without having prior experience to muddy up Feazel’s process is the best case scenario. I prefer to hire people I know or trust and then teach them the trade. What is so unique about our sales process is, we do loads of home restoration and mitigation through insurance carriers. So our sales cycle is not the same as a retail guy who shows up one time.

The only downside is really the prolonged mitigation periods with the insurance carriers, which prolongs the pay cycle and ultimately the paychecks of the sales guys. But, once they get a full pipeline and keep hustling, they never worry about that initial paycheck again.

What’s some advice you have for a homeowner who is in the process of buying a new roof or solar? What are some things to look for in the buying process? How can someone get the best deal?

My first suggestion would be to ensure they are hiring an established General Contractor who has done the base trade for a good while and is integrating solar. I see a lot of “solar” first companies installing panels without doing sun exposure reports to ensure they are getting a good system placement, and I see a lot of poorly constructed new roofs directly under all of those panels. If your roof is installed wrong and needs to be replaced, all of those panels have to come off for a new install. A lot of those companies go out of business within 24 months, leaving customers with no warranty and nobody to call when something goes wrong. With such new technology, a warranty is worth its weight in gold.

What does a typical work day look like for you? Walk us through it.

I typically wake up around 7 am, eat something light, and most days go and do a 60-90 minute workout. Then, I’m getting ready and hitting a team meeting/or coordinating with my team to get an idea of what they have going on and if there is anywhere they might need my help. I keep an open and casual line of communication with them. I try to pride myself on not micromanaging and setting expectations by my own actions. Typically, by 11am I’m either out on appointments or working through my open jobs trying to get them closer to a close. I’m usually in the office until after 5 and I usually catch up with my boss on any outstanding items I need some direction on. Some days, I’m done by 3pm and head home and enjoy some time in my yard, or at the driving range if the weather is nice and I’m on top of my customers. It’s always a moving schedule. The beauty is, I don't have to ask for PTO and can do whatever I want as long as I stay on top of my customers and keep producing.

What's the one thing you’ve found that helps you be successful in sales?

I’d say the self confidence I have from my years of bodybuilding. That self-confidence doesn’t come from ego, it comes because of how many people told me I couldn’t be a bodybuilder, and with enough reps (repetitions) that’s exactly what I became. So, no matter what, if you’re willing to do the work, you can become good at anything.

What are your long term career goals? Early retirement or future CRO?

I don’t know what I’d do if I were to retire. I think if I won the Mega Millions tomorrow, I’d still keep my job. (I might take a nice vacation though lol) I definitely think I have aspirations for a higher role within Feazel. The amount of growth I have personally witnessed coupled with what is forecasted, I hope to find something that fits. Personally, I think being in charge of a department of sales guys would fit my style as a next step. I am very happy with my current role as I am completely uncapped with unlimited growth potential. So, for me, there may never be a better job with the freedom-to-income ratio being the most important factor. I’m sure something with a fancier title will come along eventually, but it’s not my driving force.

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Join our expert host, Morgan J. Ingram, and insightful judges, Nick Bennet and Brian Spellman, for an amazing, blow-by-blow commentary and analysis of each player's cold email skills.

But that's not all – you'll also get the chance to network with top-performing sales professionals and witness the ultimate clash of cold email titans. Don't miss out on this unforgettable event – register now and join in the action!

MEME OF THE WEEK

Source: Instagram -- Sales Humor

QUIZ

What is the largest automotive dealer group by number of salespeople?

A. Lithia Motors
B. AutoNation
C. Penske Automotive Group
D. Sonic Automotive

SALES FAILS

Each week, we bring you the most cringe-worthy sales moments from across the web. To submit your sales fail story for consideration, click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

I've worked in tech sales for close to a decade. Very early in my career, I was working for a small startup. This was my first job in tech sales, and I probably only got hired because the company was so small. There were a total of six employees and our engineering team was based in Estonia.

The sales team consisted of me, another Account Executive, and the VP of Sales. That was it. Just the three of us. All day long, we called prospective customers from what was basically the phone book — we sold software to motels, so we basically just called motels all day. Sometimes, we would get inbound leads, but it was about 80% outbound.

One day, I got us a meeting with a pretty big (for us) motel group in North Carolina. The plan was for my sales manager to run the meeting, which I was fine with. We got on a conference call (video calls weren’t as big as they are now), and I introduced our team, and the hotel group partner introduced his side — there were four of them: the owner and three managers.

My VP of sales gave his opening spiel. Then (as planned) he asked the owner a question. The owner gave a very short answer, and I think my VP got nervous, because he just started talking and talking and talking. He talked for like five minutes straight. Then, when he paused again, the other side didn’t say anything, so he kept on talking. I swear, he talked for a half hour straight, just because he was afraid of encountering any silence.

It was so ridiculous that I wanted to motion for him to zip his lips, but I also didn’t want to offend him since he was my boss and up to that point had taught me everything I knew about tech sales. In any case, he kept talking until they finally cut him off and told him they had a hard stop. They were polite but I think we came off as complete amateurs. There was no deal.

Anonymous Location withheld

GRAPH OF THE WEEK

Source: LinkedIn Poll -- June 2023

WORTH A PEEK

Are you sick of hearing about AI? Well, we are too, but we’re still going to share this article from Vidyard, which some might find useful. It covers the best ChatGPT prompts for sales, from prospecting emails, to sales scripts, to role play. It’s a good guide! Check it out here.

ASK THE QUOTA

Want to submit a question and be featured in our advice column? Click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

Dear Quota Team,

A few months ago, I left a great sales job for a job that I thought was going to be better. This new job involves some recruiting. The reason I took the new job was because I was told the upside was astronomical. But after working here for a while, it’s clear that the numbers I was shown were major outliers. Basically, my income is much more likely to be closer to what I was making before, although it will likely be a bit higher.

I was happy where I was before. The company was laid back, treated their employees fairly, and the sales process was not incredibly difficult or stressful. I was making a nice living. But I started getting a bit restless and saw the dollar signs at this new place and decided that I would rather make as much money as possible instead of sticking with what I knew was a great gig.

It’s starting to sink in that I’ve made a pretty big mistake. I don’t like this new company very much. The environment is very tense and stuffy. People don’t really talk to each other. There’s no camaraderie, and I feel like I’m always being watched. But I am worried that by leaving my previous job, it was like a slap in the face to my previous employer. They were very kind of course, but I’m afraid to try to get my old job back. Either way, I know I can’t stay here long-term. Do you have any advice?

Regretful in The Midwest

Dear Regretful,

You’re definitely not the first sales rep to make this mistake, and you certainly won’t be the last. The grass is always greener on the other side, and the commission checks always seem bigger and easier to attain at another company. It’s the way of the world.

You should reach out to your previous employer. Compose an email to the manager, or to the person with whom you have a relationship who would have a say in bringing you back. Be honest. Explain your reasons for leaving, as well as your reasons for wanting to come back.

This second part is important: make sure you talk about what you miss, and what you appreciated about the company and the management. Tell them you made a mistake. Ask if there is any possibility of you getting your old job back. Be direct. Swallow your pride.

There’s no guarantee that they’ll take you back, but there’s a decent chance that they will. You have already done the job, and know the company’s processes. And for them, they already know what they’re getting. Give it a shot. You have nothing to lose. And if it doesn’t work out, you can always try to find something else. It’ll work out. Don’t worry. Good luck!

Quiz answer: C – Penske Automotive Group – 4,305 (you can read the source article here)

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Today's email was written by Ken Kupchik, Erica Furgiuele, Steve Rado, and Emily Hill.

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