129: Sales with Integrity and Empathy with HAAS Alert's Devon Banks

0:00 Scott Ingram: This episode is brought to you thanks to the generous support of Skipio, Revenue Grid, and QuotaPath. You can learn more about them and all of the companies that are supporting the Sales Success Community at top1.fm/sponsors.

0:23 Scott Ingram: You're listening to the Sales Success Stories podcast, where we deconstruct world-class sales performers to provide insights and strategies to help you improve. To learn more, visit us at top1.fm.

0:35 Scott Ingram: Here's your host, Scott Ingram. Today on the Sales Success Stories podcast, my guest is Devon Banks. Devon is the top sales development rep at HAAS Alert and was the top SDR at LevelJump before that. She's also been very consistent in her appearances on our LinkedIn Sales Stars Top 100 list. Welcome to the show, Devon.

0:55 Devon Banks: Thank you so much for having me.

0:57 Scott Ingram: So this is going to be really fun. You and I had a pretty fascinating offline conversation before we started, and maybe we'll get into to some of those stories, but why don't we start with some immediate value and talk about the top 3 things that you believe have contributed the most to your success as an SDR?

1:14 Devon Banks: Sure. So the first thing that I think is you have to be confident and you have to take risks with confidence, you know, not just in being an SDR, but in all aspects of your life. It's really important that you do things that you're afraid of. And I don't think most things are worth doing unless you feel a little bit of that fear. So I, you know, I really believe that's something that's gotten me to where I am, you know, in any of the successes that I've had are just being confident in myself and then taking those risks and standing in those risks and saying, you know, this is what I've done and where are we going to go from here? I think the next thing that I would bring to the table is that I think you should always be super open-minded, but also come with empathy. You know, when you're listening to others and You're asking them questions, really, really try to empathize with them and put yourself in their shoes. I've been very fortunate to do a lot of traveling and to meet so many different kinds of people. And I really think that it's such a privilege to sit and speak with someone and then have them open their world to you. And you really imagine what it's like to be them. And I think that will bring you success in any role that you have. And I think last thing is that don't get tripped up on the little things, just focus on the big picture and keep taking the steps to get there. You're going to get sidesteps. You're going to have to make little mistakes. That's part of it. I just always try to remember that everything is happening exactly the way that it's supposed to happen. When you focus on those big things and you just keep moving forward, you'll get there and you'll have success no matter what you do.

2:50 Scott Ingram: Very cool. Very cool. Well, let's contextualize this a little bit. This is part of the fun, I think. I just wanted you to talk about your role and talk about HAAS Alert, which is kind of a unique company and offering.

3:01 Devon Banks: Yeah, no, and I'm so passionate and excited about it. You know, I did… I said I just got back from 5 days in Las Vegas at the American Towman Tow Show exhibition, which was super exciting. And the reason that we were there is that every 6 days a tow truck operator is killed while they are on the roads trying to help people like me and you. And a lot of that time it's because people don't know that they are supposed to slow down and move over for tow truck operators and first responders. And so what our technology does is actually connects vehicles that when you and I are driving down the road, we get messages inside our vehicles telling us that those people are there, and then telling us to slow down and move over so that everyone can get home safely to their family at the end of the day.

3:47 Scott Ingram: I love that. And what is it? I mean, talk about kind of your role specifically within that. What kind of outreach are you doing? What does your sales motion look like?

3:55 Devon Banks: So towing is a really interesting industry. You know, we have… there's something like 60,000 companies in the US alone. And some of these companies are, are one-man, one-truck operations all the way up to, you know, 300, 400, 500 vehicles. So the sales motion is very different, you know, depending on where we're going. There's lots of associations. And generally what I love about this position and what I love about this industry is that because you're calling a tow truck business, guess what they do every single time?

4:28 Scott Ingram: I bet they answer the phone.

4:30 Devon Banks: They answer the phone. And it's, you know, it's not always the owner-operator, it's not always the decision maker, but, you know, you're always speaking with somebody, either a gatekeeper. Oftentimes if it's a smaller operation, that person is the wife, mother, or partner, brother, sister. There's a lot of these are family-run operations. So, you know, it's a lot of opportunity to ask questions, listen, and learn. Many people don't realize this. I didn't know this. Towing is oftentimes generational businesses. And in fact, there's a business in Indiana where it's now the 5th generation owners and will soon be passed on to the 6th.

5:09 Scott Ingram: Wow, that is really fascinating. So I want to… before we talk about kind of your results and the success that you've had, maybe we can share the 2 stories. So you had, you had a fun customs run-in and conversation. I thought that was pretty fascinating. And then, I don't know, just, just some of the off-the-wall conversations that you have at towing conferences in Vegas. You want to walk us through those? Before we get into Devon's stories, let me quickly mention Skipio right here, because communicating with your customers where they are is key. Devon talked about having great success calling tow truck operators because they pick up the phone. While not everyone picks up the phone, most people pay attention to their text messages, and Skipio is all about opening up this incredibly effective channel. Check out Skipio's offering and some of their best practices to learn how you can make the most of text at top1.fm/skipio. And now back to Devon and her recent travel stories.

6:10 Devon Banks: Yeah, sure. So, you know, I'm going through the customs. I live in Toronto. I have to go to Las Vegas, and it was pretty exciting to be to go to Vegas, especially after we're still kind of on a little bit of a lockdown here. So I was really looking forward to it. I'm at the customs in the Toronto Pearson Airport and I go up to the lady and she said, no, what's your reason for going to Las Vegas? And I said, I'm going to a tow show. And she just gave me the most quizzical look. And then she goes, like feet? I said, no, not like feet, like trucks. But you know, like I said, if you were going to go anywhere in the world for, you know, a tow show like Toes Like Feet, that would be Vegas.

6:55 Scott Ingram: So that's right, that's right. I mean, I'm sure there probably is that show, but it's, it's just a different one. That's right.

7:04 Devon Banks: So while I was in Vegas, I had an opportunity to talk to a lot of our customers as well as a lot of the operators there. And towers love to talk. It's great because they just have incredible stories. And one of the ongoing jokes, which I've heard multiple times, is what is the difference between a fairy tale and a story from a tow truck driver?

7:25 Scott Ingram: Oh, I don't know. You didn't tell me this one.

