70: Work Hard, Play Hard - Alison Balthazor

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. Here's your host, Scott Ingram. Today on the Sales Success Stories podcast, my guest is Alison Balthazor, who is the top national account executive at Access One. Welcome to the show, Alison.

0:33 Alison Balthazor: Thanks so much, Scott. I appreciate the opportunity.

0:35 Scott Ingram: Absolutely. Really looking forward to our conversation and a big shout out to Kevin Piket. Kevin is a huge supporter of this show and he's the one that introduced us and I think he actually might be your boss. So thanks for that, Kevin. Alison, let's start like we always do and talk about the 3 things that you believe have contributed most to your success in sales.

0:58 Alison Balthazor: Sure, absolutely. I think it, you know, is at the core of a lot of individuals', you know, lifestyles, which is to really just have that personal drive and a really strong work ethic. I think a lot of people, you know, can come up with excuses as to why an individual might be so successful, and the reality is they probably just work a lot harder than everyone else.

1:19 Scott Ingram: Awesome. And we'll come back to that because I always talk about motivation and just what that hard work means. So we'll definitely dive into that as we get deeper into the interview. What's your second thing?

1:29 Alison Balthazor: Yeah, relationships. That's been the key to my success. You know, people, they buy from people that they like. And I mean, we all do in any sense of the imagination. And it's just been a really great way to get to know people, find out what they're interested in, and really lean on that as a way to stay in contact with them as opposed to just following up on whatever proposal I've delivered.

1:52 Scott Ingram: Sure. Now, how much of that do you think is pure likability compared to also just having some domain expertise and adding adding value along the way?

2:03 Alison Balthazor: Gosh, I think it's both. I think that initially they like somebody that they're interested in talking to, somebody who has a little bit more depth. And then if you can also back that up with a lot of knowledge and industry experience, then it goes a really long ways.

2:20 Scott Ingram: Yeah, absolutely. I think the trap is trying to rely solely on, hey, I just want to be their buddy. I want to be their best friend. At the end of the day, this is still business and you do have to find some way to have some compelling value in what you're bringing to the table.

2:35 Alison Balthazor: Absolutely, especially in the tech world, which is the industry that I'm in. You know, I am the expert in what I'm selling, and the CIOs that I'm fortunate enough to work with, they're looking to me to advise them on the products and services that I sell. So yeah, it is definitely not just a, you know, let's go, you know, to a Cubs game or wherever it might be. It's really more important to make sure that, you know, you've got that relationship. Maybe ask them a little information about their family or what they enjoy doing on the weekends so that you've got some, you know, just handed conversation to have. But then from there, it's really, you know, how can I make your life easier? What can I do to, you know, move these projects forward within your business? What areas are you guys falling short in that I can, you know, bridge the gap and then make you look like the hero? That's what we're all working towards, a common goal here. And as long as you see yourself as a partner of theirs, as opposed to just a vendor or a sales rep just trying to get a, you know, just trying to get the deal, your chances of winning the deal and plenty more like that in the future are far greater.

3:36 Scott Ingram: Yeah, great quote right there. All right, so what's number 3?

3:40 Alison Balthazor: Just be a good person. I think so many of us get caught up in, you know, what are we doing and what are we saying that's so important out there? But when it comes down to it, it's, you know, people wanna know that you're truthful and that you're honest because they wanna know that if they buy something from you, that one, you're gonna stand behind your product because in all, you know, in all industries, especially in technology, there are blips in the road and it's important to make sure that if something happens, that you're there to work through it with your customer. That's the trust factor that comes into play. You also want to make sure that, you know, you're doing what you say you're going to do. Us sales reps, we always love to, you know, promise the world, and when it comes down to it, nobody wins by overpromising and underdelivering. So making sure that you're really setting, you know, a firm set of standards into what they can expect, and then make sure that those things happen for your customers.

4:30 Scott Ingram: And I'm most curious, like, what What part of your process, how do you make sure that what you've committed actually gets delivered? How do you manage that?

4:39 Alison Balthazor: Sure. So mine's just a, it's a lot of follow-up. It's a lot of constant communication internally with the people that I'm lucky enough to work with, making sure that everybody is on the same page, bridging gaps between conversations. When I transfer an order over to somebody else and it gets to our project management team, it's a great way for me to hand off and say, hey, let me introduce you to this person. She's wonderful at what she does. We've worked together for years and you guys are going to work great together. And then also give a little information on the customer so that everybody feels like, okay, it's a well-thought-out process and it has been hand-delivered by the person that I trust the most at this point in time.

5:17 Scott Ingram: Yeah, good stuff. All right. Now, now let's get into the context for everybody who's wondering, hey, who is Alison? So talk to us just a bit about your role in Access One and how you got to be number 1 there.

5:29 Alison Balthazor: Sure, sure. So as you had mentioned, I'm a National Account Executive. I've been with the company for 16 years. I started there right out of college and have been here ever since. It's been a really, really fun road. We started out in a very different portion of the business than where we're at today. Started out, you know, doing the 50-point rule. I don't know if any of you sales individuals remember this, but, you know, you get 1 point for making cold calls, physical cold calls where you're out knocking on the door, 5 points for setting a meeting, 10 points for closing a deal. And that's how The individual who trained me, he really created my work ethic. He taught me that, you know, you really have to get out there and hit your numbers so that then therefore all the deals will start rolling in. So anyways, that was 16 years ago now. I then rolled into a management position, enjoyed that a lot, and really learned a lot about, you know, managing others. And then at one point in time, I decided I just need to be in charge of my own future and asked to go back into sales. And it's been, it was the best decision I think I've ever made. And ever since then, just been number one on the sales team ever since.

