WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.730 --> 00:00:04.132 Welcome to ChannelWaves, the podcast where channel 2 00:00:04.132 --> 00:00:07.402 leaders share success strategies, best practices, and emerging 3 00:00:07.402 --> 00:00:09.748 trends, brought to you by StructuredWeb. 4 00:00:09.748 --> 00:00:12.378 Here's your host, Steven Kellam. 5 00:00:12.378 --> 00:00:14.442 Welcome everyone, to ChannelWaves. 6 00:00:14.442 --> 00:00:16.420 StructuredWeb's view into everything channel. 7 00:00:16.420 --> 00:00:18.010 I'm your host, Steven Kellam. 8 00:00:18.010 --> 00:00:20.138 Very excited to have Andrea 9 00:00:20.138 --> 00:00:24.538 Sittig-Rolf, Chief BlitzMaster and CEO, founder 10 00:00:24.538 --> 00:00:27.916 of BlitzMasters, joining us today. Welcome. Thanks. 11 00:00:27.916 --> 00:00:29.132 Happy to be here. 12 00:00:29.132 --> 00:00:30.892 So maybe you could tell 13 00:00:30.892 --> 00:00:32.530 everyone, some of the listeners. 14 00:00:32.530 --> 00:00:33.852 Well, I'm going to back up for a second. 15 00:00:33.852 --> 00:00:36.172 I think most people in Channel know who you 16 00:00:36.172 --> 00:00:38.258 are, but there may be some listeners who don't. 17 00:00:38.258 --> 00:00:39.404 Maybe you could tell us a 18 00:00:39.404 --> 00:00:41.090 little bit about BlitzMasters. 19 00:00:41.090 --> 00:00:44.080 I know it's about effective appointment setting. Right. 20 00:00:44.080 --> 00:00:47.222 But that could be a pretty broad range. 21 00:00:47.222 --> 00:00:48.928 Maybe you could tell everybody a little bit about 22 00:00:48.928 --> 00:00:51.872 that and maybe a little your background as well. Sure. 23 00:00:51.872 --> 00:00:55.076 So I started the company 20 years ago after running 24 00:00:55.076 --> 00:00:59.716 blitzes for a data cabling company in the Seattle area. 25 00:00:59.716 --> 00:01:02.042 And when my boss called from Austin, Texas, 26 00:01:02.042 --> 00:01:03.364 kind of out of the blue and said, 27 00:01:03.364 --> 00:01:05.290 what's going on in the Northwest? 28 00:01:05.290 --> 00:01:06.922 Your numbers are off the charts. 29 00:01:06.922 --> 00:01:09.060 I'm just looking at all the regions across the country. 30 00:01:09.060 --> 00:01:11.120 The Northwest is on fire. What's happening? 31 00:01:12.130 --> 00:01:12.938 These blitzes? 32 00:01:12.938 --> 00:01:14.644 And I just kind of told them about it 33 00:01:14.644 --> 00:01:16.396 and we he said, keep up the good work. 34 00:01:16.396 --> 00:01:18.012 I can see the results on the bottom line. 35 00:01:18.012 --> 00:01:19.628 I thought, why would I keep up 36 00:01:19.628 --> 00:01:20.924 the good work for this guy? 37 00:01:20.924 --> 00:01:22.044 This could be a business. 38 00:01:22.044 --> 00:01:23.196 I could do this full time. 39 00:01:23.196 --> 00:01:24.684 So that was 20 years ago. 40 00:01:24.684 --> 00:01:26.156 The rest, as they say, is history. 41 00:01:26.156 --> 00:01:29.126 And in a nutshell, we help channel marketers 42 00:01:29.126 --> 00:01:32.358 grow their business with partners through sales, enablement 43 00:01:32.358 --> 00:01:35.510 Blitz Workshops that bring same day results. 44 00:01:35.510 --> 00:01:39.248 Okay, so how does that fit in the market today? Right. 45 00:01:39.248 --> 00:01:41.968 I work for a marketing company, by the way, I 46 00:01:41.968 --> 00:01:43.894 love what you do and I think it's incredibly effective. 47 00:01:43.894 --> 00:01:46.580 But how does that fit in the market today? Right. 48 00:01:46.580 --> 00:01:47.636 Very interesting. 49 00:01:47.636 --> 00:01:50.724 One point, I was on a podcast just the other day 50 00:01:50.724 --> 00:01:53.412 and they were talking about doubling down on marketing right. 51 00:01:53.412 --> 00:01:55.114 And doing something non-intuitive. 52 00:01:55.114 --> 00:01:57.368 I think that probably ties pretty well into what 53 00:01:57.368 --> 00:01:59.540 you do, and it's probably not a bad idea. 54 00:02:00.150 --> 00:02:02.552 Yeah, well, I think now what's happening is 55 00:02:02.552 --> 00:02:04.790 people need to get back to basics. 