Episode 036: Kendra Lee Salespeople Must Execute Follow-up Consistency to Scale Sales

Despite starting her sales career in accounting and failing IBM's entry-level sales exam and being told she could not sell without an engineering background. Kendra Lee entered sales and proved those naysayers wrong. Author of The Sales Magnet and founder of KLA Group, her company, guides small and medium companies to get more customers. Talking to Kendra about #COVID19, she recommends sellers to stay with it and not give up.  To keep calling and talking and offering help with more compassion and emotional intelligence than ever before, and opportunities will present, says Kendra. Talking about being a woman in sales, the industry we sell in is predominantly male, and despite working with many men for a high tech company. Kendra does not believe diversity should hold you back. Early in her career, Kendra had a female manager who did not believe Kendra would be successful because she came from an accounting background. Not getting the support, she listened to a lot of motivational videos and put her own plan in place. Kendra had a manager she said that did not like her, he was a complacent, old, arrogant guy. She was a top performer and told her manager what she wanted in her sales role, but he did not believe in her, so I found another job and never looked back. Kendra says her successful is regardless of other people. Think and it is a mindset of not allowing others to dictate your success, Kendra says she knows this is not the same for others, but when she felt someone was holding her back, she would pivot. Kendra's advice is to take personal responsibility for your success and do not let someone else's "no" hold you back, sales is your business. Whether you are 100% commission or commission + base, you hold your own success in your hands. If you see something you need to do to be successful, think outside the box about how you can do it. Kendra hired her own inside salesperson at her expense' because I couldn't reach all her accounts. She bought her own equipment so she could get proposals out faster. Kendra’s book, The Sales Magnet, is her path to figure out how to sell when she did not like cold calling but like many businesses she worked with. She wants to do business development but do not want to cold call so she would warm up a prospect before picking up the phone. Many companies are a principal-led seller and have lots of marketing material, that she helps to repurposed, this fabulous content often gets forgotten. This information that is relevant to the customer is sent out as appropriate calling cards and conversation starters. The book was a blueprint of how Kendra works with principal owners who know their business well, however, the sales process might be a mystery to them. Kendra says, she wrote the book Sales Magnet, so leaders and business owners could either read the book and apply the strategies and tools, or the understand how we work with them instead. KLA group will Do-it-for-you, train the people around the business or consultancy to define the lead generation strategy and implement all the way to close. Consistency is the key to success says, Kendra. It is not just following up but being consistent in how you approach your prospects and clients. You want the client to know they can count on you. Consistency builds trust and their confidence that you are the person and company they want to work with.  It sounds simple, says Kendra, but salespeople fall on consistency as they chase the next sell. Being consistent and showing up for your clients and prospects is critical. Kendra explains the way she helps to align the sale process and person to be consistent on with follow-up. A true sales hunter (like herself) hunts and then turns the customer over, but some companies do not have the methods in place to nurture the customer and so hurts the relationship. Kendra's favourite thing is to meet new people and develop that relationship. She knows you must decide on the process to stay in touch with the customer. The frequency of follow-up, the value you are offering, the purpose of the call deciding what you want to find out and how is it beneficial for the client. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sales-Magnet-Customers-Without-Calling/dp/0985782919 https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendralee/