32: Top 10 at Paychex for 8 Consecutive Years - Ryan Alvord

0:08 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.

0:21 Scott Ingram: Here's your host, Scott Ingram. Today on the Sales Success Stories podcast, I'm joined by Ryan Alvord, who sells for Paychex in their large market division, selling HR and payroll technology and services. Of the 400 reps in his division, Ryan has finished in the top 10 for 8 consecutive years and last year finished number 1. Welcome to the show, Ryan.

0:43 Ryan Alvord: Thank you.

0:43 Scott Ingram: Good to be here. Glad to have you here. So this episode is sponsored by our friends at Vidyard GoVideo, and I'll tell you more about them in just a few minutes. But if you absolutely can't wait to learn more, you can point your web browser at top1.fm/v to get your hands on their free plugin. So we're ramping up towards the Sales Success Summit here in Austin next May, and you can learn more about that at top1summit.com and use the code SSS, as in Sales Success Stories, to save $150 on your registration. So Ryan, let's start like we always do with the top 3 things that you believe have allowed you to perform so consistently in the top 10 there at Paychex.

1:25 Ryan Alvord: So number one for me, um, was really the hard work that I put in early on in my career. Right? So that first 6 months, that first, you know, 6 to 12 months was the key for me. What I did was I went through every single prospect in my territory. I called them all. I found out who my contacts were there. And I stayed in touch with those over the course of my career. But more importantly, I would meet with anyone and everyone that would meet. So I think one thing that I did differently than a lot of reps that I talked to is I didn't overqualify. Who I was meeting with. I agreed to meet with anybody that would sit down and talk with me, and these early introductions really paid off, paid off well over time. It also gave me a lot of practice, right? So meeting with anyone and everyone, instead of being very selective about who I was gonna sit down with, it gave me a lot of practice. It helped me to really, you know, get better at what my conversations looked like with companies. I also was able to get a lot of business during that time that I probably didn't expect to get. So some companies that didn't seem like they were really in a buying process yet that I agreed to meet with, it surprised me a lot of times. And they would end up buying. And if they didn't buy then, a lot of them would buy later on. There's still companies today that I bring on board, you know, 8, 9 years later that I had met with. I had met with in that first year. And so they remember me and they stay in touch. And it really, really helped me to, you know, sell a lot more business over time. That's, that's number one. I think one of the biggest keys to my success here.

3:05 Scott Ingram: Awesome. And, and was that, I mean, what do you attribute that to? Was it just, was it the repetitions? Was there something special that you were doing, you know, in those conversations? Was it just, you know, getting your name and face out there and becoming known in the market? I mean, what, what was it about that, that first year and what you were doing in those meetings?

3:25 Ryan Alvord: I don't know if there's anything in particular that I was doing that was different in those meetings. I think I was just, I was just agreeing to go on more than anyone else.

3:32 Scott Ingram: Right.

3:33 Ryan Alvord: So the average rep might be going on 2 or 3 new meetings a week at that time, and I was probably at least doubling that. And that was due to really hitting the phones hard, really following up well, but also just, like I said, just agreeing to meet with anyone and everyone. That helped with practice, that helped with just getting my name out there. When they thought of making a change, be it 2, 3, 4 years later, they were reaching out to me because they knew me, and I wasn't just waiting to meet with them when they were ready to make a switch.

4:02 Scott Ingram: Yeah. Okay, excellent. So what's, what's the second thing?

4:05 Ryan Alvord: Um, the second thing for me was really understanding my products, my services, um, and my partners' products and services as well. So, um, in my first few years at Paychex, I've actually been there for 12 years. My first few years I worked in our operations department. Um, and I was in charge of, of implementation and project managing and things like that. And those first few years helped me to, to really learn a lot about our products and services. And it was a big advantage when I went into sales because I already understood what we provide, and more importantly, I understood what our clients were looking for. In addition to that, I really made a conscious effort to learn about my partner's products and services. One of the big things I think that helped me was that when a company would bring up, you know, a question about another product that the company offers, I didn't have to bring in somebody to answer that question. I knew it on the spot. It gave them a lot of confidence in me as a, you know, as a specialist for them. And it also just was a lot more efficient than setting up another meeting and bringing other people in. So I think knowing my products really well, in addition to knowing my partners' products within the company, was another big advantage for me.

5:13 Scott Ingram: And when you say your partners' products, I mean, what types of things are you talking about?

5:17 Ryan Alvord: Yeah, so we offer things like 401 administration, things like health insurance. We're one of the largest providers of both of those in the country, as a matter of fact. And typically people are going to bring in… reps are going to bring in these partners to explain the product and answer questions. And I knew my pitch on them. I practiced my elevator speech on those pieces for, for a long time and I had them down and that way I could, I could bring these topics up and not be intimidated by the prospect, uh, when they had questions about it.

5:48 Scott Ingram: Yeah. So, so really about sort of being an expert, true expert in your space. And I imagine that kept your deals from slowing down too, because, you know, if you need to bring somebody else in, that's another meeting and we got to schedule that and we got to figure that all out.

6:01 Ryan Alvord: That's, that's exactly right. Yeah. So it would, it would slow down. The buying process for them. It would also a lot of times give them reason to look at other companies. And if I could answer the questions on the spot and get them to move to the next step directly with me, that was, that was a win-win for everybody, really.

6:18 Scott Ingram: Nice. Makes a lot of sense. All right. Number 3.