7:27 Devon Banks: Well, the answer is a fairy tale has an ending. And, but what's great is, you know, these guys have such fascinating stories themselves. Like I said, some of them, it was their grandfather, great-great-grandfather, great-great-great-grandfather that started the business. Others of them, you know, sort of fell into it. You know, and I told you I was talking to one gentleman and I said, you know, so how'd you get into towing? And he said, bad luck. And then I said, well, what happened? And, you know, he says, well, I was stealing cars. And, you know, the story goes from there. But one really great thing about these people is that towing is really in their blood and They love it. And most of them, once they're in the business, they will be towing until their 70s or in their 80s. And when we were in Indiana last month, we were at the Indiana Towing and Wrecker Association show, and I got to sit down with one of our customers and I said to him, you know, Bill, what was the… your favorite or the best recovery that you've ever done? And it really was one of those moments that I won't forget because it's like his eyes just like sparkled and he smiled and he said, every single one of them. So it's just, yeah, it's amazing to be around these people with this kind of passion and love for their work. So yeah, I feel really honored to be part of this industry, which is something, you know, like we said, I never thought that I would even know that there are different kinds of tow trucks.

9:01 Scott Ingram: Well, and part of the conversation we had too was, we've joked on this show so many times and in this industry that, you know, look, this, this is sales. It's not like we're saving people's lives or lives are at stake. But in your case, that's, it's literally true that you can can save lives.

9:16 Devon Banks: It is literally true. And, you know, we do save lives with our technology. You know, we've sent out a billion… that's with a B… a billion driver alerts. And, you know, we have one customer and he says, you know, that every driver alerted is a disaster averted. And we lose too many first responders and tow operators every day on the road, and we lose too many people like you and I to distracted driving. And we're not just talking texting and calling. There's so many different kinds of distracted driving. And so with our technology, we, we really do save lives.

9:52 Scott Ingram: It's amazing. It's amazing. All right, well, let's put this in, in a little bit more perspective just around kind of the results, and then we'll get deep into your process and your story and all the rest.

10:03 Devon Banks: I've been really fortunate actually since I've taken over this job to see some really incredible results. You know, not only do tow operators pick up the phone, but they do recognize that this is a massive problem that they face every day. You know, since I've been on the team, I've been responsible for bringing in over $200,000 of closed revenue. And month over month, I've consistently surpassed quota. I believe now I'm at about 150% to my target for the year, which is amazing. And, you know, I don't… just because I'm at that number, I'm not going to give up. I want to keep going. And not only that, I think that in terms of metrics that you don't really count that you can't see on the paper. It's just that so much of this industry is about networking and building relationships and learning about tow operators and their businesses. And I just feel that, you know, as someone who, you know, back as of February 1st when I started into this role, I didn't even realize that there were different kinds of tow trucks. And now, you know, not only do I know that there's different manufacturers, the different types of trucks, and even the different parts of the trucks. So I just feel that when you're looking at either those hard metrics where, you know, I've surpassed my quota, you know, I'm hitting all of my daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly goals. I also feel like I've surpassed where I even thought I would be just in terms of networking and relationship building and learning about this industry.

11:28 Scott Ingram: That's fantastic. And I have to imagine that things are going to get so much easier for you as you continue to build that, that network and, and are able to leverage referrals and introductions and things like that as well.

11:38 Devon Banks: Yeah, definitely. And you know, it's a very, very small industry. Yeah, even though it's quite large, you know, there's, like I said, some of these people, they have not just their own name, but they come from a family name of tow operators. And so when, you know, when we show them that we're here, that we are really trying to solve this problem and really trying to help them, they're actually very excited about it. And they do tend to make great introductions. And some of my best conversations, of course, though, haven't even been these referrals. It's people that I've called, got them on the phone, and this is the first time that they've heard about us, and they're just so excited and they can't wait to bring us on board and for me to meet all of their friends. And while I was just in Vegas, I actually got to meet some of these customers and it was just so great. You know, they're like, you, you're the one that called me. And I'm like, that's me. So it was a really great time to, you know, not just take these relationships that we've built over the phone and over Zoom into person as well.

12:34 Scott Ingram: That's awesome. Now that 150% number, is that your year-to-date number or you're 150% of your full year plan already?

12:41 Devon Banks: I'm 150% of my full year plan already.

12:43 Scott Ingram: That is awesome.

12:45 Devon Banks: Yeah, it's really exciting. And I think that I've had to be super consistent to get to these actions because one thing that I do want to mention as well is that as much as I love tow operators, they are a tough bunch. And, you know, I get hung up on a lot and I get told, you know, I get called quite a few names a lot and told to go certain places a lot. So it is a lot of rejection. And I think that, you know, I've really had to here build up that thick skin and just keep picking up the phone and keep picking up the phone. And, you know, through consistency, been able to achieve these numbers, which I am really proud of.

13:22 Scott Ingram: Yeah, yeah, good for you. Let's talk about… I'm super curious about your origin story and first how you got into sales in the first place, but also how do you get into a place that you're selling to tow truck operators?

13:36 Devon Banks: Well, I think that, you know, everybody has a pretty unique story. I don't think that mine is any less unique than someone else's. It's just a little bit more of Indirect. So I actually have been working kind of in sales since I was quite young. My very, very first job was washing hair at the local hair salon and then trying to sell the ladies, you know, like shampoos and sleep caps and things like that. That was a great job. I loved that and I learned a lot. You know, again, you're working with… when you're working with people and, you know, and like washing hair and cleaning up, it's a very intimate setting. So I think that's where you really start as a salesperson to learn that, you know, sales really is a 360-degree, you know, as you say, action. It's not just how you talk to people, it's how you make them feel. And I think even at a young age I learned that. And then I moved into hospitality where again, it's about how you make people feel, especially in the competitive hospitality world where they can go to any restaurant, you know. So how do you make them feel? How do you get people to come back and want to see you again? And how do you build those relationships? After working for years in hospitality, I actually ended up going to Asia to teach English, which I had originally planned to go to Taiwan for one year. And after 9 years, I came back. So that was also a great experience. And while I was there, I was teaching English again, but it's at private businesses. And you're teaching, you know, some people are given… I taught a child who was 2 all the way up to one of the gentlemen I taught. He was a lawyer in his 70s. And you're teaching all those people on the same day, you know. So that was a great job. I really, really enjoyed that. I also did my MBA while I was in Taiwan at the 2nd-ranked university there, National Cheng Kung University. And I took a lot of time to travel, which I think really helped to, you know, build up my empathy and curiosity and just get to know people and all the different types of people and where they come from. I ended up coming back to Canada to work in corporate hospitality, which was really exciting because I was part of a company that had only 6 people in corporate head office. Office, but we had almost 100 restaurants across Canada. So we were responsible for everything from all of the training manuals to the training sessions, menus, the drinks, what the restaurants looked like, you know, what sports we played on the TV, what kind of music, what the uniforms were. I was able to travel all over Canada to help open up new restaurants within our chain. We were a franchise. So I also really got to know the owners there and learn about their challenges and the different not just challenges within the restaurants, but within the regions of Canada. And then from there, I ended up, you know, COVID happened. And I ended up, my friend Lisa sent me a link for a women in tech sales bootcamp. And I applied and sort of the rest is history.

