Tonight the Triangle SaaS Sales Grind org held an event at Pendo Offices teaching what it takes to become a top sales rep! It was a great evening of networking and chance to learn from expert panel of accomplished sales leaders and reps. They discussed tactics, tips, and personal choices that helped them achieve and continue to help them be A-players. Hard work, experience, and strategy have a big play, but here is a recap of other wisdom point shared from the panelists:

• Know who you are selling to and have deep understanding and empathy for what these customers need. Put up photos of your customer profile so you can put a face to a name.
• Time management is key in sales. Make sure you block your calendar and plan out you day and week. Also, eat the frog! Do the hard uncomfortable thing first. Don't procrastinate!
• Seek to understand before you are understood. Listen to the customer first! Listening vs. Pitching. Know what is important to them then earn the right to sell to offer what you have that can help!
• Remember it's not selling at them it's a sales process with them so process is about finding the mutual benefit and finding win/win solutions together.
• Ok to be confident and show your expertise in the field you are selling in to help teach and educate your potential customer to help them see challenges and opportunities.
• Always come into sales meetings with "intention and aim" for partnership. Seek to understand the customer then share how you can best help. Remember sales is a team sport so don't feel you have to go at it alone as lone sales wolf.
• Listen to feedback and let it sink in before you respond. Be open to hear it and not challenge right away. Build trust with your sales manager and teammates so you can be open to feedback to learn and be comfortable giving your honest inputs.
• Know sales is a discipline and process that can be refined. Be consistent on habits and track what is working and what is not working then adjust if and when needed to keep improving.
• Be passionate about the product you are selling and the company you are at. In addition, be passionate about your industry to keep learning and improving. Continuous learning! Leaders are readers!
• Always have a plan, structure on how you will execute, and then data to support that plan. Then track and measure. What gets measured gets done.
• Have a good routine and be consistent. Get to bed and get up the same time! Get your workouts in! Schedule time with family & friends. Take time to read. Get small victories in like make your bed first thing! Stay in harmony!
• Read great personal development books that can help you improve like: "The Oz Principle", "The Servant", "Starts With Why", "The Gifts Of Imperfection", "The Challenger Sale", "How To Make Friends & Influence People", "Mastering Your Inner Critic", and "Getting Things Done".
• Remember these good quotes: "Thoughts are things", "Teamwork makes a dream work", "There is no I in Team!", "Do or do not, there is no try", "Remember don't be generic", "People buy from people they like",  "If you want to know your past look at your current state. If you want to know your future look at the actions you are taking now from your current state".

Thank you to the great accomplished panelists including. Grant Kitching -- CRO at Real Magic, Kim Beard -- Director of Sales, Bronto + Oracle, Tom Brady -- Director of Sales, Bandwidth, Bryce Wyatt -- Sr. Account Executive at Egnyte, Lauren Holliday -- Director Corporate Sales at Pendo, and Rhiannon Ludington -- Enterprise Account Executive at MongoDB.

​A big thanks to Pendo for hosting at the great offices downtown and special thanks to Triangle SaaS Sales Grind for facilitating!

Today Bunker Labs presented the Muster RDU a premier veteran entrepreneurship and innovation conference. It was presented by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and hosted by the Military Veterans Network at the MetLife Global Technology Campus in the Research Triangle Park. A great conference bringing together hundreds of participants and partners for a full day of veteran entrepreneurs pitching businesses, keynote speakers, workshops, panels, and marketplace for veteran startups.

I attended the 11:30am session on "Set Yourself Up For Success" presented by Philip Gialenios — President & CEO, Accelerate Sales Training. As a top sales producer with over three decades of experience in sales leadership, sales management and executive account sales, Philp provided an overview for how you can maximize sales for your business by focusing on  six areas:

• Wasting time chasing leads who act interested, but are far from it.
• Prospecting activities that do not produce enough new customers.
• Targeted buyers who will not return your calls or answer your emails.
• Sales pipelines full of promising opportunities that never seem to close.
• Moving past most of your proposals and presentations ending with a “Let me think it over,” or “We’ll Get Back To You.”
• Taking control of your Sales Process!

Here is a recap on some of the top wisdom points shared:

• Get yourself comfortable with failure. What you will learn from failure will be equivalent to the value of an MBA. Failure is about learning, it's not who you are.  Pandering to your own ego will get you nowhere.
• Get out there and give it a go. Remember Yoda, "Do or do not. There is no try!"