6:20 Ryan Alvord: Number 3 for me was just persistency. And from this perspective, you know, I think it's a clichéd thing to say in sales is that you're just persistent. But I think there's really, really a craft to it. I look at it from this perspective. I assume that at any point in time, about 5% of my prospects are frustrated with their current vendor. The problem is that this 5% is always changing, right? So it might be different every week. There might be a different 5% that's interested in looking every week. So I, from my perspective, I really need to make sure that my name was in front of that 5% whenever they were ready to look. So it might not be this week, it might be you know, 2 years from now, but I didn't want them to forget about me. So I really had to find a way to follow up the right way, consistently, persistently, and it needs to be done tactfully as well, right? So you have to follow up in a way that's pleasant. You can't come across too pushy. Nobody likes that type of sales rep, but you do need to stay top of mind for them so that when they're ready to make a switch, they're thinking of you. They're going back to an email that they got from you a week ago. And just responding to it and say, yeah, you know what, we're ready to look now.

7:30 Scott Ingram: Yeah. Well, let's, let's put this in context a little bit because, I mean, you mentioned in point 1 that you, you've kind of reached out to everybody in your territory. How big is that territory? How many companies?

7:39 Ryan Alvord: Um, roughly close to probably 1,000 companies.

7:43 Scott Ingram: Okay. And then how are you staying top of mind? I mean, how do you stay in touch with that number of organizations?

7:50 Ryan Alvord: Right. So those first couple of years was really mostly over the phone. So these people know my name. They, they, we've had a conversation. I know something specific specific about what they are using. I know what they're looking for, something unique about them. After the first couple years, I really stayed in contact more so over email. So I'd always get a good email address for them. I would keep everything very organized within my email with a folder for each company. And quite honestly, I just go through those folders and I follow up individually with them. I mean, I do do some mail merges here and there, but that's not really what works with companies. It really needs to be specific follow-up to them where you can reference something specifically about them. And, you know, it does help. They do need to know your name. They need to know, they need to remember talking to you as well. Just an email will not work.

8:39 Scott Ingram: Yeah. So how do you manage that from just an organizational perspective?

8:44 Ryan Alvord: Yeah, it's a little, it's a little antiquated. It's a little bit old school. I mean, we certainly do have a, you know, a CRM that we use and that sort of thing. But my, my best method is really just keeping separate folders in my email for each one. I have hundreds and hundreds of those folders for every prospect. Um, in addition to that, I keep just a very simple Excel spreadsheet with, with every prospect that I've been going after over the years. And, um, and that, that's been the easiest thing for me.

9:09 Scott Ingram: Got it. And then you're just making sure that you're touching them on, on some type of a regular basis then?

9:14 Ryan Alvord: Absolutely. Yeah. Yep. If I can, if I can touch them at least, you know, once a month or, or every couple of months, probably is probably more realistic. Every couple of months. Um, that's enough to stay top of mind for them.

9:24 Scott Ingram: Awesome. So let's talk about how this all started. I mean, it looks like Paychex was your first job out of college, and you mentioned that you started in operations. I mean, how did that all start, and what prompted the switch into the sales side?

9:37 Ryan Alvord: Yeah, that's a great question. So that's correct. I worked on our implementation team for a few years within the company. I moved into a trainer role and a project manager role within the company. What I was doing was going out with the sales reps to actually help them sell the deals at one point. So a few years in, they were taking me along with them, and I was doing a lot of the talking in those meetings. I was doing a lot of the work. And just to be completely honest, I wasn't getting really any recognition or any commission or any extra money for helping to sell those deals. So at one point I realized, you know what, I need to really take a look at making the switch to sales. And so I interviewed with a sales manager. I started up in our New York office. I interviewed with the sales manager. I actually didn't get the job. I definitely felt a little discouraged, but I ended up moving down to North Carolina after that, and I interviewed with another manager who took a chance on me, and she hired me with no sales experience, which is not typically who they hire, right? A lot of times they're looking for someone with some sales experience. She took a chance on me, and I took a territory that almost never had a rep in the top 50 of the company. To my second year, I was number 4 in the company.

10:50 Scott Ingram: Awesome. Is there anything that you would have done differently? I mean, if you could have that first few years to do over again?

10:57 Ryan Alvord: Um, I think one of the things I would probably have focused a little bit more on was building relationships outside of the, of the company. So building partners, uh, referral partners, uh, within, within other, within other, um, you know, companies. So working with advisors, working with brokers, uh, a little bit more, something that I'm doing more now, but I think it would have helped to, to do that earlier on. I really focused early on on just prospecting, just talking to prospects and in my territory.

11:27 Scott Ingram: Got it. And you've been in the same sales territory the whole time, right?

11:32 Ryan Alvord: I have. Yep. For 9 years.

11:33 Scott Ingram: Very cool. So before we talk to Ryan about his performance and results, I want to thank the exclusive sponsor of this episode. And that is Vidyard GoVideo. Thanks to Vidyard GoVideo, the rest of this episode will be completely uninterrupted. And I hope you'll help me thank them and help yourself in the process by getting their free Chrome plugin that allows you to create personalized videos that you can include in your email outreach to really stand out and get significantly higher response rates. Just go to top1.fm/v, that's the letter V, or go to any page on top1.fm and click on their ad. So Ryan, you've talked about, you know, being in the, in the top 10 for the last Uh, 10 years or 8 years and, and being number 4 in year 2. I mean, quantify your results for us a little bit more if you can, in terms of, I mean, what, what type of revenue result does it take to get to that level?

12:25 Ryan Alvord: Uh, I need to bring about $1 million of new recurring revenue in, uh, every year. So, uh, my average is probably around $900,000 a year. Um, the year I was number 1, I was just about $1.4, $1.5 million. Um, And again, that's recurring revenue. So that's just first-year revenue. Obviously, over the length of a client being with us, um, you know, it's significantly more, but that's… we really just measure that first year.

12:50 Scott Ingram: Beautiful. And tell us about… I mean, after all these years, you've got to have some, some great stories. Is there a particularly meaningful deal or just a sales story for you that, that sticks out that was impactful?