6:35 Scott Ingram: So, when did that happen and what drove that decision? It's interesting. I'm seeing more and more folks deciding, you know what? This isn't all it's cracked up to be. I'd rather just be in the field and take care of me.

6:46 Alison Balthazor: Yeah. I guess I'll speak real candidly here. So, this happened, I was, I'd probably been on the sales team for about 2 and a half years and worked my way into a management position. I did a great job. I ran a successful team in the sense of hitting our numbers. But what was actually happening was the reps were going out to, you know, get their calls in and to set appointments, but I was always micromanaging all of that. So I was doing it with them. And then I'd go out and I'd sell the deal and I'd close it with them. And my thought was that I was training them on how to do it, but in reality, I was just doing the work right along with them. So once I took a look at, you know, where my time was being spent and how I was being compensated for that, it just made a lot more sense for me go back into sales.

7:32 Scott Ingram: Good recognition, right?

7:34 Alison Balthazor: Mm-hmm, exactly.

7:35 Scott Ingram: Well, quantify your results for us. What does it take to be number 1 at Access One?

7:40 Alison Balthazor: Well, I would say, and I didn't qualify or quantify all 16 years, but on average I'm usually about 200% to quota. So that brings in about, that's brought in about $1.4 million in new sales. And our technology services is all based on 36-month contracts, and typically my customers stay with me. So some of these customers have been with us for 10 years, 16 years. And it's, you know, you're looking at, you know, $50+ million very easily and over the course of just one contractual period of time.

8:12 Scott Ingram: That's awesome. And one of the things I want to dig into, and we started this conversation before we hit the record button, is just how big of an impact the fact that you've been in the same space with the same company all of this time really has had on your success. I mean, we're seeing that less and less with the average tenure being, I don't know, I see all kinds of different numbers from 18 months to 2 and a half years kind of a kind of range. 16 years is a different thing. So how do you think about that and why have you stayed?

8:40 Alison Balthazor: Oh yeah, well, many reasons. One, the company is great that I work for. I love the executive team that I work for. Everybody really has their heart and soul into it. So it makes it easy to keep my drive up. But the other aspect is technology within this industry, it's always changing. So it's never become, you know, it's never become boring because I'm constantly learning. And with that, I am constantly evolving into working with new individuals, initially starting off with, you know, managers of IT, and now I'm working with CIOs. And as those individuals move around to different corporations, they come back and find me because I did all those things that we initially talked about, which was, you know, having a good relationship with them and just overall being a good, genuine, honest person, somebody that's going to be there to work with them for the long haul. Everybody wants to know that they're working with somebody who's going to bring out the best in them and their organization. And that's what I do.

9:31 Scott Ingram: Yeah, that's such an interesting observation. I think one of the values of just sticking with this, being in the field and being in the same industry, I've been in the marketing technology space for, yikes, I don't even want to do the math. It's definitely 10 years plus. And I've watched people who I started working with them and they were marketing managers and now they're VPs of sales at huge companies and having a really big impact. And to your point, you've got this great relationship, you've always delivered and done what you said you would do, it's really, really easy to do additional business when you have that kind of trust built up.

10:08 Alison Balthazor: Absolutely.

10:09 Scott Ingram: So what's your origin story? I mean, I know this is your one and only sales job. How did you get into that in the first place?

10:17 Alison Balthazor: Yeah, I ran into them at a job fair, to be perfectly honest with you. And the individual that recruited me, he came over, he saw me walk in, and he came over and he said, go practice on a couple other corporations here at their booths, and then I want you to come over and talk to me. And I mean, that, that right there just really impressed me about the company and the culture in general. So that's exactly what I did, and I, I walked over and, you know, told him why he should hire me, and it… the, the rest is history. So, but it was, it was just one of those things that was just meant to be, you know.

10:49 Scott Ingram: Well, that's awesome, and that's such a cool challenge, right? I mean, I, and I think I mean, actually, there's a lot to be learned in that, right? It's sort of giving somebody that type of challenge. I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't have even come back, right? So the fact that you did it, that's its own little test, right?

11:03 Alison Balthazor: Right, right.

11:04 Scott Ingram: Environment and like, okay, let's see you improve and get a little bit better after a couple more reps. So what was your degree in? Was it aligned with sales? Was this your intent to go into sales?

11:16 Alison Balthazor: Yes, I knew that I loved sales when I was in college. I somehow convinced not only my father but DePaul University to let me go on on an adventure study program in Australia and New Zealand, which consisted of me backpacking and whitewater rafting, also jumping out of airplanes, and just going through all of New Zealand and Australia for, for 3 months. And I got full course credit. My dad helped me pay for this. And at that, I thought, you know what, I'm really good at convincing people to see my way. And so that kind of started it. I was in marketing, or I received my undergrad in marketing. And so I was kind of naturally on that, on that path already.

11:54 Scott Ingram: Got it. So I often ask if there's anything that you would have done differently from a career perspective. And I guess in this case, I'm most curious about if you had it to do over again, would you still have taken that leadership position or would you have stayed in the field the entire time?