56 00:02:04.790 --> 00:02:06.952 There's obviously a lot of layoffs that are going 57 00:02:06.952 --> 00:02:10.151 on in tech and outside of tech, and this 58 00:02:10.151 --> 00:02:12.956 whole idea of marketing is still very important. 59 00:02:12.956 --> 00:02:14.156 But you have to talk to people. 60 00:02:14.156 --> 00:02:15.196 You're not going to sell anything 61 00:02:15.196 --> 00:02:16.530 unless you have a conversation. 62 00:02:16.530 --> 00:02:19.292 So it's bringing back that human connection, getting 63 00:02:19.292 --> 00:02:21.132 back to the basics, picking up the phone, 64 00:02:21.132 --> 00:02:23.248 making those calls, booking the appointments, and getting 65 00:02:23.248 --> 00:02:25.526 the pipeline full of those opportunities. 66 00:02:25.526 --> 00:02:28.512 But so much of it is just talking to people now. 67 00:02:28.512 --> 00:02:29.184 I agree. 68 00:02:29.184 --> 00:02:30.832 So I think we had talked about it before. 69 00:02:30.832 --> 00:02:32.896 It's really the last mile, right? 70 00:02:32.896 --> 00:02:34.852 You can do all that marketing, you can 71 00:02:34.852 --> 00:02:37.828 create all that awareness, you can create all 72 00:02:37.828 --> 00:02:40.212 that value and even those leads, right? 73 00:02:40.212 --> 00:02:41.572 But at some point, somebody does 74 00:02:41.572 --> 00:02:43.684 have to talk to somebody. Yeah. 75 00:02:43.684 --> 00:02:45.028 And that's kind of where we fit in. 76 00:02:45.028 --> 00:02:46.458 We call it the last marketing mile. 77 00:02:46.458 --> 00:02:48.856 You've done all the social and the email and maybe 78 00:02:48.856 --> 00:02:52.632 text campaigns and then now you got to call people. 79 00:02:52.632 --> 00:02:54.750 Now you got to make that call, book the appointment. 80 00:02:54.750 --> 00:02:57.064 So we're sort of at the last marketing mile and at 81 00:02:57.064 --> 00:03:00.412 the very beginning of the sales process, because what we teach 82 00:03:00.412 --> 00:03:02.972 folks to do is to get that first appointment to start 83 00:03:02.972 --> 00:03:05.400 that conversation or to start that new relationship. 84 00:03:07.370 --> 00:03:09.080 What's the goal? Right? 85 00:03:09.850 --> 00:03:12.194 I think this is where people I'm 86 00:03:12.194 --> 00:03:13.360 going to back up for a second. 87 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:15.248 Sometimes when people hear what you do and I think 88 00:03:15.248 --> 00:03:17.648 when I first heard what you did and first met 89 00:03:17.648 --> 00:03:20.656 you, I wasn't sure really, what is that goal, right? 90 00:03:20.656 --> 00:03:23.472 Is it once again tying very closely to that 91 00:03:23.472 --> 00:03:25.364 marketing or is it just sitting down with a 92 00:03:25.364 --> 00:03:27.898 bunch of people doing a bunch of telemarketing? 93 00:03:27.898 --> 00:03:30.148 And maybe you can talk a little bit about what is 94 00:03:30.148 --> 00:03:33.012 really the goal and maybe even how that has changed, right. 95 00:03:33.012 --> 00:03:36.676 With marketing coming down the funnel to the sales 96 00:03:36.676 --> 00:03:39.182 funnel and sales going up the marketing funnel. 97 00:03:39.182 --> 00:03:40.552 Right, yeah. 98 00:03:40.552 --> 00:03:42.184 Well, the goal is really just to book the 99 00:03:42.184 --> 00:03:44.158 appointment and that's a little bit of a paradigm 100 00:03:44.158 --> 00:03:46.488 shift for folks who are used to calling and 101 00:03:46.488 --> 00:03:48.392 then they start selling right away. 102 00:03:48.392 --> 00:03:50.978 And you have to keep in mind you've interrupted 103 00:03:50.978 --> 00:03:53.602 someone's day, they're in the middle of something, chances 104 00:03:53.602 --> 00:03:56.226 are, so you don't really have their undivided attention. 105 00:03:56.226 --> 00:03:59.282 And the best way to get hung up on is to start selling. 106 00:03:59.282 --> 00:04:03.126 So the idea is to make it short, less than 90 seconds. 