13:04 Ryan Alvord: Yeah. One story that comes to mind that is one of my favorite stories actually, is that the… there was a company, again, this was back in that first year, there was a company that I was calling on every month, and again, I was really focusing on those bigger companies within my territory. This one was probably, you know, at least 100 times my average size client, right? So this is a very, very big client. And this company, I called them once a month for about 6 months, And on the 6th month calling my point of contact there, the lady kind of laughed and said, what can I do so you'll stop calling me? And I said, if you'll give me 15 minutes to come in and meet with you, I'll stop calling you. And she said, deal, and we scheduled a meeting, and I went in, and we had a 15-minute meeting, and I went through why my clients come on board with our services. And she said, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'd be open to taking a look at a demonstration. So I came back, and I did a demonstration for her and her team, you know, I don't know, 10 or 12 people or so, and she kind of said the same thing at the end of that meeting. She said, again, I can't believe I'm saying this, but let's look at pricing. So we came back and we talked about pricing, and she made a decision. Long story short, she made a decision to come on board and get started, and they were clients for many, many years with us. And I always like that story because if I would have stopped after that 5th call, I don't get that deal, right? It's that 6th call, and a lot of people do. A lot of people stop after 2 calls or 3 calls. But if I would have stopped after 5, again, I don't get that deal. So by making that 6th call, I got the appointment, I got in, and, you know, just to kind of give you an estimate for it, I mean, that commission on that deal, I mean, more than allowed me to pay cash for a brand new Audi that year. I mean, so, you know, just one more call made such a difference. And in addition to that, I mean, the client was a great reference for us. She helped me bring on, you know, at least probably 10 other clients just by being a reference for me. So, you know, just making those calls, a lot of times just, it seems like it's not going to be successful, but you just keep pushing through and it will pay off.

15:13 Scott Ingram: Yeah, that's awesome. So, and what is your… what's the company size? You said they were 100 times larger than your average. Tell us, just give us some context around your territory.

15:23 Ryan Alvord: Yeah, so my average size client, and maybe I was doing the math wrong, maybe about 20 times bigger. My average size client's about 100, 150 employees. Um, that company had something like 3,000 employees plus Um, a lot of, uh, additional services that we sold them. So, um, you know, I could do the math, but it's probably like 40 or 50 times the amount of revenue of my normal size client.

15:46 Scott Ingram: That's awesome. That makes, that makes the year easier.

15:49 Ryan Alvord: Absolutely. Yeah.

15:51 Scott Ingram: So from an accomplishment perspective, cause I know there have been many, but what are you most proud of?

15:56 Ryan Alvord: I'm most proud of the fact that, that my territory was always an underperforming territory, right? For years, or maybe at best, maybe an average territory. And, you know, at the top of the ranks, you know, in that top 10 was always bigger cities like New York or Chicago or LA or Dallas or something like that. And kind of out of nowhere, you know, I brought that territory from a, you know, 100th-ranked territory or something like that to a top 10 territory. And so out of nowhere in the ranks, you know, everyone was like, why is Raleigh on the map here? Why are they in the rankings? And I think that's probably what I'm most proud of.

16:31 Scott Ingram: That's awesome. Because they… because you get to say, well, it was because of Ryan.

16:34 Ryan Alvord: Exactly. Yeah.

16:36 Scott Ingram: So on the flip side, I mean, what has been the biggest challenge or when in this series of years did you struggle the most?

16:45 Ryan Alvord: I mean, the first couple of years, I mean, that first 6 months probably was the biggest struggle for me. Quite honestly, I was very nervous going out and meeting with these companies in the beginning, although I was doing it as an operations person before that. It was a whole nother whole other challenge to go out and meet with companies that a lot of times didn't have interest, and a lot of times were a lot tougher to deal with than when they had already decided to work with the company. So the first few times, especially presenting to companies of more than a few people that I was meeting with, was very, very difficult for me. But I think getting over that fear was accomplished by just a lot of practice. Um, just again, meeting with a huge volume of companies. Um, you know, ironically enough, I guess when I, when I finished number 1, uh, last year and I had to present at our President's Club in front of, you know, 1,000 people, I was less nervous probably for that than I was in the beginning when I had to present in front of a few people, you know, early on. So, um, that was, uh, that was, um, probably the biggest challenge for me over the, over the years.

17:50 Scott Ingram: Yeah. Yeah. And just a matter of getting it out and sticking through it and knowing that again, it kind of comes back to the repetitions, right? I mean, you just, you do it enough and it suddenly becomes comfortable.

18:00 Ryan Alvord: Yeah. I mean, it's just sheer immersion. I mean, really just, just throwing yourself into it and, and, and, um, and giving yourself a chance to improve and, and all that will, will, uh, will get you good at it.

18:11 Scott Ingram: Yeah. Perfect. Well, let's talk about routines a little bit, and I don't have to ask this first question given your preferences for when we scheduled the interview. So I know you're not a morning person, but walk us through your day. I mean, when, when does that start? How do you kind of set it up and what are the key kind of habits and routines that you feel are really central to your success?

18:32 Ryan Alvord: So I don't usually share this part, but typically the first thing I do when I, when I get up is I put on headphones. I have these big Bose wireless headphones I put on, and I put music on really loudly on them. So it's nothing in particular, but just like music that's gonna pump me up for the day, basically. So, you know, EDM music or just top 50, global top 50 music, something like that. So I put those on, and then I make a list for the day, a goal list for the day. So this is before checking email. This is before having breakfast, anything like that. I get out a sheet of paper, nothing fancy, no apps or anything like that, but I get out a piece of paper and I write down on that paper what it is I want to accomplish for the day. This is not just business things. These are professional things. If I want to read something in particular that day, if I want to make sure I go to the gym or whatever, I'm putting everything on that list, but certainly a lot of work-related items as well. And, you know, that's number one. That's really what I do first thing in the morning. And then after that, I mean, I'm getting on my computer. I'm checking emails, responding to emails. Then I'm grabbing some breakfast, and then really just starting to work on my list. So you gotta have, you have to have a plan for the day. I mean, you have to have a plan for the month, and the year, and all that as well. But you certainly need a plan for the day. You gotta, you know, you gotta run the day, or the day's gonna run you, is what I always say.