12:09 Alison Balthazor: You know what? I think that the leadership position really helped change my mind frame. I think I could have easily become maybe a little bit more complacent or expected certain, you know, certain things to be handed to me as only knowing the sales side. Understanding the management side and what it takes to develop somebody and what needs to consistently happen, I think, really changed my overall outlook. I know that not every deal is guaranteed. I even still, 16 years into it, not that I need to worry, but I, you know, I still think about, oh, I have to be X amount over my quota or, you know, I'm gonna disappoint somebody. You know, it's just, it's just part of my DNA, I think, is to make sure that I'm at the top of the group.

12:51 Scott Ingram: Yeah, you know, it's interesting. I had almost that exact same conversation with George Penyak, who was on the podcast way, way in the early days. He was actually in a regional sales manager role, and it was him and his top rep at the time. He was the top RSM. We just, just last week on the podcast, I shared one of his stories from the Sales Success Stories book. And, you know, we were chatting and just kind of catching up, and he made sort of the same move, right? Moved back into a national sales account role from that, that regional sales manager role recently. Closed the biggest deal in the history of the company. I was asking him, was it worth that? Were there learnings from that experience that you now apply to your day-to-day in the field? And he said, absolutely. This is such a big contributor. I think it maybe just gives you a broader perspective. You see things a little bit bigger and think about sort of the challenges and you're able to, I guess, at the end of the day, better able to manage yourself.

13:48 Alison Balthazor: Oh, absolutely. Yes, yes, you break it down very quickly and easily. And I think I have a different perspective on my role too. My role is not just all about me. It's about a team and making sure that I'm helping, you know, and doing my part and overachieving that as one of the top producers to make sure that the sales team in general is getting to their numbers so that the company itself is set up to win for the year.

14:12 Scott Ingram: Awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, we call this show Sales Success Stories. I'm curious if you have a favorite sales story? Maybe it's one you won, maybe it's one you lost, and there was something that you just learned a ton from.

14:23 Alison Balthazor: Oh gosh, there's a lot. I, you know what, I think there's 2, and one is just kind of silly, but I think it kind of made me realize early on not to take myself so seriously. And there was this organization that we were selling to, and I was very, very young in my career and probably wasn't necessarily ready to win a deal this large, but I did, and I did it based on relationship and being candid with them. They make the bag in the box. And at the time, you know, I said something about Franzia, and it just made everyone laugh. And sure enough, it broke down any concerns or walls about, you know, who is Alison and who is Access One. And we just all became more of a unified group just based on, you know, enjoying, enjoying what we do in life. The other one has been another organization that I've recently had the opportunity to work with, but it took me a year and a half to win the deal. And it was one that we thought all along the way that whoever was gonna win would probably win within about 6 months. So it took significantly longer. And then on top of it, the installation process of which our installs typically take anywhere from 30 to, you know, to 120 days depending on what the type of service is. This one is now, has reached almost a year from when we signed the order by, you know, no fault to anyone, just that it's a very thorough process and, you know, there's a lot of moving parts. Parts here. So I've learned a lot through that about, you know, the level of organization and patience and excitement that needs to be drummed up for an organization that has a lot of different locations.

15:58 Scott Ingram: Nice. Great stuff. So you have had a lot of success and you've been really consistent through all of this. What are you most proud of? Hmm.

16:07 Alison Balthazor: I am most proud of the fact that I've never been in a position or done anything that I couldn't ever look back on and hold my head high. Even in an instance where, you know, there may be concerns about how something's handled, I always made sure that I drew the right line and made sure that it was addressed appropriately. I'm also really proud of the fact that I have found balance. I have 2 very young kids and I love what I do and I don't want to give up the sales position that I have. And I also have the opportunity to make sure that, you know, that I can spend quality time with my kids. And that means, you know, that means getting up at 4 in the morning and working until they get up at 7:00, and then I see them for an hour, and then I get back to my, to my, you know, work life after that. So it's really just coming up with a new way of normal is something that is not only something that I'm proud of, but it's really fulfilling and it keeps me driven.

17:02 Scott Ingram: Awesome. Awesome. Well, we'll dig deeper into how you're managing your routine. But before we do that, I want to kind of look at the other side. So we talked about the accomplishments you're proud of. What do you find to be the biggest challenge? What's the hardest part of all of this?

17:19 Alison Balthazor: The hardest part, I think, is keeping expectations the same throughout the process. So at the initial stage of the sales process, you like to always draw up excitement and tell the prospect that, oh yes, we can do that and no problem, and just making sure that whatever is promised is fully delivered and making sure that you're being that consistent reminder of, okay, here's what we promised and here's what we discussed and here's what we agreed upon throughout the process. I think that that's always a challenge for any industry because you never want your customers to have any sort of buyer's remorse. So if you maintain that close contact and keep everybody on the same page, then I think you eliminate a lot of that.

18:02 Scott Ingram: And how much of that is expectation setting on the client side versus just not necessarily managing the delivery, but just making sure that the delivery goes off and you are able to meet the expectations that you set?