107 00:04:03.126 --> 00:04:05.558 Probably the whole purpose is just to book the meeting 108 00:04:05.558 --> 00:04:08.326 and it makes it easier for the salesperson, the prospect 109 00:04:08.326 --> 00:04:10.416 appreciates it because you're not taking their time. 110 00:04:10.416 --> 00:04:13.712 Then the goal is to set up that future conversation, whether 111 00:04:13.712 --> 00:04:17.380 it be through zoom or in person or at an event. 112 00:04:17.380 --> 00:04:19.236 You're not taking a lot of their time. 113 00:04:19.236 --> 00:04:21.514 Now you're booking that future time when they're 114 00:04:21.514 --> 00:04:23.470 going to give you their undivided attention. 115 00:04:24.850 --> 00:04:27.828 That sounds pretty simple, right? Yeah. 116 00:04:27.828 --> 00:04:30.488 But I'm sure there's challenges along the way. 117 00:04:30.488 --> 00:04:32.952 So what's some of the challenges that are out there? 118 00:04:32.952 --> 00:04:35.220 How do you guys work to overcome them? 119 00:04:35.910 --> 00:04:38.264 We could talk about trends maybe a little bit later. 120 00:04:38.264 --> 00:04:40.892 Yeah, well, the big challenges, things like getting 121 00:04:40.892 --> 00:04:43.484 past the gatekeeper, handling those objections, getting the 122 00:04:43.484 --> 00:04:45.938 voicemail return, it's all sort of the roadblocks 123 00:04:45.938 --> 00:04:48.556 that sales reps run into when they're making 124 00:04:48.556 --> 00:04:50.386 those calls and trying to book those appointments. 125 00:04:50.386 --> 00:04:53.942 So, great tips in terms of gatekeepers. 126 00:04:53.942 --> 00:04:55.888 You can call before 08:00 a.m. 127 00:04:55.888 --> 00:04:57.536 Or after 05:00 p.m.. 128 00:04:57.536 --> 00:04:59.136 A lot of times gatekeepers are gone. 129 00:04:59.136 --> 00:05:01.142 You can get right to the decision maker 130 00:05:01.142 --> 00:05:03.056 or when the gatekeeper answers the phone. 131 00:05:03.056 --> 00:05:04.420 You can ask for sales. 132 00:05:04.420 --> 00:05:06.308 You're not going to get screened from 133 00:05:06.308 --> 00:05:08.554 asking for sales or even accounting. 134 00:05:08.554 --> 00:05:10.612 You can ask for another department and then 135 00:05:10.612 --> 00:05:13.562 from there get transferred to your decision maker 136 00:05:13.562 --> 00:05:16.314 and then with objections, I'm not interested, we're 137 00:05:16.314 --> 00:05:17.896 all set, I'm too busy. Call me back. 138 00:05:17.896 --> 00:05:20.296 There's all these objections that you hear 139 00:05:20.296 --> 00:05:22.088 and we've got some great tactics to 140 00:05:22.088 --> 00:05:24.302 handle those objections and get appointments. 141 00:05:24.302 --> 00:05:27.270 And then we teach the eight second voicemail. 142 00:05:27.270 --> 00:05:29.512 The purpose is just to get that return call. 143 00:05:29.512 --> 00:05:31.308 Not to sell anything on voicemail, but 144 00:05:31.308 --> 00:05:33.196 just to get that call back. 145 00:05:33.196 --> 00:05:35.692 So we really help with the roadblocks that sales 146 00:05:35.692 --> 00:05:38.098 reps run into when they're making those calls. 147 00:05:38.098 --> 00:05:39.788 So what does the engagement look 148 00:05:39.788 --> 00:05:41.660 like if someone's working with you? 149 00:05:42.430 --> 00:05:44.982 Is it small engagements, large engagements? 150 00:05:44.982 --> 00:05:46.768 Maybe you can talk a little bit about 151 00:05:46.768 --> 00:05:49.568 your average customer, what sort of customer they 152 00:05:49.568 --> 00:05:52.192 are, and what sort of engagements look like. Sure. 153 00:05:52.192 --> 00:05:54.938 So we do this what we call single partner Blitzes, 154 00:05:54.938 --> 00:05:57.076 where you just have one partner, it's just one team. 155 00:05:57.076 --> 00:05:58.682 They could be in one physical location 156 00:05:58.682 --> 00:06:00.212 or they could be spread out. 157 00:06:00.212 --> 00:06:03.012 And then our more popular program, we call it 158 00:06:03.012 --> 00:06:06.378 Blitz Anywhere Multi-Partner because it's actually many partners 159 00:06:06.378 --> 00:06:09.438 with lots of sales reps spread across the US, Canada. 160 00:06:09.438 --> 00:06:10.942 Sometimes Latin America. 