How to Show Hiring Managers You're E.P.I.C. with Larry Long Jr.

Speaker A: Welcome to the sell your SaaS off podcast where top SaaS, sales managers and salespeople share their inside secrets. Are you ready to crush your quotas and scale your company and career? Let's do this. This podcast is brought to you by prehired. Looking for SDR talent? We make hiring SDRs fast and simple. Or if you' looking to break into software sales, we help you start your six figure sales career in just 12 weeks. For more info, just go to www.rehired.IO.

Speaker B: hello, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you aren't in a situation where you shouldn't burst out laughing because on this episode with the magnificent Larry Long Jr or the real LL Cool J, I can tell you he's locked and loaded with tons of material to make fun of me. I'm sure. A little bit about Lar Larry. He's had a little bit of a different approach to get into sales leadership than most. He began as an analyst, jumped into the world of sports entrepreneurship before getting into marketing, and then a very steady climb up the sales ladder working with companies like Sageworks, Intuit, Pendo IO, before landing as the director of collegiate sales for teamworks. When Larry is not leading sales teams, he is very active member of the sales community where he is constantly appearing on podcasts, panels, webinars and seminars where he loves to help motivate and encourage others to be the best they can be. Larry, thank you so much for joining me on sell your sass off. Welcome.

Speaker A: Hey, thank you so much, Daniel. The check is in the mail for that kind intro. You're making a brother blush today. Good googly moogly.

Speaker B: Fantastic. Hey, it's not that difficult. I literally looked at your LinkedIn for two seconds and was like, let's type this thing up. So I'd love to. You know, the reason why I wanted to start off by giving people a little bit of a background of your intro is I'd love to, you know, hear from you, um, about your journey into sales. You know, most kids don't sit there and write, uh, you know, draw pictures of when I grew up. I want to be a salesperson. I know I for sure didn't. So I'd love to hear, you know, a little bit of your journey into sales. And, you know, why did you decide to land in on sales?

Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I kind of fell into sales like most people, but honestly, I've been selling since I was 10 years old. And, uh, you might say. 10 years old, what? Yeah, I asked my parents to deliver a twin brother and they said, ugh, little Larry, we can't do that. So they delivered my little sister, Tiffany Nicole Long. And being an only child for 10 years, I was used to having all the attention. Well, when this cute little baby girl came, everyone wanted to pay her attention. So I had to learn how to sell my a tap dance. You can see behind me. I've got a deck of cards. I know some magic tricks. They call me black magic. It's not an HR violation, but, yeah, I can do some card tricks. But essentially, that was the start of me being able to sell myself. Now, at the age of 12, I launched launch by Larry. I went out, my mom put together a flyer. I remember it had a little dinghy, a little boat. And it said, uh, instead of doing miscellaneous lawn care services, wouldn't you rather be chilling or on your yacht? She said, go out there, knock on doors, and pass out the flyers. I looked at her like a deer in headlights. She said, what's the worst they can say to you? I said, no. She said, is that bad? I said, yes. I don't like to hear no. She said, little boy, get on out there. Started talking, started passing out the flyers. And lo and behold, people in my neighborhood said, ooh, lawns by Larry, I'm lazy. I want you to mow my lawn. So we lived in townhouses. That was really the start that summer, uh, was really the start of me getting a taste for sales. A couple years later, my mom said, hey, take your little sister out with you. Uh, she dressed her in her Sunday's best. I was knocking on doors. And once again, revenge of the little Sister. Everyone wanted to know, who's the cute little baby girl? I'm like, what about me? I'm the one mowing the lawns. But it turned out to be my secret weapon. My little sister, Tiffany Nicole Long. Um, fast forward. Played baseball at University of Maryland. Did it consulting at Accenture. Came down to North Carolina, opened up an indoor baseball softball academy, where I was selling the business. And then from there, after we shut that down, I entered into tech sales. And, uh, that brings us. I've worked for, uh, six different tech companies, eight different, uh, tech jobs. I left a few and came back. Left again and came back again. So, uh, it's been quite the adventure. And I'll be honest with you, Daniel, sometimes it's been a misadventure, but we're having fun all the way along the journey.

Speaker B: I love it. Thank you so much. And so I love actually how you sort of. This is segueing My next question perfectly. You talked about how, you know, sometimes it's been a misadventure, but you're just along for the journey. One of the things I'd love to ask is it's quite apparent for anyone who follows you that mindset is really apparent in the world of Larry Long Jr. Could you sort of talk to me as like, why do you place so much emphasis on, on. On your mindset and why should others do the same?

