Speaker 1: 0:19

Thank you. Meet Evan Polin, the president of Polin Performance Group. A master in sales coaching with over two decades of experience, evan is not just a consultant. He's a force in sales, focusing on mindset, planning and skill development. He's also the co-author of Selling Professional Services, the Sandler Way. Joining him is Craig Andrews, partner and CEO of Beholder Agency. An expert in growth marketing With 20 years under his belt, craig blends marketing creativity with strategy to propel businesses forward, making Beholder Agency a leader in effective marketing solutions. Together, evan and Craig are here to share their wisdom on winning strategies, best practices and transformative insights that will fuel your growth. Get ready to revolutionize your sales and marketing approach right here on the Sales and Marketing Playbook Unleashed.

Speaker 2: 1:11

Hey everyone, welcome to the Sales and Marketing Playbook Unleashed as usual, craig Andrews, evan, poland, your partners in crime and bringing you absolute plays that should help you grow your business. And if you haven't been here, where have you been? Ultimately, we have the solutions and the answers that are going to help you grow your business. Evan. Anything to say to our wonderful audience who's listening in on us?

Speaker 3: 1:36

So if you are missing out on the playbook, you are really missing out. We've just recorded a couple of episodes that are now up and running on trade shows. I've spent many of my sessions over the last three, four days helping clients strategize. I have a client going to a 600,000 person trade show in Germany next week. So if you are not listening, if you're not picking up what we're putting down, you really need to start listening. Go back to the episodes, cherry pick the ones that best apply to you. But this is really about content and we're going to bring our guests to the stage in a second, but we're also trying to bring you people who were in there in the trenches. We're just not talking ivory tower stuff that sounds good on a podcast but doesn't work real world trying to bring you the real world stuff that you can do, the techniques that you can implement to have a major positive impact on your business.

Speaker 2: 2:30

And so, just so you guys don't think we're crazy, I'm going to have Evan continue with his elevator pitch, which, if you were listening to one of our past episodes, you would know how important the elevator pitch is. So, evan, explain to the world who you are and what you do.

Speaker 3: 2:44

That is quite the buildup. I will try my best to live up to that buildup. So, for those who have not visited us on the podcast before, my name is Evan. I run a sales coaching consulting business, poland Performance Group, and my clients typically have a couple of different challenges. They are out there networking, they are out there on LinkedIn. They're doing all kinds of prospecting, spending time, spending money and just not getting as many meetings as they need with the decision makers of the kinds of clients they want to work with.

Speaker 3: 3:19

I've got other clients who are out there doing all of those things, getting a ton of good meetings with qualified prospects, and the time it takes to go from first meeting to getting an answer one way or the other. Their percentage of deals are what they're actually closing. Just isn't where they want it to be and they're not quite sure why or when they are closing stuff. The margins that they're getting just aren't what they feel like they should be getting and they're not quite sure how to fix it.

Speaker 3: 3:44

And I've got a lot of clients who have been in business for a long time, do great work and, for whatever reason, they're just not getting the referrals, the introductions that they want to be getting and they know that it's something that they're missing out on. But they're not quite sure again what to change, to do and what I'll do, whether it's an individual or an organization is. Come in, help identify where the gaps are, help with that skill development, help to provide that individual coaching so that my clients are seeing the sales results that they're looking for. And, craig, why don't you share with everybody listening a little bit about yourself, beholder Agency and how you guys help your clients so?

Speaker 2: 4:24

we generally. We're a growth marketing agency, so what we do is we help our clients who are at the top of the funnel, who is tired of the kind of hand-to-hand combat of networking all the time, and we try to find them leads and interests and opportunity online through digital marketing. It could vary from branding all the way through to social media websites and the like. Ultimately, we like to customize a strategy per client and make sure that the information that's out there about them is unique to them and can separate them from their competition. So, now that we've got the introductions out of the way, evan, today's episode we're going to be talking about breaking into new markets.