161 00:06:10.942 --> 00:06:12.824 So it can be as small it could be 162 00:06:12.824 --> 00:06:14.878 as small as a single partner with five reps. 163 00:06:14.878 --> 00:06:18.178 It could be as large as 50 partners and 1000 reps. 164 00:06:18.178 --> 00:06:21.960 It just depends on what the vendor is looking to do. 165 00:06:22.650 --> 00:06:24.786 So, yeah, it really just depends. 166 00:06:24.786 --> 00:06:27.132 But in any case, the goal is to book 167 00:06:27.132 --> 00:06:29.404 the meeting, get as many appointments as possible, and 168 00:06:29.404 --> 00:06:32.170 the value props are always based on the sponsor. 169 00:06:32.990 --> 00:06:35.168 We tweak it, we customize it so that 170 00:06:35.168 --> 00:06:37.536 all these techniques are applied to the value 171 00:06:37.536 --> 00:06:40.140 prop of whomever is sponsoring it. 172 00:06:41.250 --> 00:06:45.908 So two questions, how does someone know they need you? 173 00:06:45.908 --> 00:06:47.828 And then what sort of 174 00:06:47.828 --> 00:06:49.562 organizations are most successful? 175 00:06:49.562 --> 00:06:50.884 Actually, three questions. 176 00:06:50.884 --> 00:06:53.572 And if they're not, what do they need to get there? 177 00:06:53.572 --> 00:06:57.716 Right, so, sorry, that's a lot of math, Steven. Okay. 178 00:06:57.716 --> 00:06:59.208 All right, so how does someone know that? 179 00:06:59.208 --> 00:07:01.140 Let's start with how does someone know they need you? 180 00:07:01.670 --> 00:07:03.400 Usually it's a pipeline issue. 181 00:07:03.400 --> 00:07:06.158 So what we've tried to do in terms of our branding 182 00:07:06.158 --> 00:07:08.828 is we want to be known as the person to go 183 00:07:08.828 --> 00:07:11.532 to the company to come to when pipeline is an issue. 184 00:07:11.532 --> 00:07:13.910 Who are you going to call? BlitzMasters! 185 00:07:14.810 --> 00:07:15.932 Let's get that in there. 186 00:07:15.932 --> 00:07:17.682 Have you actually used that? Ghostbusters. 187 00:07:17.682 --> 00:07:19.788 But I mean, I think that's trademarked, but have 188 00:07:19.788 --> 00:07:22.448 you actually we have a video about that. 189 00:07:22.448 --> 00:07:24.966 We've done with who are you going to call? BlitzMasters! 190 00:07:24.966 --> 00:07:27.152 So, yeah, if you're having a pipeline issue, 191 00:07:27.152 --> 00:07:29.494 you need leads, top of the funnel. 192 00:07:29.494 --> 00:07:32.868 That's the area where we help so that's when 193 00:07:32.868 --> 00:07:36.110 people know they need us, we need pipeline. 194 00:07:36.690 --> 00:07:38.148 How are we going to get there? 195 00:07:38.148 --> 00:07:39.380 And who we're going to call, 196 00:07:39.380 --> 00:07:41.520 and that's when you need us. 197 00:07:42.290 --> 00:07:44.212 I'm going to take that video from you. 198 00:07:44.212 --> 00:07:45.992 And when we promote this, everybody on 199 00:07:45.992 --> 00:07:48.312 LinkedIn, we're going to use that video. Right. 200 00:07:48.312 --> 00:07:50.310 I think that's actually pretty cool. 201 00:07:50.310 --> 00:07:52.744 So who's most successful with this? Right. 202 00:07:52.744 --> 00:07:55.540 Because, take it a step backwards for a moment. 203 00:07:56.310 --> 00:07:58.650 Everyone has a pipeline issue. 204 00:07:58.650 --> 00:08:00.012 I've been in sales a long time. 205 00:08:00.012 --> 00:08:01.746 Even if you got a big pipeline, 206 00:08:01.746 --> 00:08:04.194 you always need it to be bigger. 207 00:08:04.194 --> 00:08:05.276 And if you got a small 208 00:08:05.276 --> 00:08:09.564 pipeline, you have a big problem. 209 00:08:09.564 --> 00:08:11.676 Right, but how does anybody not 210 00:08:11.676 --> 00:08:14.448 need this, from my perspective? Yeah. 211 00:08:14.448 --> 00:08:16.128 I guess the only time they wouldn't need it 212 00:08:16.128 --> 00:08:17.728 is if they have more leads than they can 213 00:08:17.728 --> 00:08:19.568 deal with, more business coming in than they can 214 00:08:19.568 --> 00:08:23.892 deal with, not enough product to fulfill orders. Right. 