Speaker A: Yeah, it starts with your mindset. I mean, Henry Ford, who. I never met the man, but I heard he did some big things. He has a quote that says, whether you think you can or whether you think you can, you're right. And that talks about mindset to a T and being a former athlete playing baseball. And I'm not sure if your viewers can see it, but yes. I got the bat with me. Got the pink bat. Batter up. Essentially, in baseball you gotta have your mind right. I started off my career one for my first 24, and it doesn't take a math major to know that that is not good. That'll get you playing the position of, of left out. Hey, coach, can I get in? Nope. Go to the end of the bench. Because you're left out, you can't hit a lick. I remember we came down, I played at University of Maryland. We came down to UNC Greensboro in North Carolina and I got in seventh inning. Think I struck out twice. We, uh, were at Burger King after the game. My dad had come down from Maryland. He and I were talking on the phone. He said, hey, how you feeling? I said, I feel terrible. I, uh, I don't belong in Division 1. I definitely don't belong in the ACC. Maryland was in the ACC conference at the time. And he reached through that phone and my dad ran track at Maryland. So you talk about mindset. He was. His nickname was Shorty Long. He was a little guy and he was a long jumper, triple jumper. So how are you going to jump when you're short? He found a way to. He had springs in his legs, but he found a way. He said, boy, you can't have my name. Larry Long Jr. With a stank attitude like that. He had some other choice words, some four letter words that he had for me that I don't want to repeat because that just takes me to a dark space. But essentially he said, hey, you got to get back to the drawing board. And by the drawing board, I mean you got to get back on the tee and work on your swing. But more importantly, little Larry, you Got to get your mind right, because right now, with the defeated attitude, you have no chance. It's already tough enough when you do believe in yourself, but having no belief, you have zero chance. And he was absolutely right. I, uh, went back on the drawing boards. Swing, swing, swing, swing, swing. Worked on my mindset, building that confidence internally. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill came to town. Two hits. All of a sudden, I'm like Kanye West. You can't tell me nothing. Had my mind right. I started the next day, three for four, but who's touting? Started on Sunday, two for four. Whoa. I was starting the rest of my. Rest of my freshman year, rest of my career. So just like that, in sales, if you don't believe in what you're selling, if you don't believe in yourself, you have no chance. No chance. You might as well just hang them up, retire. If you want to give yourself a chance, you got to believe it in your heart, believe it in your mind. And now it starts to manifest, and not just what you say, but how you say it in your whole being. And just that, uh, the whole feeling. I mean, I've got plenty of stories around mindset. I used to sell to accountants. I can't even count without using my fingers. So how am I going to talk to an accountant? Well, essentially, when I start to immerse myself, I joined the naba, national association of Black Accountants. I'm now talking their language, and on the phone, they're starting to feel that, um, I've got this accounting vibe. Even though I don't know how to count, I'm talking their language. So mindset is key. It's critical. I can go on and on. I'm sorry, I know this is your podcast, but this is the takeover.

Speaker B: I love it. No, so, um, that actually is. That's fantastic. And then as far as. I mean, mindset, we all know, so important, the right attitude. Um, you know, because at the end of the day, just like in sports, you got to collect some Ls. Um, you know, Tom Brady, he's been sacked more time, like, a whole bunch. He's thrown interceptions. He's been injured. But who's the guy with what, 6, 7, 8, 12? I've lost count. He's running out of fingers. Um, you know, so, you know, on the topic of sports and athletics and, like, I love to know, you know, what do you think? What aspects of sport, athletics, transfer well into sales?