16:30 Scott Ingram: That's amazing. Such a good story. And I love the, I mean, there's just so much humanity woven through all of that, right? From washing hair to teaching English. And it's just so much about the people. But what about that last step? Right? How do you go from selling a sales enablement solution to selling to tow truck drivers?

16:46 Devon Banks: Yeah, well, so what happened is, you know, I was… LevelJump has this incredible sales enablement solution that's built right inside Salesforce. You know, it's really at the heart of SaaS. Everybody's super excited about things, you know, sales native to Salesforce. Then I ended up, you know, talking to Tom Parbs. He reached out to me. He's my director. And to be honest, and I think I've told Tom this before, you know, we talked and then I got off the phone like, tow trucks? Not for me. But, you know, the more I thought about it, and then, you know, to touch on your point about the humanity and realizing that, you know, sales enablement is amazing. And again, it was about the humanity, about working with people and helping people to get better. But with tow trucks, you know, again, it's on that level of helping people and helping not just this underserviced population of towers who are out there, you know, literally risking their lives day in and day out, but also a very exciting growing industry with lots of opportunities. And so I thought, you know, this could be really, really fun. Let's do it. And I made that jump, and, you know, I'm, I'm very, I'm very glad that I did. It's been very exciting. And, you know, I'm a very curious person, so being in an industry that I knew nothing about, it's just been Every day is fascinating for me.

18:06 Scott Ingram: Love it. Helping people and making a difference is so key, and I'm really, really picky about the sponsors we partner with on this show and in this community because I want to know that they're going to help. Our newest sponsor who certainly fits that description and who I want you to check out right now is Revenue Grid. Click over to top1.fm/revenuegrid and learn how they're helping sales teams sell smarter and get revenue intelligence. top1.fm/revenuegrid. Well, let's take some of this and make it a little bit more real, right? Especially your top differentiators, because I'm sure they show up in some way in some type of story of your own. Like, what's your favorite, you know, meeting that you landed? Because I'm sure you've got something that you had to get super creative around and make happen.

19:00 Devon Banks: Okay, this is a really great question. Now, I think You know, some of these towers are really active online, and if you go to YouTube, a lot of them have these really incredible channels where they actually document everything that they're doing, you know, these incredible recoveries that they're doing. And there's even reality shows as well. We have one here called Highway to Hell, maybe you've seen it. And actually A&E has one as well called Hustle and Tow. So, you know, obviously you You can watch all of these and you just think, okay, I look, you see how fascinating and incredible and talented these people are. And you go, you know, like, I want to talk to them. But I think one of the favorite meetings that I've landed is that honestly, and I don't think this is the most exciting answer, but I do think it's when, you know, you just call someone and they go from being so skeptical, which has happened so many times, to so excited and so eager to come to the meeting. And then, you know, we do have a, we have often have sit-sat close. You know, one call closes on the same day. And I think those really are the most exciting because you talk to these people and you actually are… you're seeing it in real time that you're going to be able to help them. And you're not just going to help them, but you're also going to help their business and their customers. And I know that's not like the sexy sales story, but for me, you know, when you, when you have that happen right in front of your eyes and you see their excitement, that to me is like my favorite meeting.

20:28 Scott Ingram: Yeah. How specifically are you doing that? How are you turning around just the complete skeptic and getting to them to that point? They're like, oh, I can't wait to take this meeting.

20:36 Devon Banks: We really dig into the pain. And, you know, because for example, like I said, a lot of these towers, they've been, you know, around tow trucks since they were infants, infants. And I mean babies, like you'll see some of these YouTube videos. The kids are in the office, in the dispatch office being babysat. That, you know, so they're on the tow yards from when they're young, and they've been in tow trucks since they were 4, 5, 6. Their fathers were towers, their mothers were towers. And so, you know, they've been around this problem their entire lives. They themselves have likely been struck and injured by a passing vehicle that came too close. They know… almost all of them know a friend or a family member who has been killed while they have been doing their job. And so So, you know, that's why when you say, you know, we have a way to get drivers to slow down and move over, they are so skeptical. But when you're actually able to just, you know, may I have that 30 seconds to tell you how we can do that? And a lot of them will begrudgingly say, you know, yeah, sure. But then when you explain to them, you know, like, we can get in the car, we can actually deliver the message, we can do it half a mile before they see you, you know, We've delivered a billion alerts this way. And we also work with universities who've done studies. So we actually have like the actual data to back this up. And when you show them that there is actually something that could possibly work, that's what gets them really excited. And then when they see it and they see what the message looks like, and they see that a lot of, you know, we have some, some great accounts signed up with us, people they know, they know their names and that they're using it and seeing success. They're really excited. So I would say, you know, it's about finding that gap. And it was like, it's gap selling, right? Like what Keenan says, you know, finding that gap and showing them that, you know, the change is going to be less painful than staying where they are. And then I think a lot of it we do through is referrals as well, you know, hearing someone's name that they know and then seeing that they're also our customer and they trust them. And that trust, you know, we build that circle of trust. That's how we're doing it.

22:44 Scott Ingram: Yeah, that's, that's awesome. I mean, so it's, it's really almost kind of grabbing that intrigue with the story, maybe a dash of data, and then the opportunity is, well, let me just show you, right?

22:53 Devon Banks: Exactly. Exactly. And, you know, I would have to say too, and that's something I say is like, you know, I'll ask people, has a vehicle ever come too close? And they're almost, you know, of course it has. Very rarely, I think maybe 1 out of 10 times someone will say no. And even then, I don't know if I believe them. I think they're just trying to get me off the phone so they can get back to making money.

23:16 Scott Ingram: Or, or it was traumatic and they've blocked that out. So maybe in their minds it didn't come too close.

23:21 Devon Banks: Yeah, of course. And that's… there is a lot of PTSD in this industry too, because, you know, like, they… it's, it's come too close. Some guys… I talked to a guy, he got hit 3 times in 1 day.

23:31 Scott Ingram: Oh my gosh. Wow, wow, wow. Devon, what are you most proud of?

23:36 Devon Banks: So I think, you know, professionally, I'm very proud of the fact that I think I have a lot of resilience and a lot of integrity. I really try to always do the things that I say that I'm going to do, even when they're hard. I think that's something for me personally and professionally, but professionally, I really try to be that way. It really, really is hard for me when I let someone down or I drop the ball. That's something that it's, you know, like I can't sleep at night if I do something like that. So I do really try to be a person of integrity, both personally and professionally.