19:57 Scott Ingram: Yeah, it sounds like… are you working from home?

19:59 Ryan Alvord: I'm working from home at least a couple days a week. I try and be in the office 2 or 3 days a week. I'm typically in the office.

20:06 Scott Ingram: Okay, and then in terms of the structure of the rest of the day, I mean, how, how are you doing that?

20:13 Ryan Alvord: Yeah, so Mondays and Fridays are typically just over email and over the phone, just really organizing things, working on paperwork, admin items, things like that, setting up you know, meetings for the week and that sort of thing. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays are usually my meeting days. I try and, I try and have meetings at 10 AM and 2 PM Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.

20:36 Scott Ingram: Awesome. And then where does the prospecting fit in? What's the discipline around that?

20:41 Ryan Alvord: Yeah, that's typically a Monday or Friday activity. If I have, if I have other time to fit that in throughout the week, I'm certainly doing that. If I have, you know, an hour free, I'm going through and I'm just following up with people I've met with in the past or even calling, you know, on some prospects prospects that might have new contacts and things like, things like that there.

20:59 Scott Ingram: Got it. So, so it sounds like, I mean, the goal is, is really 6 meetings a week in those, in those time slots. And I'm sure if one of those is empty, that then becomes kind of prospecting time for future, right?

21:10 Ryan Alvord: That's correct.

21:10 Scott Ingram: Yep. Awesome. And then what about your information diet? I mean, what are you listening to, reading, and watching?

21:16 Ryan Alvord: Uh, I do listen to, um, sorry to plug another podcast, but I listen to Tim Ferriss's podcast, uh, every single night. So I've worked through every one of his podcasts. I also try and watch a TED Talk, at least a couple of those a week. I love hearing people, you know, experts talk about their craft. I love hearing, you know, tactics for personal improvement, things like that. I also have a sales partner that sends me a motivational speech every single morning that I typically listen to. I should have mentioned that with my morning routine, but that comes to me. Pretty much every, every morning she sends me something. Um, and then I try and read at least a book a month. Um, usually nonfiction again, usually like self-improvement books. Um, that's, uh, that's, that's always important for me as well.

22:03 Scott Ingram: Nice. Well, I can't be offended by the, by the Tim Ferriss. Like that was a huge inspiration for this show and then sort of the way that I try and tackle things. So I appreciate that one. What, uh, so 2 other questions to follow up to that. So you said you have a sales partner. What, what is that about?

22:19 Ryan Alvord: She is in another division within the company, and she will send me a YouTube clip most mornings. You know, a Tony Robbins clip or something like that, that really just seems to get me motivated for the day. You know, despite how motivated we may be in sales just naturally, you do need to hear things. You do need to get motivated to get up and grind. Reach out to companies and get ready to present and these sorts of things.

22:50 Scott Ingram: And what do you do for her?

22:52 Ryan Alvord: I don't really do anything for her. She's always just… I think she gets a lot by helping other people out and helping to motivate people. So she's become a good friend. So hopefully, I guess I've been a good friend for her at least.

23:05 Scott Ingram: That's awesome. So I'm curious about, you know, maybe we can include a couple of these things in the show note items if you want to send me an email afterwards. I'd love if you've got sort of maybe a top 2 or 3 of those video clips that you want to share? And then from a, from a book perspective, I mean, over the course of, well, whatever time period you want, what have been some of the most impactful books that you've read?

23:28 Ryan Alvord: Uh, I read this book called, uh, The One Thing. Um, I think the author is Gary or Jerry Keller. Gary Keller. Gary Keller.

23:36 Scott Ingram: There we go. He's an Austin guy.

23:38 Ryan Alvord: Yeah, there you go. So, so that book was, was really good. Really just the impact of doing You know, instead of being really good at 10 things, just be good at one thing and how that can really impact a lot of other items for you. Other like psychology books almost, like Emotions Revealed was really helpful. I think that was Ekman, Paul Ekman I believe was the name. And that's about reading facial expressions by people, which can help a lot in meetings and help a lot with negotiations and things like that. Books on decision-making, there's one called Predictably Irrational. That was really good. It just shows how people will make irrational decisions, and so a lot of it is more about an emotional type of decision than a logical type of decision. So Predictably Irrational was a good one as well.

24:29 Scott Ingram: Excellent. A couple in there that I haven't read, so interested to check those out. Now, The One Thing has definitely come up a few times on the show. How do you apply that? About your one thing?

24:40 Ryan Alvord: That's a great question. I think for me, you know, becoming, becoming, you know, getting these partners within my organization or outside of my organization is probably the most relatable type of example I can give. Because instead of reaching out manually to these companies and calling or emailing them, if you can build up a good enough relationship with these other people, they'll essentially be bringing you business, right? So they're gonna be referring you business, they're gonna be letting you know companies that are looking to make a switch, and you don't need to be constantly staying in touch with those companies. So if you can build up a handful of those relationships, really you can, you know, generate a lot of business from that.

25:25 Scott Ingram: So let's talk more about that. How are you kind of establishing those relationships? How are you maintaining them in such a way that they do lead to consistent new opportunities?

25:36 Ryan Alvord: Yeah, so internally I have, you know, there's a few different divisions within our company, and I in maintaining good relationships with those people. So a lot of them, quite honestly, are just good friends. And, you know, as they come across businesses that may need my services, they're reaching out to me, right? They know me, they trust me, they believe that I'm going to give them a really good shot of getting the business. And so I'm getting a good number of referrals internally. Outside of the company, you know, I have a 401 broker that I work with, I have a health insurance broker I work with. These guys have been fantastic to me over the years. They are certainly bringing me business as, as those come up. I mean, we meet for lunch, we meet for coffees. Again, you know, I see these people really as my friends, and it's really a friendship-first type of situation, but they are definitely sending me business as they find it.