Speaker A: All of it. I mean, there are so many parallels. Let's start with goal setting at the beginning of Every year, most teams, they have the goal of the championship in mind, and they put together a game plan of how they get there. In sales, we keep score. Uh, hopefully you're gunning for the championship. Teamwork, they say it makes the dream work. Some people say that's hokey. I would say I would challenge you on that. Teamwork definitely makes the dream work. Uh, collaboration, working together, everyone rowing in the same direction. Uh, internal drive and desire. It's kind of like that grit factor and I look for when I look to hire sales professionals. I call it epic. But the I in epic is that internal drive and desire. We all get hit with obstacles. And being a former sports athlete, elite, uh, athlete, you find a way over it, you find a way around it, under it. And if you have to punch out right through it, you got to find a way to get to that goal. I think McFadden and Whitehead, one of my favorite bands, said, ain't no stopping us now. I look for reps that say, ain't no stopping me now. I don't care what you throw in my way, I'm going to find a way to the cheese. Um, I love working with athletes because they're coachable. Most athletes have been coached hard. I don't know too many coaches that are doling out hugs and rainbows and unicorns. Uh, I miss those coaches in my career. So they're used to taking coaching and hard coaching and making the adjustment and being okay with stepping out of your comfort zone, being okay with accepting failure and using failure for the fuel to your success. You talking about taking Ls? Oh, I can't count the number of times that I struck out. But you know what? You brush your shoulders off and you get back for another at bat. Because if you let that first strikeout impact your next ones, it's all over. You gotta be mentally tough. So there. There's so many parallels. The list goes on and on. Come on, Daniel. Until the break of dawn.

Speaker B: I love it. It's so true. It's so true. And, uh, that's why we. I mean, I don't know about you. I feel like every second person that I meet in sales was like, oh, yeah, I played college basketball. Oh, yeah, I played college football. Oh, yeah. Oh, everyone's some sort of sport. But for all those non athletes out there who are really wanting to get into sales, I would love to point out, and I'm sure Larry would agree with me, you don't have to have been a prior athlete at the collegiate level in order to Successfully be in sales. What are. What are some of the things? You know, you're now in a position where you're the one hiring people. Um, and, you know, as. As you know, we chatted about this before we went live. A lot of the people watching this podcast are either trying to get in, thinking about trying to get in. Maybe they just got into tech sales, um, and they wanted to climb their way up. What advice would you give to those people to make a good impression on directors, managers, the people above them, to either get the job or to work their way up if they want to get promoted and have a career?

Speaker A: Hey, Daniel, tell your listeners, Listen closely. I got the blueprint for you. This is actually the black print. And I'm trying to help those folks that might not have played lacrosse at Cornell, if you know what I mean. So listen closely. If you're epic, and epic means e entrepreneurial spirit, do you have that hustler spirit? Do you have that ability to own the outcomes to. To essentially be a go getter, as young Jeezy said, as well as a go giver? So that's the e Making it happen. The p. Preparation and planning. I think Allen Iverson said it best. Yes. We're talking about practice, putting in the work to be ready, building the fundamentals, the foundation, so that you can now build upon it to put yourself in a situation to have success. We talked about it before. The I. Internal drive and desire. It's that grip. It's that internal perseverance, that relentlessness. It's that spirit that ain't no stopping you now. And then the c. Listen closely. I'm going to quadruple click on you. Communication. Can you hear me now? And most of communication isn't talking. Take the mic out of your hand and open up your ears. There's a reason it's by design that we've. Most of us have been blessed with two ears and one mouth. You're supposed to listen twice as much as you talk. And that's been something that I've had a tough time learning, but it's the key to success in addition to communication. You got to be curious. They say curiosity killed the cat. The most successful sales professionals ask the good questions, and then they, uh, they listen. They listen to understand what's going on, the motivation behind it. They're curious, and they double click on the initial answers to dig in more. Uh, I liken it to a doctor, and I encourage people to be surgical, like a sales doctor, with their questions and to keep digging so that you can then make the diagnosis. The other C is confidence. Kevin Hart says it best. Say it with your chest. You've got to be confident that you can solve their problems, their challenges. You can help connect them to their hopes or dreams and aspirations. And the last c, probably one of the most important is care. Do you genuinely care about the folks that you serve? You can try to, uh, bs, but most people are smart enough to smell BS from a mile away. If you don't genuinely authentically care, it's going to shine through and it's gonna. It's gonna stink. So I encourage you to care, be curious, be confident, and to communicate. Listen very closely. Those are the four epic. Then there's the intangibles. There's the positive attitude. If you're a negative Nancy or negative Nelly, ain't nobody got time for that. You better have a demonstrated track record of being positive, of overcoming adversity. Are you a team player? Do you play nicely with others? If not, you can't be on my team. So those are just some of the things that I would consider the black print in order to get the looks that you want in the career that you want to pursue.

Speaker B: Wow, Larry, that's, uh, we could dive into that and pick that apart for the next three hours, but we won't. Mic drop. I definitely respect that. Um, one thing, I would love to hear your two cents on. Although I'm sure I'm going to get 50 cents. Um, how can someone show that they are epic to you in an interview process?