215 00:08:23.892 --> 00:08:27.028 There's some of that going on, but once the 216 00:08:27.028 --> 00:08:29.668 whole supply chain thing is fixed and not an 217 00:08:29.668 --> 00:08:33.044 issue anymore and you need that pipeline, then yeah. 218 00:08:33.044 --> 00:08:35.716 And there isn't really a particular profile of 219 00:08:35.716 --> 00:08:37.789 a partner or a vendor that's successful. 220 00:08:37.789 --> 00:08:39.741 It has more to do with how involved 221 00:08:39.741 --> 00:08:43.998 sales leadership is, which can sometimes be tricky 222 00:08:43.998 --> 00:08:45.368 because a lot of times the vendors we 223 00:08:45.368 --> 00:08:48.024 work with have relationships with marketing. Right. 224 00:08:48.024 --> 00:08:49.948 And yes, marketing is definitely involved, but we 225 00:08:49.948 --> 00:08:52.274 need to talk to sales leadership because it's 226 00:08:52.274 --> 00:08:54.412 their reps who are participating, so we need 227 00:08:54.412 --> 00:08:57.004 them to be really involved as well. 228 00:08:57.004 --> 00:09:01.356 Well, I would think, having been a former partner who was 229 00:09:01.356 --> 00:09:05.046 heavier in sales, we were good at marketing, but we were heavier 230 00:09:05.046 --> 00:09:07.638 in sales as far as what we had as a partner. 231 00:09:07.638 --> 00:09:09.888 We had and we were $10 million MSP. Right. 232 00:09:09.888 --> 00:09:11.476 So we weren't huge, but we had 233 00:09:11.476 --> 00:09:15.348 great technicians, great support, strong salespeople, and 234 00:09:15.348 --> 00:09:16.890 we're starting to do the marketing. 235 00:09:16.890 --> 00:09:21.412 So from that perspective, you'd have been talking the 236 00:09:21.412 --> 00:09:23.796 vendor would have talking to the head of sales 237 00:09:23.796 --> 00:09:26.660 and marketing, which is pretty much a sales guy. Right. 238 00:09:29.190 --> 00:09:31.400 I think that's an easier fit for partners than 239 00:09:31.400 --> 00:09:34.056 actually trying to get them to do marketing, which 240 00:09:34.056 --> 00:09:38.204 has been very interesting as of late. Yeah. 241 00:09:38.204 --> 00:09:42.668 And the idea with BlitzMasters, we position ourselves as 242 00:09:42.668 --> 00:09:45.170 a tactical, practical part of a broader strategy. 243 00:09:45.170 --> 00:09:47.084 We're not the only thing that you're going to 244 00:09:47.084 --> 00:09:48.764 do, but it needs to be a part of 245 00:09:48.764 --> 00:09:51.564 the mix with social and digital and all of 246 00:09:51.564 --> 00:09:54.534 the other things that people do to generate leads. 247 00:09:54.534 --> 00:09:56.176 Having that sort of that calling piece 248 00:09:56.176 --> 00:09:58.278 is an important part of the mix. 249 00:09:58.278 --> 00:10:01.040 Not the only part, but it's an important part. Sure. 250 00:10:01.040 --> 00:10:03.098 Since the goal is to get an appointment 251 00:10:03.098 --> 00:10:04.666 and you said it's to get it fairly 252 00:10:04.666 --> 00:10:07.492 quickly, is there any product that doesn't work? 253 00:10:07.492 --> 00:10:10.266 I mean, there's some pretty complex solutions 254 00:10:10.266 --> 00:10:12.884 out there in our market in particular, 255 00:10:12.884 --> 00:10:15.270 and there's some pretty simple ones. 256 00:10:15.270 --> 00:10:17.480 Does it matter if the goal really 257 00:10:17.480 --> 00:10:20.206 only is to set that appointment? 258 00:10:20.206 --> 00:10:23.150 Yeah, that's such a great question because it doesn't 259 00:10:23.150 --> 00:10:25.548 this is just about setting the appointment, starting the 260 00:10:25.548 --> 00:10:30.330 relationship and starting that sales process, whether you sell 261 00:10:30.330 --> 00:10:33.452 supplies, ink, toner, which is obviously a very quick 262 00:10:33.452 --> 00:10:38.332 transactional type of sale to server storage software, even 263 00:10:38.332 --> 00:10:40.988 if it's a three, four year sales cycle, you 264 00:10:40.988 --> 00:10:42.274 have to start somewhere. 265 00:10:42.274 --> 00:10:43.888 And so that's what this is. 266 00:10:43.888 --> 00:10:45.142 It's booking the appointment. 