Selling In Color Donald C. Kelly

As a sales professional, you’re going to face many objections from potential clients. So how do you help prospects overcome those challenges that might hold them back? In today’s episode of Selling in Color, that’s exactly what Donald will speak about: overcoming objections and racial bias.
The objection is a natural part of the sales process.
People like to buy things, but they seldom want to be sold things. To avoid that, make them feel like they had an active role in the process. Great sellers can guide the process and the prospect to make a decision themselves rather than make the decision for the prospect. People typically have an innate reason why they don’t want to buy something or why they have hesitation. Especially in the 70s and 80s, people assumed people of color were not as experienced or knowledgeable about their products. It’s not your job to teach people not to be racist per se, but it is nevertheless an obstacle you need to overcome to make the money you want. Three most common objections when a prospect wants to think about the sale:
The prospect doesn’t know enough information. They’re busy and don’t have the time to think about the deal. They’re just not interested and don’t know how to say it. Establish your expertise to overcome these objections.
Let them know you work with other credible organizations, demonstrate thorough product and industry understanding. Give them options. Regardless of the objection, you can work your way past it by demonstrating expertise and developing a relationship with the contact.  Even if they aren’t interested or genuinely do not want your product, use that as an educational opportunity. What about the product do they not like? What about their current product do they not like?  Use this conversation to both understand their objection and potentially address those issues to land a second meeting or demo. Join Donald’s Facebook group, The Sales Evangelizers, to find a community of people to share, reflect, and grow with on your sales journey. We also encourage you to visit salesfortheculture.com to learn, connect, and grow with other sellers of color.
This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio.
Are you sick of crickets? As a salesperson, the pain of reaching out with phone calls or emails and not receiving a response is real.
But all text messaging is not created equal. 85% of people prefer text over email and phone calls because they want to engage in a conversation, not listen to bots. Be more like people and start having conversations that end in the conversions you want. Try Skipio at www.Skipio.com.
This course is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Certified Training Program, designed to help new and struggling sellers master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Help elevate your sales game and sign up now to get the first two modules free! You can visit www.thesalesevangelist.com/closemoredeals or call (561) 570-5077 for more information. We value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey.

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

In 2020, the world changed. Not only did the pandemic spread across the world, but George Floyd’s death sparked the conversation about racial inequality in both personal and professional settings. While a lot of individuals and companies promised changes, not all of those are coming to fruition. In today’s episode of Selling in Color, Donald discusses this topic with Janice B. Gordon, who shares her perspective as a person of color living in England, to learn how these topics were addressed across the pond. 
From the U.K. perspective, the acknowledgment was massive.
Janice was born and raised in the U.K., and she was always aware of the issues of inequality. However, it wasn’t always acceptable to share those feelings, even at the expense of her personal rights.  A teacher once directly told her she wasn’t smart enough to move on to A-levels (higher education beyond general education in England.) Particularly for sales, a major problem is recruitment.
Janice eventually earned her MBA, but she ought for everything she earned. Once you get your first job, nobody really cares about school grades. But if someone blocks you from moving forward in schooling (which happened to Janice), the barriers to entry for the field are pretty severe. Because you can’t land even that first job. While companies are becoming more inclusive in terms of developing a diverse employee base, that diversity is still not reflected on stage or in the executive boardroom. The statistics tell an unsurprising story:
In a study researching diversity of people in positions of power (and in terms of ethnic minorities on company boards), there were 85 directors of color in a group of 1050 people.  Less than 10% of directors were people of color, which is typical in sales While 39% of sales-related roles are female, only 19% of leadership roles are held by women. Racial biases are still highly prevalent in the United States, and they are hard to escape espeically in hiring practices. How can we make a difference and impact these biases in the sales arena?
Have a conversation with people who have biases and draw comparisons that help them realize their mistakes. Start pushing back when you (as a person of color) experience a bias. Speaking up will bring awareness and hold others accountable.  Before working at a company, ask the company about the makeup of their senior leadership or board. That will reveal if they follow through with promises of diversity. Some companies might get some people of color but then do nothing to change their company culture, meaning people of color might not fit in or feel ostracized. Start with the end goal in mind, look at your customers’ needs and mindset. Are you reflecting that in your own mindset? Find her episode on The Sales Evangelist
Check out Donald’s guest appearance on Janice’s podcast 