Speaker A: Yeah, that's great. Uh, past performance is the best way for me to judge what you'll do on my team. So essentially, I need to, in the great words of the philosopher, mystical, show me what you're working with. Essentially. I want you to tell me a story of where you demonstrated that, and I'll give you the two. My two go to questions. And really, it's part two. The first one is. So, Daniel, if I were to talk with your colleagues, current and past, and I asked them for the scouting report on you, what would they share with me? If I ask, what are Daniel's top two strengths? And I'm sure, Daniel, I can see it in your eyes, you're going to say, oh, uh, they would tell you, Larry, that I'm a hard worker, that I'm one of the hardest working reps out there. Okay, and then what's number two? I like that I like hard workers. Oh, they would tell you that I care. I know that you did your research so you would know that. That I like people that care. They would tell you that I care about our prospects. All right, I believe you, Daniel. That's good stuff. Good stuff. I hear it all the time now. On the flip side, Daniel, if I ask them, hey, where can Daniel be stronger tomorrow than he is today? What are they going to tell me are your top two opportunity areas for improvement? Oh, that's when the BS meter starts to go off. I can see the gears, turns.

Speaker B: I care too much, you know, Larry. Yes.

Speaker A: Uh, I'm too competitive. Okay, Daniel. Too competitive. I've never heard that before. This is where I get them. What story would they tell that represents that you're too competitive? And then I just shut up. And that's where. Where the BS meter starts to turn, and folks are like, uh, well, let me get back to you. No, for me, you've got to know your strengths. I know that my superpower is my energy, but that's also my kryptonite. I know that my energy turns off some people. It's not for everyone. So I have to work on that balance. I'm always going to be me, but every now and then, I've got to sit back, relax, calm down, and I've got an example. I got the receipts to tell. I did a speaking engagement for a group out of. Out of Europe, uh, as well as in the US and the feedback was, hey, Larry, if you were a roller coaster, you're wee the whole daggone time, you would be better if you could build up, um, chugga, chugga, chugga, chugga, chugga, chugga, chugga, chugga. Calm down, slow down, quiet down, sit down. And then hit him with the wee. So I came back and I had Australia later on that night. And I took the advice. I slowed down a bit, which I had to be intentional because I run hot. I don't know if you can tell Daniel. I get excited, but I calm down. And then I hit him with the wee. He sent me a message. He said, hashtag, nailed it. So, essentially, I'm working on it. As you can see, I came in hot the trot, but. But I'm working on balancing it out. I encourage all of your listeners, everyone listening in, to figure out what are you strong at? And then where are those opportunity areas and what are you doing to work on it? And what are those stories that can really show me that you're not just making stuff up?

Speaker B: Yeah, that's. That's really powerful. I, uh, love that you call them opportunity areas and not weaknesses. That's really that's really key part of language.

Speaker A: I think we've all got them. We've all got them. There are opportunity areas for improvement. I don't care if you're the greatest. There's still something that you can work on. You can be a Hall of Famer. There's still areas that you can work on to take your game to that next level.

Speaker B: Oh, 100%. Yeah, definitely. I'm trying to think. I mean, for me, it's funny, my cogs are going because I'm like, which one would I tell him about? I know there's a lot. Um, so maybe, like, you know, for people that are sort of in that. In that area where, you know, if you're going into an interview, um, would you say, you know, I kind of. And I think a lot of people probably do this in sales as well. They go into maybe a demo or a call, and, like, I really hope they don't ask this question. Uh, that's not a strategy. Right? Hoping is not a strategy. If you're going into an interview with a sales leader, they're gonna ask you, you know, where are you good, where are you bad? So why not be prepared, like you said in your epic, for the answer to that? So sit down and, you know, write it out, practice it, say it in the mirror so that, you know. And. And the same goes to. Once you're actually selling, if you know that you have a competitor that's really close to you, you need to know how to be able to talk about it. You can't sit there and pray that they haven't done their research. They don't know about them, or you're just never gonna. You're just never gonna do well. Right?

Speaker A: So true. So true.

Speaker B: Um, so taking a little bit of a curveball, um, I know that you just like me. I can see by the pictures in your background and for all those that are on video, the pictures in my background. You are a family man. I'd love to know how has a career in sales impacted your life and family?

