With a title like “the UK’s Most Hated Sales Trainer,” you know that you’re likely going to ruffle some feathers. You’re going to make some people uncomfortable. Because you’ve likely not achieved that title by telling people what they want to hear. 

Which is why, on this episode of B2B Revenue Acceleration, we sat down with Benjamin Dennehy for a conversation all about his career journey and how he came to be known as the UK’s Most Hated Sales Trainer.

Some things we talked about: 

• Why anybody can have a career in sales
• Benjamin’s sales and prospecting best practices
• Why you shouldn’t automatically hire someone with sales experience for your sales role
• The pros and cons of LinkedIn Prospecting
• The right ways to use CRMs as an SDR

Why anybody can have a career in sales

Great salespeople aren’t born; they’re made. It’s a sentiment Benjamin shouts to those thinking they’re not good enough. The reality is: It’s all about training — some more than others. But once that head space is cleared, every individual has the possibility to become a great salesperson regardless of their individual uniqueness. 

But what about confidence? Yes, it can be trained but can be a huge challenge for some. Benjamin’s response: Confidence isn’t so simple. Part of confidence comes down to belief. If a salesperson doesn’t believe that they’re allowed to act a certain way, it’ll keep them from rising above the rest. 

Think of how you act in a library versus a public park. When we talk to people, compare it to the library — the daily conversations we have set a standard that we apply to most situations, sales included. 

But sales calls are not daily conversations. There’s a very specific intention to those calls. By shifting a person’s belief to treat daily conversations and sales conversations differently, the real salesperson starts to emerge. 

Benjamin’s sales and prospecting advice

There’s two types of salespeople: Those willing to be creative and fight for their sales calls and then those who expect to be spoon fed. Benjamin shares some of the ways a salesperson can stand out:

• Ask for a fake employee: If you lead with a fake name, the employee you initially reach with the company won’t know how to help you. Now ask for the name of the managing director and extension. After a few days pass, you can then call the managing director directly. 
• Run through the last 4 digits of the company number: It can be time consuming, but continually calling numbers will help you find the correct contact. 
• Pattern interrupt: People don’t like to be told what to do. So, by disarming a cold call and asking for permission to pitch to them, you’re helping the prospect open up.

The pros and cons of LinkedIn Prospecting

Linkedin, like any social media, is a marketing platform — it’s all about creating content. And you can absolutely use it as a way of prospecting, but, according to Benjamin, it can be detrimental if you’re not careful. 

Salespeople can easily start to believe that they don’t have enough information about a potential before they reach out with a call, leading to some procrastination. Just as we discussed earlier, a salesperson needs to dispel the belief that the prospect is better than them or have authority over them. 

If a salesperson is handed a list of CEOs to call, the immediate next step is to pick up the phone. They can’t spend hours on Linkedin trying to learn everything they can about the prospect. 

This is not to say there isn’t a time and place for research. But in between sales calls is the wrong time. 

Prospecting Advice: A key takeaway

Anyone can be a salesperson. It just requires clearing out the mental trash that’s been reinforced through a person’s life. The quicker the clutter can be thrown away, the faster that person can start allowing themselves the ability to call CEOs without the worry — are they better than me?

To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe to the B2B Revenue Acceleration Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

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