Visit Scale Your Sales Podcast or LinkedIn

Overcoming imposter syndrome is challenging enough, but navigating those feelings as a woman of color can be even worse. But, today’s guest Nia Lewis overcame those barriers and is now a thriving entrepreneur. As the host and founder of the Solopreneur Hustle Podcast, a show dedicated to helping solopreneurs build businesses designed for growth (rather than merely staying afloat), Nia explains how she overcame the imposter syndrome and how you can do the same.
Nia became an entrepreneur immediately after college.
She never worked a full-time job, decided to start a business immediately after graduating college. (She had nothing to lose. What better time to start?) While gaining experience, Nia worked part-time jobs as a secretary, recruiter, and even a cosmetologist as a safety net to make ends meet. Her business started as a consultancy, utilizing her degree in communications to help with marketing and communications work.  She eventually shifted to a content-driven platform, using the knowledge and skills she developed to create a content-based business built around the Solopreneur Hustle Podcast. Developing a client base as a new entrepreneur can be difficult.
At first, Nia perused job postings on LinkedIn, Indeed, and other job boards to find local businesses that needed what she wanted to do. She viewed the skills and experience those jobs were looking for, and then she found opportunities and pro bono work to practice and develop those skills. Once she had the experience and value that people would pay for, she used the stats and numbers from her past experiences to give her the confidence to get paid clients. The Imposter Syndrome is real, but especially for a woman of color.
At networking events, she would often be the only woman or person of color there. What helped was reminding herself of her value. Anytime she noticed a feeling of imposter syndrome, she remembered she deserved to be there. People of color are wired to see ourselves as less than or not enough when walking into an event.  Remember that, regardless of what people may feel about you, your work will speak for itself.  People of color constantly deal with the belief and expectations of assimilation. But we don’t need to assimilate. We can carve our own path and be just as successful as anyone else. Nia’s advice to someone breaking out of their imposter syndrome?
Write down what you want out of life.  Come up with what experiences you need to get you down the path you want. What value do you need to bring to the table? Once you develop that experience and the projects you need, your confidence increases.  Surround yourself with people making money, reaching their goals, and doing the things you want to do. To get in touch with Nia, message her at solopreneur hustle on Instagram and Facebook, and you can find her podcast (The Solopreneur Hustle) everywhere podcasts can be found. Check out her website for more resources and information about Nia!  For a free five-day, self-paced business boot camp, visit subscribepage.com/businessgrowthebook.
This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio.
Are you sick of crickets? As a salesperson, the pain of reaching out with phone calls or emails and not receiving a response is real.
But all text messaging is not created equal. 85% of people prefer text over email and phone calls because they want to engage in a conversation, not listen to bots. Be more like people and start having conversations that end in the conversions you want. Try Skipio at www.Skipio.com.
This course is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Certified Training Program, designed to help new and struggling sellers master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Help elevate your sales game and sign up now to get the first two modules free! You can visit www.thesalesevangelist.com/closemoredeals or call (561) 570-5077 for more information. We value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our

No matter what size, all organizations need to ensure their sales teams actually have time to sell. Today’s episode of Selling in Color features an episode from The Sales Evangelist archives with Resa Gooding. As a certified trainer at Hubspot, she understands how sales teams can manage their time to make the most sales possible (while maintaining quality, of course.)
Challenges of the modern seller:
Lack of training given to salespeople is often considered the most significant challenge. This lack of experience causes inefficiency as companies throw sales reps in situations they might not be prepared for yet expect great results. Many companies focus too heavily on their technology or products instead of the value and benefits they provide.   An untrained team ends up spending more time on administrative tasks instead of selling. They need to be given the information and the tools to effectively sit down with a new prospect.  There has to be a system in place so the sales team can report their activities and successes. This also gives management a tangible way of seeing the work their team is doing. Three tools to ensure sales teams have more time to sell:
Connect your email inbox to your CRM software. (You can use HubSpot, SalesForce, or other similar CRM software.) Using this software allows your manager to see emails exchanged between you and prospects or customers, eliminating the need to summarize conversations at a later time. Using CRM increases the sales reps’ available time up to 21% compared to doing the reports manually.  Connect your Calendly to your email communications. This is an efficient way of setting up meetings with prospects and clients. Resa’s pro tip: Embed three specific times a client can meet with you so clients can easily figure out a time or date you’re available.  Use templates effectively. Templates mean you no longer have to reinvent the wheel each time you need a piece of content or a message for a specific phase of the buyers’ journey. You can message Resa via her LinkedIn account. You can also check out her website: www.cacaomedia.co. For more sales information and questions, you can also catch up with Donald via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for any sales concerns. We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes, so tune in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher, or Spotify (and leave comments, suggestions, and ratings for every episode!) 
Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound.
This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio.
Are you sick of crickets? As a salesperson, the pain of reaching out with phone calls or emails and not receiving a response is real.
But all text messaging is not created equal. 85% of people prefer text over email and phone calls because they want to engage in a conversation, not listen to bots. Be more like people and start having conversations that end in the conversions you want. Try Skipio at www.Skipio.com.
This course is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Certified Training Program, designed to help new and struggling sellers master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Help elevate your sales game and sign up now to get the first two modules free! You can visit www.thesalesevangelist.com/closemoredeals or call (561) 570-5077 for more information. We value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey.

