The Accidental Seller Series - Wendell Jordan This is the 4th episode of the Accidental Seller series. Wendell Jordan is the owner of Jordan Consults and a local SEO specialist. His company works with small businesses to increase their digital footprint. Growing up, Jordan and his friends wanted to become professional basketball players. However, playing for the NBA became an afterthought when he reached high school. His first few years in college were spent actively pursuing the business side of music. By then, he was in and out of recording studios in New York City. Perceptions of sales Wendell thought of salespeople as sleazy individuals. He first came across sales when he was young. A vacuum salesman was doing door-to-door sales and he wouldn’t leave until his mother threatened to call the police. The salesman was trying to force his mother to buy a product they didn’t need. That experience had a negative impact on Wendel and affected how he viewed sales. Wendell’s mother worked for the city of New York and his father was a postal worker. His parents’ jobs, along with how he viewed salespeople made him think that sales was not for him. He accidentally came into sales when he was checking out Craigslist ads. The ad was looking for someone to work in customer service and didn’t mention sales. When he went in for the position, it was commission-only, door-to-door selling. Wendell’s wife played a huge part in his decision to take the position. She had faith that he could do it and encouraged him to try. He’s been in sales ever since. Overcoming the fear Like any new salesperson, Wendell had feared. He worried he’d become the sleazy salesperson who had to be removed from someone’s home, just like the man from his childhood. In his first days on the job, he shadowed a sales rep and was told just to take notes. For two days, he tried to learn what he could from shadowing. On the third day, he was thrown into the fire and had to have his first door-to-door experience on his own. Making a sale on the first day can be difficult but Wendell was able to do it. His first deal felt magical and it inspired and motivated him to keep going. He thought, if he could do it the first day, he can also do it the second day so he kept going. However, the lack of sales training affected his morale and the number of sales made. Shadowing others for a day or two wasn’t enough for him to sell door-to-door effectively. He just didn’t have the skillset to close and the result was a lot of deals weren’t pushed through. Quitting sales Wendell’s sales journey wasn’t easy. He experienced being removed from payroll and spent a good part of the year in limbo, not knowing if he’d be able to make a sale again. The instability of the job almost made him quit. An old business partner convinced him to try again, but this time, he’d be selling websites. Considering that his previous sales experience wasn’t stellar, Wendell felt trepidation. Still, he tried again and started cold-calling businesses. Wendell went from a door-to-door sales process to talking to potential clients and educating them about their services. Sales has been one of the greatest opportunities Wendell has ever had in his life and he would choose it again. It allows him to work from home and learn about different cultures. The door-to-door sales experience exposed him to different lifestyles and it trained him in different ways to socialize with others. If you’re new in sales, keep at it. Don’t get caught up in what people perceive sales to be. #SalesMotivation Shift your focus. See yourself three years down the road. You’ll think about the number of Nos you got but you’ll remember the Yeses were far greater. Focus on the bright side. “The Accidental Seller Series - Wendell Jordan” episode resources Reach out to Wendell Jordan vis his...

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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