24:12 Scott Ingram: Yeah. What about the flip side? What do you find to be the hardest part? What challenges you?

24:16 Devon Banks: What challenges me is that I just think there is so many people with so many great ideas is that it's easy to get lost in the mix instead of just focusing on one and seeing if that works. You know, especially with LinkedIn and just, you know, every day there's so many great content creators. I mean, I know that you see them. I know that they're on your list. And I really think that's challenging for me to just sometimes try to stick to one thing because I'm so curious if other things are going to work. You know, luckily I have a sales director in this position and he's really helped me to focus and nail down so that I don't have that challenge of trying maybe too many different things and going in too many different directions. And I think the second thing that I find really challenging is that I always, I'm very competitive even with myself. And so sometimes I just need to remember that, you know, I am human and humans make mistakes and humans aren't perfect. And just to kind of let some things go so that I can move on to the next thing.

25:18 Scott Ingram: Let's talk about this LinkedIn thing from a couple of angles first. And the first being kind of that, I don't know, the overwhelm of ideas. So, so how are you now deciding like, okay, this is interesting and important enough that I'm going to try this and see if this helps me. Improve?

25:35 Devon Banks: You know, I think just like with anything, I look at the people who are consistent and who are giving consistent advice. They are generally, you know, who I would say are the leaders, the people that I really trust and who I see really care. You know, I do think there's creators, content creators on there that try to say controversial things to get more traffic to their page and to get more people, you know, commenting on their posts. And, you know, I don't hate the player. If that's how people, you know, want to create engagement, that's great. But I do think that that can be distracting, especially, you know, for people who are newer into this type of sales. So I think that's one thing is that you really need to look at who has been consistently doing this and who had the success in their own career to back this up. And, you know, we talked a little bit about SDRs before we came on the show. And like Patrick Joyce, he's somebody that I really trust because he's someone that I've known now for about a year and a half who has just a really good heart and is always trying to take action to help people. And he's always trying to do the right thing. So I look at people like him. I look at people like, you know, Scott Leese, who I think he says things sometimes that people people really don't like, but you know that he's always speaking the truth. So you know that he's never going to say something just for engagement. Whatever he's saying, it might draw a lot of engagement because it's controversial, but it's the truth. And I think he's someone who really practices what he preaches. So I look at individuals like that, and that's who I tend to follow and just cut out the kind of the noise around them.

27:15 Scott Ingram: And then what about your own approach? I mean, you, you've showed up on my list, I don't know, maybe every time. I mean, you, you You have been on it certainly since, since last year, since we started that project. What's your own approach to LinkedIn?

27:26 Devon Banks: So I got really lucky, you know, at the beginning of my sales career, I think, because I have, even though I'm an SDR, which is generally known as an entry-level position, a lot of younger people are SDRs. You know, I'm a little bit older and this is in my second, maybe third career, depending on how you look at it. And so I have management experience. Experience, and I have other experiences that I've been able to bring to this role and maybe look at things in more of a critical way. And, you know, last year I was prospecting into a VP of sales who hung up on me and it kind of ticked me off because this guy's a VP of sales. He probably has a team of people he's telling to make cold calls and here he is hanging up on an SDR. So I made a post on LinkedIn that said, you know, I just got hung up on by a VP of sales whose number I got from ZoomInfo. You know, like, has he never made a cold call? I guess he never made a cold call in his career. And it blew up. And I got, I think I still get likes and comments on it. It's well over 3 million views, you know, 15,000 likes, thousands of comments. And so that sort of got me on this LinkedIn. I had already been posting on LinkedIn, but it just made me see that, you know, I could really be myself and bring these different experiences that I've had and to this, this SDR role, and then shine on the problems and the great things that I see about this role and how I, you know, a lot of the successful posts or engagements that I have had have been, I think, saying things things that maybe other SDRs might be too afraid to say, or maybe because they're just this… they haven't had a management role yet, they just don't have that insight in being like, this is a problem, we need to talk about this. So yeah, that's sort of been my, my approach to LinkedIn has always just been to sort of be myself and to provide the unique insight that I have into the role with my kind of unique background.

29:31 Scott Ingram: Perfect. Yeah, great, great stuff. And obviously it works. So if you're listening to this, you gotta connect with Devon, follow along with what she's doing. And as always, if you go to top1.fm/this episode number or top1.fm/Devon-Banks, that will take you there and we'll have links to all the stuff that we talk about. And we're going to start talking about some stuff that will probably generate more links and more lists because Devon, I want to dig into your process a little bit, kind of starting with how you structure your day and what your routines look like. And I know you're a listener to the show. So you know that I typically say, or will ask, you know, what time does your alarm clock go off? And give us kind of the blow-by-blow until your head hits the pillow at night.

30:15 Devon Banks: Yeah. Well, so I am a single mom, and my daughter is 4. So I do not need an alarm clock. I created my own alarm clock. And, you know, and I want to just start all this off with the caveat that since COVID started, one thing that I've really done and really changed with my life is in general cut out the noise. You know, does it make my day better? Does it make me happy? You know, does it make my daughter and I happy? Does it make my life easy? If the answer to all those are yes, then it can stay. If not, goodbye. I've really simplified my life. So, you know, generally I am not like a 4 AM, 5 AM get out of bed person. I never really have been. You know, my daughter and I, we wake up around 7 and I make her lunch and she eats her breakfast. We try to have, you know, a very quiet and relaxing morning. I walk her to school and then I come home and generally I will work out. Now I don't have a Peloton, but I do have a Porlaton. I'm not sure if you've heard of that before.

31:19 Scott Ingram: Oh, tell me more. I can guess, but I wanna hear about it.

31:23 Devon Banks: Yeah, so I have a bike. I have a spin bike, an Echelon bike that I got at, you know, at a big box retailer, but I run the Peloton app. So I do all of the Peloton classes. I just don't have the leaderboard and I can't high five. So, but I'm on there. So I'll tend to work out, you know, have my coffee and I try to start my day really at the end of my workday. I prepare for the next morning. So I don't even really log on until maybe 8:30, 8:45 for my 9 o'clock start. I tend to listen to… we use ExecVision, so I'll listen to some of my calls. I'll just see if I've had any inbound emails that I need to answer, and then I generally just start calling. And I find that the nice thing about tow operators is, like you said, they pick up the phone. So there is no sort of best time to call, except Mondays are really bad days for them because weekends are usually crazy. So Mondays I spend a little more time doing admin, but generally, you know, I'm making calls in the morning all through the afternoon, working my way up to being an account executive. So I tend to sit in a lot of the meetings, especially the bigger meetings that I book so that I can, you know, build the relationships with these tow operators as well as practice my own demos. So lately I've been running the demos with Tom, just listening in. You know, I tend to end my day… I try to end my day at 5, and at 5 I, you know, go pick up my daughter. We come home, we have dinner, and I get her to bed. And then I'll sit down in the evening and sometimes I'll read or listen to a podcast. But generally, since COVID started, I tend to keep my life pretty simple and I've actually just really enjoyed it.