• Overnight success takes about 15 years!  The key to remember is that consistent growth requires a consistent, systematic process that delivers consistent, dependable results.  
• Improve your BATTING average. BAT! Behaviors, Attitude, and Technique. Right Attitude, Correct Behaviors, and Good Techniques all have to be considered and aligned to be successful.  Think of it as a success triangle. Need all three working together. Right attitude about yourself, company, and marketplace, right behavior with your positive actions, and right techniques to build relationships and deliver the right message in right way. The Attitude is at the top of the triangle as most important to drive the other two properly
• Always be positive and have outlook of possibility. Keep eye on prize that your always moving toward your ultimate success.. Don't be negative with outlook of limitation, set-backs, and excuses.
• What contributes to attitude? 60% how you feel about yourself, 25% how you behave, act, and react, then 15% how you feel about your environment. Focus on your best you first and then how you react to your environment. These two have most impact on your attitude!
• Don't confuse your performance with your self worth. We are human beings not human doings. Shoot for high self worth. If you miss a sale just think and act as being one step closer to the next big sale. Have a positive self talk tape and surround yourself with positive people. This is what high self worth people do and why they achieve!
• IR Theory- Know the difference between Identity and Roles. Identity "I" is the way we should see ourselves regardless of role. Roles "R" is the labels we put on ourselves and others. Focus on keeping a high "I" with strong self-esteem. Your role is a costume not you personally. Seperate yourself from your role.
• Remember "No" is the second best word you hear. No is bringing you closer to a yes and you can always find out "Why no" so you can adjust and move closer to a yes. 
• Behavior is action. Behave with enthusiasm on your to do list knowing each item you knock of gets you closer to your goal. Commit yourself to doing the right behaviors despite how it makes you feel. You will feel better after! When in doubt, "Do The Behaviors"!

Thank you Philip Gialenios for great talk, Bunker Labs, and Muster RDU for providing an excellent event for all!

Tonight we came together at WeWork Durham for the monthly T-REX event. The featured speaker was Janis Pettit who shared how you can "Build your Visibility and Generate Leads using LinkedIn".

A great event to network, enjoy some food and drinks, and learn great material to support your professional success and career growth. Here are a few wisdom points shared to support your learning:

• Building your visibility and generating leads go hand in hand. You can't have high leads if your visibility is low. High visibility leads to high leads. Visibility= Be Seen, Be Heard. 
• Have a STRATEGY for securing leads. Know your best path to winning new clients. A well thought out plan helps you be successful with least amount of effort. Three keys: Visibility, Influence, and Relationships.
• Have Mindset For Long Term Gain. See the bigger picture. Short Term Gain thinks, "Close the sale, present to everyone, cash now, me focused. Try having Long Term Gain thinking,  "Build relationships, add value, solve problems, and be other focused"
• People decide by who I know, Like, and Trust! Get Referrals!
• Stand Out In Spotlight. Be #1 Niche Expert. Be known for something!
• Keys To Building Visibility: 1. Create high value content that grabs attention and positions you as authority. 2. Video: Offer videos that entice and educate 3. Distribute your content on many platforms
• To Build Authority Status be a: Innovator with unique solutions, Disruptor changing the status quo for the better, a Communicator presenting value in compelling ways
• Know the power of getting micro commitments. Get a few small yes to things which then lead to bigger yes things in future. (Read about the billboard experiment)
• Three steps to LinkedIn success: Network by targeting and connecting with ideal prospects. Message with good conversation and reason to connect. Build relationships by adding value.
• Know your offer! Get clear about your benefit and value to others then optimize your LinkedIn presence around this...
• Keys to a great LinkedIn gateway message/offer: Communicate the problem you solve for the person. 2. Be specific to their audience and how you address it 3. Offer clear call to action.
• Keys to a great profile summary: Post a clear description of problem you solve, how you solve it, how it benefits people and companies, and clear call to action with contact info.
• "Remember everyone wears a sign around their neck saying "Notice Me". Notice others and help yourself be noticed. Stand out.
• Best practices in social selling discovery. 1. Find common ground 2. Use phrase, "Tell Me about your business on x,y, or z. Show you did some research about them. 3. Use case studies and testimonials on your offering relevant to that person and company 4. Ask what areas they could use help in and explore opportunities to be a fit.

Thank you Janis Pettit for great talk on "Building Visibility and Generating Leads Using LinkedIn". A special thanks to Vince & Eric from T-Rex and the sponsors Barfield Revenue Consulting and TriNet for making event possible. Check out the ticket deal offered for the T-Rex summit, 20% off deal with coupon code:  FriendsOfBarfield20