18:18 Alison Balthazor: Yeah, well, as you know, one of the biggest mistakes that sales reps make is we talk too much, right? We always need to listen far more than we speak, especially in that first meeting. And you really get a lot of information from the clients just by listening to them and then keeping that consistent with them, making sure that, you know, not only did you hear correctly what they said, But then making sure that as time goes on that you're setting that. And, and, you know, internally, we've got a great team at Access One, so we all work very closely together and have sidebar conversations. So that portion of it is pretty easy to work with.

18:53 Scott Ingram: Well, talk a little bit more about that first meeting and how you're running it. And I assume that's, that's more of a discovery type of conversation. What's, what's your process? How do you approach that meeting?

19:05 Alison Balthazor: Yeah, it's very simple, and it's almost the same every single time. I listen about 80% of the meeting, and I I talk about 20%. It's initially just asking open-ended questions, finding out a little bit about them, you know, not necessarily work-related, you know, tell me, tell me about what you enjoy doing on the weekends, getting a little bit more personal with them. And when you meet in person, then you can really get a good insight as to what they're interested in because they've got all kinds of things there within the off… within their office. And then from there, then I start asking them, well, tell me about, you know, your technology services. Tell me about some of the hurdles that you're experiencing or some of the projects that you have going on. And then I just sit back and I listen and I write it all down and I make sure that I keep really good notes. And then after, you know, after they're done explaining, you know, their side, then I tell them a little bit about Access One and let them, you know, thank them for everything that they've given to me and make sure that I review what I understand their needs to be. And then I set up the follow-up meeting. It's really, it's really very, very simple and it's a lot of listening and enjoying their company. Getting to know them.

20:11 Scott Ingram: Yeah. Now, just, I want to confirm a point here. How are you taking those notes? Is that longhand on a notepad?

20:17 Alison Balthazor: Well, now I'm aging myself, right? I do, I really do. I write better on a notepad when I'm there in person with somebody. I also think that, you know, sometimes certain individuals, not all, but, you know, that they're more open when they don't see you typing on a computer. So I personally just write down on the notepad. And then when I get back to the office, then I go ahead and put all my notes into my documents. And then that way I can easily share them with my sales engineers or whoever might be joining me on the next call.

20:46 Scott Ingram: Yeah. So, I mean, probably a strange question, but the reason I ask, I just finished reading a book called… it's on my desk here… it's called Smarter, Faster, Better by Charles Duhigg. And one of the last sections, he's talking about essentially just information overload and the way that we're processing that. And apparently, there's a bunch of studies that show that you retain something like twice as much more content if you take notes longhand versus typing them, even though you can type nearly verbatim. You just, you retain so much more. And they did a couple of different examples where they thought, okay, well, maybe it's just because the longhand note-takers were reviewing their notes and they were cheating. So they had folks do notes the 2 different ways and then took the notes away and tested them on retention a week later, 2 weeks later, however it worked. And again, it was still 2 times as much. So I'm just thinking about that myself and thinking I've been doing, because I do a lot of Zoom meetings and things like that, and I will take a lot of notes in Evernote. Now I'm starting to think, you know what, maybe it's time to go back to that notepad. I think maybe our brains are wired for that maybe a little bit better than we think.

21:59 Alison Balthazor: Exactly. Sometimes the old-school tricks are the best way to go about it.

22:02 Scott Ingram: Yep. Beautiful. Let's get into the routine piece. The way I like to tackle this best is just like the very detailed blow-by-blow. So the alarm clock goes off what time and just give us step by step from there until your head hits the pillow.

22:20 Alison Balthazor: Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah. So my alarm clock goes off at 4 in the morning. I get up and I go straight to the gym. I get my workout in because that's what's really good for my head. Keeps me really sharp and motivated, all the good endorphins.

22:35 Scott Ingram: What is that workout?

22:35 Alison Balthazor: Usually strength and cardio. It's just a mixture. Then I come back home, get ready for the day. I start my work usually around usually around like 6:15 or so. I work until my kids wake up at 7:00. I spend the next hour with them just enjoying them being little children, and then at 8 o'clock I start my day. The kids either go to school or with a nanny, and I am, I'm off to focus on Access One and getting my job done. I work really hard during the day. I am very strict to my schedule. It helps keep me organized. I'm a visual person, so I need to physically see everything that I need to do and then the exact times that it's going to be done. I rarely take a lunch break unless I'm with somebody. I like to just kind of keep the momentum going, and so I sit at my desk and eat. And then in the afternoon, I love to knock out all the follow-up calls. I find that a lot of people early in the meeting, early in the morning, they're, you know, they're busy trying to get themselves organized during the day and get their things done. So I do a lot of my follow-ups in the afternoon, all the way up until, you know, 5:30 or so. And then after that, I take the time and spend the evening with my kids until about 8:30 when I go to bed. It's kind of boring.

23:50 Scott Ingram: And how are you setting up the schedule then? Where are you managing kind of this visual view of your day and all of that?

23:58 Alison Balthazor: Sure. So I personally like Outlook. I can color code things. That's where the majority of my time is spent. I know there's a lot of different things that we can do within our CRM. But probably over 16 years, I've seen a couple different CRMs come and go. So Outlook has always stayed and that's just kind of what I've stuck with.

24:17 Scott Ingram: Nice. And is there a particular way that you sort of set up your day that, you know, you like to do certain things in the morning, certain things in the afternoon, anything like that?