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

As you’re looking to get your next (or even first) sales job, understanding what traits help you stand out can be a challenge. But on today’s episode of Selling in Color, we’re looking back to an episode from the vault of The Sales Evangelist (featuring Billy Keels.) This episode focuses on what criteria a hiring manager looks for when hiring successful sellers. 
Hire the right behavior 
The ideal candidate is someone proactive. They should work without needing someone to oversee their work.  Being proactive is a core strength for sellers. It opens more doors, creates more connections, and eventually points customers toward the sale.  As a hiring manager, a good interview question for potential candidates will allow them to talk about a time they were proactive.  New sales reps go through trial and error as they gain experience, so ask about that and what they’ve done, not what they would do.  Look for self-awareness 
The benefits of being self-aware are tied to a candidate’s skills, ambition, and attitude.  As a sales leader hiring for a team, you compensate gaps in a candidate with how they can be supported through training programs and other sources. To see if a candidate is self-aware, ask about issues they’ve had meeting quotas and what they did to improve those results.  The hard truth of sales? Sometimes we just don’t win. But a willingness to work to overcome that can make all the difference when hiring a potential candidate. Consider the scale of the role. 
Obviously, hiring someone for enterprise sales requires a more robust skill set than a sales training position. Therefore, consider the job itself and what degree of skills should be present in the ideal candidate when hiring. Regardless of the position, avoid setting overly high expectations. This could result in burnout, which won’t help new sales reps reach their goals (or sell more products.) Hire people who can self-manage.
Look for candidates who have goals and don’t need to be told what to do. They can work independently and do what’s best for their career and their business.  If they don’t reach sales goals, a candidate should self-correct and start a new plan. They don’t go to their boss every time they have to make a decision. “Things To Look For When Hiring Successful Sellers” episode resources
Connect with Billy Keels via his LinkedIn. You can also check out his site, Billykeels.com.  You can also catch up with Donald via LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for any sales concerns.  We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes, so tune in on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings to every episode you listen to.  This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio.
Are you sick of crickets? As a salesperson, the pain of reaching out with phone calls or emails and not receiving a response is real.
But all text messaging is not created equal. 85% of people prefer text over email and phone calls because they want to engage in a conversation, not listen to bots. Be more like people and start having conversations that end in the conversions you want. Try Skipio at www.Skipio.com.
This course is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Certified Training Program, designed to help new and struggling sellers master the fundamentals of sales and close more deals. Help elevate your sales game and sign up now to get the first two modules free! You can visit www.thesalesevangelist.com/closemoredeals or call (561) 570-5077 for more information. We value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey.

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.

There’s a longstanding sales debate: is sales an art or a science? In Donald’s opinion, it’s actually a little of both! Striking a balance between understanding sales as an art form and as a science is the key to generating sales, whether or not you have experience! The key? Master sales like Kobe Bryant mastered basketball.
Sales is a lot like basketball:
You likely aren’t going to become a 7-foot giant by simply willing it into existence (if this does happen, we suggest seeing a doctor.) But for some average-sized players who compensate for their height in other areas of the game. The same holds true for sales. Some people are born with a silver tongue that makes it an easy gig, yet other salespeople compensate for the lack of that natural ability. Kobe Bryant developed a strategy when he began playing: 
While his dad was a professional basketball player, Kobe didn’t start playing until later in his childhood.  When he first started, on a list of 60-some players, he was near the bottom of the list. Some were more skilled, some were taller, and some had more experience. But Kobe was hungry. He isolated the core fundamental skills: shooting, dribbling, and endurance. Each year, he focused on mastering one of those areas. Since many of these players weren’t working as hard as he was, he began to surpass them. He dubbed it “the mamba mindset,” doing whatever it takes to be successful. Similarly, sales require you to become masters of multiple skills.
If you notice you aren’t performing as well as others, isolate skills you need to improve or skills other sellers have that make them successful. Each quarter, study and master a new segment of your sales performance. Truly master the individual skills so you can put them together later on.   People of color often don’t have the network, experiences, or internships that put them in a position to be successful. But your drive and passion for your work can equip you with the skills to surpass those with natural talent or status in life. If you do that, you can out beat them because you’re isolating, focusing, and repeating.
This episode is brought to you in part by Skipio.
Are you sick of crickets? As a salesperson, the pain of reaching out with phone calls or emails and not receiving a response is real.
But all text messaging is not created equal. 85% of people prefer text over email and phone calls because they want to engage in a conversation, not listen to bots. Be more like people and start having conversations that end in the conversions you want. Try Skipio at www.Skipio.com.
This course is brought to you in part by the TSE Sales Certified Training Program, designed to help new and struggling sellers master sales fundamentals and close more deals. Help elevate your sales game and sign up now to get the first two modules free! You can visit www.thesalesevangelist.com/closemoredeals or call (561) 570-5077 for more information. We value your opinion and always want to improve the quality of our show. Complete our two-minute survey here: thesalesevangelist.com/survey.
We’d love for you to join us for our next episodes by tuning in on Apple Podcast, and Spotify. You can also leave comments, suggestions, and ratings for each episode you listen to! 

Audio provided by Free SFX and Bensound. Other songs used in the episodes are as follows: The Organ Grinder written by Bradley Jay Hill, performed by Bright Seed, and Produced by Brightseed and Hill.