Speaker 2: 5:02

Right, you and I have both been tasked with kind of being on both sides of the equation in terms of a client coming in and said, hey, we're breaking into the market, we need people to know who we are, and you've been in a position where you're in the market. You need to help those sales guys come up with the plan to kind of break in a little further. Today's guest has actually been through it. So, as we bring him to the stage, brendan Dodge, networking extraordinaire. Hey, brendan.

Speaker 4: 5:32

I'm doing well. I'm doing well. Yeah, I kind of networked my way onto this show too, but it wasn't through sales and marketing, it was through college basketball Touche. I don't know when this episode is coming out, but right now it's, uh, april 2nd. We're on the eve of the final four. Uh, I used to be a you know former collegiate men's basketball coach, and someone's like you gotta know, craig andrews. He used to coach college basketball, so that's kind of how you and I uh got connected here, correct? So, uh, thank you.

Speaker 4: 5:57

No, no reference there at all as soon as we popped on, I saw their Sinus College basketball jersey behind us. We chatted about basketball for a while. So, it's actually time to hit this podcast. Let's dive in here, guys.

Speaker 3: 6:12

I'm really excited to be on here Now that you're not coaching basketball anymore. Do you want to share with everybody a little bit about what you do?

Speaker 4: 6:23

Yeah, so I work for a company called VC3. We're a managed IT cybersecurity company. I've had a lot of success working with small to mid-sized businesses between 15 employees to about 80, 85. And I love working with accounts organization in the nonprofit financial service industry whether that's accounting, wealth management and law firms. And there's a couple of different triggers or reasons why we get bought into those particular areas. One, on the nonprofit side, we have an awesome strategic team and I often see with nonprofits them having challenges with total account management in terms of licensing management whether that's getting set up properly and nonprofit pricing with Microsoft licenses and the ability to leverage technology purchasing platforms like TechSoup that you have to go through an application process for and I can't tell you how many times where I've seen that kind of fall through. So we come in, bring in the strategic team to help guide them and set them up and kind of right size them appropriately for a nonprofit. So I have worked with nonprofits in the past. A success story there was working with a nonprofit roughly around 50 full time employees. By us getting in there within the first I want to say two months we were able to right-size their license account, save them $1,200 a month just by right-sizing an account there.

Speaker 4: 7:53

And then on the financial service side and law firms, a big trigger that I see quite often if you're hiring somebody, a new hire, is onboarding. I've seen it time in and time out. You can almost guarantee that that new hire is going to be getting a very strategic phishing email from either the managing partner, managing director, person of power to either go purchase gift cards, to either click on a link for a client to change some type of bank account information, and that intern because the head of the firm says to go do it. I mean you're not second guessing that. So what we do is we work with our clients to kind of front load the cybersecurity education earlier on, because we know that's where it's the most susceptible.

Speaker 4: 8:44

So new hires, we're seeing a ton in terms of clients and who you're doing business with getting more savvy with who they're partnering with. So we're working with clients now like hey considering working with X Y Z. How are you protecting my data? Or can you fill out the cybersecurity risk assessment? And the accounts that I'm speaking with either don't trust the provider that they're working with currently to answer those questions appropriately the turnaround time is not great or they're just not receiving cybersecurity education or resources to begin with. So with our internal security team and strategic team, we're able to provide those to our clients in those areas.

Speaker 2: 9:16

So, in terms of breaking into a new market, that's a mouthful right. That's a lot for somebody to absorb when you're just brand new into a market. Give me an idea in terms of something that's positively and negatively affected you in the process of moving into that new market.

Speaker 4: 9:32

Yeah. So I came over from a previous company with the non-compete passing so positively for me break into a new market. I had an established network and client base so that made it a little bit easier on the short term to break in and get a couple of wins early on. So I think if you're looking at which markets to expand in, do you have an existing networking base there, whether that's through your clients or other strategic partners, where you're able to get some quick wins early on. And then on the negative side and this is why that's so valuable is brand recognition. We're new to the market. Not so many people have heard about VC3. So those are challenges that I have to speak to on my prospecting calls, on my sales calls, on ways to overcome that and talk about ways how we are expanding and bolstering our resources and service team in this area to support our clients in this new market.