267 00:10:45.142 --> 00:10:46.848 Even if it's a long sales cycle, you 268 00:10:46.848 --> 00:10:48.272 still have to get in the door and 269 00:10:48.272 --> 00:10:49.904 you've got to start somewhere, basically. 270 00:10:49.904 --> 00:10:52.640 So it works for any product. 271 00:10:52.640 --> 00:10:54.618 It's just some products are going to have a faster 272 00:10:54.618 --> 00:10:57.940 ROI than others, just based on the sales cycle. Sure. 273 00:10:57.940 --> 00:11:00.212 Is there any geography to this? Right? 274 00:11:00.212 --> 00:11:02.122 Are you North America? 275 00:11:02.122 --> 00:11:03.578 Are you global? 276 00:11:03.578 --> 00:11:05.610 What's the size of the organization 277 00:11:05.610 --> 00:11:06.616 that you can work with? 278 00:11:06.616 --> 00:11:08.888 And then how fast can you 279 00:11:08.888 --> 00:11:10.616 turn something around on this? Right? 280 00:11:10.616 --> 00:11:13.560 Someone calls, we get three or four people call you in. 281 00:11:13.560 --> 00:11:15.678 What sort of capabilities can you handle? 282 00:11:15.678 --> 00:11:17.694 And can you do it globally? 283 00:11:17.694 --> 00:11:19.214 Yeah, we can do it globally. 284 00:11:19.214 --> 00:11:22.090 We can do it in English, and we can do it in Spanish. 285 00:11:22.090 --> 00:11:24.092 So we've done virtual and on site 286 00:11:24.092 --> 00:11:26.348 programs actually all over the world, but 287 00:11:26.348 --> 00:11:28.546 again, just in Spanish, just in English. 288 00:11:28.546 --> 00:11:32.448 And then we need 30 to 45 days notice not 289 00:11:32.448 --> 00:11:34.992 only for runway, but just for availability as well. 290 00:11:34.992 --> 00:11:37.584 I do have four BlitzMasters, so technically we 291 00:11:37.584 --> 00:11:39.968 can do four programs on the same day. 292 00:11:39.968 --> 00:11:42.160 Okay, but the runway piece is important. 293 00:11:42.160 --> 00:11:43.488 The prep is really important. 294 00:11:43.488 --> 00:11:45.492 What do you think appointment setting looks 295 00:11:45.492 --> 00:11:46.836 like in the next couple of years? 296 00:11:46.836 --> 00:11:49.940 Because we've had the virtual side, because you've had 297 00:11:49.940 --> 00:11:53.028 COVID, and now people are getting back out there. 298 00:11:53.028 --> 00:11:54.612 So what does that trend look like? 299 00:11:54.612 --> 00:11:57.492 Are people continuing to do more virtual training? 300 00:11:57.492 --> 00:12:00.350 Are they moving to inside pieces? Is it a blend? 301 00:12:00.350 --> 00:12:00.728 Kind of. 302 00:12:00.728 --> 00:12:01.688 What have you learned from that? 303 00:12:01.688 --> 00:12:03.448 And where do you think this is going to go? 304 00:12:03.448 --> 00:12:05.640 Yeah, I've actually been doing my research. 305 00:12:05.640 --> 00:12:08.024 I've talked to about 25 of our top customers in 306 00:12:08.024 --> 00:12:10.168 the last, I don't know, months or so because we 307 00:12:10.168 --> 00:12:12.242 are going to bring back our onsite programs. 308 00:12:12.242 --> 00:12:13.932 When I started the business 20 years ago, 309 00:12:13.932 --> 00:12:15.468 that's all we did was on site. 310 00:12:15.468 --> 00:12:16.636 And then twelve years ago, 311 00:12:16.636 --> 00:12:17.842 we started doing them virtually. 312 00:12:17.842 --> 00:12:19.970 And so we had a mix before COVID 313 00:12:19.970 --> 00:12:21.408 and then obviously, the last two and a 314 00:12:21.408 --> 00:12:24.166 half to three years have been only virtual. 315 00:12:24.166 --> 00:12:27.888 So Blitz Live is our live program where we send 316 00:12:27.888 --> 00:12:30.540 a BlitzMaster, and the BlitzMaster is on site. 317 00:12:31.390 --> 00:12:33.610 But what I found out with these conversations 318 00:12:33.610 --> 00:12:36.404 is that so many of our customers and 319 00:12:36.404 --> 00:12:38.996 partners and vendors don't have a critical mass 320 00:12:38.996 --> 00:12:41.850 of people in one physical location. 321 00:12:41.850 --> 00:12:44.724 Offices have been closed around the country. 322 00:12:44.724 --> 00:12:45.940 Some of our biggest customers, 323 00:12:45.940 --> 00:12:48.574 they've closed 14, 15, 16 offices. 