There’s Four Where That Came From - The 411, May 19th
Not Losing Yourself, Losing Faster to Sell More, the Hard Truth About the Hard Sell and Selling Software for Sending DM to DMs
Heyo,
May long weekend isn’t quite the same when you’re working from home and sheltering in place instead of enjoying brews on a patio with pals after a long week at the office, is it?
But, hey, my month-old daughter slept like twenty extra minutes last nigh. My man Alvin has made it wicked easy to find and contact hiring managers through the job board. And I had an extra hour on Monday to add an extra dash of razzle dazzle to the fourth edition of the 411.
So grab some popcorn, because here we go!
Four Links
You are not your job title, and you are worth far more than what you're paid.
We hear these things. On some level, we know these things. Yet they often fail to sink in.
When you lose your job, it’s hard to not feel ashamed. Even when you're not at fault, it’s hard to not let it affect your self-esteem and sense of self. We live in a society that tends to place far more weight on professional titles and salaries than it should. Unemployment is stigmatized, which is uncool and unhealthy (the stigmatization, not unemployment, to be clear).
In this piece, Aliya Hamid Rao encourages us to “take stock of placing so much significance on employment in determining our worth as social beings,” and dives into the policies that could encourage the kind of cultural shift necessary to help uncouple moral worth from employment.
Long story short, Eminem and Gandalf both had it wrong. You need not lose yourself in this moment, and this, too, shall pass.
Jaclyn Robinson at Crunchbase put together a list of a couple dozen sales pros worth following on social meeds.
Largely agree and personally a big fan of many on the list, like Becc Holland, Corporate Bro and Sahil Mansuri.
Though Kevin "KD" Dorsey not making the list is ludicrous imo. Dude drops knowledge on LI. Every. Damn. Day.
If you’re not familiar with the sales blog Cerebral Selling, you should be.
David Priemer brings it week after week with scientific strategies, evidence-based tips and practical wisdom. I haven't read his new book Sell the Way You Buyjust yet, but if it's even half as good as his blog, it'll still be twice as good as your average sales content. (Yes, that's right, his stuff is 4X better than your average sales fluff. #math)
Anyway, in this post he breaks down why many reps let "happy ears" lead them to spend way too much time on deals that'll never close, why Time to Lose is a metric worth tracking, and how companies like Shopify use it to focus on deals that are most likely to close (hint: focus on deals with fast-moving discoveries.)
4. Tech Tricks for Being Productive From Home
Muse editor Regina Borsellino makes a 411 appearance for the second week in a row as her lists of tips continue to deliver more value than Amazon during a pandemic.
This week she's got tech tips for being productive at home including:
Trying Slack for video calls (recommend)
Sharing video updates (via a tool called Loom)
Using your TV as a second monitor (might give this a whirl this week)
Having a signal for the end of the day to avoid overworking (I find a crying baby works)
And app recos for blocking distractions, better brainstorming, fun video filters and muting pesky background noise
One Job Posting
What's old is new again when it comes to mail. I haven't answered a cold call since my phone could flip and I swipe left on cold emails in a split second. But direct mail? Well, let me at least take a peak.
Postal.io knows what's up and has an integrated and automated platform for sending direct mail to decision makers. Because let's be serious, mail is manual as heck. (More manual than adding data to the CRM, and we both know ain't nobody got time for that, amirite?)
If you have two years of sales experience and a passion for the post, go ahead and hit send on that application (though US only, sorry my Canadian friends).
One Quote to Keep You Going
“The hard sell is getting harder to sell.” - Josh Braun, Founder of Sales DNA
This was true pre-covid. Super true post.
If your prospects are hurting right now, there's an opportunity. But to seize it, you have to play the long game.
Figure out how you can show up and genuinely help. Make connections. Build trust. Forge bonds that won't break.
And when good times return, who do you think they'll call? (Okay, possibly still the Ghostbusters, but you'll be next. Promise.)
Now you know.
Steele
PS. Are you having any challenges selling from home? We’re super curious to learn more about what’s working and what’s not when it comes to remote sales. If you have thoughts, reply to this post, message me on LinkedIn, or hit Alvin on Drift. We want to feel your pain.
PPS. I can’t offer you a prize for sharing this newsletter with one person you know could use it, but deep down you’ll know you did the right thing and that’ll be enough, won’t it?
See you next week.