Speaker 2: 10:34

And so you're big on the. I heard the sales calls and I know you're big on the calls. A lot of people like to cheat their way in the sales process, but I know you're more of a stickler in terms of how they do the process.

Speaker 3: 10:47

Yeah, and I think something again we are the playbook, so it may be good to get into the nitty-gritty a little bit. So, brendan, for you, how did you leverage your network? It's one thing to say leverage your network when you come into a new marketplace, but some people aren't quite sure what that means. They think that just posting once on LinkedIn is leveraging their network, and we all know that that's not the case. So, tactically, what are some of the things that you did as you got up and running to really help make hay out of your network and develop that into some real opportunities? Make hay out of your network and develop that into some real opportunities.

Speaker 4: 11:21

Yeah, so I looked at it as I broke into Philadelphia New Jersey marketplace again. My network in two buckets previous clients that I worked with and engaged with that I had awesome relationships with. I'm handling those conversations a bit differently than COI centers of influence that I have With the former clients, now current clients.

Speaker 4: 11:46

It was just reestablishing relationships and kind of picking up where you left off, whether that was a couple of years ago or a couple of months ago and just updating about what's going on, what's current, not necessarily a sales pitch, but like, hey, here's where I'm at today, just give me an update. Really appreciated our relationship and communication at previous company, here's what we're doing now, here's what we're seeing within the market and how cybersecurity is changing. If that's top of mind for you and you're not overly satisfied with what's going on, let's discuss what we're seeing other accounts do to kind of bolster their footprint or gaps on the cybersecurity side and then on the COI side. I mean, I see this a lot in networking. If you're networking and looking to meet new people, you have got to be in the giving, giving, giving mindset. If you are in the take, take, take mindset what's in this for me, or how you can benefit me, what intros you can make for me, you are networking totally wrong and I can't tell.

Speaker 4: 12:47

I had to switch up my entire networking process when I first got into networking and VC3 put a big emphasis on this with our sales team is hey, leverage your network, leverage your CRYs. I've came from companies where it's all cold outbound, so being with a company where there is that focus and emphasis, I was like great, let me meet anybody and everybody, let me grab lunch, go to breakfast, attend any networking event as possible. And I quickly learned that I was wasting my time pretty quickly, so I had to put up certain guardrails with my time. Instead of Evan, you introduced me to someone I may not know. Instead of saying hey, let's go grab breakfast or lunch, I now do 30-minute virtual screening calls to see if we align.

Speaker 1: 13:32

Hey are we aligned with our?

Speaker 4: 13:33

business.

Speaker 4: 13:35

You know, do I like it? Do I trust you enough to make an introduction to my network? And if I can check those boxes off? Awesome, cool.

Speaker 4: 13:44

Evan, I like how we're clicking today. It feels like we have some overlap and synergies with our business. It feels like we have some overlap and synergies with our business. You know you're posted or continuing the conversation, maybe in person for coffee or even a lunch, just to see how we could further expand and foster this relationship, and then from there I were sitting down.

Speaker 4: 14:01

Evan, who are you looking to get connected with? You know I'm out and about a lot. I may know someone who you're looking to get connected with, whether it's a client or strategic partner. How you tell me a little bit more about who you're looking to get connected with, whether it's a client or strategic partner. How you know, tell me a little bit more about who you're looking to get connected with so I can make an introduction for you. I am always asking about introductions. Who I can connect you with. That's going to be a value to your business and, if I learn, you share your value, prop, your ideal client, and I'm not satisfied with how I can keep you top of mind. I ask good discovery. Being in sales, I ask good discovery questions.

Speaker 1: 14:39

You know the one that as a pet peeve of mine is we're industry agnostic. Doesn't help me, it really doesn't help me.

Speaker 4: 14:44

You say, hey, we could work with anybody and everybody. That doesn't help me keep you top of mind. So a follow up question, evan if I were to come to the table, if I were to come with an introduction, what are two to three industries that if I were to make the connection in that industry you're like jazzed up about and people go, hey, I really love working with nonprofits, I really love working with financial services, we can work with anybody. But if you come to the table with me and make an introduction to those industries whole, I'm jazzed up, I'm excited. I have a ton of knowledge in that space.