32:56 Scott Ingram: That's awesome. I mean, it's great to hear kind of the balance that you've got going on. I'm curious about sort of in that simplification process, what's the best thing that you cut out? Looking back, you're like, oh my God, I'm so glad we just stopped doing X.

33:11 Devon Banks: You know, I'm just really glad that I stopped comparing myself to other people.

33:16 Scott Ingram: Say more.

33:16 Devon Banks: Yeah, you know, for example, I used to think about what other moms are, you know, feeding their kids for dinner. Is she getting enough vegetables? You know, am I a bad mom because she's not in gymnastics? Am I a bad mom because, you know, she doesn't have the latest… you know, she's only learning English right now, you know? And then, you know, when I step back back and said, my daughter is, you know, and this was at the start of COVID she had just turned 3, you know, and now she's 4. And I'm just so glad I stopped comparing myself to other people. And I just said, you know, it's okay if we eat cereal for dinner and it's okay if we go to McDonald's and it's okay if we eat nuggets and it's okay that she's not in gymnastics and it's okay that I'm not in gymnastics. You know, like when I really just stopped trying to be like other people and was just really started to not just, you know, when people talk about gratitude, but not just be grateful for where I am, but really be happy where I am and realize too, you know, I think one thing is that where you are right now is not where you're going to be forever. So if there's something you're not happy with, it's okay to just accept that because that is just for now, you know, it's not forever. So I think one thing that kind of trips us up is that we're always like, you know, looking to improve and looking to get better and be 10% better and even be 1% better. And sometimes it's okay to just be neutral for a bit.

34:45 Scott Ingram: Oh, the life philosophy. This is fun. I'm enjoying this. What about your… you mentioned, I know you listen to podcasts. What does your information diet look like? What are you typically consuming? What are some of your favorite go-tos there?

34:58 Devon Banks: So I definitely have cut back a little bit on stuff, especially with the summer months. You know, summer, I really… I'm up in Toronto. I know that you're in Texas. Texas, you are so lucky to have great weather all year. You know, up here in Toronto, we, we get these really short, beautiful summers and really long winters. So I tend to, in summer, you know, whether it be this year or any year, to kind of just really focus on being outdoors and being present. So summer is all that kind of stuff. And I read a lot of really trashy novels or murder mysteries. Series, just trying to really enjoy it and be present in the moment. Generally, you know, for podcasts and information diet, I do really love, you know, LinkedIn, and I always listen to podcasts that other people have recommended to me because I think that, you know, there's just so many… again, there's so much noise and so many people, but within that noise, there's so much quality content. I tend to really, you know, one thing that I that I miss is that I used to listen to podcasts every day on my commute. And now that I don't have a commute anymore, I've definitely lost some of that time that I would normally spend listening to podcasts. So I don't really, you know, I listen to your Daily Sales Tips. I listen to anytime, you know, like someone like Justin Michael is a guest on someone's podcast, I'll definitely listen to that. I love, you know, Jen Ferguson on LinkedIn. She has some great content. Anytime she does anything, I listen to that. And then generally just for like, you know, for fun, I tend to, you know, I don't really watch much TV anymore. If I do, it's like just at night before I go to bed. And then I read, try to read, you know, some sales books. Like of course there's Chris Voss. I bet you everybody, I mean everybody I know has read Chris Voss and recommends it. Gap Selling by Keenan is something that my boss asked me to read and I'm really happy he did. I enjoyed that. I'm just looking at my bookshelf here. No, of course I got like Simon Sinek. And then one really great book that I think I really enjoyed, I did the course, is Crucial Conversations. Have you ever heard of that?

37:02 Scott Ingram: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

37:04 Devon Banks: That's not something that I read often, you know, but it's something that the tools from that book, and I actually did the seminar many years ago, was something that I use probably almost every day.

37:12 Scott Ingram: Great stuff. And I think part of what's interesting about your approach, if I'm understanding it right, is it's… you've really over time figured out you know, who are those handful of people that I really trust them, I trust their content, I trust their recommendations, and you're almost using that as a filter to get to the good next level of content.

37:32 Devon Banks: Yes, definitely. And I think too, because, you know, there are some Facebook groups that I'm part of that are a lot of professional women and women in finance. And again, like, that's a great filter for me too. I really am interested in… I don't really do much with crypto. I have a little crypto, but I'm definitely interested in investing. Budgeting. I read a lot of stuff about that. And then, you know, I spend a lot of time in sort of more community environments as well, speaking with other women, other single moms or other working moms. And I spend a lot of time there in those sort of more social aspects, like in Facebook groups or in subreddits.

38:07 Scott Ingram: Nice, nice. What about the tools and apps side of the world? What does your kind of personal tech stack look like?

38:14 Devon Banks: Oh man, I, I honestly I think, you know, obviously I have the LinkedIn app, which I've been deleting on the weekends, which I think is a great… that's a good daily sales tip is Friday 5 PM you delete the LinkedIn app and then Monday morning you reinstall it because you'll find, you know, you delete that mindless scrolling. I think, you know, really again, as I've simplified my life, I've really simplified down even my apps. I have Spotify because I love listening to great music. I use Google Podcasts to listen to podcasts. And then, you know, I'm on my Peloton app every day. So really, and of course Slack for work professionally. And I'm not sure if you've ever heard of YNAB, the You Need a Budget.

38:55 Scott Ingram: No.

38:56 Devon Banks: Oh, well, this is part of not just, you know, this is something that's been very integral, I think, to my life and my success is this budgeting app, Y-N-A-B, You Need a Budget. And it's $0 budgeting. So basically you give every dollar a job And it's just really been life-changing to have not just… it's to have peace of mind around money, to, you know, be able to build up your emergency fund, to be able to budget for a couple months in advance, you know, where you know that when that money is coming out of your account, it's there. And it's just been really great. It's brought a lot of peace of mind. And I think a lot of people who've used it, it's actually really changed their lives. Lives. So I really strive to be debt-free and to pay off my credit cards every month. And you need a budget. YNAB has been really instrumental in helping me do that.

39:46 Scott Ingram: Awesome, awesome. Great recommendation. Our final sponsor mention for this episode is QuotaPath. Too few organizations and even sales professionals have considered how much better and easier their lives would be if they could automate their commissions, giving reps instant visibility into their earnings and making it easy for operations to customize and manage compensation plans is one of those game-changing moves that you're going to wish you did sooner. Check out QuotaPath at top1.fm/quotapath. So do you subscribe to a particular sales philosophy or approach?