24:25 Alison Balthazor: Yeah. In the morning, I like to really get organized, handle any fires that need to be put out right away. Typically those calls, you know, they come in first thing. And then from there, it's a matter of making sure that all of my follow-ups are ready and then any new calls. The afternoon, sending out my proposals and following up with anybody that's still on my list.

24:47 Scott Ingram: Got it. Now, what about the prospecting piece? I think one of the things that Kevin had mentioned to you that the other kind of younger reps in your office are really surprised by is, given the fact that you have all of these relationships and referral sources, that you're still cold calling. So when does that happen? What's your approach? And I guess I'm most curious about Outreach to the CIO, right? That's complicated these days because everybody and their mother is reaching out to the CIO.

25:13 Alison Balthazor: Yeah, I would say, so I've had some really great opportunities to be able to go to some CIO shows, and that has given me an opportunity to, if I didn't meet them there, at least I've got the platform of, you know, we met at this conference that we were both at, and a lot of times that will help to open up a door. But certainly being connected via LinkedIn and utilizing my other connections to be able to make sure that we're were connected, if it's not a direct contact, that definitely helps bridge that gap.

25:45 Scott Ingram: Got it. So are you… and what's your go-to? Are you typically reaching out on the phone? Is it through LinkedIn? Are you asking for an introduction through, you know, one of those secondary-degree connections on LinkedIn? What's that approach?

25:58 Alison Balthazor: Yeah, sure, sure. No, I prefer the phone. I want people to hear my voice and know that I'm a real person, know that I'm not, you know, just giving the same candid, you know, speech over and over and over. I want to make sure that, that they hear my voice. And then I immediately, if I don't hear back within a matter of 15 minutes, then obviously I follow up with an email just highlighting, hey, I just left you a voicemail. Thought this might be an easier way for you to follow up. And then I'm very specific in my emails. People don't want to read any sort of long diatribe about who we are and what we do and how I want to help and are you available 3 weeks from now. They want to, they really want to see me Maybe 2, 3 sentences, if you have a bullet point, and when do you want to meet. One of the great leaders in my life, Brian Barkley, he always said, you give 2 options. You ask for 2 different days. You don't open it up for them to respond back and say… I should never ask them, what time next week works for you? It's got to be, are you free Monday at 1 or Thursday at 11?

26:58 Scott Ingram: Absolutely. Beautiful. What about your information diet? Reading, listening to, watching, and when does that happen?

27:07 Alison Balthazor: Oh, the information is in overload all the time, isn't it? It's a matter of being connected in with not only obviously Access One, but then all of the different partners where their services that we sell, making sure that I'm following them on Twitter and on Facebook and LinkedIn especially. And then podcasts, I love listening just to make sure that I'm hearing it from a very realistic way, how it can be, how technology can be conveyed, you know, to anybody out there. And then obviously I am a huge proponent of soaking my sources that are within close reach. And those are my sales engineers and the VPs of our organization. They know better than anybody in our organization. So I never hesitate to go to them and ask them, you know, explain this in further details to me, help me be a better professional at it. You know, what do you guys listen to? How can I better learn? You know, I think it's just important to know that you're never the smartest person in the room. And to always seek that out.

28:06 Scott Ingram: That's such a great approach, right? Go to the people that are the deepest into it. I mean, they, you would expect that they would have the best, the best sources. So I think that's a great, great tip. What beyond Outlook, what are the tools and apps that you find you just can't live without?

28:22 Alison Balthazor: Definitely LinkedIn. I use that the most. I would say LinkedIn and Outlook. Those are, those are my 2 main go-tos.

28:29 Scott Ingram: Easy. You know, it's funny. There is very, very few episodes where LinkedIn is, is not mentioned. I think that is probably probably the most consistent tool of the trade these days. What about, do you subscribe to a particular sales philosophy?

28:45 Alison Balthazor: Goodness, work hard, play hard. I think that my philosophy has always been work hard and don't worry about the individual achievements and just know that they will consistently come through. The harder you work, the better person you are, the more success you're going to have.

29:01 Scott Ingram: Awesome. Like to ask about kind of motivation and what motivates you, but I'm going to twist that a little bit for you because you talked in your very first, you know, top component to your success was about personal drive. Where does that personal drive come from?

29:18 Alison Balthazor: I think it's just, it's in my DNA. I think it's who I am. I think as a child, I always wanted to be the best. I always wanted to be the star of the sports team. I always wanted to have straight A's. I wanted to make my parents proud. It was just, it's just kind of who I was. And I was, my father, has always told me that I'm a very coachable person, and I think you couple those 2 things together, and that is what makes me who I am. I listen to what everyone tells me, whether they're the true experts or not. I really listen, and then I try to adapt exactly what they've told me so that I can become a better, a better professional.

29:54 Scott Ingram: Brilliant. What about your style? You know, so you've got kind of this work hard, play hard philosophy and approach. What's your style within that.

30:02 Alison Balthazor: Elaborate a little bit more. I'm not sure what you're exactly getting at. I don't know.

30:06 Scott Ingram: I just want to see what tumbles out.

30:08 Alison Balthazor: Oh, my approach is just that if the harder, the harder I work, the more success I'm going to have, and therefore that's gonna lead to a lot more amazing things in my life, more time to be able to spend with the people that I love the most, be able to take, you know, extravagant vacations, and just lead to an overall better way of life for myself. So I've always, I've always been very passionate about making sure that before life gets too complicated, and you can always have that mindset at any age you're at, that work hard now because it's not, it doesn't get easier later. So fortunately, as you know, all throughout my 20s when I had very little responsibility, you know, I put the hours in. I'd work, I'd work all the way up until 9 o'clock at night every night, whether I was at a networking event or, or working at the office or wherever it may be. And I would have my social life after that. And it was, it was the best time that I could have spent professionally, and I'm so glad that I did.