Speaker A: Yeah. I'll be honest with you. It's been great. It's been a blessing. I, uh, mean, I look at sales as a win, win, win. Don't call me DJ Khaled. All I do is win, win, win. No matter what. Don't give me singing. But essentially, it's, uh, it's been fulfilling to be able to help others. Uh, I've learned so much through sales. I've met some great colleagues. Uh, but also. And let's not let's not sugarcoat it. The financial impacts. Sales provides opportunities for financial, uh, yeah, tremendous upside and every business needs sales. That's how you keep the lights on. So it's really been for me, I get fulfilled from helping others and seeing others like Cameron Pelletier. He was one of my lead generation reps. He, we worked on his plan. All my reps have a business plan. His personal business plan was to be a pt, a physical therapist. He was using sales as an avenue and as a route to get there. He's now a physical therapist. He's in New Mexico. Cameron Pelletier doing his thing. My, my guy Birdman. Nathan Bird, one of my reps. He came from a soccer background. He now has, he just had twins and he's now leading a team, a uh, sales team and able to really have the flexibility to take care of his family, if you know what I mean. So I've personally been blessed, personally, but also I've been able to share those blessings with others. That is just so much more impactful. Martin Luther King Jr. Is one of has one of my favorite quotes. Life's most urgent and persistent question is, what are you doing to help others? And in sales, I have the opportunity to help others each and every day. And the more people that I help, it's just magical the way that it works. The more people I help, the more it helps me and my family. So it's, it's been a blessing to be honest with you, Daniel.

Speaker B: Yeah, definitely. I, I, I get to see that a lot. Being the position that I'm in, seeing people like, yes, sales is amazing. With the upside of it's like, let's be honest. I mean, anyway, like we mention I wasn't 12 years old wanting to be in tech sales, right? Not many people, like, not many people I know that was their goal, but it is actually, it can be like super rewarding, you know, being able to, hey, wow, like I was able to help this business and all the people in that business and their families succeed and have prosperity because I was able to do my job well. And I was paid handsomely for it, as you can tell with both of our handsome looks right now.

Speaker A: Speak for yourself, man. I got the face for radio. I do have the smile for a mile.

Speaker B: So, um, I'd love to change gears again a little bit. Um, some of these questions I had asked my team because, you know, I was like, hey guys, I get to chat with Larry. Like, what do you want to ask him? And one of the questions that a few people Were really interested to, to hear your take on was what direction do you think the industry is going to go? Do you think it's gonna, you know, stay remote, be hybrid back into the office? I'd love to hear your, uh, your, your take on it.

Speaker A: Oh, wow, you really hit me with the curveball there. I love it. I'm athletic.

Speaker B: You gotta keep you on your toes. I gotta keep you on your toes.

Speaker A: I, I could never hit a curveball. I could hit a fastball, but I'm gonna try. So I don't have a crystal ball, but I would expect. My assumption is that it's going to be a mix. It's going to be a hybrid. Some organizations are going to say, hey, we want everyone back. We want business as usual just the way it used to be. The more progressive organizations are going to say, hey, we've seen that our reps can be productive and even more productive without the commute. Yes, we do miss the face to face, the interpersonal, but we can solve that by periodically having in person events. We don't need everyone in our office each and every day. So we'll do a hybrid. If you want to come in, come on in. If you want to work from home, work from home. If you want to flex, that's up to you. So really, there's an opportunity for organizations to get creative and really figure out what works best for each of their employees. And hopefully what we've learned is that, uh, your professionals, your true professionals don't need to be micromanaged. I, uh, heard from someone earlier that said, yes, one of the biggest mistakes we made was micromanaging. What are you doing right now? Three minutes later. What are you doing right now? How many calls did you make? No, I'm a professional. You hired me to get the job done and if you can't trust me to get the job done, then we're probably in the wrong place. We're not a good match. So, uh, I see the future really being a mixture as well as, and I would say, and there's an opportunity for your true sales professionals, not scam artists, true sales professionals that are looking to play matchmaker, to just have an absolute dynamite time helping so many folks that need our help right now. But so many times before, we were just going through the motions. We weren't really listening in order to help. We were listening just in order to respond back with what we think we know without really listening. So it's going to be exciting. I can tell you the rest of, uh, 2021 as we go into 20, 22 and beyond. It's going to be exciting. There's going to be some fireworks. And I got my popcorn.

