Apr 21, 2021
This week on the Catapulting Commissions Podcast, Anthony is sitting down with the founder of D2D and the D2D Podcast, and high-caliber sales professional, Sam Taggart. Today, Sam is breaking down the foundations of how he revolutionized the Door-to-Door industry, and share with us an AI Texting Platform to help customer communication that we can employ in our businesses today.
Sam got into the business young. At age 7, Sam was selling golf balls and lemonade at the golf course. Early on, he developed the skills he uses to this day, recognizing the value of creating your own income and dictating your growth. For him, it isn’t something you’re born with, it’s a combination of circumstance and passion that lay the ground for a successful career in sales. There is no archetype of person in sales--even quiet, passive salespeople can blow metrics out of the water. It’s a series of formulas--once you have that, the rest is up to you.
The sales landscape is changing, and it’s changing fast. What works today may not work 20 years down the road. For Sam, an essential skill that has risen to the surface is personal interest and influencers. What won’t change is that people will find value you what you bring and will buy from you. What is changing is the perceived value. In today’s world, people are quick to move on. You have got to be creative, build trust quickly, and grab attention even quicker. If the value is higher than the money they’re holding, they’ll transact--it’s up to you to open that door.
There are countless pitfalls when you’re getting started in sales. Often, people forget that the journey is the work that nobody sees. They’ll see people making huge commission checks without realizing the amount of behind-the-scenes effort that goes on. You don’t see the hours Lebron James spends in the gym--we only see him dunking in the playoffs. Yes, he’s athletic, but hours have gone into perfecting his craft. Sales are the same way. Don’t oversell sales and don’t undersell the work it takes.
Sam is the founder of D2D, the D2D Podcast, and D2Dcon. He has the vision to bring unity, honor, and integrity to door-to-door selling and sales in general. Often door-to-door gets a bad rap, but in reality, it’s one of the purest forms of sales. Through events, training, online education, technology, and other resources, Sam is showing how valid this work is. These tools all support the space in an incredible way.
Sales professionals saw a turnover of 34% in 2020. That’s expensive. That also means it is all the more important to keep their talent and improve retention. Sam looks to improving leadership to improve retention. You can recruit the top talent in the country, but if leadership cannot handle, maximize, or retain them, it’s useless. Is your company organized enough, is there a system in place to be successful? Culture is a byproduct of your design. It’s about having a positive predisposition--assuming success--over a negative one--assuming failure. No one should have a job with a cap.
In the end, a massive part of sales is the follow-up. Elevating your follow-up is all about the senses. How do you hit them from all modalities? Sam developed an AI texting platform, Vanilla, that gets a 97% open rate. That being said, follow-up and reach out on the platforms and areas that they exist on and are most comfortable on. That could be texting, it could be email, LinkedIn, or even Instagram. Remember the organizational element of follow-up. Hire an assistant or team to help you if you need it. If you know you’re on the go, put automated systems in place that don’t let anyone slip through the cracks. Either 7 competitors will hit them up, or you can hit them up in 7 ways and make the sale. Having that automated system can massively boost the number of sales you close JUST by ensuring you’re following up often, consistently, and in good taste. Vanilla does just that--and more.
LINKS
https://thed2dexperts.com/services/door-to-door-tour/
https://thesamtaggart.com/
@d2dexperts