31:07 Scott Ingram: That's brilliant. And I want to go back to this extravagant travel. We talked about my extravagant travel to Dubai. What's, what's your most recent or favorite adventure?

31:17 Alison Balthazor: I would say my, my favorite adventure was when my husband and I… we were younger, so this wasn't necessarily extravagant, but at the time it was… we, we backpacked through Europe together, and it was just an adventure, and it was exactly that. We didn't really have much of a plan, which was the opposite of me. I plan everything in my life, and I was able… we were able to go and have a great time. It was all impromptu, and we could just go and see and do. Since then, we've traveled all over the nation and into, you know, obviously down into Mexico and the islands, and we have a blast. And we just both feel very strongly that, you know, if you're gonna be out there working hard every single day, then when you get a chance to get away Go do it and enjoy every second of it.

32:02 Scott Ingram: Love it. That is awesome. So, you said you're a planner and I love that. And we also talked, we talked a lot before we got going. You suggested that you don't really have a territory, right? You cross the nation. How do you sort of plan for that? What is your sort of approach to territory management? Well, for lack of a better Sure.

32:26 Alison Balthazor: Not having a territory definitely leaves a lot open in terms of it would be hard to really stay focused. I love meeting my clients in person, so my top priority is always to meet anybody here in the Chicagoland area. A lot… I could probably be more efficient just doing one video conference after another throughout the day, but I think my success would be less because of the fact that I don't get that strong relationship with somebody. I can't tell you how many times I meet with somebody and they're like, oh, well, you know, we're to doing video conferences with everybody. I presumed actually that's what was going to happen today, and then I saw in my Outlook that you were physically coming here, and they're surprised by that. And it just takes that initial call and that relationship with that prospect to a completely different level. So Chicago is always my priority, but I never hesitate to jump on a plane to go visit somebody for a great qualified opportunity. And Zoom conferencing is phenomenal. We have our own platform of it called our Ascension platform, and I use that every day to meet with people all across the nation.

33:31 Scott Ingram: Awesome. Very, very cool. And it sounds like a lot of that travel is also kind of CIO conference-specific, right? So you're getting an opportunity to be in the room with… that's pretty, for lack of a better word, target-rich environment.

33:43 Alison Balthazor: Yes, it is. Absolutely. The particular conference that I go to is very focused. They do a phenomenal job of making sure that not only are the vendors, such as myself, motivated to meet everybody and make sure that we're having specific specific poignant conversations with them, but they also have highly motivated the CIOs to make sure that they are doing their part to reach out to us, to look for partners, to, you know, to make sure that they're holding up their side of the bargain as well. So it's unlike a lot of other conferences that are out there where you're just kind of standing there waiting for, you know, somebody to come over or trying to, you know, figure out how you can catch their eye or go be a part of a conversation. It's really proven to be a great organization for us to be a part of.

34:29 Scott Ingram: That sounds great. Is that something you're willing to share or is that a trade secret?

34:32 Alison Balthazor: Oh, sure. Yeah, it is. This one is called Boardroom Events and they have 2 shows a year and they don't allow the same CIOs to come to both of the conferences. So, guaranteed each time you go in a single year, you're talking to, say, and don't hold me to this, but let's say maybe 250 CIOs.

34:52 Scott Ingram: Wow, that's awesome. I love hearing about folks that are, that are doing events really, really well. And we all go to events to connect with people. People, right? As much as it's built around content, that's not really what's at the root of it, is it?

35:04 Alison Balthazor: No, no, it's not. It's a lot more about the relationships that you build.

35:08 Scott Ingram: Yeah. Awesome. So, is there something you believe that the average sales rep would think is crazy?

35:16 Alison Balthazor: I think they would think it was crazy that they would still have to cold call. I think a lot of times sales reps can, you know, our personalities can get a little arrogant and we can pretend to think that we're above certain things. And that's just not the case. I never feel as though I'm too good for a small deal or that I don't have the time for it. Maybe in certain instances, but a lot of the times it's, you know, I never know who that owner of that very small company might be and who his relationships are. Maybe his best friend is the, you know, CIO of an enormous organization that just so happened to be looking for a technology company to work for. So keeping those doors open and making sure that you don't forget your roots, essentially. You don't forget what made you successful and to keep going back to that. When you get complacent and feel as though those leads are just going to keep coming in, that's when things are going to start to crumble underneath you. And it'll happen slowly to where you don't even notice it. And then all of a sudden you'll be looking around thinking, why aren't I number one anymore? You know? And so you just, your destiny is up to you. And as long as you keep on the right path, then you'll keep knocking that out year after year.

36:28 Scott Ingram: Love it. What about the flip side? Is there something that the average seller believes that you think is crazy?