26:31 Scott Ingram: Yeah, yeah. Well, and I don't know if I've, if I've shared this before, you know, I spent my very first real sales role was actually with ADP, and that was a huge part of what worked for me. I think especially when you're working in a local market like you are, right? Finding some partners that are well-established, that are calling on the same types of companies, just being able to get together and share opportunities and what you're hearing and help each other out. And to your point, I mean, they just become friends and you're helping your friends out. And it's a, it's a great way to augment what you're doing on, on the phone and kind of your own solo efforts.

27:07 Ryan Alvord: Certainly. Yeah, it becomes, it becomes fun to chase business with people that you're friends with, right? So it all works.

27:13 Scott Ingram: Yeah, absolutely. So Ryan, do you, do you subscribe to a particular sales philosophy?

27:19 Ryan Alvord: I would say my sales philosophy can probably be most closely identified with story-based selling. I tend to always tell stories about other companies that I've brought on board to help bring other companies on board. So I think it's much more powerful to explain to a client reasons that another company came on board that may have been in the same position as them, rather than just talking about their issues in particular and telling them that we can fix their issues, really showing them that, hey, there's another company down the street that was in the same position as you, and we were able to fix their issue, and this is how we were able to do it. I don't really ask as many open-ended questions as a lot of people do in those cases. I really lead them down that path, and I say, you know what? This particular, you all are a restaurant, there's another restaurant with 25 locations headquartered down the street from here, and they came on board for these particular reasons. Can you identify with any of these? And they, without fail, can typically identify with half those reasons, and they're reasons that they probably wouldn't have given for reasons that they would have made a switch anyway. So it's really just suggesting those types of things through story-based selling.

28:36 Scott Ingram: Nice. Now, how did you do that in the very beginning before I imagine you sort of had a lot of those stories?

28:42 Ryan Alvord: Well, one advantage was working in operations department first because I was able to talk about companies that were clients and really speak to why they came on board. So I had a little bit of an advantage from that perspective.

28:54 Scott Ingram: Well, and I wonder if… that sounds like it must have made just a huge difference because of the understanding and the inner workings and the way that you understood the challenges and what people faced, that must have just given you such a huge leg up than had you gone right into sales from day one.

29:13 Ryan Alvord: Oh, absolutely. Yeah. So that was, I mean, people are coming into the company typically and they're spending, you know, that first year really learning the products and getting comfortable with them. And I had that knowledge, uh, from, from day one. So, uh, it was a, it was a, it was a big advantage for me for sure.

29:29 Scott Ingram: Yeah. Really interesting. And then how would you describe your style and the way that you approach all of this and work with your clients?

29:35 Ryan Alvord: I'm very informal with my clients. Um, I don't go in and make small talk. A lot of people with companies, they're going in and they're making small talk about a diploma on the wall, or a picture of something in their office. I don't do that. I don't really ask them any personal questions. When we sit down, I basically just ask them if we can jump right in and talk about how we can help. So I always make a joke and ask if they're excited to talk about payroll, which nobody is, but I always ask that question. I say, were you up all night with excitement about talking about payroll today with me? Or something like that. Right in. I'm very informal and, and just really walk them through stories.

30:14 Scott Ingram: Yeah, you know, I, I like that. I always felt like the, the whole let's talk about the fish on the wall thing is just like such forced, um, uh, you know, trying to be personal with somebody. I feel like, like, just jump into the value and, you know, if, if that's there and we like each other, like, the relationship will develop after that, but not through this like forced small talk in the Completely agree. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So Ryan, we talked about the, the videos that your sales partner is, is sending over, um, to, to help motivate you, but what, what else is, is driving all of this and, and kind of the core to your own motivation?

30:52 Ryan Alvord: I'm really motivated by rankings. So I'm a super competitive person. I have been my whole life. Um, the competition is very important to me. Um, so, so having rankings that we can look at on a daily basis and see where you stand brand is huge to me. I mean, I certainly am motivated by money as well. We can talk about that a little bit. But, you know, that competition is probably at this point number one for me. I motivate myself by having Post-it notes up around my house. So on my mirror, I have Post-it notes with monthly revenue goals on them, annual goals that I want to hit, rankings that I want to hit. I have to see these goals every single day. It's something, something my dad taught me when I was a little kid. Like, you have to have these written down. You have to have them in plain sight for you to see constantly. So that's really big for me. Again, motivated by money. That's a, that's a, that's a big thing. Money, money means options. Money, you know, gives you the ability to save, to buy nice things, to, to invest in, you know, other businesses that you might see. As, uh, as, as, you know, good investments for the long term. Um, but I like having a comfortable lifestyle. Um, I couldn't, couldn't do that. Um, you know, I, but I couldn't do that, this job with money alone. Right. So I need those rankings. I need that recognition to, uh, to really succeed.

32:16 Scott Ingram: Yeah. What, what part of the rankings is, is driving that? And I guess what I'm asking is like, how does that get communicated? How often are you seeing that? And, and how else do you sort of use that to drive your, your motivation?

32:31 Ryan Alvord: Yeah, it's in real time. So we use, we use Salesforce, right? And it's in real time. I mean, when you have a new deal start, it is, it's updated that, that minute basically within our system. So you can see exactly where all 400 reps stand at any given point in time.

32:47 Scott Ingram: Nice. So then the natural question is, how obsessive are you about that? How often are you looking at those numbers?

32:53 Ryan Alvord: At least a couple times a day. Nice. I obsessed, I guess.