40:24 Devon Banks: Well, that's a really good question. I would have to say, you know, I think the answer to that would be no. Part of that I think is that I feel that I'm still very, very new in this kind of sales career. To really dive right into one philosophy or into one way of doing things. I do think, you know, that there are a lot of philosophies that have so much great value. You know, my, my director is very much into Keenan and gap selling, and we do use gap selling a lot. However, for me, I think everything comes down to humanity. As you mentioned before. And so I'm always looking at the philosophies of like, it's great. And I do think, you know, as an SDR, I have to make a certain number of calls a day. You have to make those calls to be successful. But then again, when that person answers the phone, you know, what are you going to say and how are you going to relate to them and how are they going to remember you and remember this interaction? So for me, it's always just about like, again, like bringing the humanity and that human touch into sales. So I don't really have to answer your question. No, I don't subscribe to one certain philosophy. But I think that's part of, again, me being open-minded and exploring and trying to, you know, always be learning something new.

41:44 Scott Ingram: Yeah. Now, how do you think about that quantified side of things? I mean, do you have sort of a daily call goal or anything like that?

41:52 Devon Banks: Definitely. And, you know, that's something that I have to have. I think that it helps It gamifies it, which is fun. I think especially when you're working from home, you know, I sit in a desk in the corner of my apartment all by myself for most of the day. And so it's fun kind of creating these games with yourself or with your coworkers or even your friends and just to see how many calls you can make. I try to actually even gamify it down into the hour. So if I find, if I find that I've done a couple hours where I haven't made as many calls as I've wanted to, then I can put push myself because I think if, you know, you can't be 100% every day and you can't be 100% all day. So you really need to know yourself, but that's not an excuse to be like, oh, well, I'm, you know, I'm really not a morning person. I don't, I'm not going to make calls in the morning. I think if you say you're not a morning person, then that's when you should really be pushing yourself to make calls, you know, so that you can work on, you know, becoming, sharpening those skills at that time of day. For me, yes, I definitely have metrics that I try to make a certain number of calls every day and every week.

42:53 Scott Ingram: I'm not taking a certain number of calls, so give me numbers. What is… what are you looking to do on a daily basis? What, what is kind of a competitive hour look like? And then I've got one other thing I'll come back to.

43:04 Devon Banks: Yeah, well, towing, like I said, what's great about towing is that they always pick up the phone. So you do tend to… I tend to make a successful day is between 50 and 60, which I think is a little lower than many other STRs. But that's the thing, is that I am talking to people constantly. So I do have quite a few conversations every day. I try to book 2 meetings a day to 10 meetings a week. So that's my meeting metric. And then of course, for sat meetings, I try to sit, you know, I like to sit 75% of the meetings that I book. One great thing about towers is that, you know, they answer the phone, they're excited about it, but they don't have predictable schedules. So, you know, we have no-shows, and when I call them, they're like, I am on a wreck, you know, like, I cannot come. Or when I say, you know, one thing that's very different from this industry, towing, even compared to our vertical of fire and EMS and to other SaaS, is that I have prospects who have never used Zoom. So when I'm setting up a Zoom meeting, this is the first time they have used Zoom. So there's also getting over this technology bump as well. Now, a lot of tow operators are very technical. They have used Zoom, they have used all of the tech, they are very tech savvy. But there are those that aren't as well. So we deal with both. And so I always ask, and in not even a judgmental way, you know, like, have you used Zoom before? And if they haven't, you know, then we try to set up the time a little early so I can help them set it up and get it going for them, because I don't want Just the technology of the meeting to be a barrier to them, you know, protecting themselves and their people.

44:43 Scott Ingram: Yeah, yeah, that's fascinating. I want to come back to something else that you were talking about around, you know, you're not always going to be 100%. You're not always going to be on. How do you contend with that? Right? What do you do when you're like, ugh, like this is just this is not my day. I'm not feeling it. How are you working around? That?

45:02 Devon Banks: There's a couple different things. You know, one of them I find is that sometimes, very rarely, I will go and take a nap, maybe just like 20 minutes. And even when I worked in an office, I would just go to my car and close my eyes. I think sometimes, you know, we just… our bodies are giving us that cue that like, you need to take a rest, even if that's just 20 minutes. And that's something that I learned while I was living in Asia, because in Asia almost everyone Everyone takes an afternoon nap. Students, office workers, offices are, you know, when I went to go do my taxes one year, I was at the office at 5 to 1. Well, guess what? The doors are locked because it's rest time. Lights are off. People have a pillow. They're lying on their desk taking a little nap. So, you know, those days that I'm not on, I try to think, okay, is there something that I can do? You know, is it sit down? Some people go for a walk. I kind of think this go for a walk is a little bit overrated because, you know, everyone talks about going for a walk like it's gonna solve the world's problems. I mean, I think it is great to go outside, but I also found that I was then, you know, saying like, I didn't go for a walk today. I should have gone for a walk. Oh, I don't have time to go for a walk. I'm not gonna make my calls and now I'm not walking. And this thing that's supposed to help you turns into one more thing that's just, you know, that you didn't do and it can turn into being not enjoyable. So I will maybe go get a coffee or I'll take a little nap, but I think generally those days where I'm just kind of not feeling it, I really, you know, to go back to the very first thing I said is I look at the big picture. And for me, that big picture is like creating a life for me and my daughter where we are like very financially secure. So when I really don't want to pick up the phone or I'm just really not in it, I just really think about her and I and our future and, you know, start making those calls. And that might sound very cliché, but that's what works for me.

46:57 Scott Ingram: And how do you… it's so funny that you got there because I was going to ask about kind of motivation next around what motivates you and how you think about motivation. So I think you mostly just answered that, but to go a little deeper into it, how are you thinking about that specifically? I mean, is that like a visualization thing? What is that when you're kind of in your own head going, I know I don't feel like this, but I know need to do this. This is the big picture.

47:21 Devon Banks: Yeah, I mean, there's a couple different things, you know, I think about that, you know, right now I'm living in Toronto, and I don't want to live here forever. I want to have the freedom to be able to live where I want to live. And I really want to live near an ocean. So I do sometimes use that visualization of, you know, being able to live somewhere where it doesn't snow. And I just, I think about that for a second, I think about my daughter, you know, that she's going to want to go to college, and I never want her to not be able to go to whatever university she wants to go to, you know, because we can't do that financially. And a lot of the times too, I think about traveling because that's what really rejuvenates and energizes me and really like feeds my soul is leisure travel. And so I sometimes, yeah, I'll think about the ocean, I'll think about traveling. And then I also, you know, I'm really driven by my success. I want to be very successful professionally. I want to, you know, maybe one time in my career be able to live in Hong Kong or Singapore or London and, and take my daughter, you know, or Paris and spend a year or 2 years or multiple years living overseas. So, you know, I think about that this is the foundation that I'm building for my successful career, you know, and to provide my daughter and ultimately me with, you know, a lot of these wonderful experiences. So yeah, like I said, it's a big thing when you're like, I just don't want to pick up the phone it's Tuesday morning and I'm tired. But, you know, these are… these small actions are what build the foundation for that future.