36:33 Alison Balthazor: Yeah. I think that there are a lot of people out there who believe that all technology is created equal. Let's say telecom, for example, because it's an easy one to put out there. They can think, okay, I'm going to get spreadsheets and I'm going to get an RFP. And that RFP is going to help me as an individual decide exactly which company to work for, even though I'm not interviewing. Doing the organizations. And I think that numbers are only a very small portion of what we sell, and reading somebody's response is never the full, thorough response that you can have over a conversation. I think you get a lot, so much more from having those realistic conversations with individuals and creating that roadmap as to what are your goals as the buyer and how can that individual help me achieve my goals? You're not going to get that from reading a document.

37:27 Scott Ingram: I almost had to put myself on mute as I was about to laugh out loud. I think the RFP process is the most just broken process in all of business. It doesn't serve the buyer and it absolutely punishes everybody in the vendor space, whether you win or lose. Like, it's just punishing.

37:45 Alison Balthazor: Absolutely. Yes. Yes. And when you go back to our conversation about expectations, I mean, you may win the RFP, but now you have to go back and say, okay, let's really discuss, like, what is it that you want? Let me set my expectations so that we're all on the same page, because up until this point, you have very little to go from.

38:05 Scott Ingram: Yeah, unbelievable. One of these days, it's funny, I've had a couple of conversations with other folks who've been on this show and we've kicked around some ideas. We still haven't solved the world hunger that is the broken RFP process, but one of these days somebody smart will come up with a better process that'll be better for everybody and serve the clients better and make it 100 times less awful for those of us who have to respond to those damn things.

38:31 Alison Balthazor: I sure hope so. It is an enormous amount of work.

38:36 Scott Ingram: So, what have been the most important either decisions you've made or lessons you've had to learn to get where you are today?

38:44 Alison Balthazor: I think some of the harder lessons that I've had to learn along the way are when maybe I've gotten in over my head where I thought maybe I could handle a meeting that I was equipped to handle on my own. And when I got to the table and realized that the end of it, I hadn't done enough research on the individual and recognized that having support from an engineering perspective would have certainly happened or helped. Those are tough lessons. So that's always when you leave and you kick yourself and you know that, you know, you didn't even give the company that you work for a fair shot at it. Those are always the tough ones.

39:20 Scott Ingram: Yeah. Do you find that you've been able to recover from those situations, or is it just, oh man, painful lesson learned?

39:27 Alison Balthazor: I would say it's 50/50. Yeah. Sometimes, certainly I'm always very straightforward with my prospects, so I never hesitate to say, I do not know the answer to that question, but the next, you know, tomorrow I'll be able to get an answer for you, or, you know, at our next meeting I'll have my engineering team here with me to be able to answer those questions as well. I try to always just handle it with It was just blatant honesty of, I only know up to this much, and then from there, that's, you know, that's for an engineering brain.

39:56 Scott Ingram: Yeah. Yeah. So what advice would you give to somebody that's just starting out in sales today? Or maybe if you could go back 16 years ago and talk to Alison then, what advice would you give her?

40:09 Alison Balthazor: Have a lot of fun. I would say don't be embarrassed or shy. In any aspect of the sales process. It's all a learning game, and we're always getting better as individual professionals who we are. And just making sure that you're having a good time out there. I've always enjoyed what I do, but I think I could sometimes, I could be better at maybe not always taking myself so seriously and making sure that we're winning and that it's a game and that, you know, that energy and that excitement will bring other people towards me and those people will want to work with me.

40:47 Scott Ingram: Love it. Love it. Love it. What about somebody that is further into their career and maybe they're doing okay or maybe they've even hit a rough patch and it's time to just take it to the next level? Maybe they've made the decision. What advice would you give to them to break out of that funk or go from good to great?

41:05 Alison Balthazor: Sure. Take a break. First, I think that we all are inundated with emails and you know, constant information that needs to be addressed. So sometimes you just have to fully unplug. And I think that there's even a new study out there recently that talks about burnout, workforce burnout, and it's something that happens easily. So if you get to that point in your career, just stop what you're doing and take a week off. You know, it may not be ideal, but it's gonna, it's really gonna help you in the long haul and you'll come back so much more refreshed and excited and ready. I'm also very goal-oriented. Brianna, if you haven't noticed already, in that, you know, list out what makes you happy, what keeps you motivated, why are you doing this, what do you want to get better at, and just keep it as an ongoing list and help yourself see those small victories as you achieve different areas of that. You know, if it was like a vacation, everybody would do what we do, right? But it's not. It's hard work. And it takes all of us, you know, pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps and looking ourselves in the mirror and saying, I'm going to have a great day today and I'm going to work extra hard. And things are going to go well. It's that constant motivation that you have to instill in yourself as a sales professional. Just making sure that you're doing that will hopefully get you back on the right path, and you'll come back faster, better, and more motivated than you ever had been.

42:28 Scott Ingram: Nice. Talk about your goal-setting process. How are you going about that?

42:32 Alison Balthazor: Well, I break it down to January 1st. I come up with what are my goals for the year professionally and personally, and I keep them in a safe spot in a book that I can always refer back to and see how I'm doing, kind of keeping myself on task. Quarterly, I know exactly what I need to do for my quarterly goals for Access One, making sure that I'm doing all the right things, making sure that I've got the right deals lined up and I've, you know, I've hit every step along the way so that that deal doesn't fall apart on me. And then, you know, same thing all the way down to monthly and then daily. Even just taking a look at my calendar and thinking, what else can I squeeze in today? Oh, I've got, you know, I've got a little extra time here in the afternoon. What can I do to make myself the most productive and have the best return.