324 00:12:48.574 --> 00:12:51.208 And people are working remotely, and they're saying, well, the 325 00:12:51.208 --> 00:12:53.592 only time we would do a live program is if 326 00:12:53.592 --> 00:12:56.264 you came in for a QBR or as part of 327 00:12:56.264 --> 00:12:59.532 sales kickoff, where we're already bringing people in. 328 00:12:59.532 --> 00:13:01.468 And so I don't think there's going to be a 329 00:13:01.468 --> 00:13:04.796 huge demand for the onsite, not like there was 330 00:13:04.796 --> 00:13:08.828 before COVID where maybe half of our business, but we 331 00:13:08.828 --> 00:13:10.732 want to be ready for when it is. 332 00:13:10.732 --> 00:13:11.664 And then, of course, there's a 333 00:13:11.664 --> 00:13:14.032 lot of interactivity, coaching, role play. 334 00:13:14.032 --> 00:13:16.912 We got to think of COVID friendly games to 335 00:13:16.912 --> 00:13:19.382 play on site where people still feel safe. 336 00:13:19.382 --> 00:13:21.428 And so we've come up with some ideas there. 337 00:13:21.428 --> 00:13:23.108 But I think that the virtual step is 338 00:13:23.108 --> 00:13:26.068 still going to continue for a while, probably. 339 00:13:26.068 --> 00:13:28.682 Do you see in the future appointment 340 00:13:28.682 --> 00:13:32.996 setting becoming more important for the final 341 00:13:32.996 --> 00:13:34.842 mile of the marketing pipeline? 342 00:13:34.842 --> 00:13:37.822 Do you see the need for this services growing? 343 00:13:37.822 --> 00:13:39.880 Right, yeah, for sure. 344 00:13:39.880 --> 00:13:42.328 Because again, you, you have to talk to people and 345 00:13:42.328 --> 00:13:45.432 especially if, if a lot of the training is going 346 00:13:45.432 --> 00:13:48.376 to continue to be virtual, you still need that human 347 00:13:48.376 --> 00:13:51.340 connection of having the conversation, reaching out to people. 348 00:13:51.340 --> 00:13:53.484 I mean, I had people 20 years ago when I 349 00:13:53.484 --> 00:13:55.698 quit my business to start this, say, oh my gosh, 350 00:13:55.698 --> 00:13:57.788 don't quit your job, no one will hire you. 351 00:13:57.788 --> 00:13:58.572 That's so old. 352 00:13:58.572 --> 00:14:01.452 Like cold calling, of course, 20 years later, 353 00:14:01.452 --> 00:14:03.792 it's like, I love seeing those people now. 354 00:14:03.792 --> 00:14:05.136 Like, remember when you said that? 355 00:14:05.136 --> 00:14:07.888 Of course, I'm like, hold my beer, like, watch this, 356 00:14:07.888 --> 00:14:10.640 because it just ended up being this fantastic business. 357 00:14:10.640 --> 00:14:12.032 And I continue to be asked 358 00:14:12.032 --> 00:14:14.054 that question, is it still relevant? 359 00:14:14.054 --> 00:14:16.352 Does cold calling still work? That's a way better. 360 00:14:16.352 --> 00:14:17.434 Sorry, I'm going to go back and Christopher, 361 00:14:17.434 --> 00:14:18.596 you can pull this back in. 362 00:14:18.596 --> 00:14:19.786 Is it still relevant? 363 00:14:19.786 --> 00:14:21.748 I actually know it's relevant today. 364 00:14:21.748 --> 00:14:23.928 Is it going to be relevant in five years? 365 00:14:23.928 --> 00:14:26.472 That should have been the question that I asked you. 366 00:14:26.472 --> 00:14:27.384 Yeah. 367 00:14:27.384 --> 00:14:33.192 God, I hope so, because I still 368 00:14:33.192 --> 00:14:34.392 love it, so I sure hope so. 369 00:14:34.392 --> 00:14:36.088 But yeah, I just I don't see how 370 00:14:36.088 --> 00:14:38.456 you're ever going to get away from the 371 00:14:38.456 --> 00:14:41.052 human to human connection and talking to people. 372 00:14:41.052 --> 00:14:43.788 I don't know how sales is going to work without that. 373 00:14:43.788 --> 00:14:47.004 I suppose there are some transactional sales where 374 00:14:47.004 --> 00:14:50.140 you don't need a salesperson, but in our 375 00:14:50.140 --> 00:14:52.816 business and the industry in the channel yeah. 376 00:14:52.816 --> 00:14:55.792 You still need to have conversations and picking up the phone 377 00:14:55.792 --> 00:14:57.820 and calling people is a great way to start that. 378 00:14:58.350 --> 00:15:00.080 Oh, one last question. 