48:53 Scott Ingram: Yeah, that's great stuff. That's great stuff. I wonder, is there something you believe that the average sales professional would think is crazy?

49:01 Devon Banks: Let me think. I think, you know, what I believe that maybe the average person might even think is crazy is that really, you can't fail. There is no such thing as failure. And I think anyone can look back on your life and you can see where those monumental failures were, down even to those very small failures, and how those actually paved the way to your future successes. So even when you get hung up on, even when you get told you know, where you should go. It's not the nicest place, you know, even, you know, when you lose your job or you put your foot in your mouth, all of those things, all of those, what you looked at at the time were failures really were the path to exactly where you are supposed to be. And I think if you start to look at the perspective of your life like that, when you stop, you know, when you can let go of those failures, like, and you can't… until you can let go of that, you can't move forward. So some people might think that that's crazy because they want to evaluate those failures. And I don't think that you should just, you know, don't forget the lessons that you've learned, but don't hang on to them. You got to always be moving forward.

50:23 Scott Ingram: Yeah, that's really good stuff. You're reminding me of one of the stories that I contributed myself to the first Sales Success Stories book is called Fired Up, about a time that I got fired. And, you know, I mean, yeah, it could have been a monumental failure. It could have sent me down a completely different path. But I think it's also about how you frame it and how you look back on it and how you, you know, take the lessons from it.

50:46 Devon Banks: Yeah, I think that, you know, one, we're in this society now where we… I really think that this kind of toxic positivity has gone really far and that people can't even say, you know, this really bad thing happened to me, that they do have to look back on it. I think maybe it sounds like I'm contradicting myself and that you can't, you can't look back at it and say this really bad thing happened now and now this good thing happened. You can talk about those bad things and you can be in a rut. You know, you don't always have to be, like I said, you don't always have to be getting better and better every day. But at the same time, you have to realize that, like I said earlier as well, this is not forever. This is for right now and things will get better. And then bad things might happen again, but then things will get better again. So it really is, you know, the big picture.

51:31 Scott Ingram: Yeah, that was such a great phrase. We're gonna have to turn that into just a standalone daily sales tip. I'll follow up with with you on that piece. But this idea of toxic positivity, have you heard that before? Did you make that up?

51:45 Devon Banks: No, that's actually you know a real thing that people are talking about now is that this toxic positivity of. People not being able to share their negative feelings or their negative emotions because it's like, you know, everyone's attitude is like, oh, that person's so negative. Well, let's actually like look, dig deep into what this negativity is about. Are they actually talking about a real problem? Are they actually talking about something that's really affecting them? And like, what can we do to fix it? Let's not just look at it as people being negative and That's, I think, one of these things that we've been able to sweep a lot of stuff under the rug because we just say, oh, so-and-so are negative. And I, I think that it gets turned around a lot too, especially when people… if you look at LinkedIn, some of the more maybe controversial posts where people are talking about problems they're having, other people are kind of like, well, just get over it. Well, you can't just get over, you know, the fact that people are being paid 50% less, or that, you know, there's certain groups of people that don't have access to the same resources. Like, we can talk about these problems without being labeled as negative. We can, you know, and this toxic positivity does that. It just kind of tries to sweep things under the rug.

52:59 Scott Ingram: So yeah, that's fascinating. So what about the flip side to my earlier question? Is there something that the typical sales professional believes, or part of the, you know, sales dogma, if you will, that you think is crazy?

53:12 Devon Banks: I think the idea that only a certain type of person who comes from a certain background can be successful in sales has… it's over. It has to be over now. I think if anything, the last 18 months where we've seen all of these professionals from other industries come into sales and change the game and see a lot of success has to be acknowledged. That just because someone didn't go to university does not mean that they cannot be a successful, you know, software salesperson, because we saw hospitality people come in, you know, from hotels and restaurants. And we've just seen this huge shift in who is becoming an SDR. And then now, you know, it's been about 18 months since COVID hit. You're going to start seeing a lot of these people, if they haven't already, shift into these AE roles and then into sales management roles and then up into CRO functions. So I think that, you know, the idea that… I think the idea of even asking for X number of sales experience Is that's crazy? It's got to go. Let's look at the person. Let's look at what they bring to the table, and let's look and see how they're gonna you know what they're going to add on to sales.

54:19 Scott Ingram: Solid, solid. I think that's fantastic. What advice would you give to somebody that is just starting out in a sales career today? And maybe they're coming from that that non-traditional background, right? Maybe they're coming from a different place. They spent nine years in Thailand. What what do you suggest?

54:35 Devon Banks: For the people that are just starting out today, I think you really have to not question the experience that you bring to the table. So you need to come in with an open mind and ready to learn sales and ready to do things that you're not used to doing, you know, and learn these new… like, you know, you got to learn HubSpot and Salesforce and Outreach, and you need to, you know, be making cold calls, which might not be something that you're used to doing. Something that you're used to. You need to learn how to do all that, but don't be afraid to bring that expertise that you have from your previous career, your previous role, or your previous education into this, because those are all things that are going to add on to your success, not detract from it. I also think that they should really begin to post and share on LinkedIn, at least interact in the comments. I think that LinkedIn for me has been super, super valuable in not just what I've learned, but just interacting with other people and creating a network. And if and when that time comes that I may want to move on from HAAS Alert, you know, having not just the network that I would be able to do so, but being able to go to people and say, hey, you know, you're in this kind of tech industry. What's that like? Tell me about it. And be able to have those conversations. And just learn more and see what path I might want to take. So I think that, you know, being active on LinkedIn and being open-minded, but also remembering who you are and where you come from.

56:01 Scott Ingram: Yeah, yeah. So to a degree, I mean, part of what resonated with me is kind of, you know, finding your community, right? Like finding your people, building, building that network. And in addition to, you know, kind of your, your core point around don't throw away your background, right? It brings something unique and probably useful to the package.

56:18 Devon Banks: Yeah, exactly.