Speaker 3: 15:21

I'm really excited to have that conversation.

Speaker 3: 15:24

A couple of things. I want to jump on things. I said that you talked about that. I really believe in the leveraging your network. I said that you did. You know, talked about that. I really believe in the leveraging your network. You know, we just talked about it in the last episode or episode before.

Speaker 3: 15:36

Especially if somebody's making a career transition, downloading your LinkedIn connections into an Excel spreadsheet, going through it in a really organized way to make sure that you're reaching out to the right people, you're tracking what's working, not working, trying to find out what's going on with them, not going into that first conversation with the hard sell. That's a great way to turn people off and not have them want to talk to you again, being mindful of your time, that half an hour coffee or that half an hour breakfast can be an hour and a half to two hours by the time you talk about leaving, getting in traffic, getting there, staying. So, again, having that you know, 15 to 30 minute conversation on the phone first to see if there's even enough of a fit and are we comfortable with each other before committing to that larger period of time, really trying to get back, really trying to be focused and be able to hone in. As you said, if you say I can work with anybody, somebody's mind goes blank and they're not going to think of anyone. But if you say, hey, geez, are there any law firms that you've worked with over the last six months to a year, who do you know?

Speaker 3: 16:43

That's in manufacturing. All of a sudden you start to plug into what's in someone's brain and often you'll come out with two or three or four people that you can get introduced to. One of the things that I tell my clients is a goal for every connection that you're sitting down with. The hope is to get introduced to two people who you didn't know, so that you can continually expand out that network, whether you're adding good COIs to your network or there are folks who could be prospects down the road. So I really like a lot of the things that you had to say in terms of how you've gone about being successful.

Speaker 4: 17:16

Yeah, and I know one of the questions that we discussed prior to hop on here is ROI of your networking, and I've started to be more mindful with this at the beginning of this year because I had built up a decent sized network in my networking journey. Keep track of intros you've made and intros you've received. So and it's important to to know that ratio, because if you could understand that, hey, for every five intros that I make, I know I'm going to receive one. That makes it a little bit more predictable when you are engaging into a COI conversation or networking conversation. I haven't gotten down to that ratio yet. I'm a quarter into this, a little bit with this new metric tracking of me, but I've heard from a lot of other successful networkers that it is a great stat to track so that you understand your numbers. It makes it a bit more predictable when receiving potentially an introduction.

Speaker 3: 18:15

I think tracking those stats is important. Again, Craig's big on data, data, data. I think this is also where your CRM comes in, so that you've got a place where you can go back to, where you can note what we talked about the introductions I promised to make for somebody, the introductions they promised to make for somebody, the introductions they promised to make for me to be able to go back reference those things. So I'm agnostic when it comes to CRM. I don't care if it's HubSpot, Pipedrive, Salesforce, it's just having one place where you can go to track all of those things so that you can be more strategic as you get three, six, nine, 12 months into doing what you're doing.

Speaker 2: 18:52

And what I love about the whole thing in terms of everything you're saying, brendan, is the importance. You know, the thing that comes through on camera here is your energetic style of doing it and with all of us being part of ProVisors whether it be yourself, evan, which I call him a connector. Yourself, brendan, I've heard people give just rave reviews about your connecting. Call him a connector. Yourself, brendan, I've heard people give just rave reviews about your connecting. The important things I want our audience to pull from this, especially when breaking into a new space, is relationships are important. So, from a marketing side, the relationship piece is important because we need to be able to establish A what did you learn from your networking space? B how can we leverage that from a marketing space? And C, if you have the relationship, that means you have a connection, and a lot of times you don't have.