379 00:15:00.080 --> 00:15:01.632 It wasn't the last question. 380 00:15:01.632 --> 00:15:03.552 Does it matter what vertical it's in? 381 00:15:03.552 --> 00:15:05.180 I didn't even think about that. Right. 382 00:15:05.730 --> 00:15:07.482 Maybe we can take it in two directions. 383 00:15:07.482 --> 00:15:09.972 There's B2B2C and there's B2B. 384 00:15:09.972 --> 00:15:11.834 And in the B2B, obviously you've 385 00:15:11.834 --> 00:15:15.650 got everything from hardware, to software, to cybersecurity. 386 00:15:16.870 --> 00:15:18.872 Is it working better or do you see it working 387 00:15:18.872 --> 00:15:22.568 in a particular industry or vertical better than others? 388 00:15:22.568 --> 00:15:25.134 Yeah, I call it industry neutral. 389 00:15:25.134 --> 00:15:27.374 It works any industry, you're just booking 390 00:15:27.374 --> 00:15:28.824 an appointment, it doesn't really matter what 391 00:15:28.824 --> 00:15:29.768 you sell on the back end. 392 00:15:29.768 --> 00:15:31.618 But like I said, we do take the value prop 393 00:15:31.618 --> 00:15:33.868 of the vendor or of the customer, and then we 394 00:15:33.868 --> 00:15:36.226 weave that into the training, into the technique. 395 00:15:36.226 --> 00:15:38.604 So it's specific to that customer. 396 00:15:38.604 --> 00:15:41.638 But whether it's sled commercial, whether it's veteran 397 00:15:41.638 --> 00:15:44.608 reps, new reps, inside, outside, it works for 398 00:15:44.608 --> 00:15:46.518 everybody, because, again, you're just getting the appointment. 399 00:15:46.518 --> 00:15:48.672 You're not selling anything that day. 400 00:15:48.672 --> 00:15:53.008 And so the mantra that people in technology won't pick up 401 00:15:53.008 --> 00:15:58.404 the phone is wrong. it's very wrong. 402 00:15:58.404 --> 00:16:00.564 Okay, you just got to give them a reason to 403 00:16:00.564 --> 00:16:04.468 pick up a phone or just be persistent or both. 404 00:16:04.468 --> 00:16:06.586 Yeah, it's all the above. 405 00:16:06.586 --> 00:16:08.772 Yeah, you need to give the salespeople a reason 406 00:16:08.772 --> 00:16:10.462 to pick up a phone because they're reluctant. 407 00:16:10.462 --> 00:16:12.318 But usually the reluctance is because they don't 408 00:16:12.318 --> 00:16:14.104 feel confident, they don't have the skills, they 409 00:16:14.104 --> 00:16:15.672 don't know how to do it. 410 00:16:15.672 --> 00:16:18.124 And then you've got to give the prospects that 411 00:16:18.124 --> 00:16:20.156 you're calling a reason to pick up the phone, 412 00:16:20.156 --> 00:16:22.828 which is where our voicemail techniques come in that 413 00:16:22.828 --> 00:16:25.794 are highly effective at getting those return calls. 414 00:16:25.794 --> 00:16:28.476 So, yeah, just all the way around. 415 00:16:28.476 --> 00:16:30.144 We just need people to pick up the phone. 416 00:16:30.144 --> 00:16:31.100 Pick up the phone. 417 00:16:31.790 --> 00:16:36.688 There was a book sorry, I didn't write that book, but 418 00:16:36.688 --> 00:16:38.780 there was a book called Just Pick Up the Phone. 419 00:16:39.390 --> 00:16:41.152 Did you see that? 420 00:16:41.152 --> 00:16:44.128 It was just I'll find a copy, look it up. 421 00:16:44.128 --> 00:16:44.752 There's one called. 422 00:16:44.752 --> 00:16:45.980 Just Pick Up the Phone. 423 00:16:46.850 --> 00:16:48.996 So how do people get in touch with you? 424 00:16:48.996 --> 00:16:50.900 What's the best way for people to reach you? 425 00:16:50.900 --> 00:16:52.788 If they want to discuss this, they want to find 426 00:16:52.788 --> 00:16:54.580 out a little bit more about what you do. 427 00:16:54.580 --> 00:16:58.130 Blitzmasters.com it's all right there. 428 00:16:58.130 --> 00:16:59.514 Okay, fantastic. 429 00:16:59.514 --> 00:17:01.572 Well, Andrea, thank you for joining us. 430 00:17:01.572 --> 00:17:02.900 We really appreciate it. 431 00:17:02.900 --> 00:17:04.675 Listeners, thank you for joining us. 432 00:17:04.675 --> 00:17:08.050 And to everybody, have a great day. Thanks so much. Bye.