32:58 Scott Ingram: Yeah, totally. Well, but it makes sense, right? I mean, you can't, you can't compete if you don't know where you're at and where everybody else is at. And that makes, that makes a lot of sense. And I think there's something to that. I mean, in the days of ADP, now this is a long time ago, I'm sure this is, I'm sure this has changed, but I think it was weekly we would get just this monster spreadsheet and you could see where everybody was at for that week, for that month, for that quarter, for that year, and kind of slice and dice it a whole bunch of different ways. But there definitely was a little bit of a lag. It wasn't real time.

33:31 Ryan Alvord: Yeah, it's very smart from a management perspective to let people see where they stand and let them compete. And, and it's a big motivator for a lot of people.

33:40 Scott Ingram: Yeah, for sure. Cool. So is there something that you believe that the average rep, so somebody nowhere near the top 10, would think is crazy?

33:49 Ryan Alvord: I think the amount that I worked in that in the beginning. So again, if we go back to those first couple of years, I was definitely working 70+ hour weeks. And I think a lot of people thought that was probably crazy. The good news is that you don't have to do it forever. I didn't have to do it forever. It pays off, it pays huge dividends later on down the road. So I think that that's probably one thing that people thought it was a little nuts that I would wake up on Saturday mornings back then and jump on my computer and spend, you know, spend half the day following up with prospects that I talked to that week. That's probably the biggest thing, but you know, you don't really have to do that forever, and again, it pays off big time later on.

34:28 Scott Ingram: Yeah, for sure. Well, and I know you listened to my conversation with Jelle den Dunnen at Bullhorn, and, you know, one of the things that we talked about is there's certainly an element of success over the long term that has to do with just the consistency in territory. And I think what you've done is, I mean, you invested really, really heavily upfront. I mean, if we use a pure investment analogy, right, you made a big investment upfront and then that's just kind of continued to compound Um, over, over time. I mean, what are there parts of that that were super important, or again, kind of looking back that you might have done differently to even further compound the success that you're having today because of some of that early work?

35:12 Ryan Alvord: It's, I mean, the most important part really there is the activity. A lot of people get, get a little bit caught up with what you're saying and what your message is. And, and there are a lot of times they're just, um, in sort of an indecision state there of what to do. And that's, that's not as important as just doing it. Right. So, um, you know, it's like the squirrel in the middle of the road that can't decide which way to go. You're better off just going one direction than, than being stuck in the middle of the road. Um, and so that's the biggest thing. I mean, it's just making the calls and sending the emails. It doesn't have to be anything special. It just has to be, you just need to stay in front of these companies.

35:48 Scott Ingram: Yeah. Now, did you, did you have, or do you have any type of like activity metric type goals that you were trying to get to?

35:57 Ryan Alvord: Yeah, I was. I certainly still do. I mean, I do try and, you know, I guess probably using those first… that first year, a couple of years is probably more helpful for the podcast. I mean, I was trying when I would just be calling throughout a day. So if I was taking a Monday and just hitting the phones, I'm trying to make 100 calls for that particular day. I'm trying to run at least, you know, at least 3 or 4 new meetings. Certainly early on that was attainable. So those were probably the biggest metrics that I was sticking to.

36:30 Scott Ingram: Yeah, got it. And yeah, again, it's just the consistency of knocking that out. So looking at the flip side then, you know, what is it that you think, or that the average rep thinks, that you think is crazy?

36:44 Ryan Alvord: I think that they're typically too selective about the deals that they work, and I mentioned this a little bit earlier on in the conversation. I think that they only overqualify what they're gonna work on. They wait for companies that are ready to buy, and I don't think that that is necessary. I think that reps should be willing to meet with anybody at any point, and this may vary a little bit by industry and by company and that sort of thing, but for what I do, you know, I work absolutely everything. If a client tells me that they're not gonna buy for 2 years, I'm still gonna meet with them, even if they say, hey, we don't have any intention of ever changing I say, that's great. I don't really have any intention of selling anything today. I would love to just meet and get to know what you're looking for, how you do things, and just get a good feel for them, and then stay in touch with them. And it might be 5 years later, but I tell them that. I say that, you know, it doesn't make a difference if you buy this quarter, this year, or if it's 5 years from now. Nobody likes a pushy sales rep. It's important to let them know that you're there You're gonna be patient and you're gonna help them. You know, that's the most important thing with all this is that you're gonna help them with improving a process at some point and they need to know that.

37:56 Scott Ingram: Yeah. Well, and that definitely is counter to a lot of the comments that we've heard. And I think you called that out as we were talking before we, before we started recording that you might have a couple of differences of opinion because there's definitely been a pretty consistent theme of a lot of qualifying and just making sure that, hey, is this something that I should spend a lot of time on? I wonder if the difference is that there's one thing to be willing to spend the time to begin to build a relationship and plant the seed and start to stay top of mind for when the time is ready versus really digging in into a specific deal or specific opportunity that, you know, isn't qualified and trying to push that rock up the hill. I think maybe these things work together, right? Where I think what you're saying is, look, I'll meet with anybody. It's not about the timing. I'm just there to be a resource and to be of value and to serve them. And at some point they'll do business with me versus trying to just cram that deal down their throat of somebody that's really not qualified from that perspective. Does that make sense?

39:04 Ryan Alvord: Yeah, that certainly does. I think, I think again, just them knowing that you're going to be patient with them, you're not going to try and close them right now. Now, um, you just want to be a contact for them is exactly right.

39:14 Scott Ingram: Yeah. Super interesting. So what have been the most important decisions you've made or lessons you've had to learn along the way to get where you are today?