Speaker B: Yeah, definitely. One of the things that, I mean, I've sort of spitballed with others about love to sort of, you know, hear your two cents on it, is it feels like the veil sort of been lifted. You know, work from home and remote work was very much this. I sort of put it in the same category as, like, CrossFit. It's like, if someone does CrossFit, that's all they talk about, and it's all. And it's like, shut up. And I was one of them. I was this remote worker, uh, that just wanted to tell everyone about how great remote work was. Yeah, it's great. If I need to go do laundry, I just walk upstairs and do laundry, come back down, you know, rather than wasting time on Facebook or all. Because, you know, all the time that gets wasted in the office now it's wasted being productive in my other life. So I, uh, uh, it feels like the veil's been lifted on the workforce and companies kind of have to end. And it's also been. The fear has been taken away from a lot of these businesses because, like, you're mentioning, like, this micromanagement of a lot of companies and businesses were sort of in this mindset of, if they're not in the building, how do we know they're working? And I mean, reality is, unless you as a manager or a director or a VP or a CEO are, uh, sitting behind the person at their computer, you don't know if they're working in the building either. But with this. What's happened with the pandemic, it sort of really has opened the eyes of both the corporate side and the personnel side of like, hey, this can work, and it's really beneficial. So one, uh, of the, you know, as you were mentioning, you'll have some companies that are like, we have to go back into the building. We have to get back in the building. Others not withstand remote, others flex. One of sort of the arguments I've seen a lot is there'll be a big, um. What's the phrase? It's like a big sort of, uh, talent churn, specifically for those companies that want us, you know, everyone back in the office. Because, you know, if someone's like, hey, I can perform. I do well. I'm a great salesperson or a great marketer or a great whatever, and this other company is willing to let me do that from home and pay me the same versus these guys making me drive in. Like, where. Where is your hat with that? Like, do you think that's sort of, you know, a thing? Or do you think a lot of people will be like, no, like, I want to go back into the office. I want to get out of my house. I'm sick of, you know, seeing my dog every day. What, uh, where do you think as far as that he's concerned?

Speaker A: Daniel, I didn't know you were a mind reader. There's going to be tremendous opportunity. And what we've seen is that now the talent pool is global. I've got a buddy who works for a company that's based in Europe, and he's here in Durham, N.C. who would have thunk it? So, essentially, now you've got the global talent pool, but also you have the global opportunity pool for those that are seeking to take their talents elsewhere. Um, companies are going to realize very quickly because it's coming soon as we start to see more vaccines, and we're starting to see kind of a return back to the new normal of what we're going to see. Folks are going to be looking. Folks are already looking. Uh, and Mark Cuban said it best towards the beginning of the pandemic. He said, hey, keep your eyes open. Organizations and individuals are going to let their true colors shine through. And Lord knows, I've been taking notes, I've been taking names and taking notes, uh, if organizations haven't done the right thing and, uh, their employees are watching, they're looking, and they're making decisions based off of how did you treat employees through the chaos, through the turbulent time. So, yes, I see that there's going to be a lot of free agents that are going to be making trades and whether they take their talents to south beach or whether they continue to take their talents here at the house, but they work for companies that are based all around the world. I mean, who knows? I, uh, was listening in to Elon Musk on Clubhouse about a month, month and a half ago. Who knows, we might be working for a company on the moon on Mars. I wouldn't put it past anything, but the environment is changing. I'm all for it. I've got my popcorn. I'm ready to see how it all shakes out.

Speaker B: Yeah, like you said, ton of room for opportunity. And so, speaking of opportunity, people who are, uh, I'm going to sort of specify this question for folks that are currently actively searching to get into this opportunity. Right. They've heard, oh, you know, text, going places. Text, not Going anywhere, all the, you know, all these different things. I want to get into tech. I don't know how to code. I don't have, you know, fancy degrees. So sales is my only option in. How are they going to best position themselves to get someone like your, your attention?

Speaker A: Like, stand out. You gotta stand out your black boxes.

Speaker B: How do, how would someone stand up?

