Our first guest of 2021 is Collin Mitchell. He’s the founder of Monster VoIP and the podcast host of The Sales Hustle. He’s a serial entrepreneur who shifted his model from Always Be Closing to Always Be Helping. Today, Collin is breaking down his mindset and dives into how we can maximize our results and make 2021 the best year yet.

Always Be Closing is still taught to this day. The fact is, transitioning to a servant-leadership mindset makes sales so much easier. You’re no longer shoving sales down the pipeline. You’re still asking for the order, but your approach is from “how can I make this person’s life better.” Your goal when you’re selling from this mindset is quality over quantity. When you can narrow your focus to only those who you know you can bring value to and genuinely help, you open the door for steady, consistent growth. Without this mentality, you’re focused on hitting quotas, and the fear of not those quotas manifests as a fear of uncertainty. You’re not sure if you’ll be able to hit those numbers because you’re looking at the sale as just that, not from the relationship perspective. When you’re always helping, you can be confident in knowing that you’ll be able to close, because you’ve already done the work trimming away deals that wouldn’t have gone through in the first place.

Going into 2021, many people are either looking to build the momentum they started, or turn the year around into the best year yet. Collin shares a few of his tips to make that happen.

First, it’s time to take inventory. Take a look at your last year and identify what worked, what didn’t, what you can bring with you into the new year, and what you need to leave in 2020. In addition, think about what new things you can bring to the table and how you can change the game in your field.

Next, figure out what your big, lofty goal is--whatever size. Then, drill it down. Reverse engineer it as granular as you can be. That means taking that one-year goal, narrowing to month-by-month, day-to-day, even down to how many conversations you’ll have to have to reach those goals. When you’re setting them, make sure you’re realistic and incremental in your goals. Then, write them down twice a day. Once in the morning and once in the evening. This will change your relationship with your goal and motivate you to hold yourself accountable.

They discuss your sphere of influence and who has an impact on you. Collin reminds us that there is a difference between people with a sales job and sales professionals. The difference is clear--those who are motivated to improve, looking to help those around them, not those who complain and make excuses.

When making the transition to Always Be Helping, there can be downfalls to keep an eye out for. Collin tells us that the discovery makes or breaks people. A good, deep discovery meeting should tell you if you can help them or if you need to move in another direction. You can have a great relationship with a potential client, but if you don’t have the discovery down, it doesn’t matter. You being likable isn’t going to be the reason they buy. A good discovery meeting will make sure the people you’re working with qualify. When you can identify a problem in that discovery, try to quantify it and contextualize it to how it’ll impact them personally. Remember, time and money are both valuable.

LINKS

Collin Mitchell on LinkedIn

Sales Hustle podcast on all major platforms

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53 - Always Be Helping w/ Collin Mitchell