39:25 Ryan Alvord: Um, I'd go back to those goals. That's probably the biggest thing that, um, has helped me get where, where, where I'm at today. So making a decision to write down a goal, put it on paper and stick to it is probably number one for me. Um, number 2 would be partnering with everyone I You know, you really don't want to try and do it on your own. You can accomplish so much more with other people. So I think that's probably number 2. And number 3, you know, even after a deal is signed and submitted, I stay very close with my companies, with my clients. You know, even a couple years down the road after they're a client, I'm still following up with them. I'm still touching base with them. I'm still trying to make sure that everything is smooth for them. You know, that's not something I have to do. That's not really, that's not really what my job is here. My job is to bring in new business, but I do a really good job, I think, of staying in touch with those companies and being ready if they're looking for additional services. I'm there for them. If they have referrals, you know, those types of things are going to come as well. So, so staying in touch with my clients is, is, is one of those pieces as well.

40:32 Scott Ingram: Nice. So what, what's your frequency? I mean, what's, what's the cadence? How do you try and manage the stay-in-touch process after you've brought a new client on?

40:41 Ryan Alvord: Early on, I try and stay in touch with them at least once a week. As they've been a client for a little bit, it goes down to probably once a month. And then over time, I'm checking in probably a few times a year.

40:53 Scott Ingram: Okay, excellent. And then are you making a point of asking for referrals in most of those conversations? How does that piece work?

41:00 Ryan Alvord: Yeah, I will. If they express that they're, that they're very happy with us, I will, I will say, you know what, do you know anyone that does what you do at another company? And, uh, sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. I don't get a lot of business from referrals because I don't really push that part. But, um, but when I do bring it up, um, we do, I do occasionally get some referrals from that.

41:20 Scott Ingram: Okay. Awesome. And then, uh, here's the kind of soapbox advice section. What advice would you give to someone that's just starting out in a sales career today?

41:30 Ryan Alvord: Number one is getting over that indecision, right? So like I had said earlier, I mean, so many people labor over what they're going to say and how they're going to say it and how frequently they're going to call people and things like that. That. And I think just doing is most important. Having that activity, right or wrong, it's better than waiting. I also wouldn't get focused on having a high closing percentage. So I think that's another reason why people tend to overqualify deals, is they get focused on having a high closing percentage or being super efficient with their time. And I don't, I just don't think that that's as important as meeting with people. So, you know, just get as much practice as you can meeting with companies. You know, books like Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers, it talks about, you know, the 10,000-hour rule. It really applies. You need to get in as much practice as you can. You'll get so much better at the meetings, at meeting with people, at asking the right questions and knowing what to say. And you'll build a huge pipeline in the meantime. And again, you'll learn your craft and that will pay off over time. Time.

42:33 Scott Ingram: So Ryan, what about the flip side? What about somebody that is further into their career? Maybe they've… and, and I would imagine this probably happens for you given the position that you have there at Paychex. So I'm sure some folks come to you, they've… maybe they've been at Paychex for 5 years and they're, they're kind of middle of the road, or, or maybe they're… I don't know, you know, pick, pick a spot for them, but they're not at the top. They want to get in and break into that top 20, what did… or top 10. What advice do you have them?

43:01 Ryan Alvord: I think this is an important point and probably something that would apply to probably some other questions that you had here, but I'll mention at this point, they need to figure out their why, right? So they need to figure out why they're doing it. So whether it's for, you know, supporting their family, giving their family a better life, whether they just want to make a certain amount of money just to tell themselves they did it, if it's a recognition thing, if it's money to invest in other businesses, Um, they need to envision what that can provide for them, right? So what is it going to do for them? Um, if it's picturing finishing number 1, that's what, that was, that was what it was for me a couple of years ago. I pictured what it would feel like to be number 1, uh, to have everyone at, you know, our President's Club trip, having 1,000 people congratulating me. That was important to me. That was something that I was trying to achieve. Um, so they need to know their why, like why are they doing it? And then they need to know that specific goal and then they need to work backwards from that. So they need to say, hey, what is it about, uh, what do I need to actually do to achieve that? Right? And they need to break that down by month and they need to work backwards into some sort of specific, specific activity that they need to put forth to accomplish it. So, um, again, starting with their why, working backwards into, you know, those particular goals and into, you know, daily goals. And again, for different companies, different organizations, that's always gonna be a, a different type of metric, but they need to, they need to work into that. Math.

44:29 Scott Ingram: Perfect, perfect. And then, you know, we talked about this also a little bit before we started. You know, when you're in the number one position, the one thing that you don't have is somebody above you to look up to and, and kind of understand what they're doing, uh, to, to get better results. So what, what would you want to know of somebody who's in that number one spot in another organization that you might be able to learn from?

44:52 Ryan Alvord: Yeah, it's a, it's a great question. I think, uh, something that would be addressed certainly in your, in your summit in Austin. Um, I'd be most curious to talk to these reps about what they do to stay motivated. It definitely becomes a little bit harder over time. It does lose a little bit of its excitement to get up and shoot for the number 1 spot when you've hit it already, or, you know, what's the difference between an 8th or 9th consecutive top, you know, top 10 finish? You know, so it does lose a little bit of its excitement over time, so I'd be curious to find out out what they're doing to really, really stay motivated, as well as the reps that have been selling the same product for a long time. So reps that have been selling a product for 10 years, how do they not get bored with it? What do they do to challenge themselves and stay excited by it? Those would be, those would be a couple of my biggest questions.

45:47 Scott Ingram: Beautiful. And this is always a trap. Now I get to turn those questions around. So how are you maintaining your motivation after all these years and making sure that you don't get bored?

45:56 Ryan Alvord: Yeah. So, um, giving myself new goals and figuring out my why and, you know, to reference the why again, that, that, that changes over time, right? In the beginning, it's, it's covering, you know, it's, it's making enough money to cover certain needs, or maybe it's a car you want to buy. But after a certain point of, of, you know, getting those things and, and having enough money to buy those things that you want, want, you need to come up with new goals. And a lot of times those are side projects and things of that nature. But you do need outside influences like books that you're reading or motivational things that you're listening to, or, you know, really just work… meeting with other reps that have been really successful and saying, you know what, I want to beat them. I want to have a better record than that particular person. And, you know, if you look hard enough, you're always going to find people to chase. They might be within your company, they might be outside the company. Company, but there's always, um, there's always more you can, you can do.