Speaker A: Yeah, you can't do what everyone else does. So everyone else, for the most part, they send an email. Uh, I'm interested. They might send a, a general text message via, uh, LinkedIn. I need an audio, I need a video. I need a gif or gif, however you pronounce it. That's meaningful. You can look at my background. You can see I played baseball at University of Maryland. If you go on the LinkedIn, you can type in terps and you'll see Testudo our turtle doing the Ray Lewis slide over there at the, uh, over there at the, uh, basketball stadium. That'll get a chuckle from me. Now you need to come with something relevant. You got to show me that you know me, and then you got to show me the money. How can you deliver for what's important for me? And what's important for me is delivering for my prospects and my clients athletic departments. So it's really the little things. You can send a handwritten note. Well, how do I get your address? You can find mostly anything on Google. Send, uh, me a handwritten note that's meaningful that talks about something that you saw me post or something that you saw me comment on. That'll get my attention. And in a sea of black boxes, you'll now be a green triangle. Now let's take it the next step. I don't want a green triangle. I want a purple trapezoid. Yeah, I can't even spell trapezoid, but I love the name. You're now standing out amongst, uh, a sea of sameness. Now, how can you do that? You can now have someone who knows me refer you. Hey, Larry, my colleague here is someone that you can't miss. You've got to connect with, engage with. They're the bomb. Whoa. If someone tells me that you're now on my radar, I can't. I can't take that from someone that I trust and say, you know what, man, we're just going to slide without even investigating. So there's levels to this game. How do you take your game to that next level? You got to be confident. You got to be curious. But now I'm going to throw another C in There you got to put your thinking cap on, and you got to be creative. You got to say, if everyone else is doing this, I don't want to do this. I want to do that. And maybe I do some of this, but I'm also going to do that. That makes me stand out amongst the crowd.

Speaker B: Awesome. So I love to ask, can someone ever do too much? And what I mean by that is, let's say you have a job up for a sales development rep at, ah, your, um, like, right.

Speaker A: Teamworks. Teamworks makes the dream work. It's all good.

Speaker B: Teamworks make the dream work.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And you receive, you know, let's say 600 people apply to it. So obviously you're not saying don't apply. Obviously. You know, you still want their resume. You still want them to apply. They apply. Then they hit you up on LinkedIn, they send you an audio file, and they go, you know, hey, llj, Cool it is Daniel here? I'm really excited about the opportunity with teamworks. Um, I would love the opportunity to chat with you and, you know, find out what exactly you're looking for and whether or not I'd be, you know, a fit. Would that be okay? You know, would you have 10, 15 minutes to be able to have that conversation with me? Click Send audio file. Then they send you an email where they record a video, and then they're holding a baseball bat and they're like, hey, there, Larry. Would love to knock it out of the park with Teamworks as the new SDR BDR hire. I've sent you an audio file on LinkedIn with a connection request. I don't know what, I don't know, but I'm really hungry and would love to join the team and help your clients in the collegiate unit. Uh, and then they pick up the phone and call, like, is that too much or is that just standing out extra loud?

Speaker A: No, uh, it's not too much for me. Now, you have to know your audience. And for me, you can tell from my profile pic to the content that I put out that I vibe, I vibe on that, that if someone did everything that you just said, they're on my radar. And if they're not a fit for me, you better believe I'm going to try my darndest to help them find that right fit. Not everyone is like that. There's some people that are straight up, uh, business, business. They're all. They're serious about their business. No smiles allowed. I always ask them, why so serious? I mean, life is good. You can crack A smile every now and then. We're all driving for success. But I like to do it in a fun manner. So you've got to know your audience, you've got to do your research and really determine is too much. Too much for me. I'm the walking definition of too much. So that's right up my alley. But I know some people where you do that, you're probably going to scare them away. You're probably going to make a negative impression on them. And that's just understanding your audience, which, as a true sales professional, you've done your research. Kind of like Inspector Gadget. You got your magnifying glass and you're looking for, is this the play that I can run with Jane? Maybe not. Is this the play I can run with LL Cool J? LL J Cool. However you want to call it. Yes. I think it's going to resonate with them. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. We've got a winner. So you really got to check. Who are you? Uh, who, what, what, what? What, uh, tree are you barking up when you, uh, decide on your approach?

Speaker B: Okay. I love it. Um, now, speaking again, specifically for people trying to get hired, what are some good questions that, you know, if you're in an interview with someone for them to ask you? Because I know that is something that a lot of people struggle with. Right. I know for me personally, I would often, you know, when I was applying for jobs, I had done so much research. There are instances where, like when I was speaking to the hiring manager, not the sales manager, in, like, an early round interview, and they'd be like, do you have any questions? And the answer was truly no. Because I'd done so much research, I knew more than they did about the position. So I had to be like, no, because. And then, like, just verbal dump on them to show, like, I am interested. I do know my stuff. What are some ways that people, like, what are some good questions to ask that's going to impress a, uh, hiring, uh, manager, Sales manager, someone, uh, like yourself.