56:19 Scott Ingram: What about somebody that is a little bit further into their career? And I know you're still kind of newer in your own sales career, but somebody that, you know, has been in SDR for a period of time and, you know, maybe they're good, but they haven't kind of found that next gear, or maybe they're even struggling a little bit. What advice do you have for them?

56:37 Devon Banks: I think for people who struggle as SDRs, you really have to start back at the basics and look, be really honest with yourself. Like, are you really taking the actions you need to take every day to be successful? Like, are you really picking up the phone as many times a day as you could be? Are you really listening to your prospects? Are you really delivering on your pitch? Are you really, you know, doing all of those things you need to do? And then I think if the answer is yes, then you really need to look again at maybe your company. Like, are you working with people who really bring out the best in you and also want you to be to be successful and are giving you those tools to be successful? And are you in an industry that you enjoy? You know, there's so much tech, and, you know, there's HR tech and cybersecurity and all these different ones. Like, is it something that you really like? You know, and if the answer to all of those are yes, then I, I think generally, you know, if you've been really honest with yourself and you're really doing what it takes and you're with a company and with managers that are really pushing and helping you to succeed and providing you the right way and you're not seeing that success, I really think you either need to find a mentor or you need to really find someone who you can have an honest conversation with because maybe you do need to check yourself. You know, find someone that's really going to… you can sit down and really have an honest, honest, you know, I think it's Amy Volas calls it like the come to Jesus moment. Like you really need to sit down with someone that's really going to tell you. And really be honest with you. And you need to not be defensive. And that's really hard to not be defensive, to just listen to someone and listen to maybe those critiques and those things about yourself. And then really decide, like, is this an industry that I want to be in? Is this a job I want to do? Is this a company I want to be with? And I think it's all about just really being honest with yourself.

58:29 Scott Ingram: So good. So, so good. So the last thing I want to ask is about… I know you listen to the show and are more interested in kind of the AE conversations, because that's kind of where you're headed. What do you want to know about the top sellers in other organizations?

58:46 Devon Banks: I really want to know for them, you know, I like, I know you ask what time you wake up and what you do every day, but I really want to know, like what you said, really for them makes them the top. Compared to the other people in their organization? Like, what is it that they are really, really doing different? Like, what is even that one phrase, like, that is really making the difference in their success? And I want those, like, the brutal honest truths, not the, like, what people think you want to hear, which is, you know, I think some people say, oh, I wake up at 4 and then I exercise and I I do all this stuff, but I really want to know from people, what is the really that difference? Is it, you know, is there a certain phrase? Is it that you are the one making the more calls? Are you actually, you know, asking for the sale? Are you negotiating? Like, what is it and how did you choose that role when you're making a lot of money? I think a lot of SDRs who are moving into AEs or AEs that are thinking about moving industries, like, how do you find those jobs? Jobs where you actually, you know, not just meet quota but exceed it and really, really make money and be happy.

1:00:01 Scott Ingram: Yeah, yeah. What is that kind of secret sauce level thing for you? What do you think it really comes down to?

1:00:08 Devon Banks: You know, I think for me it's that I won't give up, and I will, you know, get told… like I said, I… like I've said already, like, I will get hung up on… someone will insult me or put me down, not just even a prospect, you know, like, just generally in the world, and I have to let that roll off my back and, you know, just keep moving forward. I think for me, the secret sauce is that I am super tenacious and super resilient, and I won't stop until I am successful. And I don't think that… I don't want you to think that means that I want to step on people or I want to do things that aren't ethical. I mean, I just want to, and I want to get there the right way because at the end of the day, I want to be able to sleep at night. So I think for me, it's the tenacity and the resilience and just the drive to just keep going and keep going and keep going.

1:01:00 Scott Ingram: Devon, that is perfect. And I wonder if there's something that you were hoping to share, or you've got some, you know, hidden story, hidden gem that I just… I didn't ask the right question to get to that you were hoping to be able to talk about today.

1:01:16 Devon Banks: Wow, you really just have to think because now, like, my mind is going in so many different places about all the things. Different stories and things that I have. So maybe the hidden gem or the thing that I just would like people, especially I think women, to remember is that you don't have to do anything in any way that someone else tells you to do it. You can always do the thing that you want to do in your own way. You have your own story and your own life. And, you know, the thing that I can think of is that, you know, when I got on a plane to go to Taiwan in 2006, that was something, you know, some people, they go overseas and they teach English. And, you know, I had people that were at that time, this is great, you know, amazing, what an experience. And when I decided to stay another year, people are going, oh, this is great, that's awesome. But then another year, you start to hear those voices because now you're doing something really different. And when you start to do things really different, people aren't that excited. People are scared. You know, people that love you are scared for you. They're worried for you. But if you believe it's the right thing and that's your story, then you just like stand in that story and you stand in that possibility and you take those chances. And, you know, my one year in Taiwan, like I said, it turned into 9. And, you know, I went from when I went there You know, and then I, I learned Mandarin, I learned Spanish, I did an MBA, I traveled for a year. I ended up meeting my ex-husband there who, you know, and then I had a daughter with him. And so really that time in Taiwan brought me to where I am today with my daughter. So when you start, I guess the one thing, that one gem is like, when you start to hear those people who used to be so excited for you and maybe their voices aren't as loud, anymore. It's maybe because you're doing something different doesn't mean you're doing something wrong.

1:03:14 Scott Ingram: Devon, you are wise beyond your career. I know we started this talking about, well, Scott, I haven't been in sales for very long, but I think your background and your experience really certainly is evidence that there's a whole nother layer of interesting here. So the last thing that I always like to ask is, we've covered a lot of ground, we've talked about a lot of different things. I'd like to make this really actionable for our listener. What would you challenge them to do over the course of the next week or 2 to improve themselves and improve their own results?

1:03:49 Devon Banks: I'm going to challenge everyone that's listening today to actually take the time out of their day to quiet their mind. You don't even have to do it for a minute, but I'm just going to challenge to see if everyone can actually just stop the voice in their head and just be present with wherever they are for even just a few seconds and just enjoy the fact of just, just be happy exactly where you are. If that's, you know, drinking a warm coffee or sorry, hot coffee. I mean, you'd still be happy if it's warm because you have coffee, but just to really be present in a moment every day, to not think about the things you have to do, to not think about the things you did, to let go of that to-do list, to let go of everything. And just really for a moment in your own body, just to be super, super present in the moment and just be you.

1:04:42 Scott Ingram: Devon, this has been incredible. Thank you for your time.

1:04:45 Devon Banks: Thank you so much. I'm so honored to even be asked to be here. So thank you again. Thanks for listening to the Sales Success Stories podcast. To be sure you never miss an episode and for an invitation to our Sales Success Community, Powered by Influitive. Subscribe to our newsletter at top1.fm.