46:51 Scott Ingram: Great stuff. And then who is the most successful salesperson that you know personally?

46:56 Ryan Alvord: One of the salespeople that I looked up to the most for years, and he was my, he was my partner within our organization. He sold our 401 service, uh, side by side with me. We did, we had hundreds of meetings together over at least probably 5 or 6 years. Um, and his name is Kurt Lamb. He, he's a, he's a 401 wholesaler now, but he was my partner. Partner for a while, and his style was very different than mine. He is definitely more of a pit bull with closing and much more aggressive. And we worked well for that reason together because I was a little bit more, I wasn't as pushy, but I did learn to ask for the business a lot more at that point. I mean, a simple question he would ask and that I use today is, you know, what can we do to move forward? You know, so a lot of times I would go in, have a, have what I thought was a great meeting, meeting, um, you know, go back and maybe have another meeting with them. And, and I would just never ask for the business. And, and I think that's important to do. And I learned that from him. And I would say he's probably, from that perspective, certainly one of the, one of the best reps that I knew.

47:57 Scott Ingram: Awesome. And talk about, I mean, the team selling piece. I mean, you, you mentioned that early on and, and certainly a part of what you're doing. How did that dynamic work? How did you make the most of that situation? And obviously 2 different styles and personalities and approaches.

48:11 Ryan Alvord: Yeah, it definitely grew over time. It was definitely something that we had to get used to, especially, especially those first meetings you go on with a new partner. You're trying to figure out your place. But, you know, it was a little bit like I used to joke, it was a little bit of a good cop, bad cop type of relationship where he would be a little bit more pushy and I would say, okay, there's no rush. We can do this in 6 months if you want to. And I think it played well and it depended a lot on the personality type of the people we were talking to. Right. Had a dominant driver that wanted to, you know, he's the CEO and he wants to do it a certain way. And I was talking to him, I would certainly yield to him and we'd see how he reacted to that. But if he really needed to be pushed along, and, you know, Kurt would jump in and Kurt would push him along and steer him down that path. I think that partnership, you really just need to get to know, you need to practice, right? You need some practice with it. But it helps, it helped again. You know, he was another one of my, and he still is one of my close friends, and it helps to have that relationship. With somebody and, and again, know that, you know, kind of anticipate what the other person is gonna say and know how you're gonna work together.

49:21 Scott Ingram: Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think there's certainly a theme that has emerged from, from this conversation, and that is so much of this just comes down to repetition, right? It's, it's just the practice. It's getting the reps in. And when you do that work and when you have the activity, you're, you're gonna get better, right?

49:37 Ryan Alvord: You're gonna get better and you're gonna build a pipeline. Both are gonna, are gonna go hand in hand together.

49:41 Scott Ingram: Beautiful. So here's the part where we try and boil it all down and make it actionable for the person listening to this. So Ryan, what is the challenge that you would have somebody do over the next 2 weeks before the next episode comes out that they can put into action to make themselves better and generate better results?

50:01 Ryan Alvord: It's a great question. I think number one is sitting down and figuring out their why. I think that's, that's number one. They don't already know why they're doing what they're doing. I think you have to know that first before you can do anything else. So I think sitting down, figuring out your why, you may need to talk to some people about that. It may take you, it may take you some time to figure that out. And, and again, it's something that may change. It's probably different than what it was when, uh, they first started their career or, or, you know, it's gonna be different when you're 20 than when you're, when you're 40, right? So I think that's, that's number one is figuring out that why. Um, and then looking at things from a goal perspective. Looking at things over the course of, you know, a few years, maybe over the course of a year, and then figuring out what is it that I need to do? How much do I need to actually sell? How much business do I need to bring in to hit that goal? And what does that look like on a monthly basis? What does that look like on a weekly basis? What does that come down to on a daily basis? How many calls do I need to make? How many people do I need to talk to? Um, you know, you got to work with what your closing percentage looks like and what your activity looks like. But I think just getting that down on paper, and my challenge would be to hang those goals up. Have them on your mirror. Have a Post-it on your mirror that you look at, on your bathroom mirror, that's going to remind you of what you need to do for the day. What's your why? Why are you doing all these things? I think we are all capable of a lot more. I know that. We're all capable of a lot more than we actually do, and if there's a goal that you want to hit and it's important to you, Write it down, look at it every day, figure out what you exactly need to do to accomplish that, that particular goal. That would be my challenge for people.

51:39 Scott Ingram: Fantastic, Ryan. This has been really, really incredible. Thank you for taking the time to share your story and all these insights with us today.

51:48 Ryan Alvord: You're very welcome. Thank you as well.

51:49 Scott Ingram: So you know what? My why is really about inspiration. I love to help people see what's possible and find a path to getting there, and it's something that I do. In my own sales role with my clients. I'm really trying to understand what they're trying to accomplish and what their goals are and how we can get from here to there. And also a lot of what I'm trying to do with this show. And it's really the underlying reason why I decided to put together the Sales Success Summit that's coming here to Austin May 7th and 8th. So if you are looking to take your own sales results to another level and you want to find inspiration and learn from from the best of the best folks like Ryan who are at the top today in their sales career, then I hope you will come and join us and be a part of this event that I am working really, really hard to turn it into just an incredible, incredible experience. If you'll go to top1summit.com and check out the details, if you haven't already heard it, go back and listen to the episode that I did talking about the summit and some of the that we're doing within that to make it such a great experience. And then use referral code SSS, and that will save you $150 on the current registration rate. Obviously, the sooner you register, the better that rate is. And I hope to see you in Austin. Thanks for listening.

53:15 Ryan Alvord: 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.