Speaker A: Yeah. So I love that you did your research. My advice would be, even if you know it all, be curious. Because the more that that other person is talking and sharing, the better they're feeling about the conversation. So I always like to know, hey, Daniel, tell me what made you join the company? What keeps you at the company? What do you enjoy most about your job now? Hey, if you had a crystal ball, can you talk to me about kind, uh, of the short term vision, let's say a year from M now, where do you see the company going, let's go long term, but not too long term. Two to three years from now. Hey, Daniel, I'm curious. Can you talk to me about your onboarding for new sales reps? What does the onboarding process look like? Can you talk to me about your continuing education piece? Because I'm all about taking my game to the next level. M, I would love to know how your company supports sales, uh, professionals. Um, what are the characteristics of your top sellers? What. What do they, what do they do? What's kind of the secret to their success? On the flip side, just so I can make sure I avoid it, survey says, nah. What are some of the characteristics of your laggard sellers? Those that aren't having success. Just so I can make sure I don't go down that path. Hey, Daniel, um, I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you this. Do I have the job?

Speaker B: I, uh, hope everyone listening had a pen and paper out for those 15 fantastic questions. Essentially, doesn't matter how much you know. There's obviously going to be a whole lot that you don't know. Uh, and so even if you know everything about the actual, you know, well, I'd be selling to this person. This is who my boss would be. You can always ask about the onboarding process because how are you going to research that?

Speaker A: Yeah, so true. And there's resources out there. There's a great one called repview R E P V U E. That's really. It provides insights into sales organizations. It, uh, provides honest ratings based on their base compensation, their variable compensation, their culture, their training, their diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as just lead flow, product, market fit. So it really provides that, that under the hood look in the sales orgs because we know how the sales interview process goes. Generally, the interviewer asks you 50,000 questions and then you've got two minutes left and they say, hey, Daniel, do you have any questions for me? It's like, yes, I've been prepared. Uh, I had my questions ready and we only have two minutes. No, I want to know about your organ. Actually, it's okay. I don't want to hear it from you because I know you're a true sales professional. I want to hear it from the horse's mouth. Your current employees, your past employees. Why are you a past employee? What was going on? I know they say that they're all about culture and that they care about employees. Talk to me about your experience. Do they really care or is it just talk is cheap. So Essentially, it's on you to do your due diligence to make sure that the organization, the leadership, the management is a great fit for what you're looking for as a sales professional.

Speaker B: That's, that's amazing. Thank you so much, Larry. We are, uh, I think that would be a fantastic spot to end on. Um, you know, thank you. You've given us amazing tips on, on the mindset, on what sales managers are looking for and, you know, leadership in sales, looking for how to best approach that. If there was, if you could ask whoever's watching this one thing of them or one piece of advice, or if you could, you know, one thing that would stick to them, what would you like them to leave this, this podcast with?

Speaker A: Yeah, it's two things. So number one, the question is, what are you doing to invest in yourself? What are you doing to up, uh, level your skills? Where are you at on the five pillars? I'm looking for a five tool sales professional. Do you have a good, solid foundation around time management, around prospecting, discovery, your demo, as well as your negotiation and your closing, as well as do you have a track record of building, uh, a good base around the company, whatever company you work for, understanding the mission, the vision, the who, what, when, where, why and how, the industry and or industries that you've worked in, the product, your product knowledge, where was it and what did you do to work on it? The tools and resources, whether it was your sales stack, your, your, your tech stack that you use as well as your network. We all know that your network is your net worth, both internal and external. Have you been resourceful? And then the last thing is your selling skills. There's a lot of resources out there, some free, some paid. I want to know what do you do to invest in yourself and how has that worked out for you and where do you see that going? What books are you reading right now and what are you learning? What are you doing from those books? I mean, this is one that I'm working on now. Uh, if I can get it turned right, can't hurt me. Talking about mindset, come on now. And then. Secondly, I just encourage everyone listening to know you are enough. That's coming straight from me. You are enough. Don't worry about what everyone else says. Oh, uh, you got to have five year. No, you are enough. If you want it bad enough, go get it. If there's anything I can do to support you, pick up the phone, reach out and touch someone, call me, reach out to me on LinkedIn. I'm here to help.

Speaker B: Fantastic. I'm not going to add anything else to that. Everyone you already know, don't forget to sell your Sasser.

Speaker A: This podcast is brought to you by Prehired. If you're looking for SDR talent, we make hiring SDRs fast and simple. Or if you're looking to break into software sales, we help you start your six figure sales career in just 12 weeks. For more information, just go to www.prehired.uh IO.