43:19 Scott Ingram: Nice. Is that something that you do at a set time of the day? Is that something you do in the morning or is it just a little bit more ad hoc as you come across the blank spots in your calendar?

43:28 Alison Balthazor: Sure, sure. Some of my best thoughts happen in the shower, right, with all of us, and it just kind of comes to me. And then I write it all down as soon as I get in front of my computer, make sure that I've got it. Like I said earlier, I'm a visual person, so I have to have it written down, whether it's on a pad of paper or in my Outlook calendar to keep me on task. And I love to check it off. That's the best feeling.

43:50 Scott Ingram: Nice, nice, nice. You know, it's so funny. We were just covering that on the Daily Sales Tips podcast. Jeff Bajorek was talking about apparently he gets some of his best ideas while mowing the lawn. I get some of mine, the shower's a good one, but just, you know, getting out and going for a walk and those kinds of things. And I, you know, I think you have to be sort of intentional about those things and, you know, find those thinking spots and let the good ideas flow and then just be sure to write them down as quick as you can when you're dry.

44:16 Alison Balthazor: Perhaps. Yes, yes, exactly. You're right. It helps that I've worked out before in the morning to get all those endorphins going, so I'm definitely flying fast by the time I'm out of the shower.

44:26 Scott Ingram: Yeah, yeah, that's, that's awesome. And here in Austin, I'm gonna be wet whether I'm mowing the lawn or getting in the shower, given the…

44:33 Alison Balthazor: Oh no, sure.

44:37 Scott Ingram: So Alison, what would you want to know about top sellers in other organizations?

44:43 Alison Balthazor: I would love to know, and an area that I can certainly improve on in my professional life is public speaking. I would love to be able to be one of those talented individuals that can get up in front of a large boardroom and start speaking so eloquently about the services and with great passion, and before you know it, everybody is cheering for you and ready to meet you and sign a deal with you. I would love to have that. So I would certainly like to know what other organizations do to help progress that portion of a sales rep's professional life? What trainings do they go to? Is it in-house? Are there certain podcasts that they listen to? I would love that information.

45:24 Scott Ingram: Yeah, that's such a good call-out. I just saw on LinkedIn Scott Barker, who's been on this show before, had posted some of his own learning from that experience, having gone from being pretty… speaking, and I call it one that is very tried and true. One that's on my own radar is I know Dale Carnegie has some public speaking courses. I think the one that I have in mind, I think, is called High Impact Presentations. And it's a very small group. I mean, it's been described to me and it sounds just really unbelievable, right? So you're sort of taking a presentation that you have and helping you develop that and helping you develop the stories around it and do all of that stuff. So a couple of resources there and we'll definitely put those into the show notes. I'll have links to Toastmasters and I'll find… I'll connect with the Dale Carnegie team and we'll figure out some appropriate links for that as well. So if you go to top1.fm, top1.fm, let's do just /alison or whatever this episode number is. I've lost track. I think it's 70, but we've been having so much fun, I can't keep track of the numbers.

46:28 Alison Balthazor: Great. Thank you for the tips. I really appreciate it.

46:30 Scott Ingram: Yeah, absolutely. So the last thing that I try to do… well, let me ask one more question before we get there. I mean, we have covered a lot of ground and this has been a great, great conversation. Is there anything else that you had hoped to cover or that you think would be particularly relevant for this audience?

46:48 Alison Balthazor: We have covered so much, my goodness. I think it's just always important to recognize that some of the greatest leaders out there are successful because of the very strategic and hard work that they're putting forward. It's very easy for individuals to say, you know, their family knows a lot of business owners or give an excuse in any way, shape, or form. And that's just not typically the case. I've had many people say to me, the best sales professionals out there are the ones that work the hardest. And I can definitely say that's true for myself.

47:22 Scott Ingram: Yeah. Yeah. Well, and sometimes it's hard to see, right? You just, if you're, especially if you're on the outside, you just see the results and you don't see all of the phone calls and the waking up at 4:30 and all of these things you do in between to make it all work.

47:35 Alison Balthazor: Right. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Nor would we show that, right?

47:39 Scott Ingram: Exactly. Exactly. So the way I always like to summarize these things is to create sort of an actionable challenge, right? We've talked about a lot of stuff, but what can the person listening to this do over the course of the next, say, 1 to 2 weeks to improve themselves and improve their results?

47:56 Alison Balthazor: I would come up with your list. The things that maybe you've heard on this podcast or others of what are successful people doing and how does that relate or how does that compare with what you as a sales professional are doing on a daily basis? And if you're falling short on the networking, well, then start researching to find people that you can network with. If you're falling short on maybe some of the cold calls that you're making, or maybe you're only sending out mass emails and you're not actually picking up the phone, then venture outside of your comfort zone and go do those things. One, it's going to get you excited because it's going to just drive some different levels of excitement of doing something different. And 2, you're going to get results from it because of that excitement.

48:37 Scott Ingram: Love it. Love it. Love it. Alison, this has been fantastic. Thank you for taking the time with me today. Thank Kevin again for making the introduction. He has been fantastic. This has been, like I said, just, just incredible. Thank you.

48:49 Alison Balthazor: Yeah, thank you so much. It's been great talking with you, and I certainly enjoy all of your podcasts.

48:55 Scott Ingram: 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.