Speaker 2: 19:37

And I've said this before, evan you don't have to have tons and tons and tons of leads. You have to have tons and tons and tons of great people who you can connect with, who can push you in the right direction, and I think that, from that perspective, you're bringing a lot of stuff in light here to the table. So one of the things I want to do here is I want to give Brendan a second here to think of three things, three things that you would tell our audience as we close out the show. And before you do that, Evan and I want to remind everybody you can see us on YouTube. You can see this energetic guy Sorry, wrong way again. You can see this energetic guy right here who's going to be over here telling you guys the playbook of how to win. If you aren't listening and subscribing and commenting, you guys aren't taking advantage of what we're offering you here, and this is an important piece of us doing this.

Speaker 1: 20:26

We're not here just to see our? You're not here just to see our pretty faces.

Speaker 2: 20:29

You're here to learn how to grow your business year after year. Uh, evan, you have anything to add to that? Before brendan jumps in with his tips?

Speaker 3: 20:37

just take advantage of the information, the advice that we're giving you. Just pull two, three things that you can add your business and I promise, if you do that, 2025 is going to be much more successful than 2024 was.

Speaker 2: 20:51

And we're just through the first quarter. So here you go, brendan, you have the stage, three tips, three tips.

Speaker 4: 20:58

So three, three tips I would say join ProVisors, make it a bit easier. Provisors, this is not a ProVisors plug at all, but it has been an unbelievable group that has aligned extremely well with my mindset and beliefs about how I carry myself and my business. But I'm going to take that one step further. Join a group or be a part of a networking group professional association group and maybe even join two. This way you can kind of cross-pollinate different networking groups For me. I'm a part of three. You know Jerseyman, phillyman Magazine. They have a social club aspect of it. I have that one and I'm also a member of the Pyramid Club. So I have three different pockets of network that if I meet new people in one I'm able to make connections at the other two. So I would start with one but as you kind of get in that networking mode, look to join one or two others, just so you're able to cross pollinate. Second one when you're networking, switch your brain from me to give Give. I cannot express how important this mindset change was for me. Giving, giving, giving a good plug, and I was actually just given this. But I don't want the go giver. Read the go-Giver. It's an unbelievable book that I actually just received from it by another COI of mine. Once I finished reading this, I listened to it to give it to someone in my network who could benefit from being a giver in their network. So switch your mindset from how can they benefit me to how I can benefit them, from how can they benefit me to how I can benefit them. That's number two. I mean I would just say start off with those two Three.

Speaker 4: 22:44

Make worthwhile connections. Don't just connect for the sake of connecting. Connect people who they would get excited making a connection about, and if you're unsure about it, I take the step to. If I'm unsure about it, I'll reach out to the person that I'm looking to make the connection into and say, hey look, I just met so-and-so. Here's their LinkedIn profile. I think there's going to be a worthwhile connection because of X, Y, z. Are you okay if I make the introduction? If they say no, no harm, no foul. But if they say yes, would love to meet them, I go ahead and make the connection and just write an email intro Reasons why each of them would benefit from the introduction.

Speaker 2: 23:23

So that's my third tip right there. Awesome. Well, I'm going to. I'm going to steal Brendan's phrase here is that if you guys have heard this and you're not jazzed up, then you guys haven't been paying attention.

Speaker 3: 23:38

So just to finish out, Evan, any other last words before we take off today Watch, listen, subscribe and we look forward to seeing you again. A lot of great guests coming up on upcoming episodes. We're going to be finishing off our three sessions on how to get the most out of trade shows, so we look forward to seeing you back here real soon.

Speaker 2: 23:54

All right, you heard it from the man, the myth, the legend himself Craig Andrews, evan Poland, brendan Dodge. Until next time, guys, keep grinding, keep growing, keep doing whatever, keep doing it, whatever, keep doing it and we'll be happy. All right, talk to you soon. Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1: 24:14

Thank you for joining us on this exhilarating journey through the world of sales and marketing. Remember, the playbook is in your hands and the possibilities are limitless. Keep exploring, experimenting and innovating, and watch as your business reaches unprecedented levels of success. Don't forget to subscribe to the Sales and Marketing Playbook Unleashed on all major podcast platforms and follow us on YouTube, facebook and LinkedIn for even more exclusive content. Until next time, keep hustling and keep winning.